"A Sudden Violent Burst Of Rain" by Sami Ibrahim.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

The play could start off with "Once Upon A Time...." because for most of this play is delivered almost like a fairy tale, or maybe a fable. There are sections throughout where you do almost forget about it being almost imaginary because there are many serious moments, although there are plenty of humorous moments to counter the seriousness, and then, as if being read a bedtime story, the play ends with two words "The end", the lights go down and the trio of actors take their well deserved bows. So what is the story?

Elif, the central character, lives an idyllic rural lifestyle. Day after day she shears sheep, then turns the wool into clouds that bring rain. No work means no rain, so Elif is pretty important.

There is a problem though. When Elif arrived, fleeing war and persecution from her motherland, she neglected to register as one of the King’s subjects. Her boss, who knew of the situation, overworks and underpays her. A quickie romance with the boss’s son sees her falling pregnant. Accompanied by young daughter Ellen, she heads for her country's capital to seek the King’s approval for legal settlement for herself and her daughter. Will she get the ending she wants though?

This story begins in an imaginary world, hence the knitting wool into clouds to provide rain, but the story soon develops into a harsh reality that we have all seen on the news and read in the papers. Irrespective of where this land where Elif has now called home, the immigration system all works the same way, and that could mean that her daughter may be sent back to where her mother originated from when she becomes of age.

It displays the lengthy, and useless form filling sessions and the laughable hoops they have to jump through and queues that refugees have to join just to register to be recognised.

When you get right down to it, it's about a mum and family. The fairytale element comes from Elif trying to explain the situation that she's stuck in to her daughter. That fairytale becomes a way of speaking to her daughter and trying to explain the situation to her and the daughter believing and unravelling that story.

Payash Raslan plays Elif, as well as Gran and a character called Three. 

Elif's final monologue is really powerful and you can make parallels with what is happening in the world at the moment, especially over the pond.

Brandon Hodgkinson plays the Landowner's Son, Letters, Worker and Two.

Completing the trio is Sam Whitworth who is the Landowner, Registrar's Assistant, Lily, Gatekeeper, Woman and One.

All three actors are excellent story tellers and relate the story partly as narration, partly in character mode. They highlight the ridiculousness of the situations they find themself in, but as ridiculous as the situations seem to be, they are deeply rooted in the reality of red tape procedures.

Directed by Esther Warren, this production has brought out the fun from the story, but has also thrust the serious story through the comedy fabric of this piece of theatre. It runs all through without an interval and lasts for about seventy five minutes and keeps your interest for every one of those seventy five minutes.

Nick Gale's lighting design quite literally brings light and shade in the production out, reflecting the mood of the scenes well.

Sound design is by Jonathan Blacknell. The music choices are very interesting and I was finding myself trying to place the music and artists but failed. Thank goodness - especially for music geeks like myself - that the programme lists the artists whose music is used in the show. A nice fusion of modern world music and classical that fits the story very well.

I love theatre that I've not seen before, and especially when it covers subjects that I don't know that much about, and this is one production that definitely entertains as well as educates.

"A Sudden Violent Burst Of Rain" is performed in the Studio upstairs at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 1 February.

 "Sinbad The Sailor" by Burton Joyce Players.

Burton Joyce Village Hall.

Over the years I have heard some people comment that local amateur - and I don't like to use that word as some people seem to link the word "amateur" with not being very good - theatre groups can't do pantomime; well for anyone who think that way, pop over to Burton Joyce to see this production.

Sinbad the Sailor returns from his latest voyage, bearing not treasure like his mother had hoped, but a magic seashell encrusted sword that he is convinced will make him his fortune. In order to placate her, Sinbad visits the bazaar to buy her a present.

At the bazaar Sinbad meets and falls in love with Princess Yasmin. But the jealous Vizier frames Sinbad as a thief and he is taken before the Sultan for sentencing.

However, the miscast Fairy Wanda intervenes and helps Sinbad and Yasmin run away to sea where many adventures await them, including meeting King Neptune.

