"Noises Off" by Michael Frayn
Nottingham Playhouse

The idea for "Noises Off" came in 1970, when Frayn was watching from the wings a performance of The Two of Us, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He noted that it was funnier to see the play from behind the set than as an audience member and thought that one day he would write a play from that perspective, "Noises off" is that play and takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage.
Each of the three acts of "Noises Off" contains a performance of the first act of a play within a play, a poor farce called "Nothing On" Act One is the dress rehearsal where we see the cast hopelessly unprepared and having issues with entrances and exits, missed cues, missed lines, doors that won't open or stay shut and bothersome props, including several plates of sardines.

Act Two shows a matinee performance a month later but this time from backstage which shows the deteriorating relationships between the cast and director and falls into disorder before the end of the play.

In Act Three, we see a performance near the end of the ten-week run and the relationships have got even worse. The actors remain determined at all costs to cover up the mounting series of mishaps, but it is not long before the plot has to be abandoned entirely and result to ad-libbing their way to the end of the scene.

There are laughs a plenty here, and I have it on good authority that this is very close to how it sometimes can be behind the scenes of community theatre productions.

Orlando Wells plays the director of "Nothing On", Lloyd Dallas, who as a director is used to juggling and keeping all the theatrical balls in the air, but the juggling also spills into his personal life as well.

Carla Mendonca as Dotty Otley who plays Mrs Clackett, is a wonderful character driven piece who I would love to see playing Mrs Overall in "Acorn Antiques" because of the comedy element of both characters.

Patrick Osborne and Sophia Nomvete play Gary Lejeune/Roger Tramplemain and Brooke Ashton/Vicki are a wonderful pairing as the two who are having an affair and use the house as a meeting place for their illicit tryst, unaware that they are not alone in the house.

Enter the owners, who aren't really there as they are really in Spain for income tax reasons, John Elkington and Becci Gemmell as "Nothing On" actors Frederick Fellowes and Belinda Blair who play husband and wife Phillip and Flavia Brent. Belinda has a habit of revealing which of the cast members are in relationships with each other and Frederick has troubles with nose bleeds when there is any aggression shown, which as you can imagine is quite regular.

The poor assistant stage manager, Poppy, is played by Ritu Arya, and shows Poppy as over-sensitive and unaware of the director's dalliances with one of the other cast members. When this news is revealed, her character becomes ever more sensitive and there's a lovely scene regarding the curtain calls which shows the comic side of the character.

Robin Bowerman as Seldon Mowbray, the distinguished actor with a drink issue, plays the burglar in "Nothing On". There's a wonderful section in Act Two involving a bottle of whiskey which is beautifully choreographed.

And finally the overworked stage manager, who also doubles for Frederick and Seldon, and runner for Lloyd played by Brian Lonsdale.

All of the these characters are wonderfully cast, very funny. I can only imagine that playing a character who is playing another character can't be the easiest of roles but these lot make you believe the character and the character's character.

"Noises Off" is directed by Blanche McIntyre and a brilliant job she does as well. She has created a fast-paced, hilarious piece of slapstick/farce theatre with split second comic timing, made for all the family to enjoy. I'm not sure if it will make anyone sign up to community theatre but but hopefully it will make people go to see more community theatre. You never know, after all it is live entertainment and no two shows will ever be exactly the same so.....

"Noises off" is on at the Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 30 April 2016.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" by the ESNA Players
Loughborough Town Hall

Hold on to your hats, you could be in for a long one here, and I mean the review, so you may want to get a beverage before you start reading.

I have seen many amateur and professional productions of the Lloyd-Webber/Tim Rice's rock opera but I think I've now seen the best version. i won't need to tell you the story so we can skip to the bit I like best, heaping praise. I apologise for not being able to mention everyone by name but you should all know that every single one of you made the performance the success that it is.

Let's start at the top and Jesus Christ. Played by Darryl Clarke, I judge Jesus by the song "Gethsemane", which is sung after Judas has betrayed him and he is waiting to be arrested. I look for an equivalent to Ian Gillan's stage version of the song or Ted Neely's film version, I know in reality that I won't find this but Darryl's version was as close as I've heard. The note at the end of the song was long, powerful and controlled and gave me goose-bumps. The performance throughout was powerful and emotive, especially at the end when he was taken from the cross and wrapped up. I won't lie, I was welling up. Darryl has an amazing falsetto which he used to great affect and dealt with the intricate key changes incredibly well. You could really believe it when he appeared completely tired, spent and ready to die on that cross.

