"Alice In Wonderland" based on the novels by Lewis Carroll.

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

If ever there were a piece of theatre that enthralls everyone from children to Grandparents, then this is the one to treat everyone to this week. It's like a visual storybook that springs to life before your eyes

Alice plunges down the rabbit hole and becomes involved in a madcap series of adventures immortalized by Lewis Carroll. From having tea with the Mad Hatter to playing croquet with The Queen Of Hearts, the story is an absolute bonkers one, and who doesn't love a bit of bonkers every once in a while?  A kaleidoscope of action and madness, with the necessary elements of suspense and frustration make it all work beautifully.

The show is like "Jackanory" with a side of Enid Blyton fun and a smidgeon of Roald Dahl darkness; plus there's a smattering of original songs.

Imogen Wilson is Alice, and I was getting a Julie Andrews type vibe from this character. Not vocally, but the sensibility and primness shines through, with help from Imogen, of course. The beginning and end of the play bring the Enid Blyton echoes.

Lily Stalls plays the Knave Of Hearts, Rose, Walrus, Pat The Parrot and Griffin. You'll notice that many of the actors play several roles, some involving puppetry.

Rosie Hann plays Lorina, who is Alice's sister, Daisy, Fish Footman and Card Gardener #5.

Karina Liu is Lily, Dormouse, Oyster, Hedgehog Ball and Mock Turtle. Dormouse is a lovely gentle character and one I thing Karina looks to be having a lot of fun with. Likewise the Mock Turtle, and I love the shell part of the costume. What I also enjoyed about Karina's performance was her projection and the character she gave her characters.

Cara Grace-Crawley plays Daisy, Pig Baby, Card Gardener #2 and Hedgehog Ball.

Bill The Lizard, Frog Footman, Carpenter, Card Gardener #7 and Hedgehog Ball are all played by Jesse Okoro. I wasn't sure if Jesse had a mini attack of nerves at the start as I couldn't hear his voice that well, but if there were nerves, and there's nothing wrong with having nerves, they soon disappeared and his voice became stronger and I then heard every word. By the end of the show, Jesse was one of my favourite young actors, as his confidence grew immensely so did his projection and character.

The Queen Of Hearts is played by Chantelle Ruston. I love this role and Chantelle revelled in the nastiness, ordering almost everyone to have their heads chopped off. Wonderfully silly. 

Sarah Mullane is The Narrator, The White Queen, The Duchess and Tweedle Dee. Four very diverse roles, all of which highlight the flexibility of Sarah's acting skills. The pairing of Sarah and Alex as Tweedle Dee was wonderful, both visually, Alex is so much taller than Sarah, and fun chemistry wise.

Madeleine Levy takes on the role of The Cheshire Cat, another of my favourite roles. It's been two years since I last saw Madeleine in a play, which was "Witness For The Prosecution", and this role is as far removed from playing a policewoman as you can get. Acting as puppeteer for the Cheshire Cat, as well as providing the voice of the Cat, was a fun watch, especially in the scenes in the Courtroom, which was literally detached from the real world, as well as the rest of the Cheshire Cat's body. That detached head performance really got me thinking just how many drugs Lewis Carroll was on at the time of writing "Alice In Wonderland".

Martin Weston is The Caterpillar, The White Knight as well as The White Rabbit. Two of my favourite characters are provided by Martin; The bubble blowing Caterpillar (the four-man costume looked incredible) and The White Rabbit who was completely bonkers and seemed to be fuelled by Duracell. He is packed with energy as he zooms across the stage as well as the stairs in the middle of the auditorium. Another thing that I like about Martin is his projection. This man has no need of a microphone. We also get to hear Martin's fine vocals with one of the songs especially written for this production.

David Hawker is The Mad Hatter. There are so many wonderful and animated characters in this story and The Mad Hatter is so obviously on of them. David is a ball of energy and he puts every molecule of energy into this role

Alex Chalk plays The March Hare, The Card Gardener and Tweedle Dum. I've mentioned above about the wonderful comedic pairing with Tweedle Dee, and much as I love that duo, The March Hare is brilliantly loony and Alex brings the excitability of the Hare to the stage and his performance. The scene at The Mad Hatters party with Dormouse, Alice and The Mad Hatter is  wonderful.

There are a couple of scenes that almost remind me of pantomime with illuminous animals that come to life under the UV lighting, bringing even more magic to the show.