This is a very traditional style pantomime but, as with all the best pantomimes, is injected with plenty of topical jokes and references, plenty of audience participation, some great music choices throughout, and plenty of jokes that will be understood by the adults. In fact everything that you could want from a traditional family pantomime.  

Steve Armstrong plays Ali, whose onstage welcome from the audience is "Hi Ali, let's get pally". The volume of this call increases the further we get into the show. Wednesday's performance was majorly attended by scout, guides and brownie groups, so some of the jokes did go over the youngsters' heads but were picked up by the adult attendees, so when there is a fully integrated family audience the reaction for all the characters' jokes is going to be massive. A real fun character played by an equally fun actor.

Greg Nicholas dons the frocks, heels, make up and wigs to play Dame Drachma. Now, I don't know if Greg has played Dame before but he really does make a fantastic Dame, who is quite saucy at times, especially with that naughty twinkle in his, sorry, her eyes when delivering salacious speech. I loved the fact that the make up looked as if it were applied with a trowel because that makes this particular Dame visually comical.

Bertie Black is the Vizier, the evil character who frames Sinbad and tries to get him out of the picture so that he can marry Princess Yasmin. Bertie is a fabulous character actor, and believe it or not, this is his first evil panto character, but boy does he throw every little bit of evilness into this role. His costume, make up and wig also increases that evilness, and all within the guidelines of the perfect panto baddie. His way with an audience is also worth commenting on as he extracts so many "boos" from this young audience, showing that he has them in the palm of his hand by his second stage appearance.

Vizier's sidekick - and that is a very apt description, quite literally - is Kumquat, played by Lilly Musson. From the younger audience members, poor Kumquat is put in her place by a swift boot up the backside, and this is all performed with terrific timing, complete with the sound of contact of boot on bottom, which brought some gasps from the viewers of this panto. Of course, those who know the secrets of theatre know how this illusion is done, and between the pair of them, Bertie and Lilly, the timing makes these actions very realistic.

Panto is full of great couples and couplings and the Sultan, played by David Matthews, and the Sultana, played by Lisa Ostrowsky-Weston, are just the first of the perfect pairings. Cracking chemistry which resulted in some wonderful comedy moments between this pair.

Sinbad is played by Hannah Smith and is just the kind of swashbuckling fun we need to see in a pantomime like this. Hannah shows that she can carry off the role of the main hero with ease, and she looks like she is having fun being heroic as well.

Princess Yasmin is played by Isabelle Williams, and with Hannah, they create another lovely panto pairing. She looks the part and you actually get the feeling that she is enjoys every minute of playing a Princess.

Yasmin's wing woman is Rose, another one of those lovely couplings, and played by Isla Hilton. You could really imagine that in the real world, these two characters would act in the same way as we see on stage. This also leads to the assumption that Isla and Hannah are good friends off stage, because that chemistry is so good onstage.

Avril McCormack is Fairy Wanda. This is a brilliant role; not the first time that I have seen a confused panto fairy who doesn't seem to know which panto she is supposed to be in, but it's that comedy confusion that makes this fairy such joy. A great costume and Avril gets to perform a song that I have not heard in panto for many years, "Nobody Love A Fairy When She's Forty", a song that drew lovely responses from the children, and adults, in the audience of Wednesday. 

Yet another fun pairing is that of King Neptune and Queen Pearl, played by Roger Newman and Sheila Millington. Their comedy timing is terrific and I love the "adult" digs they have with each other with this wonderful script. Roger also plays the Captain of the ship, and another wonderful character played by Roger, who has one of the best voice projections in this cast.

The High Priestess is played by Donna Atherton, this role being another evil character that we don't get to meet until later on in the show. I love her "mwah ha ha's", and this character actually lives to be evil another day, and in another country, but no spoilers from me here!

Abu is the High Priestess' lackie and is played by a wonderful young actor who I have had the pleasure to see his confidence grow on stage over the last few years, Henry Chaloner. Henry also appears in several other roles throughout, one of which I especially liked was his part of a rocker, where the Vizier sang about his "Bad Reputation", Henry looked as if he was having an absolute ball in his rock wig. I think it's about time that Henry was given a main role in 2025 because his confidence has sky rocketed in the last couple of years.