Ashley Bright played Judas. You could see the frustration he wrestled with after he betrayed Jesus; torn between his love for the man and trying to stop the situation that had been created getting out of hand. We all know how the story ends for Judas but when it came, it was quite one of the most violent and shocking versions I've seen. it would have been easy to overdo the suicide act but this wasn't overdone at all.Again a wonderfully powerful voice with great control.

I always thought that Mel C did a great job as Mary Magdalene but after tonight, Mel C could take some tips from Natasha Bryan. Beautiful to look at and gorgeous to listen to. Natasha has a very pure, clear and emotive voice, which matched her acting. It would be easy to replicate past versions but Natasha took " I Don't Know How To Love Him" and made that song her own.

For me one of the most powerful voices on stage came from Chris Wilson, who played Pilate. The sheer power was quite physical; he put the opera in to rock opera. Chris is a big man with a big voice and he commanded that stage, but it was also nice to see the almost moralistic side of Pilate shown when he had to order the 40 lashes to Jesus. You could see that he was holding back the punishment as he had no crime to punish but gave in to the baying crowd who wanted the crucifixion of Jesus.

Brilliant vocals from Jonathan Penton and Phil Burrows as Calaphas and Annas respectively. A wonderful rich bass voice teamed with another powerful set of lungs with Phil. This pair of characters are a pair that i always look forward to hearing, and again I was not disappointed.

Making his debut with ESNA was George Evans as Simon Zealots, and what a way to make a debut for the company. Solid performance and again a strong musical theatre voice.

Another role I always look forward to is that of Herod. Benjamin Hardyplays this role with a difference and makes the role very fresh. Gone is the camp, almost game show host style of character and in comes the sarcastic, bullying King. "King Herod's Song" is also very very different. Gone is the almost ragtime style piano based fun tune and in comes a more fitting rock version which still retains the humour of the lyrics, but now has a much harder edge, and i loved it! Ben is teamed with a bevy of dancers for the choreographed piece and leaves us in no doubt who's in charge!

A wonderfully large ensemble which really make the crowd scenes look like and sound like a crowd. They also create a visual delight in the group choreography pieces. And talking of which, the choreography was spectacular and exciting and you can see that there's been a lot of hard work put in by the cast with choreographer Carl Edwards.

Music, as always at Loughborough Town Hall is crystal clear. the acoustics in that venue are wonderful. Jon Orton is the musical director of the incredible orchestra there. I loved the subtle changes in some of the arrangements, as well as the not so subtle fresh arrangement of "Herod's Song". Some may have thought it all a bit too loud, but I have no problem with that, after all it is a rock opera. Well balanced in my opinion by Rob Temperton. Lighting, which just as brilliant was the work of Judith Moulton A modern feel in the costumes provided by the excellent wardrobe department and Victoria Clarke.

The set, by Jeremy Malpas, was on two levels which gave rise, quite literally to a bigger performance space with a large cinema screen at the back. This is normally seen at larger venues such as the Arena tour that went around a couple of years back, but it works so well in this venue and in this show.

There's a very hard working stage crew who, at most shows don't even get a mention but they deserve one with this show, as does stage manager, Ash Moulton.

Directed by Emma Adcock, this is one great big resounding hit she has here, I know what an enormous amount of incredible hard work goes into being a director. It's not just telling an actor where to stand and how to deliver a line. In this show you can tell from what you see on stage that the hard work of the director has been the foundation for the amazing work on show. This is just the tip of the iceberg where musical theatre is concerned.

Look, basically, this show is the best version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" I've seen, and I can't think of one bad version I've seen, but this just has the edge, professional or amateur level. Every singer has an amazing voice and there are some brilliant songs that every one knows, "Heaven On Their Minds", "What's The Buzz", "Hosanna", "Gethsemane", "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and of course the anthemic title track.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" is on at The Loughborough Town Hall until Saturday 16 April 2016. This is one musical you really do not want to miss out on, so get your ticket as soon as you can, while you still can.