Directed by Philippa Buchanan, she creates a cartoon, storybook image in the staging and set. There's a very interesting trip down the rabbit hole and back up to the "real world" which works really well. The casting is superb, especially as there's a good mix of established local actors and newcomers. There were a couple of scenes that could do with tightening up, where there was a couple of bare stages, actors wise, but Monday night is opening night, and knowing this group, by Tuesday or Wednesday, the scenes will be watertight. That aside the pace was well observed.

Philippa is also in charge of costumes. The costumes are all brilliant, especially the caterpillar suit, which has to be my favourite of all of them.

Joy Skelton is responsible for the props. There are so many props in this show - where on earth would you look for four flamingo pink, fluffy umbrellas complete with flamingo heads?

Choreographed by Kim-Louise Sparks, who is also the Production Manager, Designated Safeguard Lead, Programme Designer and composed the original music for the show. Anyone who managed to see "Jane" earlier this year by Prism will know how talented Kim-Louise is where composing original music is concerned and the music here is fun and upbeat and infuriatingly catchy.

The Puppetry Co-Ordinator is Jessica Morgan-McLean. These puppets are wonderful, and the operation of these non-human stars are excellent.

Sound is by Daniel Foster. The actors are not mic'd up, which makes the mix of the recorded music to vocalists a little more difficult than if the actors were using mic packs. That fact obviously held no issues for Daniel though because the volume was perfectly pitched to make sure that we could all hear the words of the songs over the backing tracks.

Lighting is by Dave Martin. I know that whenever I see Dave's name on lighting, or sound, that there's no issues expected, and again I was correct. The show in itself is very colourful, and with the added colourful illuminations, especially in the UV sections, the pastel colours completely covered the stage as well as the walls of the theatre like a living rainbow.

I liked that the show has an earlier than usual start time (7pm), which means that the show ended earlier (8.45pm), so you're leaving the theatre in daylight! Ideal for a younger audience as well.

"Alice In Wonderland" is at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Wednesday 10 June, so don't be late as you really do not want to upset the Queen of Hearts now do you?

 "Little Shop Of Horrors" by 

A Derby Theatre and Northern Stage Production.

Derby Theatre.

From an audience point of view, this is one musical that you can't go wrong with. It has everything going for it, comedy, great songs, romance as well as a dark, macabre man eating plant that lives on human flesh and blood, sado-masochism, greed, murder, lies and deceit. And all this in a couple of hours!

It's the story of a nerdy florist shop worker, Seymour, who raises a vicious, raunchy plant, Audrey 2, that feeds on human blood. He falls in love for his co worker, Audrey, but obstacles, in human form, are placed in the way of his fame and his romance.

Watching "Little Shop Of Horrors" is like being in a dark room when a light is switched on. It lights up everything and makes you feel happy to be there and that's how this musical makes you feel. Blending science fiction, a Motown/Doo Wop/1950's/1960's infused soundtrack and B Movie Horror flicks together in one gorgeously gory musical.

Mr Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop, is played by Jon Bonner. There's no exaggerated Jewish accent, which I really enjoyed, only a sign of religion with the singing style in parts. The duet of "Mushnik and Son" is a firm favourite of mine, and Jon and Kristian kept that opinion solidly in place for me. I also loved the more dramatic scenes that start the second act with Mushnik, complementing the more comedic scenes in the first act. 

Seymour Krelborne is played by one of the most beloved local actors, Kristian Cunningham. Kristian is a perfect piece of casting, not only for the physicality of the character, but for Kristian's ability to transfer from the nerdy character who jumped at Mushnik's raised voice, to gaining the strength to take control of his life, all by way of the love for and from Audrey. Anyone who has seen Kristian on stage previously will already know that he has a brilliant voice for musical theatre, but when teamed with Amena, between them, they provide enough chills to keep even Danny Zuko happy. Kristian's transformation to Seymour also brings flashbacks visually of the original Seymour in the musical, Rick Moranis.

Audrey,  the dotty co worker with the violent boyfriend, is played by Amena El-Kindy. Over the years Audrey's whiny airhead voice seems to have been filtered out, and that is a blessing for me, personally. Amena's vocals are gorgeous to listen to, and to have had to return to a whiny Audrey voice would have really been at odds with those lovely singing tones. Her version of "Somewhere That's Green" actually feels like an invite into her dreams via her heart.

