"Death On The Nile" by Agatha Christie.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

 In this famous Agatha Christie mystery, Hercule Poirot’s Egyptian adventure aboard a glamorous river steamer descends into a terrifying search for a murderer, with enough twists and turns to keep you unsettled and guessing until the final discovery. 

The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been murdered. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything – until she lost her life.

Hercule Poirot, as always, pieces together all the jigsaw pieces to discover who pulled the trigger, and why, especially as it seemed that everyone had a watertight alibi, but someone had to have their finger on the trigger, didn't they?

Playing Hercule Poirot is Mark Hadfield and an excellent choice to play the Belgian detective with the dry sense of humour. All of Christie's Poirot trademarks that we associate with the best Poirots, like David Suchet, are evident alongside some added comical lines like the comparison between William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie.

The legend that is Glynis Barber plays Salome Otterbourn, currently a writer of not so popular crime novels who has decided to move into acting, which escalates when she meets Sir Septimus Troy at a London exhibition of the Mummy's spectacular coffin prior to it being shipped back to its' homeland up the Nile.

Rosie Otterbourn, Salome's daughter who finds love on the Nile trip, is played by Camilla Anvar. 

Colonel Race is played by Bob Barrett. Though Race is not as brilliant at deduction as Poirot, he is a careful and methodical sidekick, helping Poirot to organize searches and interrogations on the steamer.

Libby Alexandra-Cooper plays Linnet Ridgeway, a young American socialite and heiress. Linnet travels to Egypt for her honeymoon with her newlywed husband Simon Doyle, who was also the ex-fiancé of Linnet's childhood friend Jacqueline de Bellfort. 

Howard Gossington plays Atticus Praed, who is an added character to this new stage adaptation and is tasked with returning the priceless Mummy to its Egyptian museum home.

Rameses Praed, a shy, budding doctor and the son of archaeologist/curator Atticus Praed,  is played by Nicholas Prasad. 

Jacqueline de Bellefort is played by Esme Hough. Jacqueline is the villain of the play as she is still madly in love with her ex, Simon, and can't stand to see him with another woman, so she follows them on to the boat to cause mayhem.

Annabelle Pennington, who keeps pursuing Linnet to sign some important documents, is played by Helen Katamba 

Simon Doyle, who is the ex fiancé of  Jacqueline's and is now on his honeymoon with Linnet, is played by Nye Occomore. Emotions spill over when Jacqueline pulls out a gun and shoots Simon in the leg, which she immediately regrets.

Terence Wilton plays Septimus Troy, an aging Shakespearean actor who also takes a bit of a shine to Salome, encouraging her fledgling thespianism.

Nadia Shash, David Boyle and Max Dinnen make up the Ensemble.

Now, just when you think you know these characters, there are little sections of the play that cast doubt over all of the characters. They are seen in shadows, holding covert conversations, all of which make you wonder which of this bunch did actually have a hand in bumping off Linnet, and for what reasons.

Directed by Lucy Bailey and adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. The staging is completely up to date, while looking and feeling as if you're back in the 1930's. The sliding doors sequences move the action on smoothly and allow the actors to pass through the scene in a cinematic way.

Mike Britton's set design is beautifully old fashioned while depicting the sumptuous style of the era. The initial museum scenes are golden looking, showing the richness of the surroundings with the mummy's case standing tall and glowing centre stage. When we get on board the ship taking them up the River Nile there's even more luscious comfort and style with the various compartments of the boat as well as the main compartment where most of the action takes place. The set is on two levels with the main sleeping compartments situated on the upper level.

Lighting Designer is Oliver Fenwick, who creates a two way split with the lighting. In the grand museum there are lots of gold and red lighting to highlight the extravagance and glamour of the building. The ship's lighting is a more darker lit affair with a more brown hue overall. Both designs reflective of the locations and style.

Sound Designer is Mic Pool. Clarity wise you could hear every word and the sound effects and soundscape were all appropriate and of the appropriate volumes.

In charge of costumes is Sarah Holland and this area of the production really brings the glamour and style into force. If you like the women dressed to the nines and the men in slick suits, then you will not be disappointed in this wardrobe choices.

Sharon Foley is the Props Supervisor. I don't know how easy it is to buy props appropriate of the era the play is set in, the 1930's, or whether these have been especially made for the show, but they all looked amazing; the ancient looking camera, the weaponry, drinking vessels, decanters, furniture all bring the feel of that time, transporting you fully back in time.

Wigs, Hair and Make-Up Supervisor is Elizabeth Marini. Another area which helps bring the style of the 1930's to the stage. 

The fight sequences are directed by Phillip D'Orleans and deliver a high level of realism.

Even though I have seen this play on stage previously, and have seen the film, and read the book, the storytelling is to such a high standard, along with a few new insertions, you can't help but love seeing this Christie classic and loving this adaptation. Christie fan or not, go see this show for a fun evening of entertainment.