"Bad Jews" by Joshua Harmon

Nottingham Theatre Royal

After Jonah, Daphna and Liam's Grandfather, Poppy, dies in New York, leaving a piece of religious jewellery, a "Hay", that he succeeded in hiding even from the Nazis during the Holocaust. The cousins fight over not only the family heirloom, but their religious faith, culture, and even the validity of each other's romances. The necklace has significance not for its monetary value but because of what it symbolised. Poppy kept it hidden under his tongue for two years while in a concentration camp.

In the week that sees the arguments over wills hitting the news, this is well timed, coincidentally. The play is billed as a dark comedy and, while there are some laughs here, I found the play interesting, and entertaining for different reasons. There's a lot of anger, which could also be translated as passion, shown mainly between Liam, the cousin who couldn't get to the funeral on time, and Daphna, the cousin who thought that she ought to get the "hay". And it's the passion behind the arguments, on both sides that makes this play just as fascinating as the main theme.

It's interesting that both Liam and Daphna want the jewellery, both for different reasons but it all comes back to their religion and their different ideas of carrying on the faith and religious traditions. Daphna wants it because she feels that it should be hers because she is passionate about being Jewish and her faith, as well as the story behind the "hay". She also seems to want to break the tradition as she says that this is normally passed sown to the male side of the family.

Liam wants it because he wants to propose to his latest girlfriend, Melody, in the same way that his Grandfather did to his Grandmother. As Poppy didn't have the money to buy a ring, he uses the "hay" until he could afford a ring. Liam though, unlike Daphna, is happy to let the  religlious  tradition and faith go bye the bye.

in the middle of all of these arguments is Jonah, whose New York apartment the play is set in.Jonah wants to keep everyone happy and at times sits squarely on the fence, which by the end is just a little too much for him and the play ends in an emotional finale.

Jonah (Jos Slovick) seems to be the most laid back of the family and while he is a modern Jew, he doesn't have that much of an opinion over the traditiions or the faith with all of the arguments between his brother and his cousin.

Ailsa Joy, who played Daphna is, as her name, a joy to watch and the one that I felt more pity for, if "pity" is the correct word. She is feisty and knows what she wants, but is also very upfront and blunt with her opinions which you can see is what rubs Liam up the wrong way. She has some very lengthy pieces of script and delivers them with a  natural flow and great passion for the role.

Ilan Goodman (Liam), I'm surprised that this show hasn't made him burst a blood vessel. He has a right old vitriolic rant against Daphna for what must be a solid ten minutes or so, which gained him a round of applause mid play it was that good.

And then poor Melody, played by Antonia Kinlay, introduced to the family like a Centurian to the amphitheatre. Sometimes the performance is suitably restrained but she comes in to her own close to the end.

The set of the apartment, overlooking the Hudson River, is one that anyone would love to live in. it looks like a proper apartment, all shiny and modern with a big fridge/freezer that actually works. Brilliant set designed by Richard Kent.

Directed by Michael Longhurst, who actually studied philosophy at Nottingham University, did a brilliant job here. Everything was so tight when it needed to be, like the full pelt arguments, and he's also not a director who's afraid to leave gaps with no speech or action to create tension.

As I said earlier, it's billed as a comedy but there's no big belly laughs, the comedy is subtle. It is there and it's natural comedy, the lines have not been written to create an obvious laugh. It's not needed as the play is very entertaining and natural humour comes from the characters.

There's quite a bit of bad language, but do not let that put you off because this play is a joy to watch and a real education on the modern Jew and being Jew-ish. "Bad Jews" is on at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 16 April 2016. Go on, don't be tight, shell some money out for 90 minutes of quality theatre this week.

"Tomb With A View" by Norman Robbins

Riverside Drama Company

Let me start off by saying that i was a little disappointed with this play, but not with the production or presentation. I saw Norman Robbins' "Tiptoe Through The Tombstones" a while back and absolutely loved it. I was really looking forward to seeing "Tomb With A View" because of the writer, but it seems that Robbins is a bit of a one trick pony because there were so many similarities between the two plays that I had already worked out who had done the dirty deed by the interval. Now let me just say that for anyone who has not seen another Robbins play featuring the family Tomb, you would not be disappointed because at first sight it is a really funny play and there are red herrings and twists aplenty. having seen the previous play by Robbins though this was a carbon copy.

Now that's over, let's get on with the praise.