David Rankine, plays the sado-masochistic, bullying sleazeball of a dentist and boyfriend to Audrey, Orin. I love this character and David gives a wonderfully animated performance, which also reminded me of a character called Robbie Rotten from a children's old TV series called "Sportacus". David has a wonderfully mobile face which adds the comedy to the character. You want to hate Orin, but the character itself is such a marvellous creation that you wish that he was in it more than he is. Even after Orin has been dispatched into the ether, or the gas of your choice, it's not the last you see of David as he pops up in the second act in a few other guises.

Producing the voice for Audrey 2 was Tasha Dowd, and what a voice! The norm used to be that Audrey II's voice was a deep voice, but recently female voices have been used and Tasha's powerhouse vocals, which we really got to experience in the final megamix, again something that I can't remember seeing performed previously. Tasha's voice is insane, and another way to send the chills up your spine. If providing the voice to the most demonic of plants, plus being the owner of an incredible set of vocals, Tasha also has the best costume, which of course we only see at the final bows.

Puppeteer of Audrey 2 is Ross Lennon, who also is part of the ensemble. The synchronisation between Tasha's voice and the operation of Audrey II's head and mouth is possibly the best co-ordination I have seen. Puppet Director is John Barber and is supplied by Accord Stage Works, and ends up as possibly one of the biggest Audrey II's I have seen. I've no idea how big Ross's muscles are but I bet that he has not had to go to the gym during the run of this show!

The wonderful trio of Sixties Girl Group imagery was brought to reality by Emmanuella Chede (Ronette), Shekinah McFarlane (Crystal) and Chioma Uma (Chiffon), and what a gorgeous and soulful sound they made. Enter even more chills to the back of the neck. This trio though not only provide those gorgeous vocals, they also provide a meaty bassline on guitar with a sideline of sexy sax. This threesome also have the most costume changes ranging from enough glittery outfits to cover a disco ball convention to being Orin's trio of dental assistants.

The voice of the announcer is by Ivan Stott.

The Ensemble consist of Ross Lennon, Wilf Stone and Hannah Woodward, who is also the Dance Captain.

Directed by Sarah Brigham. This production speeds by and seems to end almost as soon as it begins, or is that because I am loving the show as much as normally do. Sarah has brought in Emma Jude Harris to make sure everything American and Jewish is represented correctly in the Dramaturg department and Anita Gilbert ensures that the accents for all are accurate.

Orchestrator and Musical Supervisor is Matthew Malone with Sian Campbell being the Musical Director. The soundtrack by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman contains some of musical theatre's favourite songs. Songs like "Suddenly Seymour", "Somewhere that's Green", "Dentist", "Feed Me", "Don't Feed The Plants" and of course the title track.

Sian also plays keyboards and Amy Gray is the drummer alongside the musician/actors on stage.

The Set and Costume Designer is Verity Quinn. The set has a lovely slanted comic book style using bright colours to further enhance that comic style. Many of the costumes also resemble those seen in comic books. I love the gentle colour scheme for Audrey, the archetypal tank top design for Seymour, and I have already mentioned the best costume, apart from Audrey II - but that doesn't really count as a costume, does it? - being Tasha's; that green suit is just my style.

Choreographed by Myles Brown. What is there not to enjoy with this musical, and especially the energy in the choreography, especially for "Mushnik and Son".

The show is fully captioned, which has been designed by Ben Glover, making this show accessible for deaf and hard of hearing audience members.

Sound Designer is Adam P McCready. For me the volume was perfectly set and well balanced with the music played on stage with the vocals by the actors. I've always said that Derby Theatre is one of the best theatres acoustically, and that is proven with this production.

Lighting Designer is KJ. The lighting is excellent and is a feast for the eyes with plenty of green shades and lighting as well as the occasional red light splashes. I think you know the importance of these two colours within this musical.

"Little Shop Of Horrors" is at Derby Theatre until Saturday 20 June. Whatever you do, don't miss this production, even if you've seen the musical before, you'll want to see this one as well, and one more thing.......don't feed the plants!!

Photography by Pamela Raith.

 "Murder In Play" by Simon Brett.

Belper Players.

Strutts Centre, Belper.

Here's another play that I've not seen before, and I love getting the opportunity to watch plays that are new to me. Belper Players, who celebrate 90 years this year, presents a play within a play where the actors play actors who also play actors. Confused? If I can work that statement out, I'm sure you can.