"Death On The Nile" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 18 April. Don't let this ship sail without you seeing it off!

 "Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The relevance to today’s current experience is an interesting point.  The constrictions, the remoteness of Russian rural life set in 1895 affected mental health, finances, ambitions and relationships. And this play is all about relationships, which I found the most interesting aspect, maybe because the relationships twisted and turned and affected every one of the characters. And then there's Dr Astrov's forward thinking regarding regeneration and recycling.

Vanya and his niece Sonya manage the family estate to support Sonya’s father, a professor named Serebryakov, and his younger second wife, Elena in the capital. Vanya’s sole friend Astrov, a doctor, struggling against rural poverty and peasant ill-health.

The professor retires. He and his wife come ‘home’. We find out which characters have feelings for each other and many home truths are revealed throughout. 

The family, holed up together, have their emotions stretched, and when the Professor gathers them all together for a family meeting about the future, the fragility of them all come to the surface with an explosive result.

I've never really seen Chekhov as a writer of comic scenes but I found quite a bit of this play to be humorous. The part where Sonya tests the waters for the Doctor's affections is almost like a schoolgirl asking for a friend. And then when Elena acts as a go between for Sonya, under the premise of showing interest in the good doctor's charts is a lovely pair of mirthful scenes.

I liked the fact that the play continually breaks the fourth wall with several of the actors also acting as narrators to the audience.

Danabha Johnson as Vanya starts off as a good humoured character who likes to let everyone know that, in his mid forties, that he is getting old. There's then the scenes where he is trying to woo Elena, creating more comedy. By the end of the play though, he has developed a serious, and quite manic side, due to the intentions of Serebryakov to sell the property, that isn't really his to sell.

 

Jack Leo plays Dr Astrov, a character that comes across as quite camp, but we discover that certainly is not the case when questioned about possible intentions towards Sonya.

 

Ali Lit plays Sonya. A lovely, almost schoolgirl set of characteristics who does, and then does not want to find out if her unrequited love is going to be requited any time soon. Sonya shows that she has many troubles on her young shoulders, but will they get any lighter after Serebryakov and his wife vacate the farmhouse?

 

David Phillips plays Serebryakov, the main catalyst of many of these issues that arise. Wonderfully bossy with the image of being in charge and having all the answers, but are the answers what Vanya and Sonya want to hear?

 

Charlotte Thomas is Elena, married to the Professor but the object of two others' affections, who do their best to woo her. Elena knows that Sonya has the hots for the Doctor and tries to get some answers for Sonya. Wonderfully shallow, well why else would she marry an aging Professor?

 

Sue Drew is Marya, Vanya’s elderly mother and Sonya’s grandmother.

 

Amanda Hodgson plays Marina, the elderly nurse and housekeeper. She's not afraid to speak her mind either! There's a scene in the second act where she plays to the audience when she is dressing the set itself with the props, commenting on this and referencing her age; a wonderful piece of comedy acting, but I wasn't sure if this was maybe an act in hindsight of someone else forgetting to move the props and furniture, or if it was part of the direction! Either way, a delightful, human piece of theatre that put yet another smile on my face.

 

James Whitby, in his 17th Lace Market Theatre role, plays Ilya Ilich Telegin, nicknamed "pimple" due to the character's skin condition. He is a poor landowner who's allowed to live on Professor Serebryakov's country estate. He's Sonya's godfather and a respected family friend who also plays around with a guitar on stage.

 

Laurence Bembridge is Efim, a worker, or labourer on the farm, who takes on a very sinister image in the last scene of the play.

Collectively this cast create an extremely enjoyable and humorous piece of theatre which shows that Chekhov has a sense of humour, or is it all in the translation?

Translated and adapted by Cynthia Marsh who also directed the play. What I thought was done really well was that there were several spaces in the play which gives the play room to breathe and the audience to digest the information. This led to a nice mix of pace. All of the characters also got a few comic lines so there were no totally serious characters and no characters who were just playing for laughs. Again, this may also have been the result of the translation. Telegrin's nickname has been translated as "waffles" in the past but the choice of "pimple" straight away tells you why he has the nickname that he has. 

• Lighting Design is by Hugh Philip with operation by Hugh, Alan Green, Philip Hogarth and Amy Bermudez.
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• Sound Design by Matthew Allcock. The soundscape seems to be constant throughout and gives that lovely, peaceful rural atmosphere throughout the four seasons the play covers.

Matt was also responsible for the Graphics which completed the excellent set with scenes of the four seasons, as well as quite a chilling final section.

The Set Designer is Steve Musson. The set grows throughout the play and by the end we have a multi dimensional set design which creates such depth to the stage. Cleverly constructed to allow easy fold out sections as the story unfolds.

