"Northern Ballet's Romeo & Juliet"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Ballet, as we all know, is one of the most powerful forms of theatre and dance. The ability to tell a story without uttering a word and to evoke such emotion from silent story-telling is a real art, and these performers are true artists, as well as being athletes of the stage.

The physical strength of the male dancers, as they whisk their partners in the air and hold them aloft, is truly spectacular and quite breathtaking. These dancers tell the classic Shakespearian tragedy with comedy and emotion. 

Everyone knows the story of this Shakespearian tragedy, so I won't go into the whole story; what I will do though is highlight the characters that Shakespeare created.

I don't need to individually praise these dancers because with any ballet company such as Northern Ballet, you can count on these performers being of the best quality, otherwise they would not be employed by such prestigious companies such as this.

Romeo, played by Joseph Taylor, is the son of Lord and Lady Montague. He is a handsome and free-spirited young man. His family are trapped in a long feud with the Capulet family. He is passionate, often acts impulsively and falls in love with Juliet – the daughter of his family’s rivals.

Abigail Prudames plays Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. Juliet is a beautiful, headstrong, and passionate young woman. She quickly falls in love with Romeo when they first meet at the Capulet ball and becomes torn between her family and duty to them.

Mercutio is one of Romeo’s closest friends, Mercutio is loyal and quick to help his friend whenever necessary. Known for his wit and imagination, but also his hot headedness Mercutio, played by Harris Beattie, often finds himself swept up by quarrels in the marketplace. There's a good deal of sauciness with this Mercutio, often including Juliet's Nurse, all of which adding to the humour.

Friar Lawrence, played by George Liang, is a Franciscan monk, and a trusted advisor of both Juliet and Romeo. He wants peace to be restored between the Montagues and Capulets, and also provides a possible answer to Juliet's arranged marriage with Paris; but we all know how that ends!

Tybalt, played by Harry Skoupas, one of the most recent dancers to join Northern Ballet, is the nephew to Lord and Lady Capulet, Tybalt is proud and vain but also protective over his cousin Juliet. He is often hot-headed, quick to draw his sword and is often the one leading the battles against the Montagues.

Filippo Di Vilio is Benvolio, a close friend of Romeo and is the peacemaker out of the three friends. He is always at hand to support Romeo and stand by his side.

Jackson Dwyer plays Count Paris who is a suitor to Juliet, and we first meet him when he asks Lord Capulet for permission to marry Juliet.

The Nurse, played by Dominique Larose, works in the Capulet household and has cared for Juliet since she was a baby. She passes letters between Romeo and Juliet and is the person who Juliet confides in the most. You can see this in the way that Juliet playfully teases her at the start. The Nurse is quite a bit older than Juliet and the physicality employed by Dominique to show the age difference is a real treat to see.

Lord Montague, played by Andrew Tomlinson, is Romeo’s father. He is the sworn enemy of the Capulets and concerned for Romeo’s safety.

Jonathan Hanks plays Lord Capulet is head of the family; he has a fiery temper and intends for his daughter Juliet to marry Count Paris. He is protective over Juliet and is the sworn enemy of the Montagues.

Lady Capulet, played by Helen Bogatch, is the wife to Lord Capulet. Lady Capulet is keen for her daughter to marry Count Paris.

These are the artists performing the Nottingham leg of the tour.

This production also features children from Gedling Ballet School, and what a treat this must be for them to be able to perform and learn from these dance masters.

Directed and devised by Christopher Gable CBE and choreographed by Massimo Moricone. I don't have the required technical knowledge surrounding ballet to even comment on these areas. I only know that I simply adored this production, I love ballet, full stop, and Christopher and Massimo gave me the best start to the week I could hope for. If it were possible to float inches off of the floor on my way home after attending this show, then that would have been me.

Conducted by Daniel Parkinson and the Orchestra is led by Geoffrey Allan. I know that at some venues the music is recorded, but we are so lucky to be able to hear the full beauty of listening to a live orchestra whilst Northern Ballet are performing in Nottingham.

You really can't beat hearing and seeing a live orchestra, but there may be a time where the sounds you hear will be recorded. There will be members of the orchestra in front of the theatre handing out leaflets and available to tell you more about this before the performances.

If you want a production with great beauty, passion, drama, dynamism, excitement, then this is the production for you. You also get to experience the beauty of Prokofiev's music, including the rousing "Dance Of The Knights", which you'll recognise as the theme to "The Apprentice".

