Devizine

“The Collaborators” at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, June 19th-22nd.

by Ian Diddams
photos by Richard Fletcher & Lisa Hounsome

The concept of historical brutal dictatorships and comedy is not necessarily one that one considers as workable. Yet the likes of “The Producers” and “The Death of Stalin” show that the right level of satire can over come any qualms that may exist. John Hodge’s play “Collaborators” continues this trend as an Stoppard-like surreal absurdist comedy about the relationship between real life characters Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Bulgakov, which the Rondo Theatre Company are performing this very week.

John Hodge may be better known for his scriptwriting on “Shallow Grave” and “Trainspotting” amongst other blockbuster films but here in “Collaborators” he ratchets up the satire and hinges his story on a Machiavellian plan by Stalin toward the dissident playwright Mikhail Bulgakov.

Director Matt Nation has created a demanding – in effect – two scene play into a smoothly choreographed storyline, as the simple set of the Bulgakov’s Moscow flat replete with huge Soviet red star also covers the Lubyanka, theatre, rehearsal studio, doctor’s surgery, hospital, kremlin basement & metro, all clarified by Alex Latham’s subtle lighting changes, The cast smoothly transition between these environments adeptly – such is the skill of particularly community theatre in representing multiple arenas in a limited space.

Act 1 is pure absurdist comedy. Bulgakov is pressured into writing a play for Stalin’s birthday, that ends up being written by Stalin himself while Bulgakov ends up running the Soviet Union. Its silly, its surreal – action also happening in Bulgakov’s head at times but just on the end of Act 1 the plot twists darkly.

Act 2 is pure black comedy. Though as the end of the play approaches is not so much comedy as horror as the repercussions of Bulgakov’s well intentioned “decisions” as a proxy for Uncle Joe come clear and those chickens come home to roost. Tragedy would be as good a description as the show reaches its denouement.

Weaving this excellently crafted and delivered tale are the cast of fourteen. Principal characters are unsurprisingly Stalin – complete with swept back hair and bristling moustache – played by Andy Fletcher, and Bulgakov played by Jon Thrower. They portray this odd collaboration skilfully and sympathetically, Stalin as an almost genial and friendly Uncle figure, Mikhail as the distrusting and incredulous playwright.

Mikhail’s peer group is comprised of his loving wife Yelena (Lucy Upward) portraying her increasing desperation and concern as to his health, Vassily an aging Czarist (Jonathan Hetreed), Praskovya a history teacher (Verity Neeves) that cannot discuss history before the revolution, and Sergei (Charlie Bevis) who have been billeted in the Bulgakovs’ small flat – Sergei lives in the cupboard! On this note the cupboard is superbly used as the entry and exit of Mikhail’s dreams/hallucinations and also the secret Kremlin door (!). Charlie’s portrayal of the enthusiastic young Soviet is touchingly naïve, and the group rub along despite their clear and evident differences in opinion and approaches to life under Stalin. Completing Mikhail’s peer group are Grigory (Toby Gibbs) a young writer struggling to get his work published due to its anti-Soviet content and his wife Anna (Elisabeth Calvert) reflecting the times’ oppression.

Bulgakov’s doctor is portrayed amusingly (in all the right ways!) by Tim Hounsome, all overworked, distant and slapdash until treating the elite, while “the actors” are just wonderfully performed by Josie Mae-Ross and Richard Chivers, floating in and out of Mikhail’s dreams as well as acting out the play Bulgakov is “writing” … Richard’s homage to Ernst Stavro Blofeld is almost a show stealer in itself.

Last but not least we come to the menace in the play – the NKVD officers.
Vladimir (Tom Turner) is quite brilliant as the jocular yet disquieting secret policeman who becomes more luvvie and obsequious as the play develops. Its unfair to pick out individual parts as “show stealers” especially in community theatre, but it would be remiss of me to not to praise one particular performance in this play. Tim Carter plays NKVD policeman number two, Stepan. A silent, brooding presence he delivers the real – literally unspoken – menace throughout whilst being at the back of the stage mostly. Its not until the very end that he comes to the fore in his own right, but it’s a special skill to not be heard but be influential in the action and Tim really nails the requirements.