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• Stage Managers are Ann Booth and Linda Hoyland.

  

  
  
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• Wardrobe is thanks to Sue Drew, Linda Croston and Maddie Gould, along with the wardrobe team. There's one thing that you can always guarantee with the Lace Market Theatre, and that is the quality and diversity of the wardrobe department, and yet again, all the stops were pulled out in this period drama.

As the scenery and set expanded, so did the props count, all of which were thanks to Lesley Brown.

Choreography is by Amanda Hodgson.

Many people may think that Chekhov is "hard going", and some of his plays can be, but when you have a Director and Translator who streamlines an often two and a half hour play down to two hours with interval in order to highlight the comedic elements in the writing, and still keeps the relevance and seriousness of the dialogue, then you can guarantee an enjoyable experience of Chekhov. And of course, you have to have a quality cast as well.

If this is your first experience of Anton Chekhov, then you could not have chosen a better introduction.

"Uncle Vanya" is at the Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 18 April.

 "Wildfire Road" by Eve Leigh.

Nottingham Playhouse.

Part of the National Theatre Connections Festival 2026 by Nottingham Playhouse Presents, the other performances of this play are by Lambstail Youth Theatre on Monday and One Act Theatre Company on Tuesday.

The whole play takes place on a flight from London to Tokyo.  There’s a hijacker on board and the flight is re-directed to Siberia and in the process saving the lives of all 416 people on board, as the rest of the world is engulfed in a massive wildfire.  It’s a tale for the most important question of our times – are we going to wake up and address the climate emergency before it’s too late?

When you think of the title "hijacker", you automatically think that there's hurt, possible death, maybe political, but in this scenario the hijackers are actually trying to save lives by diverting the plane to a safe place, so this story is very different, but the people on the flight don't know that until the end of the play.

There are some wonderful characters in this play including Rohan whose mini monologues made me smile, and the couple who were on the flight because, as strangers they met for a spur of the moment jaunt to Tokyo, who, by the end of the play had actually managed to move the romance ladder, and again a clever and comical script for this pair. But there are several stories behind the travellers as to why they are on the plane and their back stories. Like every good play you'll always find s few characters that you gravitate to; I've mentioned three already.

The play is one for adults but this cast are students, and young students at that, but you forget their age after a while and they are just seen as "actors" on a stage. The script at times is adult with strong language and references, but very quickly, and to the actors' credits, they make you believe in the characters they play, which is something that every actor aims for, to make an audience believe in the character and not the actor.

This is one of those piece s of theatre where the main actors and the ensemble should be classed as one because they are all at the same level, they are all so good at what they want us to believe and see on stage character wise. Obviously many of the named characters we get to see more of but for me this was a true ensemble piece of theatre.

The cast are as follows....

Amelia Macdonald (Naomi), Ben Jackson (Dave), Maya Mansoor (Mariella), Isaac Littlewood (Rohan), Dahra Murchie O'Neill (Rina), Rosanna Sunney (Ruby), Fox Reeve (Bryn), Rubie Bonsall (Ema), Aether Ward (Kazuo), Bea Robinson (72A), Sara Ben Achour (62E), Lucy Riley (66D), Harley Knight (33E), Marcus Asher (61F), Kaitlyn Davies (28C), Mai Shevchenko (18F), Lucie Hallam (Hijacker & 66D), Attie Delve (Hijacker & 72B & 18F), Noah Harroe (Hijacker & 54E & 66E) and Tulip Barker (Hijacker & 14D & 57D).

The Ensemble are Esme Liddington, Ivy Mae Hamblin-Adams, Poppy Boud, Isaac Hopewell, Hollie Ashford, Larona Makanjuola, Molly Eaton, Cerys Cheadle, Emma Sangil and Milo Ramsay-Wilson.

Directed and Produced by Sarah West with Assistant Director being Niamh Woolley. The comedy in this play is delivered so well, and so naturally, in a way that many adult actors have problems with delivering as naturally as some of these actors can. The pace is perfect and the roll out of the story is executed so well which gives the audience that important light bulb moments at certain parts in the play.

Production Manager is Tony Topping.

The set design by Jinah Kim consist of quite a few chairs which are utilised really well by the cast to show the various sides of the plane including the flight deck and the plane seating layout from various angles.

Sound and Lighting, which also work very well to build tension leading up to the ending of the story, which I won't spoil for you, is by Eli Gayton.

The Hijackers are easily distinguished as they wear masks, which also provides that air of tension and mystery. the masks are designed by Nova Squire.

Deputy Stage Manager is Eli Gayton and Assistant Stage Manager is Bethan Wakefield, ensuring the smoothness of the changes of the set design.

There's a wonderful group of sections which involve all of the actors performing in slow motion which was particularly effective, especially with the chairs in one particular scene. Acro Consultant for this area of the play is Duncan Cosgrave. This area also highlights how well the cast work with pace as an ensemble to create an effect.