"Tomb With A View" is set in the library of the Tomb's home, Monument House; they have been assembled for the reading of the will, but who will be the beneficiaries and who will get bumped off. More importantly, who will live to tell the tale! there are some strange characters here like Marcus Tomb who thinks that he is Julius Caesar, Dora Tomb who is a dab hand at gardening, although you wouldn't want the things she plants in her bed to come up!!

Mike Evans played the part of the lawyer, Hamilton Penworthy, whose job was to read the will, Sam Badman (Lucinda Tomb),Amy Cannon (Dora Tomb), Lizzie O Hara (Emily Tomb), Dave Wilson (Marcus Tomb), Jane Harris (Monica Tomb) every family member with their very own individual personality. The nurse, Anne was played by Donna Chin, really came into her own in Act 2. The dour housekeeper was played brilliantly by Moya Magee and the final pair to complete the excellent cast were Sarah Terry as the women's romance writer Freda Mountjoy and her publicist Peregrine (Perry) Potter, played with equal amounts of awkwardness and nervousness by Dave Whyatt ; both of these characters have secrets that are soon revealed.

Directed by Celia Billau, and what fun she must have had taking on this project, and what a lovely job she did on this as well. An important part of the play is the scene setting with sound and lighting, both ably handled by Keith Salway. I loved the costumes from the full Roman toga for Marcus to the tomboy-ish masculine suit for Emily, who by the way was wonderful as the butchest member of the Tomb family. Loved the set design of the old library with its secret (or not so secret) passage ways; another big pat on the back for Celia Billau along with Bob Baron.

If I were to mention anything that may need tweaking, it would be to tighten up, just a smidge, the delivery of some of the lines, as I got the feeling that maybe, and that's just a maybe, there was a wee bit of hesitation with some of the delivered lines. Something that may not even registered with other audience members, but that's just me being ultra picky.

If you're new to Norman Robbins, I urge you to see this wonderfully comical play. if you've seen Robbins' plays before, go anyway because this cast make it worth seeing.

"Tomb With A View" is on at the Duchess Theatre until Saturday 9 April 2016.

"The Damned United" Red Ladder Theatre Company

Derby Theatre

There is no way whatsoever that you could call me a football fan, but back in the day, I loved footie, the same as any teenager, yes I know that's going back some years. It was Brian Clough the man that really got me interested in football when he was at Nottingham Forest, so this was like a history lesson for me, taking in the early 70's period of his long and mixed career.  it is set during Clough's brief and unsuccessful spell as manager of Leeds United during 1974, with frequent flashbacks to his earlier period as manager of Derby County

As a football fan of the late 70's I found this fascinating,and as a fan of the theatre I also found this play fascinating. I've never seen the film and I've not read the book but apparently this is more like the book than the film. But how true are the facts in this piece of theatre? The book has been subtitled as "An English Fairy Story", but whatever the truth this play makes a fascinating 90 minutes trip down memory lane. 

The set is sparse, in fact it consists of a tray of drinks, subconsciously sidelined but always there at the corner of your eye,and Clough's mind, a telephone which now and again appears on the touchline of the set, a boardroom table, changing room stalls and some graphics on screens at the back. this in particular is used to very good effect when Don Revie, on the screens is having a conversation with Clough on the stage, the timing of this section is superb.

There were clever uses of cinematography to show the timeline of the 44 days as manager of Leeds United, as well as the football scores for the matches flashed on the front of the stage, designed by Nina Dunn.

The cast of just five, Tony Bell as PeterTaylor, John Graham Davies, Tom Lorcan, Tony Turner and Andrew Lancel as Clough are incredibly watchable, especially Andrew Lancel who doesn't try to be Clough, he doesn't try and look like Clough and he doesn't try to sound like Clough, even though there are slight inflections of Clough there. This for me is a good thing because what i didn't want was to see a caricature of the great manager, and he wasn't portrayed like this. Lancel brought the arrogance and the "big-headed" side of Clough to the stage and this alone was enough for me to recognise the man. Oh and then there are the classic Coughie one line quotes!

What I also liked was that the softer side of Clough was shown as well. The call he received to say that his mother had passed away was especially emotive, as were some of the private scenes with Peter Taylor when he shares his grief. The love and respect Clough had for Taylor was also evident in this portrayal.