There's a panto camel in this production - well it fits in with the panto territory - and this is played by Charley Caudwell and Austin Kirk. Love the drunken Humpy in the first act. Playing a two part panto animal is not as easy as some people may think as it's all about synching in with your panto partner, and this pair did a great job.

Molly Fitches plays a police officer and Nicki Lever transforms herself into a very glamorous Mermaid called Marina.

The chorus are made up of Jessie Murdock, Charlie Cauldwell, Henry Chaloner, Austin Kirk, Sarika Hare, Thea Evans-Robinson, Molly Williams, Kerri Kirk, Molly Fitches and Nicki Lever.

It can be quite difficult to actually comment on just how good the role of a Director is for the main reason that they are responsible for just about everything off stage; they do not just tell people where to stand, what to do and how to do it. It's the hardest role in any production and Kathy Matthews has worked incredibly hard to make this production as good as it is. Comedy is the hardest style of theatre to pull off, but with this cast, Kathy has created one of the best local theatre pantomimes in 2024/2025. 

The choice of music used is also excellent with lots of party tunes like "Don't Stop Me Now", "Shake It Off", "Baby Shark" and "Hey Baby" to keep everyone's toes tapping.

I mentioned to Kathy in the interval about the slickness and pace in this production, and that is part due to the Stage Management Team of Patrick McDonough and his assistant, Marilyn Carr.

Marilyn is also responsible for the set design which was a real highlight for me. The whole design is very professional looking and professionally constructed by a whole team of talented set builders. the Graphic Designer for these sets are by Dan Miller from 89 Design.

The Sound is thanks to Deborah Craddock and Steve Armstrong. The timing of the sound effects really impressed me, especially in the wall paper paste scenes. This scene alone shows the attention to the onstage action and matching the sound effects to those actions. All the other sound cues were also spot on.

Chris Mercer is in charge of the lighting, and I know that Chris's talents lie not only on stage, but off stage with sound and lighting as well as directing, and in this particular piece, we get to experience his lighting skills, which is on par with his acting talents.

With having so many great party tunes in the show, the choreography is fun to watch as well. There's the usual piece that is performed by some of the main cast members while the rest of the cast get ready for the final scene, and the classic panto piece "If I Were Not On The Stage...." was performed. This is a piece where the choreography has to be really sell timed, and this timing from this cast was incredibly tight. This section alone was on a par with the same scene performed at the recent Nottingham Playhouse pantomime. Kerri Kirk's choreography was fun to watch and as tight as a duck's arabesque!

The costumes, by Kathy Matthews, Jill Toogood and Jenny Harwood are all excellent. The underwater scenes, to The Beatles "Octopus's Garden", were full of sea creatures like starfish and jellyfish. Neptune and Pearl's costumes were gorgeous as well as those for Sinbad, Yasmin and the rest, and Vizier's whole image gave no doubts as to being the evil one.

I normally only mention the prompt when prompted, or they are needed in the show. Well, there was no need for a prompt in this show, but if I didn't mention Emma Musson, she would probably be the only name involved that I hadn't mentioned!

Every year, and every production I see by Burton Joyce Players seem to get better and better every single time, and this is exactly the same. The last production I saw of "Entertaining Angels" assured me of that status, and this pantomime has corroborated this statement.

"Sinbad The Sailor" is at Burton Joyce Village Hall until Saturday 1 February. Get your tickets now oooarrr miss a fantastic, fun family show.

 "Coming To England" by Floella Benjamin, adapted by David Wood OBE.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Many people will know the name Floella Benjamin from their childhood days and "Play School" and "Play Away". Floella has had an amazing career on TV, film and stage. She has acted in many West End Musicals like "Hair" and "Jesus Christ Superstar", presented TV shows and appeared in the 1970's film "Black Joy" as well as a 1970's horror film called "I Don't Want To Be Born". 