Wherever possible I really enjoy seeing new plays and new casts, especially when the cast members are just starting out on the acting journeys, and I am so pleased that a friend of mine drew my attention to this particular piece of theatre where the opinion that you have at the start is completely different to how the story ends.

"Wildfire Road" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until Tuesday 14 April with different theatre groups.

 "George's Marvellous Medicine" by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood.

Across The Boards.

Grange Hall, Radcliffe On Trent.

The play tells the story of a young boy called George who is fed up with his Grandmother and wary of her dark secrets. He decides to concoct a special medicine for her, but the results are unexpected.

There'll always be a child hidden deep within every adult and it's plays such as those written by Roald Dahl that joyfully bring the naughty child to the fore.

Possibly one of the darkest of Dahl's scripts where George Kranky and his family get a last minute visit, well a visit without an end date, to their farm. Granny is not the apple pie baking rosy-cheeked elderly lady who smells of Murray Mints and lavender. Oh no, she is a bossy, spiteful, nasty piece of work who bosses George around for being lazy, on his school holidays of all things. She also dislikes George's father, Mr Kranky.

Grandma takes over George's room and likes George to be at her beck and call. This includes the dispensation of her medicine. George decides that her medicine needs upgrading and decides to make his own very special concoction, with some spectacular results. "Growing is a nasty childish habit," she chides George for, but she is soon to have a growing spurt of her own!

This is such a delightful, but deliciously dark, piece of theatre, primarily aimed at children, but is an absolute joy to watch at any age. It has elements of pantomime with call and response from the audience, and this morning's show didn't need much coaxing to get them shouting out, and what sharp memories these youngsters in the audience have regarding the ingredients for this new medicine!

George is played by James Sikora, who is wonderfully child like in the role. After seeing James in panto, it came as no surprise that he is completely at home in this role. It's not just the medicine that is marvellous!

George's Dad is played by Emily Hudson, who has stepped in at the last moment due to Millie Hunt falling ill, so all best wishes for a speedy recovery, Millie. This is another marvellous character driven role, and a brilliantly over the top, without going too far, performance, complete with stuck on, almost Mario style moustache. Very comical and played to the kids in the audience perfectly. The exaggerated physicality was cartoonish which added another layer of comedy to the character.

Mum is played by Celia Bolstridge. Overworked as a mother and farm owner, her Mother's visit is an excellent excuse to use the farm work to get out of being at Grandma's call every five minutes. A lovely "busy" performance with a nice side of comedy which comes to the surface on a regular basis.

Grandma is played by Ellen Loran. It must be great fun to play such a cantankerous character, and Ellen really throws her all into the character, in almost the same way that a panto baddie would. A very clever piece of direction for the growth spurt imagery on Grandma's part.

Emma Nicol plays the Giant Chicken. There's a section in this comedy that is worthy of any Benny Hill sketch where he chases around other cast members to the music of "Yakety Sax". A lovely vision of chaos and confusion is caused at the start of the second part headed by Emma as the Giant Chicken with some lovely chicken strutting physicality, again playing to the audience with fourth wall breaking brilliance.

Directed by Ben Bradley, who is no stranger to writing and directing comedy plays and pantos, so this is right up his creative street. Ben has brought out the lovely juvenility of this novel, while still making this a show that parents can enjoy, as well as relate to. Let's face it, we've all felt the urge to harm a family member at some stage haven't we?.... Just me then?

Great pace, lovely comic timing from the cast, and even when objects materialise in the way of this Director, he swerves them to put on a fabulously entertaining piece of theatre that everyone can have fun with.

Emily Hudson is the Production Manager.

The set has the WOW! factor to be sure. It's like looking at a comic book opened out with an animated design. Even the solid objects like the bed and the chair have that look of it being drawn on paper, reminding us that this was once just a book. Covering the whole length of the stage it encompasses all the rooms where the story takes place. From the outhouse store, the swinging farm doors, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room and through to the exit out into the farm yard. Designed by Nik Hudson.

Costume designs are thanks to Emma Nicol; with a lovely homely farm outfit for the farm worker family, through to Grandma's smart but dated look, the piece de resistance though is the Giant Chicken outfit itself which looked absolutely splendid, especially that wig. Emma is also responsible for the scenic artwork on stage.

The show also features puppetry with the farm animals which are all worked into the show seamlessly and professionally.

Loads of props - just take a good look around the set and count the amount of props there are - is all down to Jennie Birch.

Lighting Designer is Jack Spoors, and I really appreciated the change of lighting to depict the darkness and menace of the action on stage; it really drew you into the action.