Boris Smolensky's budget repertory production of "Murder at Priorswell Manor" is looking decidedly shaky. The cast are more interested in their egos than the play and life imitates art when Boris's wife, Renee, is murdered on stage. But who has motive? Or what I should say is who doesn't have motive enough to do 'er in?

Boris Smolensky, the pompous, womanizing director of the amateur/repertory company, is played by Terry Stevenson. Wonderfully full of self-importance and the power that, as Director, he wields. His wife, Renee knows all about his well-worn casting couch, but knows that he will always come back to her. With knowledge she also has power over several of the cast. Terry is having a whale of a time playing Boris if the energy that he throws into the role is anything to go by.  Love all the flouncing and temper tantrums as much as the sliminess with the young actresses in the cast.

Jane Robertson is Renee Savage, Boris's wife (and the actress playing Lady Dorothy Cholmondley), whose character gets murdered on stage. We're told just how Renee's exit is carried out but narrowing the list of suspects down is not so straight forward. Because the play within the play has to go on, Dorothy's character is later played by Christa, but before Renee's end has been sealed we discover that she has something over Christa. A lovely pompous performance complete with inflated ego performed beautifully by Jane.

Ginette Vincent, a naive, star-struck actress playing Lady Virginia Cholmondley, is played by Joanna Raisin. What I love about this role is just how wonderfully hammy the portrayal of Virginia is. You can have a hammy actor but when you're a good actor and you have to act in a way that is the opposite of your skill set - a bit like Les Dawson playing the piano out of tune when he was actually an accomplished pianist - is shows how versatile actors like Jo are.

Gwen Murray plays Christa D'Amato. A faded soap-star who is always bringing up her television past. Christa plays Mrs. Puttock, the house maid in "Murder at Priorswell Manor". From Gwen's first appearance as Christa I just knew that I would love this character, and I did. We find out that a secret past has been uncovered by Renee, so there we have a motive for murder, but wasn't Christa on stage when Renee was killed? There are some gorgeous bitchy volleys between Christa and Renee, so we know that there's no love lost between this pair.

Mik Horvath is Tim Fermor, a jobbing actor who covers his limited acting skills by constantly quoting Equity rules regarding breaks. He plays Major Rodney Pirbright. One of a few running gags in this play is the constantly malfunctioning gun which also keeps disappearing. The award-winning Mr Horvath also puts in a crowd-pleasing comedy scene which involves a change in his voice! Mik is also the Production Manager for the play "Murder In Play", with Nikky Rowe as Production Team.

Megan Russell plays Pat Smith, the overworked, put-upon stage manager who acts as the Boris's dogsbody. I love how this part highlights how in demand the stage manager in any stage production is, and especially with a closet that seems to have an acting role of its' own, with Harrison as its' co-star. Due to the Director's re-writes Pat has to swap roles for one that she is not too comfortable with.

Sophie Lawton, a highly talented but underappreciated actress who is frustratingly typecast into minor roles like the maid, Triggs, is played Abbie Evans. I had difficulty working out if Abbie was just really enjoying her role and the play, as she looked so fantastically entertained by the action at Priorswell Manor, if that was how Triggs was supposed to react within the play. Either way, it was a joy to watch this fun character.

Nick Mothershaw plays Mr Papadopoulos, who plays Harrison Bracewell. A faded, alcoholic Shakespearean actor who prefers quoting his glory days to learning his lines. The cast and Director would have preferred to have listened to his lines performed correctly than his golden days memoirs, and made that fact very clear to him. His relationship with the closet is very comical, as is Bracewell's wig and accents, plus there's a couple of memorable (probably for all the wrong reasons) death scenes!

Every time I have the pleasure of seeing Belper Players plays, one thing that always comes over really strongly is just how much the cast gel so well, which always goes to produce a chemistry packed production.

Co-Directed by Patricia Church and Louisa Jenkins, they have bought out every ounce of comedy in the script, creating a beautifully paced, almost farce style comedy play which also highlights some of the best, and worst elements within local theatre, as well as showing the pressures that people in local theatre have to abide to. One of the songs played in the interval was Queen's "Under Pressure" which I allowed myself a wry smile, as well as other ironic Queen classics like "Another One Bites The Dust", "Love Of My Life" and "The Show Must Go On".

The play within a play, play also has a programme within the main programme, just so that any confusion can be resolved for the discerning programme reader and collector.

Set Designer is Nick Mothershaw, who also constructed the set. As usual, the set is wonderfully intricate and is worth getting in early just to have a good old perusal, as it's worth your admiration.