She was CEO of her own production company. She has written many books, which this is just one of them. Floella received an OBE in 2001 for services to broadcasting, has been chairperson of BAFTA and in 2010 she was made a Baroness. In 2020 she received the DBE (Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire) for her charity work and very recently was chosen to carry the Sceptre with Dove at the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

In short Floella Benjamin is a real National treasure, and this stage play tells of her beginnings as well as referencing just a few of the above achievements.

"Coming To England" tells Floella’s own story of moving to England as a child. This stage production, adapted by David Wood is from Floella'a best selling children's book.

When her parents leave Trinidad for England her young life is turned upside down and she's placed with a cruel foster 'auntie'. At 10 years old, she and her siblings left Trinidad and sailed alone to join their parents and other siblings in Beckenham in Kent. Her father had left to follow his passion for music as he played saxophone and played in a jazz band.

But Floella’s excitement for her new life in England is short-lived, with her family subjected to racism and intolerance in 1960s’ London. Guided by her mother, and working twice as hard as her classmates, it tells the story of how a young Floella overcame adversity and grew to become Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham.

The cast are full of energy and all work as an ensemble team. Maryla Abraham (Marmie), Charles Angiama (Dardie), Floella's siblings are played by Alexander Bellinfantie (Roy), Solomon Gordon (Lester), Shaquille Jack (Ellington), Simone Robinson (Sandra) and for tonight's performance Kamarane Grant (Cynthia). 

Julene Robinson plays Floella brilliantly showing the highs and lows of her childhood. From the lows of having to stay with Auntie (also played by Kamarane) who had Floella and her elder sister working all hours around the house, as well as going to school, and her equally cruel Uncle (played by Alexander Bellinfantie), who had the two elder brothers literally fighting to eat the scraps enough for one. Through to the racism the family endured wherever they went, even at church and at school from the pupils as well as the teachers, these were the parts that were difficult to watch.

From these lows to the wonderful highs of carnival time, the love of her family, and the recognition of Floella's intelligence and the barriers that she broke through in her career.

Jordan Stamatiadis, Joe Pieri and Christian James played several roles, including the roles that inject the more poisonous side of this play with music, and it's a good job that Jordan, Joe and Christian are such good actors because these parts must not have been easy to portray. You feel unease watching how they treat Floella and her family and spit out their racist comments. Unfortunately the world has not moved on that much from the days and attitudes depicted in this play. But we're getting there!

Directed by Denzel Westley Sanderson. This production has built in sunshine, and I was half expecting it to be the same when I came out of the theatre, it instils so much warmth into you, sitting and watching this story. Paced perfectly and the negative messages in the story are outweighed by the positivity.

Set design is so vibrant, bringing all the colours of Trinidad to the stage in one big, bright and colourful party. Jasmine Swan is the Designer for this show. The costumes are as vibrant as the set.

Hair and make up have been well observed and reflect the styles of the 1960's onward.

Musical Director and Arranger is Abdul Shyllon. You are just in awe of the glorious sound that is produced, especially in the scenes that involve church and gospel singing. The Caribbean feel just seeps into your very being with original songs, arranged by Peter Pontzen, as well as some that you will know like "Jump In Line", "Brown Girl In The Ring" and "Smile" among them.

Choreography is by Kloe Dean. The carnival scenes are as vibrant as the colourful sets and bring the whole energetic feel of Caribbean party time to life. The fun this cast have during these scenes is completely infectious.

Lighting designers are Rachel Luff and Will Hayman, and they add to that party feel that the music start off with.

Sound design is by Beth Duke and was at the perfect level and was crystal clear with the music and spoken sections. You can hear every word.

The play lasts for just two hours with a twenty minute interval included. It's an inspiring and moving story of fight, and will give you plenty to discuss after the show, and while no one can shy away from the racist element - unfortunately it's still part of everyday life all over the world - it does leave you with a nice warm feeling, knowing that with hard work and belief, the underdog can win the day.

"Coming To England" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 1 February.

 "10 Nights" by Shahid Iqbal Khan.

Phizzical Productions.

Derby Theatre.

"10 Nights" was developed through the Write To Play programme by Graeae Theatre Company and originally co-produced by Graeae and Tamasha, in association with the Bush Theatre in 2021.