Sound Designer is Ben Bradley and there are some very well timed sound and musical effects in this show that flowed in and out of the story brilliantly. Loved the inclusion of "Golden", the Huntr X K-Pop track for one scene in particular, which brought this 1981 novel bang up to date for the youngsters. Some children's novels that are made into plays can seem slightly dated but  this production managed to feel fresh and fun in a modern way.

There's a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreted performance by Lianne Lindsay on Saturday at the 3pm performance, which is also a Relaxed Performance, as well as a Touch Tour at 1.45 pm.

"George's Marvellous Medicine" is back for a repeat prescription on Sunday for a further two shows at 10 am and 2 pm.

I will also thank everyone across the board involved in Across The Boards debut show for being such a lovely, talented and welcoming group, including the Front Of House manager, Beccy Burgess. I can't wait to see what the next step is for this new theatre group.

 "Oklahoma" by Gatepost Theatre Company.

May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton.

"Oklahoma" was the first musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, "Green Grow The Lilacs". 

"Oklahoma" tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie. There's a "box social dance" that night, which includes an auction of lunch baskets prepared by the local girls to raise funds for a schoolhouse. The man who wins each basket by pledging the highest bid will eat the lunch with the girl who prepared it. Curly asks Laurey to go with him to the dance, but she refuses, feeling that Curly has waited too long to ask her, and wants to teach him a lesson in keeping a lady waiting. Laurey accepts the invitation of the hired hand, Jud Fry, but Jud is not the man she wants to be with.

It doesn't matter how many times you see a musical, or play for that matter, every Director will create a slightly different vision of the piece of theatre from the production you may have seen before, and this is no different. If it's the first time that you have seen this musical, you can enjoy it for the marvellous classic that it is with the score still sounding as good as it did back in 1943 when it premiered. For theatre goers who, like myself have seen this show several times previously, watch out for a few subtle amendments, all of which add to the joy of "Oklahoma".

Curly is played by Ewan Waddell, and his is the first voice you hear as he strolls along the back wall of the set singing "Oh What A Beautiful Morning". When you think of the stars who have done the same thing on stage, Howard Keel and Josh Groban being among them, here on a local level we have a man who doesn't have to live up to the standard of vocal ability as the aforementioned singers, because his vocals are just as pleasing to hear open this musical. 

Every time you go to se a live show, you see a slightly different version, because no two shows are ever the same. This was opening night and one song in, the sound disappeared just after the start of "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top". Ewan carried on, not missing a beat, to finish the song acappella. Whatever was going through Ewan's mind did not show on his face and the audience kept the rhythm for him, showing that they were behind him all the way. This was the only hitch in this wonderful feel good, yet suitably dark show; but it showed the mettle of the actors, Ewan, Arfaa and Carrie-Anne on stage at that time.

Aunt Eller is played by Carrie Anne Corner. This is one of my favourite roles in this musical because Aunt Eller is one spunky character; who else would break up a full on bar room style fight by shooting into the air with one hell of a big rifle and put herself smack bang in the middle of the fists flying? I've been a fan of Carrie Anne's for many years now and seeing her back on stage playing such a fun character as Aun Eller epitomises just her personality to a tee. A lovely fun woman who you wouldn't want to mess with - with or without a gun. 

Laurey is played by Arfaa Butt. The casting of this musical is absolutely spot on when it comes to the actors V characters, and this one is another brilliant piece of casting. A lovely clear voice, fun personality but can get serious within a role when required.

Gary Heap plays Will Parker, who has just returned from Kansas City, ready to wed Ado Annie, but that flirty Annie has managed to reel in another suitor in the guise of Ali Hakim. But enough about Annie and Ali shortly. Gary is a seasoned comedy role player and Parker is another one. There are a couple of scenes where he loses what would have been called a dowry centuries ago, $50 in this story to give Annie's father. There are some lovely comic exchanges regarding the loss of the money and how he managed to get it back, bit by bit, enabling Will to finally marry his betrothed. As usual with Gary, great vocals and that lovely comic timing makes this character great fun to watch; and that's all down to Gary.

Ado Annie is played by Rachelle Bragg. A lot of productions will depict Ado Annie as an airhead with a voice like she has been inhaling helium. That's not the Ado Annie we see in this production. Rachelle plays the role of a gal who likes to have fun, but she is no airhead and the voice does not reflect that character description either. The accent alone is enough to put a smile on your face, because every accent in this show is brilliantly maintained, but when Rachelle sings "I Cain't Say No" the richness of the accent lends itself so well to the song and the personality of the flirtatious Annie simply blossoms.

Ado Annie's father and local judge, Andrew Carnes, is played by Jon Dawkins. You know that I love a good accent, and there are so many in this musical, but Jon's country bumpkin style accent is outrageously good; he made me smile every line he delivered with that accent. And some excellent physicality in Carnes character I noted, which added to the comedy in the voice.