Vladimir’s wife Eva is played with an almost cameo performance by mainstay of the Rondo theatre company, Alana Wright, who manages to stave of the unwanted attentions of Stepan… mostly…

Aside from Alex on lighting, Dylan Jackson provided sound tech and as a team they had a busy time and completed everything to perfection – this is a tech heavy show so huge congratulations to them. Other crew aspects were indeed “collaborated” on (d’ya see what I did there? ) by all of the above – set design and build, stage management (including Toby Skelton), costumes and publicity which was aided and abetted by Lisa Hounsome and Richard Fletcher with photography.

“Collaborators” is a fast paced, thinkers play – although the allusions to modern day Russia are evident and lie not very far beneath the surface. Some genuine laugh out loud moments, some shocking moments and Stalin’s final words to Bulgakov sum up the regime’s totalitarian control in a nutshell.

“Collaborators” is showing at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath from June 19^th to 22nd at 1930 every night.

Tickets from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre/collaborators/e-eqavlp

“Where’s The Cat? Live!” at the Wharf Theatre June 27th 2024

by Mick Brian
Photos by the “Where’s the Cat?” team

Within the walls of Devizes very own Wharf Theatre meets an eclectic group of script writers. And having written scripts and read them to each other, they wondered what to do next. So they recorded themselves performing these short radio-style plays and unleashed them on an unsuspecting world in the form of a podcast series. Having achieved this milestone the group pondered what to do next, and a live show seemed the next obvious step.

“Where’s The Cat? Live!” is a melange of short plays, written and performed as rehearsed readings by the group, with the assistance of a couple of Wharf actors and a very sound man on sound. The plays cover the main facets of life; comedy and tragedy, often both at the same time. There’s a trilogy of plays about a trio of friends who find themselves in unusual and inconvenient situations. There’s a play about spies, another about therapy, another in a dystopian future where the human race is reduced to two people and some pot snacks. We go to Heaven in one play, a driving test centre in another, and a funeral in another. We meet an AI doctor, a fairy tale protagonist, a magician, and a mother and son having a row. Essentially all human life is here, just not necessarily as we know it.

The writers themselves have varying degrees of performance experience. Some are familiar faces upon the Wharf’s boards and their stagecraft shows, whilst others seemed less at ease within the performance space. Whilst it is not necessarily a natural thing for writers to be performers also, the rehearsal process has coaxed the hidden actor out of them and it has been a privilege to watch them develop. The direction has been lead by Ali Warren, and a superb job she has done of it too, bringing these short pieces to life, and the group should be applauded for baring their souls and sharing their art with the public, which is no easy thing to do. The mixture of styles and substance is quite refreshing as one can pretty much guarantee there will be something that will stick with you from the evening.

“Where’s the Cat? Live!” plays for one night only and you’ll kick yourself if you miss it.

Tickets available from https://www.wharftheatre.co.uk/show/wheres-the-cat-wharf-writers-group/

Boomers Rule – “The Slambovian Circus of Dreams” at the Devizes Arts Festival, June 14th, 2024.

by Ian Diddams
photos by Gail Foster

Way back in the mists of time (August 2022 – y’know that REALLY, REALLY hot summer?) I saw the Slambovians play at Cropredy festival. A crowd of 20,000 embraced their version of “HillBilly Pink Floyd” as Wikipedia calls it, so moving forward from 2022, the chance to see them play here in good ol’ D-Town was too much to pass up so armed with Phillipa Morgan’s pen Devizine took the tough job of watching them play in front of maybe 2% of that number.