Sound and lighting design and operation is by Josh Hall and Sound Operator is Maisie Wiggin. Both areas cued and timed with excellence.

Costumes are by Shena Lawrence and Patricia Church and all look wonderful. Lovely period costumes for all the actors and actresses and the actors and actresses of the actors and actresses.

The props were all provided by the cast and crew.

I also must mention the Front Of House, as I like to do with every theatre group, when I remember, who made sure that everyone was catered for and seated where they should be and ran the bar, sold programmes and ran the raffle, as well as providing information about the Belper Players and anything else that was asked of them. So welcoming.

I mentioned that this year is Belper Players 90^th Anniversary and to celebrate this milestone there are books mapping the 90 year history of Belper Players, which make for a fascinating browse.

"Murder In Play" is at Strutts Centre, Belper until Saturday 6 June and another production that should rate highly in the upcoming Eagle and Noda awards.

 "Fawlty Towers - The Play" adapted by John Cleese.

Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

I have seen a version of "Fawlty Towers" a few years ago where four episodes are mashed into one stage play, and loved every minute of it; which Fawlty Towers fan wouldn't? This adaptation brings the best moments from three of the twelve episodes (can you believe there were only twelve episodes made?) to the stage; as well as a few nods to other episodes. "The Hotel Inspector" and "The Germans" from series one and "Communication Problems" from series two - and adapted them into this two-hour play, complete with a new finale.

I had the pleasure quite a few years ago of interviewing Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel, and he told me that he loved playing Manuel, but sustained many bruises and bumps at the hands of John Cleese. The knockabout violence has been well choreographed throughout the play, especially the onset from Mr Walt on Basil which were wonderfully timed.

For the role of Basil Fawlty you need someone who can match the physicality of John Cleese, have the energy levels of John Cleese and sound like Cleese playing Basil Fawlty. Step forward Danny Bayne who looked very much like Cleese and, like all of the actors here, have scrutinised the original characters and have replicated their voices and foibles. Of course there's the infamous scene with the funny walk included, which was greeted by a huge round of applause.

Basil's wife, Sybil, is played by Mia Austen, who sounds remarkably like Prunella Scales' character, the snooty Sybil Fawlty. The costumes and wig complete the image perfectly.

Hemi Yeroham plays Manuel, the hapless waiter from Barcelona. Marvellously manic in parts and when the physical side of Manuel slows down, vocally Hemi has nailed that accent accurately. Add the wig, the moustache and the costume and Andrew Sachs lives again, showing what a wonderful observation for characteristics Hemi Yeroham really is.

Polly is played by Joanne Clifton, who has absolutely nailed the vocal technique employed by Connie Booth. Joanne has carved a solid career on stage, after leaving "Strictly", and especially in musicals, displaying an excellent set of vocal chords. As Polly, Joanne really highlights her comedy skills as the slightly frustrated and "run off her feet" Polly.

The Major is played by an absolute legend in my opinion, Paul Nicholas, who started his stage career in 1968, in the infamous stage musical "Hair", before having a very successful pop music career and an equally successful TV career. At 81 years old he is as sprightly as he was over 50 years ago. His portrayal of the slightly senile, amiable retired old soldier, who is a permanent resident of Fawlty Towers, is spot on, and is a real joy to watch such a legend in action.

Jemma Churchill plays Mrs Richards, another of my favourite cameo sit-com characters. Played originally by the wonderful Joan Sanderson, Mrs Richards is the hard of hearing, overly demanding guest in "Communication Problems". The classic "view from Torquay hotel window" sketch was one scene that I was looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. It's scenes like these that have you reciting the script word for word in the way that you'd sing along to a favourite song.

Greg Haiste plays Mr Hutchinson, the fussy and pernickety spoon salesman, who Fawlty mistook for someone else, plus Wilhelm, one of the German guests. 

Emily Winter is Miss Tibbs and Dawn Buckland plays Miss Gatsby, the other two permanent residents along side The Major. Seemingly inseparable, these sweet-natured, dotty spinsters appear to have taken a fancy to Basil. The physicality in these characters really show what lovely character actors both Emily and Dawn are.

John Hasler is Mr Thurston who tells Basil about a racehorse which prompts an ecstatic Basil to secretly place a large bet on the horse, as well as Gunter one of the Germans!

Adam Elliott is Mr Walt, a mild-mannered but bewildered guest who is secretly a hotel inspector testing the establishment.