"Romeo and Juliet" by Northern Ballet is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 4 May.

Photos by Amy Nuttall.

"Blood Brothers" by Willy Russell.

Nottingham Trent University Students.

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that this is my all-time favourite musical, but this is not the musical, it's the play version, which is something that I've never seen in the past.

For anyone who doesn't know the story it's all about Mrs Johnstone who has several children and takes a job cleaning for Mrs Lyons. Just as she is making ends meet, Mrs J discovers that she is pregnant again, with twins. An agreement is struck between the two women that when the twins are born Mrs J would give one of the babies away to her employer, Mrs Lyons, who has discovered that she is having problems conceiving. Mrs Lyons then sacks Mrs Johnstone and moves away to the country with her husband and Eddie, the twin to Mickey. Thinking that this has separated the two forever turns out to be far from what she had planned.

The play version omits several characters that are visible in the musical and, in my opinion, reduces a lot of the humour that is in the musical. maybe that was Willy Russell's intention when writing the play as opposed to the musical; to make the story a more grave affair. 

Having seen the musical many times, not having Sammy, Mickey's elder brother, nor Mr Lyons seemed odd. The lead up to the ending was different as was the actual ending, although both brothers did die. Russell wrote the play first as something to be performed in schools and then expanded the story and characters to become a full blown musical, writing the songs and introducing characters that were only alluded to in the play version.

With some of the characters missing from the play version, that also meant chunks of the play was also excluded, and again for me meant that the catalyst of Mickey's downfall, the jail sentence, the crime, the dependency on drugs, the paranoia was wiped out and the plot jumped from one stage straight to the inevitable ending. You can see why Russell wanted to expand the play to draw out the grittiness.

The musical is still up there on top, but the play version doesn't match up. That however is no reflection on the Nottingham Trent University Drama Students.

The acting was great, a couple of times a little more projection was needed, but the Scouse accents, as well as the posh accents, were presented brilliantly. 

Daisy Donoghue plays Mrs Johnstone. The accent was lovely, as was the characterisation of Mrs Johnstone.

Mickey is played by Scott Lynam, and he really got inro the character of a seven, nearly eight year old. In contrast the older Mickey was full of angst and this was acted out with a good deal of tension between Mickey and Eddie.

Eddie is played by Robert Medhurst. Lovely upper class accent which made the swearing sound comical, which is the way it was written to sound. With both Scott and Robert the difference between the kids and the adult versions of the characters was presented very well.

Mrs Lyons is played by Nina Rhiannon. In the programme it states that "She enjoys playing evil, unstable or just generally unlikeable characters because.... villains have more fun". Well Nina must have loved playing Mrs Lyons because the rapid unhinging of Mrs Lyons was just wonderful to see. Nina really brought out the paranoia in Mrs Lyons, visually and physically.

Linda, the love interest for Mickey, and lust interest of Eddie, was played by Erin Salisbury. I think Erin would have loved the musical version of this play because there's so much more flirtatiousness in Linda in the musical than in the play. Another wonderful age shift from the frustrated teenage temptress to the stressed and worried wife, and mother to be.

Cam Devenish played the Narrator and every other part that was required; the milkman, doctor, housing officer etc. Cam was the only actor miked up, maybe that was to accentuate the "devilish" narration that haunted Mrs Lyons; at one stage haunting her as she sat in her chair, slowly going crazy, almost sneering. Every time I've seen the musical, the Narrator is almost like a shark, circling and homing in and relaying unnerving pieces of script, tightening the grip of madness. But is this character really there or just in Mrs Lyons head? Needless to say Cam created the unease brilliantly.

Directed by Claudia Perez-Garcia who presented a really worthwhile piece of theatre. I know that there were issues with licensing for the play granted very late, and I know that budget was, and always is with theatre groups, and not just university drama groups, not as generous as any Director would like, but on the whole was an entertaining piece of theatre. I am biased as I absolutely adore the musical, but this was something slightly different for me, and I am so glad that Claudia and the cast were brave enough to take this on so that I could tick this one off of my list.

"Blood Brothers - the Play" was at the Nottingham Arts Theatre for one night only. 

Thanks to Daisy and Claudia for arranging for me to be able to see the other side of this Willy Russell favourite.

 "Liberation Squares" by Sonali Bhattacharyya in association with Brixton House.

Neville Studios, Nottingham Playhouse.

Three teenage girls forge an unlikely friendship when they meet at a creative writing workshop at a hip new café/workspace which used to be their library, now renamed "The Bibliotek". 