Phizzical commission and produce South Asian arts and cultural experiences, and have been doing so for the last twenty years.

Adeel Ali is Yasser, a young man who decides to take part in itikaf, voluntarily sleeping and fasting in the mosque for the last ten nights of Ramadan, he soon starts to regret his decision. He navigates smug worshippers, shared bathrooms, and recurring thoughts of chunky chips, and his isolation forces him to confront a side of himself he’s been trying to keep hidden.

I have, and have had Muslim friends over the years and know how difficult they found Ramadan, one fellow worker often fell asleep at her work desk on several occasions throughout this period.

This play gives an in depth view of a person who takes part in this deeply religious act and shows the strict procedures they go through; there's even a certain way to wash, the prayer schedule and the fasting. Yasser collapses a couple of times in the ten day period. It indicates that by minimising the food intake, not only leaves the body weak, but also affects the mind and gets the person fasting to delve deep into their thoughts and examine their past actions, and thoughts.

Adeel also adds voice to several other characters within the story. To make sure that everyone knows they are other characters, the words are all projected on a backdrop screen in different colours alongside the character in question.

The play is performed straight through without an interval and lasts around an hour and twenty minutes in total. It's performed in English with some Urdu and Arabic references.

Directed by Sâmir Bhamra, he makes sure that this production is fully inclusive, writing and creating a piece of theatre that is entertaining as well as educational, especially to someone who knows very little about the inner workings of a "different to their own" religion. I certainly learned new things tonight and was entertained fully, especially with the human comedy element.

The set was what I imagine the inside of a mosque would look like; what I didn't realise was that there are areas set aside as living quarters, or the hovel as Yasser describes it. It's bright and colourful in decor, but the washing and toilet areas did strike me as being basic, especially the toilet. There's a lot of eye opening for me during this play.

Lighting design is by Rajiv Pattani and sound design is by Sarah Sayeed.

The projections I mentioned are by Rudi Okassi-Henry. There are not just to show the speech but also to take you into the mind of Yasser with flashbacks for him.

Costume Designer is Simron Sabri.

Monday night was only about a third full and will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fascinating insight into what happens when a person voluntarily takes on this religious task, and how religiously they stick to that task. I also love seeing new theatre, and especially theatre that has something different to offer. and that box is definitely ticked with this piece of theatre.

"10 Nights" is at Derby Theatre only until Tuesday 28 January.

 "Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie.

Adapted as a pantomime by Tom Whalley.

Ravenshead Theatre Group.

Ravenshead Village Hall.

Now this is what "Peter Pan" as a pantomime really should be like!

With this production, you get the full story of Peter Pan, from the first time he is spotted in the Darling Children's bedroom where he loses his shadow, spotted on stage sneaking into the toy box, all through the highlights of J.M. Barrie's wonderful book, but with that fun, split level pantomime comedy feeling.

Helen Berry plays Peter with the same energy as a child who has been drinking full-fat fizzy drinks for a week. What I noticed about this particular Peter was the whole look, even down to the otherworldly ears.

Tinkerbell is played by Lucy Johnson. Wonderfully naughty with the green eye firmly in place, thinking that Wendy is replacing this fanciful fairy's place beside Peter.

Mr Darling is played by Rob Hurst. I've seen some Mr Darling's played quite nastily, which he is because his alter ego is Hook, but there was a bumbling impatience in Rob's version; the nastiest comments being when he said that Wendy was getting too old to be sleeping in the nursery with John and Michael.

As Captain Hook, Rob really brings the panto villain to life, but is a comical camp way and Hook's normal evil mwah hah hah hah laugh is almost a congratulatory chuckle to himself. Watch the Captain's hook for an ongoing joke, that possibly only the adults will spot, but is started by John Darling at the start.

Mrs Darling, also dubbed Dame Darling is played by Daniel Andrews. This is Daniel's first time donning the Dame outfit on stage, but he is made for a character like this, and actually makes quite a good-looking woman. 