Neil Stewart plays the Taxi Driver, Mr Firkins, Mr Kerr and Mr Sharp.

Josie Brightwell play hotel guests Liz and Johanna.

Debbie, an ensemble hotel guest character who isn't in the TV version of the show, is played by Ashleigh Harvey 

Ben Jacobson is Ken, another ensemble hotel guest. 

Matthew Gordon is hotel guest, Mr Dale. 

Phillip, a hotel guest, is played by Raymond Rose. 

Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger who perfectly manages to keep that lovely 70's feel to the show, all the while though showing that comedy from over half a century in the past is still raising not just laughs but guffaws of laughter. It's such a pacy show and the mash up of the three chosen half hour episodes work so well, and so smoothly.

The Set and Costume Design is by Liz Ascroft. The set itself is a wonderful replica of the hotel desk area, dining room and the bedroom on top of these two sets. The exterior image of the hotel is also above the ground floor sets, and immediately brings the opening images of the TV show to mind. What also bring those images back is the iconic Fawlty Towers sign post, and watch out for the second half as it keeps with tradition of the TV show... I'll say no more than that, but fans of the TV sit com will know exactly what I mean.

The costumes, as I've already mentioned replicate the original characters exactly, as do the wigs and make up. The characters do not need to say a thing because those costumes say who they are.

Lighting Design is by Ian Scott with Sound Design by Rory Madden. As soon as the theme music, written by Dennis Wilson starts, you are instantly taken back to the 70's, and provides a warming virtual hug from days gone by.

John Cleese and Connie Booth may only have written twelve episodes of "Fawlty Towers", but they show in this case that quality supersedes quantity. The characters are all so well written and all have a personal human feel, and the addition of the ensemble hotel guests in the play fit in so well with the characters that everyone who is old enough to have watched the originals on TV know, love and remember with great fondness.

Looking round the audience in tonight (Tuesday), the age range was vast, and the young ones were laughing just as much as the grey haired brigade (I of course include myself in that category), proof that good comedy writing is timeless; at the end of the day, funny is funny, no matter how old you are. If only the sit coms of today were as well written, rounded and as funny as the classics from fifty years ago.

"Fawlty Towers" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 6 June.

Photography by Hugo Glendinning.

 " A Bunch Of Amateurs" by Nick Newman and Ian Hislop.

Blind Eye

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

A washed-up Hollywood star, Jefferson Steele, is flown to England to play the title role in King Lear at "Stratford" believing he will be appearing onstage at the legendary Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Instead he finds he has signed on with the "Stratford Players" in the Suffolk village of Stratford St John. He arrives in England with his career deteriorating and having problems with his daughter who is an aspiring actress on the fringes of the New York theatre.

The local villagers are over the moon to have such a “star” playing with them. Steele though is a typically selfish American with no time for manners, and displays an appalling lack of class, considering himself too big for this lowly setting. Will the arrogant Steele knuckle down to his latest role, or will he forever play the Hollywood star? If you've never seen this comedy before then there's only one way to find out......

Jefferson Steele is played by Jonathan Greaves, portraying the archetypal American "star" to be a ball of ego, attitude and entitlement; thinking that he is too big to rehearse, wanting to change the script to fit Steele's "talents" and expecting everyone to cow tow to him. When he finds out that this local theatre group are not about to treat this Hollywood star as a star so up himself, and his agent cannot, or will not get him out of this contract, he starts to  think differently on the job in hand. He also discovers that not all media news is great publicity!

I can only imagine that this role is joy for Jonathan to play as it allows him to play the ultimate diva, flounce and swear to his character's heart's content, as well as deliver some iconic Shakespearian lines alongside some brilliant comedy lines by Hislop and Newman. As always with Jonathan, the role is delivered brilliantly, reminding me so much of the actor Greg Davies in this role.

Saurav Modak plays Nigel Dewbury, possibly a rival for Steele but he loves the theatre and is very confident about his acting ability with the Stratford Players. Nigel is a proper ham and we get some wonderfully hammy, over the top lines from The Bard's pen, and Saurav brings the pompousness to the stage gloriously.

Danielle Rodgers plays the slightly over excitable Mary Plunkett, and in the play she has a bit of a crush on Steele. Could her jealousy be the downfall of out American star? Another lovely comedy role, whcih is something that Danielle excels at. there is a scene where Mary has to deliver a speech to Lear with great anger, and is in such contrast to the previously "fan-girl" behaviour when around Steele, it makes you sit up and take note!