Sabi and Ruqaya challenge each other with ideas, TikToks, beat boxing lyrics, dance routines, all while avoiding the bully on the bus. Influential social media activist Xara asks the girls to speak out about their injustice, but they discover the workshop is connected to the state surveillance "Prevent" programme, and they have to fight back. The only question is how? What you say, and even what you think, can be viewed very differently, depending on who you are... Friendships fracture and loyalties are tested as they pursue different avenues of resistance.

 

"Liberation Squares" is a story of sisterhood, freedom of speech and creative expression, in an era when dissent is being criminalised and the state follows your every move, online and offline. 

This triple hander features Vaneeka Dadhria as  Ruqaya, Asha Hassan as Sabi and Halema Hussain as Xara. This trio play all the characters in "Liberation Squares", sometimes moving from one to the next by the application or removal of something as simple as lipstick in the case of Nadia.

Loved the "old school vibe" with Vaneeka's beat boxing which started the play and meandered through the play. The clever use of a loop machine highlighted the musical talents within the actors.

All three actors pull off the teenage schoolgirl image, not only with the look but also using the vernacular of that age group.

Directed by Milli Bhatia, the pace was relentless all the way through. It's a play which will make you think seriously about exactly what information unseen departments may actually hold on you, echoing George Orwell's "1984".

Whilst being entertaining and humorous, the play highlights the state of the world, and Nottingham today. Libraries and youth centres being closed. Racism, bullying, Islamophobia, colonial violence, bringing this play into the political circus ring.

The set design is by Tomás Palmer. The props the cast have are utilised in several ways to create different settings and the use of mobile phone projection onto the back wall is a clever way to further utilise the limited space. The three back panels revolve to allow whiteboards to be used to highlight the path of the story and to be used as a screen for the mobile phone footage.

Lighting design is by Joshua Gadsby and the Composer and Sound Designer is Elena Peña.

Produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Fifth Word.

The play runs straight through and lasts 75 minutes and I enjoyed every single minute of the play, which while being immensely entertaining, and really humorous, provides you with plenty to mull over after you've left the building.

"Liberation Squares" is at the Neville Suite at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 27 April with a matinee and evening performance and has a 14+ age restriction.

 "American Idiot" by Heanor Musical Theatre Company.

Mansfield Palace Theatre.

“American Idiot” is the story of three boyhood friends, Johnny, Will and Tunny, each searching for meaning in a post 9/11 world. The show features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. Can you believe that the Green Day album that this jukebox musical is based on is 20 years old this year?

Andrew Bould plays Johnny, the main protagonist of the story. On his journey, he experiences nihilism, drug abuse, and lost love in Whatsername. With Andrew you feel the anger from his character and channels it through his singing. People think that singing rock music is easy, everyone can belt out a rock song, right? Wrong! As with most singing styles there are different breathing methods to match the style With the exception of a few singers like Freddie Mercury and Dan Vasc, singing anything other than rock music is not easy, when you are known for rock music. Andrew, and the other leads in this musical show that rock and musical theatre styles of singing can be blended to sound faithful to the genre.

Curtis Salmon is Tunny who accompanies Johnny to the city, but soon joins the military and is sent to war and suffers serious injuries. During his rehabilitation, he falls in love with his nurse Extraordinary Girl, played by Evie Burke, and she returns home with him. Last time I saw Curtis in this musical he played Johnny. Curtis has a voice that you can pick out, he has that something, which works well with the songs in "American Idiot". It's not that often that you see Curtis in a choreographed routine, but again he shows that he is very capable of dance; an all rounder.

Arden-Caspar Jennison  plays Will who plans to leave town with the group until his girlfriend, Heather, played by Katy Gaskin, reveals that she is pregnant with his child. Will stays at home in an alcohol and drug-infused depression. Most vocalists prefer to sing upright, but even sitting and lying down, the smooth flow of Arden's voice is unhindered. This again shows the importance of breath control for a performer, and magnifies the work that the Musical Director has done with them.

Jack Readyhoof revisits his role as St Jimmy and gives a playful performance. St Jimmy is an interesting character to play because you're never really 100% sure that Jimmy is real, or just a drug-addled image in Johnny's head. Jack reprises his role and is just as manic and exciting as when I first saw him in this role  some five years ago. I've commented in the past that Jack gets to play some wonderfully unhinged characters, and with the help of the giant projections we experience an almost comic book characterisation of St Jimmy. I know what a good singer Jack is, and there's one very short section where Jack sings falsetto which was completely jaw dropping, sounding similar to Justin Hawkins of The Darkness.