Daniel also doubles the Dame factor by playing Lady Starkey, who has never been the same since the loss of her late husband Richard, which is another nod to the adults who can drum up a connection! This Lady has not been the same since she lost Dick, and is on the lookout for a replacement from the audience. I can't be sure just how much is ad-libbed by Daniel, but everything regarding the audience participation just flowed perfectly with a comic ease. There's a lot of sauciness, as to be expected from these characters, mainly pitched just above the kids' heads, but there's also a lot of jokes that the kids got with ease.

Wendy Darling is played by Hazell O'Connell, John Darling is played by Eddie Gray and Philippa Adamson plays Michael Darling; a fun trio where each actor brings out the traditional character of the three Darling children from the book. This is where the real traditional feel of the story really shines through.

Playing Nana The Dog, Crocodile as well as a Gorilla is Ann-Marie Butler. In most pantomimes there is a scene where three of the characters are pursued by a ghost; this is a bit different, and I liked the change with the gorilla scares them. Ann-Marie is not only on stage but also uses the central aisle to enter as the crocodile, and you wouldn't recognise Ann-Marie from Nana's costume.

Playing Smee is Catherine Petrova, and what a performance Catherine puts on. This production is absolutely rammed with puns, and let's face it, who doesn't love a good pun? Even at the end where Smee gets her own song in "This Is Me" from "The Greatest Showman", there's a clever merging of the last two words in the title to create "This Is Smee". A wonderfully energised role who really got the audience participating vocally every time she entered the stage.

Peter Pan's Lost Boys are played by Duncan Dearman (Slightly), Adam Hague (Tootles), Mandy Buckley (Curly) and Helen Brailsford and Adam Saunders (The Twins). These Lost Boys may have fallen out of their prams and lost their way, but this crew were certainly on target with the energy and comedy.

Tiger Lily, who had been captured by Hook and his clan, is played by the lovely Rojin Thornley.

John Birch plays Chief Big Willie, and there's a lovely tongue in cheek scene where Chief Big Willie explains his family roots and their names and why they were named the way they were. And lots of the kids also had a chuckle at that particular joke!

The three mermaids were played by Holly Beardsmore (Ariel), Freya O'Connell (Bold) and Mia Thompson (Persil). Another lovely scene, complete with even more puns, and we see and hear some more very clever writing with a connection to a well known low price supermarket and The Little Mermaid - I'll leave you to work that one out!

And then there's the chorus of Pirates and Neverlanders who are made up of Holly Beardsmore, Daisy Dearman, Evie Dearman, Emily Evans, Sorrell Harrison, Daisy King, Ethan Lee, Abbey Moran, Lilli Napthine, Polly Napthine, Caitlin O'Connell, Freya O'Connell, Scarlet Sarkar, Mia Thompson and Emilia Thorley.

From the mains to the chorus there is not one dodgy performance to be seen in this feast of fantasticness.

With a cast this size the stage management is spot on as well, thanks to Ann-Marie Butler and her crew of Sue Bishton, James Disney, John Birch and Andy Cook.

The sound for this production also gets a special mention because there are lots and lots of little soundbites that all need to be played at just the right time and Sarah Tryner hit every cue.

Iain Walton was on light duty, making sure that everyone who stood in the spotlight was actually in the spotlight. Another top job by Iain.

Loved the set design which was mainly made up of a giant map of Neverland and designed by Andy Cook.

The costumes for every single person on that stage were exceptional and I couldn't possibly single out one for recognition over the other, and all sourced and made by Mandy Buckley and the cast. What a fantastic job which really brought this eye popping production to life.

This could possibly be one of my favourite pantomimes of 2024/2025, mainly due to the fun characterisation and the brilliant script. As with all pantos, there were swipes taken at surrounding areas, all in jest of course, but this has to be one of the best panto scripts of this festive period, as I said earlier, absolutely rammed with jokes and puns reaching every level from childish fart gags to naughty double entendres relating to a certain ship and cruise line based in Southampton.

There is such a lot in this show for the eyes and ears, and all crammed into two hours of fun and entertainment, and so worthy of the ticket price.

"Peter Pan" is at Ravenshead Village Hall until Sunday 26 January, but tickets are in demand, so treat yourself and the family for some Sunday shenanigans.