Alex Sjoberg-Weekes plays Lauren Bell, the wife of the sponsor and budding actor herself, but all does not go quite to plan when her former occupation causes quite an unexpected blow to the future of the play!!!

Paul Duffy plays Dennis Dobbins, caretaker, health and safety officer and the Duke of Gloucester in "King Lear". Great accent and another classic comedy performance, including an unexpected change of character in the second act. Paul also was the Fight and Lift Co-ordinator.

Kay Thomason-Vardy plays Jefferson’s feisty teenage daughter, Jessica Steele. Jessica is wise to her father and his ways and stands no nonsense from him. Does her love of acting bridge that gap that has widened between her and Jefferson over the years? Kay brings the drama to the play within the play in the second act, but a drama that brings the gap between father and daughter closer together. As with Jonathan and Paul, we get another wonderful and consistent accent.

Beth Duffy plays Dorothy Nettle, the director of the Stratford Players and the moving force behind keeping the theatre alive. Dorothy is very typical of many Directors I know because she is the glue, the force, the determination, the organiser, the agony aunt as well as the mother hen for this bunch of amateurs. A real bridge over various troubled waters within the Stratford Players. 

Evie Lucas, Ashleigh Wilkinson and Gabriella Tilley play The Singer/Journalist. This trio move the play on, distracting from the subtle scene changes and giving the cast members breathing space to change costumes, and performing the words of the Bard to music arranged by Rowan Nix, with choreography thrown in by Ashleigh Wilkinson.

Directed by Lindsey Hemingway, assisted by JJ McCormack. It's pacy, is hilariously good fun and has been well cast. I have to say that these roles have been so well matched to the actors, playing to the individual strengths. The musical interventions are clever and cover a range of music genres - I especially like the country and western version of Shakespeare. There's a really nice balance of serious am-dram action combined with the hilarious ham fest. This is only Lindsey's second bout of directing ever, but the quality of the direction shows that I don't think this will be the last time that Lindsey dons the Director cap.

Set Designer is JJ McCormack. The whole stage is filled with this excellent design; there are two massive doors at the back which make the archetypal village hall seem more like a barn door design. The rest of the area is filled with various sections of scenery and a stage. It was quite fun getting in the auditorium early to take a look at the amount of props on stage, all of which are so relevant to the am-dram scene. As usual the construction of the set is by JJ, Lindsey, Grant Hemingway and Zack McCormack. This quartet should be up for some kind of set design/construction with this great set.

Kirsty Smith is the Stage Manager, making sure that the running of everything stage wise ran smoothly, along with Stage Crew of Izzy Tilley and Jennifer Reckless.

Costumes for the play are by JJ McCormack and Adam Chapman. If you've ever seen one of Blind Eye's shows, you'll know just how good the costumes are, having won awards for their costume design in the past. And I don't think that there were any of the characters who didn't have at least a couple of costume changes each.

Sound design and  lighting design are by Jack Clarke with Dave Dallard on standby. The sound cues were beautifully timed and the lighting operation was as timely and apt as the sound design and operation.

The writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman really get to the heart of what local theatre is all about and that an amateur operation like local theatre is anything but amateur. I for one have been shouting this for decades.

Blind Eye support a different charity with every production and this time around they have chosen to raise money for Asthma and Lung UK. This charity do amazing work across the UK helping us all to breathe easier, and are the only charity in the UK supporting the nation's lungs.

"A Bunch Of Amateurs" is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 30 May and see how a bunch of amateur theatre actors put on a professionally slick piece of theatre.

 "Same Time, Next Year" by Bernard Slade.

Performed by Jakobus Theater in der Fabrik.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The second of two plays performed in German by one of the other theatre companies twinned in Germany with the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Every year there is a theatrical exchange where the Lace Market theatre travel to Germany to perform a couple of plays, and vice versa. This year is the first time that I have attended any of the German theatre groups' productions. With not being fluent in the language - my German lessons at school were a veeeerrrry long time ago, but there are the odd phrases or words that I recognised. This being the case, it made me pay even more attention to the stage and the actors on the stage. Neither of the plays performed this week I have seen before, another reason to pay more attention than usual, but as I mentioned in my Monday evening's review, you don't have to be fluent in Russian to enjoy Chekhov, or know Italian to enjoy most operas, because the talents withing the actors deliver the story in a more physical way.