This is a play for, not only football fans but for fans of a good story and well acted theatre. As you'd expect, some of the language is rather basic, but this is to be expected with the passion of the game talk and the decisions made behind office and locker room doors.

Directed by Rod Dixon and designed by Signe Beckmann, they show that by using the spoken word and actions, this can get the story over without over indulging with scenery and props. A clever use of mannequins, operated by an ensemble of eleven human mannequin-esques who kept the action of the non humans rolling, also thanks to the stage manager, Michelle Booth.

"The Damned United" is on at Derby Theatre until Saturday 16 April 2016.

"Grease" by Long Eaton Operatic Society

May Hall, Long Eaton

For me you'd have to do something really bad to spoil my enjoyment of this fun musical. Long Eaton Operatic Society (LEOS) did the exact opposite, they hardly put a crepe shoed foot wrong here.

Director Adam Guest really did his homework with this production and presented a version of the original stage musical version, as opposed to the film version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. I've seen a few versions of "Grease" over the last 12 months or so and all of them have been based on the film, so it was nice to get a fresh version of the musical. All the bits that make "Grease" a brilliant musical are there but sometimes not in the order that you remember from the film, keeping you on your toes a bit. Mr Guest managed to create an atmosphere of the 50's and 60's beautifully and retained all the youthfulness of the two main camps; the T Birds and the Pink Ladies.

The ages of the cast practically matched the age of the characters which instantly made the characters believable. I don't need to precis the story because everyone knows the story of "Grease", so let's concentrate on the stars of the show. Believe me that doesn't narrow anything down because the main actors and the ensemble actors seamlessly merged to create a wonderfully strong powerhouse of a cast.

From the opening number of the Rydell High Alma Mater, showing many of the male characters acting as if there were a million other places they would rather be, notably Lewis Haycock as Sonny and Jack Draper as Roger. Such little things as this makes the show a joy because you can put yourself in their place. i just go back to our class assembly to recall their reactions.

The male group of the play, The T Birds, were so strong; the teasing and the actions of teenagers from the era were great fun to see and this lot created a tour de force of testosterone fuelled youth. Zach Foster (Kenicke), George Mercer (Doody), Lewis and Jack formed the "gang" with leader Danny Zuko, played by George Groom.

George played Danny's character just right, sensitive while with Sandy but, afraid of letting the macho image of the T Bird leader down, morphing into the tough guy. leaving poor Sandy confused and angry at his attitude. And that is what george had plenty of, attitude, which is what makes a great Danny Zuko. He steered away from dumbing down the character and brought out the fun, typical teenage side of Zuko. Brilliant singing as well which included a remorse laden version of "Sandy", in fact one of the best amateur versions of that song I've experienced.

Loved George Mercer's role of Doody. Gung ho all the way and a brilliantly entertaining version of "Those Magic Changes".

Lewis, Zach and Jack were perfectly cast and provided a solid back up vocal wise and dance wise.

Sandy was played by Lydia Thacker, and even though I have seen "Grease" so many times over the years, the transformation from twee, virginal, albeit quite feisty Sandra Dee to sex kitten Sandy made my jaw drop. i could almost hear me saying "WOW!" in my head. It takes a brilliant production to create that sort of reaction from such a well worn piece of theatre, but that was the effect it had on me. Beautifully played from start to end.

Also loved Emily Corner (Rizzo), just aloof enough to show the character as being just a wee bit more mature than the other characters, and when Emily sung, what is my favourite song from the play, "There Are Worse Things I Could Do", the hair on my neck stood up. What emotion, what a performance.

Loved Karen Woodhead (Frenchy); the ever so slightly ditsy beauty school dropout, her dizziness was great fun to see..

Karen MacDonald (Jan), Rachelle Bragg (Marty) and Georgia Archer (Patty) again a dream casting for the trio of Pink Ladies.

Rob Chilton as Eugene was delightfully awkward, and even as a secondary character, he shone through, as did all of the minor roles. Angela Walters as Miss Lynch,Jason Parker as Vince Fontaine - the radio presenter, smooth and sleazy with it. Kheenan Jones as Jonny Casino and Abigail Pidgeon as Cha Cha.

i love it when a role is updated but isn't ruined by the update and Andrew Bould, who played Teen Angel, complete with great white staircase, delivered a different vocal slant on the song "Beauty School Dropout". Picture if you can Sam Smith in this role and that is what Andrew delivered. I'm not a massive fan of vocal acrobatics where they aren't needed but Andrew got the falsetto acrobatics spot on. he also received one of the biggest round of applause for being an absolute professional trooper when the fog machine decided to go into overdrive and swamped the stage and half of the theatre with it. What a star, especially when he had to deliver the line straight after which included the word "misty".