Josh Birchall plays Ali Hakim and here is another amendment to the character that I for one have seen done in the same way most of the time. Ali Hakim is stereotyped in so many musical versions of this story as some kind of Persian trader, often with a stereotypical Indian style accent. Not here! Josh plays Hakim as an almost Cockney Del Boy character in a suit. Hakim has some brilliantly comical lines, especially as he tries to wheedle himself out of getting hitched. The scene with Ali and Curly where Laurey sets on Gertie, who is announced as Hakim's new wife, and wanting to stop Laurey from beating up on Gertie is a slice of comedy gold when Ali tells Curly to "mind his own business". Josh is a fantastic character actor and like every other piece of casting in this show, just perfect.

Christie O Connor plays Gertie, who gets her spouse in Ali Hakim - finally! I really couldn't remember that part in other productions, so maybe this was a more pronounced staging of that particular scene. What I really loved about this casting, and the character was her laugh. The most infectious laugh on stage for a while, and a role that I'll definitely remember.

Jud Fry is played by Kheenan Jones. As soon as I knew that Kheenan had been cast in this show, I guessed that he would play Jud Fry. Jud, for those who do not know this show, is the dark element in these characters. He practically runs the ranch as the handyman and lives in a small hut on the ranch. There are dark secrets surrounding his previous jobs but all he really wants is a woman to love. In this time of mental illness and depression, this character would be in there and this production highlights the way that people are treated when they appear different from the rest. Kheenan is such a fun person but he is so good at playing dark characters - who could forget his portrayal of The Monster in Encore's "Frankenstein"? 

Another dark element in this show concerning Jud Fry is when Curly, who sees Jud as a rival to his affections for Laurey, goes to visit him, trying to put ideas into Jud's head to hang himself, as that would show Jud how beloved he would have been by the townsfolk. This is all played out with the song "Poor Jud Is Daid", where we also get to hear Kheenan's rich vocals duetting with Ewan's. The ending of the Jud Vs Curly scene is also played out differently.

The large, and extremely energetic ensemble consist of Sam Bunting, Jude Cliffman, Emma Kelvey, Steph Dennett, Ben Gray, Alana Grummitt, Ellie Heap, Lottie Lodge, Jim Mavin, Jordan Neary, Phoebe Owen, Alison Russell, Kiah Smith, Laura Stone and Claire Webb. They made the show look even more fun in the choreographed sections.

Directed by Chris Collington, so we all knew that this show would be a success, even though I know the last few weeks have been stressful for Chris as the Director, as well as everyone involved, hoping and praying that the show would go on. The production is very pacy where it should be, but there are sections where the silence and the gaps really added to the tenseness of the scene and the story, and that also gave this production an extra edge. Chris has never been one to Direct a show without adding that Chris Collington touch, and you can see the little amendments and changes in this production that have made it even more interesting and relevant than it was back when it was first performed.

Choreographed by Lottie Lodge, and like Chris, Lottie is never one to just use the choreography and information out there. The choreography is classic "Oklahoma" but there are sections that have been extended and even more choreography has been added, all performed brilliantly by this cast. the "dream sequence" section was quite balletic in parts, and another section that I couldn't remember from other productions.

The fight sections were choreographed by Kheenan.

I have one very small nit picking moment with the fight sections, which may not have anything to do with the choreography, it may have but I don't know enough about this area to say. When the punches were thrown there was a stamp on the stage, which I assume is to show impact of the thrown punch. In reality this would be skin and bone connecting with skin and bone. This would make a different sound, like a clap sound or a dull thud, not a stamp sound. I know that the punch connection sound can be made by the one throwing the punch timely hitting his own chest with the opposite hand, or so I have been told by a fight co-ordinator. I don't think it matters so much in a musical, and certainly no one would have noticed, you know how pedantic I can be in my reviews, but visually the fight scenes were great fun to watch and timed really well.

Musical Director is Martin Lewis, who is a man who knows how to get the best out of a performer and highlight the individual's talents. From those first notes from Ewan to the rousing finale of "Oklahoma" the work and the direction of how to deliver these songs have been worked on; and I think I also noticed a couple of different arrangements of a couple of the songs, and all that keeps the show fresh for someone who has seen the show a few times.

Set Design is by Mark Green and Mark Russell. A static set that is able to be slightly adapted quite simply, which means that those changes can be done while being masked by a song, a dance or other performance and still move the story and setting along without any disruption at all. Loved the back wooden fence look, especially as the light filtering through the slats from the back created a whole new atmosphere.

Props are manyfold and supplied by Tilly Bedford.

The costumes are thanks to Tessa Raum and all of them help to create this period piece of musical theatre. From the cowboy suits to the dancing tiller girl/can-can style outfits, they provide visual fun.

Smoothly stage managed by Mark Russell with DSM being Mark Green.