"Same Time, Next Year" is a romantic comedy about New Jersey accountant George and Oakland housewife Doris meet at a motel in 1976. They have an affair, and agree to meet once a year, despite the fact both are married to others and have six children between them. We get to see ad hoc meetings from 1976 to 2001.

There are some very comical scene changes, which entail either a maid, and in one case someone who looks like a stoner with his shirt slashed to the waist, smoking a joint. These sections involve the worker tidying up the bed, removing cases and clothing and putting things back to where they should be; with a running joke of a chair being removed from one side of the room to the other, which is immediately moved back to where it was previously. The calendar showing the year is also amended by the motel worker.

There's music by artists like Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billy Joel plays behind the choreographed room tidying routines, also involving some dancing and/or singing, which I loved as it broke up the dramatic segments.

The play opens with Markus Künstler entering via the auditorium doors, greeting audience members with a brush, as the owner of the establishment where the meetings take place and sets the scene for the audience and gives a potted history of George and Doris's past rendezvous. This is done in English. This leads us up to the start of the rest of the play.

George is played by Christian Brunner, a lovely physical actor who relays the story in his physicality of the character. I just know that if I was fluent, or even semi fluent in German, that I would have loved his, as well as Magdelana's, performance even more than I did because both are such vivid storytellers via the physical comedy side of their acting. I also noted that Christian also had as many full costume changes as Magdelena, something that some Directors omit for the male leads.

Doris is played by Magdelana Maier, and I can echo everything that I have said about Christian here. The pair really bring everything to life, and just wait for the final rendezvous scene; I was not expecting that! Both actors really complement the other and make the relationship very believable through the chemistry they both have. I must say as well that my favourite scene was the second rendezvous in 1989 - that was a bit of a surprise where the dramatic comedy play really kicked in! With Doris the years between the meetings were visually excellent via the fashion choices. Women's fashion always seems to change so much from year to year, and the costume changes depict this time lapse brilliantly.

The Chambermaid who pops in to tidy the room is played by Jule Klessing. Again a brilliantly choreographed comedy routine to Prince's "Kiss" and an opportunity to show off Jule's singing voice to Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are". It's cameos like this and the one for Freddi that really kept the zing going in this production.

The Hotel Page is played by Freddi Schmeider. A contrast to Jule's smart chambermaid outfit with the shirt slashed to the waist and smoking while he slowly does his tidy up of the room. A lovely comedic section with the chair which could only really be done by a man to get the reaction that it did. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's song "Under the Bridge" backed up that chilled out persona perfectly.

Directed by Andreas Rüdenauer, who is a professional Theatre Director. Everything about this production, as well as the previous shows this week at the Lace Market Theatre smacks of professionalism. In this production I really enjoyed the scene change segues, as I mentioned previously in this review. It's not often in British Theatre that the scene changes are as entertaining as the scenes themselves, but here we get a brilliant example of how entertaining they can be.

The set design is wonderful. In the centre of the stage is a double bed with a window at the back of the set which has a lovely 3D effect looking out over the motel grounds. Also in the room is a keyboard, and I was wondering why there's a keyboard in a motel room, but that becomes apparent later on in the play. The chair that traverses the stage at the start and end of each scene, a chest of drawers with a phone atop, which also gets an upgrade later on, and a hatstand. A wonderful set design, and I also liked the cross on the wall which also indicates the passing of time when we get to the second act! Set Designer and Property Manager is Sabrina Gabriel.

The costumes for all four are great, especially the two leads who have several costume changes throughout to show the passing of time in between the meetings.

Sound design and lighting design are both excellent with several well cued sound effects peppered throughout the show. These areas are the responsibility of Niko Meister and Martin Schlegl.

respectively.

The technical crew consist of Luca Renner, Martin Schlegl, Niko Meister, Nicholas Hilger, Jens Rohmann, Leonard Berscheid and Markus Künstler.

Even without knowing the German language, I did know the basic storyline, this quartet of actors provided a lovely physical comedy that you were able to follow most of the story from. And it did give me a chance to recall even more phrases and words from my misty past of my German lessons with Frau Knott, back in my schooldays.

A couple of very enjoyable introductions to German am dram, and not one prompt in either show!

There's two more chances to see this production on Thursday; a 2.30 matinee and a 7.30 evening performance. The production is performed in German for free, but a ticket will be required to assure your seat.

Photography by HERRliche fotografie