The orchestra, under the musical direction of Charlotte Daniel complemented the singers well and didn't try and overpower them, creating a nice comfortable mix. very good effective lighting courtesy of Tom and Laura Olding. Wonderful colourful costumes for all which made for a very visual experience. The choreography was excellent and exciting and all the hard work of Sian Scattergood, this being her choreography debut for LEOS. All the cast embraced the choreography completely and looked like they enjoyed every single minute of the show.

LEOS are such a hard working team and we must not forget everyone who works behind the scenes as well as front of house to make a visit to any LEOS show an absolute joy for regulars as well as first time LEOS theatre goers.

I left on an absolute high, so if you want to experience the same, then get down to May Hall, Trent College in Long Eaton as "Grease" is on until Saturday 9 April 2016; but don't hang around because tonight was sold out and I have a feeling with such class and talent on show, you'll be lucky to get a ticket, but do try.

"Toast" by Richard Bean

Nottingham Theatre Royal

It's Sunday night at a bread baking plant in Hull and the seven workers are just starting their shift. But tonight is going to be just a little different when a tin tray spanner is thrown, quite literally, into the works. Set in the staff room of the plant, but with several scenes taking place off stage with sound effects to create the essence of the plant's other work areas. We discover the backgrounds of the seven men and how they see work and the psychological side of the night shift workers and their interaction with each other.

Bean, who also wrote "One Man Two Guvnors", but is nothing like that play, bases this play and characters on his real life experiences of working in a bread making plant. All of the characters are based on the people who he worked with, although the character's names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Matthew Kelly is mesmerising as old Nellie, a broken-down employee of the factory, battered into submission by over forty-five years of hard graft, and a wife who only allows him one packet of cigarettes a week.There's a lovely begrudging scene where the "student worker" asks Nellie for a cigarette, but he may as well have asked for a kidney! There are comparisons to be made with Nellie to Matthew's Olivier award winning role as Lennie in "Of Mice And Men" a few years back and the child-like character is one you instantly warm to and want to protect. There are several parts of the play where he just sits in silence, providing poignancy to the role

Simon Greenall, who you may recognise as Michael the Geordie from Alan Partridge's show, and is also the voice of the meerkats on TV, is delightful as Cecil. Always looking at the silver lining of the cloud with a very tactile attitude.

John Wark proves deeply unnerving as a mature student taken on for the shift who isn’t quite what he seems. 

Steve Nicolson is Blakey. A wonderful colourful character,and like the rest of the men, he has some wonderfully colourful lines to deliver as well.

Kieran Knowles as Dezzie, one of the younger workers who has just discovered hot water in his new home and he and "Mrs Badger" are reaping the benefits of this aphrodisiac, but the plant's grinding to a halt puts a halt to his planned trip home in his half hour, non smoke break. some brilliant one liners that you need to look out for from Dezzie.

Peter, played by Matt Sutton is a family man with young kids who is doing his best to keep the money rolling in to the family coffers and is reliant on the job to do this, so when the possibility of the plant closing rears it's head, you can sense his concern.

Will Barton completes the work force as Colin, Will is no stranger to Nottingham having performed several times in the area in the past.

Directed by Eleanor Rhode and produced by Sarah Loader, the play is wonderfully touching as well as creating many laughs along the way.

There's a lot of choice language from the start but that's a reflection of any male based working environment. The language and comedy is typically Northern and refreshingly blunt and honest. This may have been a little too blunt and honest for some as they decided to vote with their feet. For the majority who like a bit of rawness in their theatre, this was a wonderful treat from a talented cast working with a script riddled with humour and feeling. 

I've been restraining myself from introducing puns into the review but I really would urge you to shell out some dough to see this play as the crew rise to the occasion. It may offend the crusty ones without a sense of humour, but grab yourself a slice of comic brilliance which will have you rolling about and bap home by ten. Go on use your loaf, cobber!

"Toast" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 9 April 2016 when it transfers to New York for a five week run.