Sound Design is by Lewis Reid and Lighting Designer is Steve Greatorex. 

"Oklahoma" is one of those timeless classic musicals which isn't performed that often; the junior version was performed early in 2024 at The Duchess Theatre, and prior to that I last saw the show in 2017, so if you like the classics, then this is the one to get your tickets for this week. It's great fun, the score is iconic, the choreography will leave you breathless or may make you want to take up line dancing (or the can-can) and the characters are full of character, plus there's that deliciously dark underbelly to this story. Gatepost are doing more than fine, surely you cain't say no to this show!

"Oklahoma" is at May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton until Saturday 11 April.

 "The Cher Show" by KTco.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Cher is quoted as saying “All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others". As history has proven with Cher's amazing career, this is quite true. Just look back at the hair styles and costumes that this woman has presented. People have mentioned Madonna and Tina Turner with re-inventions of their career, but Cher is also a name that must be up there with the best of them.

From the off, let me state that I have been and probably always will be a massive fan of this lady and her music. From the jangly folky style 1960's pop classics like "I Got You Babe" with Sonny Bono through the 1970's "Dark Lady" period and the first venture into disco with her "Hell On Wheels" period - let's not forget that Cher recorded the original version of the Sophie Ellis-Bextor hit "Take Me Home", through the rock chick 1990's of "Walking In Memphis" and "If I Could Turn Back Time", again re-inventing herself as a disco diva in the nineties and noughties with "Believe" and "Strong Enough". And apart from the music changes, there were the incredible outfits and wigs for each genre.

She had an incredible movie career with smashes like "Moonstruck", "Mask", "Witches Of Eastwick", "Mermaids", "Come Back To The Five And Dime", as well as her cameo in "Mamma Mia 2, Here We Go Again", which also spawned an album of Abba covers by this chameleon of music.

"The Cher Show" tells of the meteoric, trail-blazing rise to fame; the people who she was influenced by, the men who she battled with who under estimated her, her husbands, Sonny and Greg, as well as her battles against convention to become the powerful, talented and beautiful woman she still is today at the age of 79.

Helen Perry, Beth Denham and Natasha Cartwright all star as Cher in different sections of her career; portraying her in the 1950s and 60s ("Babe"), one for the 1970s ("Lady"), and one for the 1980s and 90s ("Star") respectively. In my eyes all three ladies are stars and......well, I don't want to appear misogynistic, but you know exactly what I mean! They bring a certain uniqueness out of the three stages of Cher's career, all of which blend like a wonderful Cher smoothie.

Cher has one of those voices that is instantly recognisable, with or without autotune, and this trio of Chers have obviously worked incredibly hard to get that tonal timbre in their voices for the various stages of Cher's career path. They all have great power in their voices but if you shut your eyes, which I did for a minute, it was almost as if Cher was in the room when Natasha spoke and sang.

I loved the various Cher costume stages, the many iconic clothes were paraded by our three stars, and the wigs transformed all three into this icon. 

Needless to say that the acting was stupendously good. They brought out the wit and the humour, as well as the sadness and heartache of Cher over the years, and the scene where Sonny has passed over was beautifully and achingly private as well as sad.

Aaron Murray, who I last saw last year in Loughborough in "The Producers", plays Sonny Bono. I have mentioned the obvious work put in to sound like Cher, but Aaron also seems to have done a lot of tone matching in Sonny Bono's very distinctive nasal vocal style. And once again, the costumes and wigs department have nailed the look for Bono.

Cameron Trail plays Gregg Allman, Cher's second husband. The long blond wig completely transforms Cam into character.  Cam also pops up as the host of Top Of The Pops as well as John Southall, the man that Cher called Daddy.

Matt Powell plays Bob Mackie, Cher's costumier and fashion designer. I don't know that much about this particular character but what fun Cher must have had with Mackie in her life. Flamboyant would be the best word to describe him, which is the perfect role for the wonderfully flamboyant Mr Powell.

Rob Camilletti, Cher's boyfriend when she hit forty, is played by Luke Grainger. Luke also doubles as the fiery Phil Spector at the start of Cher's career. Two very important people in her life, and two very different roles.

Debs McPherson plays Georgia Holt, Cher's mother. What a firecracker this character is and you can see just where young Cherilyn, or Cheryl as she was originally named, inherited her no nonsense attitude from.

The other named roles are played by Darcy Cole (Bridget), Callie Egan (Colleen), Alana Fay Moran, Soleil Quarless and Millie Seymour (Booth Singers at Spector's studio), Georgina Anderson, Lydia Thacker, Sophie Lowe and Abbie Faulkner (Girl group), Megan Singleton, Sandy Lane, Reema Rose and Jane Magee (Goldie & The Gingerbreads), Sophie Lowe (Dark Lady Soloist), Louise Curd and Sinead Parkin Various Production Roles), Max Fuller (Bob's Assistant), Jake Lightbown and Soleil Quarless (Entertainment Tonight Hosts).