Alana Moran plays Whatsername, and along with Emme Gunn as Alysha, Katy Gaskin as Heather, Candice Curnow-Newland as The Recruiter - a role I can't remember from other productions - and Evie Burke as Extraordinary Girl, they all give brilliantly powerful performances, matching the attitude and passion of their male counterparts. Needless to say, their vocals are also powerful and, when required, full of attitude. There's fire with all of these ladies.

 Theo, played by James Hallam is another interesting character with a slightly devilish image. When The Recruiter is recruiting Tunny into the armed forces, we get to see Theo as the all American army role model in a giant on stage projection. I hope that James won't mind me saying but he looks an awful lot like a younger Jonathan Ross, something I certainly had not noticed before, but when your image is about fifty foot high on stage, you can't help but notice.

Filling the Mansfield Palace stage even more are the Ensemble consisting of Megan Hill, Chrissie Smyth, Courtney Bowles, Charlotte Swindells, Jade Eaton, Charlotte Bell and Shannon O' Donnell, providing even more rocking girl power.

The show includes the hit songs “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “21 Guns”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “Holiday”, “Give Me Novacaine”, " Good Riddance (The Time Of Your Lives)" and the blockbuster title track “American Idiot”. Also included are several songs from Green Day’s 2009 release 21st Century Breakdown, and an unreleased love song, “When It’s Time”.

Directed by Kheenan Jones who has made a few very subtle changes to this musical, which you'd not really acknowledge in the usual bracket of a jukebox musical. The Directorial amendments may not be visible to anyone who doesn't know, or may not have seen the musical before, but they have been smoothly applied and actually enhance what is already a fantastic piece of musical theatre. A piece of theatre that I've been a fan of for many years.

Choreographed by Shannon O' Donnell. We get all the expected rock dance moves; the moshing, the extended one arm in the air with the two middle fingers folded, the head banging, but we also get some lovely soft choreography as well. Choreography that brings the excitement to the stage, especially in the opening number and title track of the musical. The energy in the choreography will mean that none of this cast will need to visit a gym this week at least because the calories burnt on stage will far outweigh any high velocity workout.

Musical Directors are Tom Bond and Tim Yearsley. I've already alluded to the work that any Musical Director would have put into this genre of musical, especially the breathing. But Tom and Tim aren't just any Musical Directors, and this isn't just any jukebox musical. After the opening number, we saw just how the main cast members were out of breath, and that is a full on choreographed and vocal number, showing the intensity needed for the cast and Musical Director, because it wasn't long before the next number arrived.

Green Day are not just an American garage band. In these arrangements you can hear the raw rock but you also get a taste of Billie Joe Armstrong's musical influences. There are lush, symphonic sections as in "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and there are Motown sounding breakbeats and rhythm sections. The closing number "Time Of Your Life" accentuates the Beach Boys style of harmony, especially from this large cast and ensemble. Tom Bond and Tim Yearsley manages to magnify these influences to glorify the music of Green Day.

I will also name check the band because they did an incredible job. Tom Bond on keys, Tim Wright and Rob Holsman on guitars, Marcus Cain on bass, and on drums, beating up a storm, is Harry Greatorex.

Lighting design is by Stephen Greatorex who brings the classic rock lighting alive. Brilliantly operated by Matt Sheridan and Follow Spot, which is not the easiest of stage lighting to operate, is operated well by Brett Waller.

I couldn't see a credit for the Sound Designer or Operator, but apart from just a few clipped mic cues, the sound, for me, was everything I'd expected from a musical of this genre; loud and powerful but not overbearing. So, whoever the mystery sound person is, you did a cracking job, because sometimes the sound at Mansfield Palace is not as consistent as the sound was on opening night.

I've also mentioned earlier the projections in this production and Technical Director Paul Young has enhanced the visual side of this musical with the projection designs. These are the things that you would see on a touring West End show, using the back screen and four columns in front of the band to project onto. I've seen projection used for this musical before, but this takes the art to another level. Paul also designed the set.

The musical runs for ninety minutes straight through, which was the right decision not to break the flow of this story by having an interval, which also means that the cast also work that little bit harder as well.

"American Idiot" is at Mansfield Palace Theatre until Saturday 27 April, and in my opinion, you'd be an idiot to miss this production.