The ensemble are made up of Lydia Thacker, Max Fuller, Megan Singleton, Reema Frost, Sandy Lane, Sinead Parkin, Millie Seymour, Soliel Quarless, Sophie Lowe, Alana Fay Moran, Callie Egan, Darcy Cole, Georgie Anderson, Harrison West, Jake Lightbown, Jane Magee, Louise Curd and Abbie Faulkner.

Directed by Alysha Gomes who, obviously along with Tash, Beth and Helen, has managed to catch every side of this superstar Goddess perfectly. The show is so fast paced, which it needs to be to fit in all of the many sides of Cher. Alysha has done the same as well with all of the other characters that Cher had in her life over the years, bringing them all together in this gorgeous stage biopic. I saw the touring production of this show a few years ago and this production has the same energy that the professional show had.

The show is produced by Millie Gilks which in my mind is always an underrated role in theatre and involves a lot of hard work, strategy and planning. Millie is also the Stage Manager

Choreographed by Kristian Cunningham. I love the choreography for this show, mainly because there is so much of it. It has energy, it has spirit, it is sexy, and there's one section that I adored. One of my favourite Cher songs is "Dark Lady", which in this show is sung by Bono and Allman, but I completely forgot all about the duet when watching the choreography for this section. It is absolutely beautiful choreographed and performed with such skill and tenderness. Another one of my favourite pieces was for the rock rework of "Bang Bang". There are also flashes of Fosse in certain sections, and who doesn't lobe a sophisticated flash of Fosse? Everything about the choreography is stunning, but what do you expect when you have Kristian Cunningham at the choreographical helm?

The set design is like I have not seen before with the ensemble using the large transport cases that are used for lighting etc as transportation for the cast, which give a feeling of people gliding in and out of Cher's life, but also provide an almost cinematic sliding doors effect as well as acting as a multi-level staging set. The four large letters on the back wall reminding us all the while of just who the star is. And this is just what's on stage. Below the stage area, which was opened up we see more transport cases and more disco balls with separate under stage lighting, almost extending the stage area. the steel deck is courtesy of Roydon Charlesworth.

The costumes, as you may guess are wonderful, and all thanks to Costume Supervisor Amy Wicks and Seamstresses Abbi Burns and Jan Brockhurst. We all know Cher's style over the decades and those changes in fashion are all here.

Another fashion accessory that Cher adores are wigs and there are all of those wonderful style of wigs on stage.

Just take a look at the amount of props that are involved in this show and that will give an idea of the work that has gone into this area of production, thanks to Carol Lawson.

Lighting Operator is Lauren Polimos. This area created that concert feel of the show being as bright and colourful as Cher herself.

Sound Operators for the show are Stephen Greatorex and Phil Holland. There were a few missed mic cues, but there are a lot of bodies on stage with radio mics, and being as picky as I always am on sound, nothing could take away my enjoyment of this production.

Musical Director is Dave Dallard, who also played keyboards as part of this ten piece band, creating a powerful backing to the powerful vocalists on stage. From the sound of the gypsy violins and folk melodies to the stomping dance floor anthems of "Believe" and "Strong Enough", just everything about the music side of this show was fantastic; it was almost like being at a Cher Show!

The band consist of Dave (Keys), Gabryl Oleshko (Keys 2), Chris Renshaw (Guitar), Tim Yearsley (Guitar), Dave Shipley (Drums), Dawn Bratby (Reeds), Jeff Widdowson (Bass), Joy Gravestock (Violin) and Phil Reckless and Rob Murray (Brass).

There's an incredible array of songs performed in this epic jukebox musical including "The Shoop Shoop Song", "Believe", "Little Man", "Bang Bang", "All I Ever Need Is You", "I Got You Babe", "I Found Someone", "Strong Enough", "Just Like Jesse James", "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" and among all of these, two of my favourites from her early 70's songs, "Living In A House Divided" and "You Better Sit Down Kid", all wonderfully arranged and performed.

Because the subject of the jukebox musical is the artist who sang the songs featured, the songs will have been a reflection of Cher's life, so this is not a case of fitting the song to a section of the musical journey. The song is part of the musical journey, so every song feels natural in its' placement.

Cher has always been one of my favourite singers, and I expect that this will be the closest I'll ever get to seeing this icon on stage. It's an excellent retelling of Cher's life, from childhood to her late 1990's resurgence. With all the songs any fan should know and a brilliant finale, I went home with all these songs going round my head and in seventh heaven. Everything was marvellous, so much so that I could ask for three chers for the three Chers! (Sorry).

An absolute must see for anyone who loves glitter, glam and glorious music.

"The Cher Show" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton from Tuesday 7 April until Saturday 11 April.