To be fair “HillBilly Pink Floyd” touches on some aspects of their music, but it’s a far wider demographic than simply that. Certainly, their show at the Corn Exchange last night included elements that certainly sounded very Pink Floyd, but psychedelia, prog, Dylan, Seeger, Tull, Led Zep all played their part weaving into and out of their songs

The Slambovians started a nine gig, eleven day whistle stop tour of the UK last night, having arrived from the Hudson Valley area, NY state, a.k.a. home. They started a tad gingerly, finding their feet but it was soon very apparent that this tight knit, well attuned beat combo was in their groove by their second number, the eponymous “The Grand Slambovians”. And the night – consisting of two one hour sets – continued in the same vein. Driving rhythms pushed by drummer Matthew Abourezk, with Sharkey McEwan on a mixture of lead guitar and … errr… lead mandolin (brilliantly played Page/Hendrix style) interspersed with calm, beautiful ballads showcasing Tink Lloyd’s versatility especially across accordion, cello and flute (Ian Anderson notes especially in “Step out of time”) took us on a journey through Slambovia. Joziah Longo immersed us in this utopian land’s philosophies and stories from mischievous fairies, to bees, to days before MTV where radio was king. All underpinned by the sublime bass lines of Bob Torsello.

Joziah alluded to “Boomers” throughout the show and Bob Torsello aside that certainly describes the age demographic of the band – and probably much of the audience – some Gen X types slipped through the net somehow, I suppose. Certainly, the underlying feel of their sets was that Boomer era of music – 60s and 70s, a distinct hippy vibe, with tracks and ethos tied in with nature and simpler times (Beez, Radio,). Joziah’s anecdotes and story telling drew us all in with his homely, gentle delivery. All in all a wonderful night of music delivered by a band on the top of their game, delivered by the ever excellent “Devizes Arts Festival“

“The Slambovian Circus of Dreams” have several dates on tour in the UK right now and I urge you to catch them again, or for a first time this year if you missed last night – see https://slambovia.com/tour-dates

Alternatively grab some merch if you missed out last night also – https://slambovia.bandcamp.com

And here’s a Spotify playlist to enjoy cobbled together by the wonders of Devizine of some of the tracks from last night

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZHHvscjkk77IUk6Vxi3CJ?si=ad36c622355546c6

– but please see them live or buy merch of course. Even if you are Gen X…

“Sister Act” at St. Augustine’s, Trowbridge May 29th-June 1st

By Ian Diddams
Photos by Gail Foster

In 1971 Ken Russell enchanted film audiences with “The Devils”, which incorporated nuns in the story – somewhat controversially. This was six years after Julie Andrews, aided and abetted by yet more nuns, thwarted the Nazis in “The Sound of Music”. By 1980 nuns had become less controversial, less politically motivated, as instead the object of scorn and fear by “The Blues Brothers”. So, by the time 1992 rolled around, nuns were old hat in the film industry and especially the musical genre. Nothing was left to use them for, surely. Enter Whoopi Goldberg, stage left in 1992, and “Sister Act” with a general plotline of “how do you solve a problem like Deloris?”

In the intervening decades the film was transferred to a stage musical in the West End then to Broadway, and subsequently via the auspices of community theatre groups to a stage somewhere very near you. The basic plotline is simple enough – naughty wannabe girl singer hanging with a hood witnesses a murder, goes on the run, hides in a convent, transforms its choir and the convent’s financial future, is discovered by ex-boyfriend, and is protected by the sisters before being saved by her teenage admirer now a policeman. Who overcomes his fear of guns by shooting said gangster boyfriend – how very P.C.!

The whole show of course is strung along by those foot tapping songs by Menken and Slater providing opportunities for vast quantities of choreography by nuns. And its these scenes of twenty-one nuns (I counted them all out, and I counted them all back) cavorting joyfully across St. Augustine’s Catholic College’s stage (where else better for a musical set in a convent? Unless maybe in a convent I suppose…) that will linger in the mind’s eye for a while yet to come.

This is Trowbridge Musical Theatre’s second nun based show in just over a year now, following on from thwarting Austrian Nazis in 2023. Perhaps it is becoming a habit for them? There would be nun better to do so let’s face it. (*Ahem* – less puns please – Ed.) Sarah Davies makes her directorial debut and her touch is seen throughout the show with little, perfect moments. Choreography by Anna Mazan in true “Sister Act” style fills the stage with synchronised movements throughout the show, no better personified by the nuns’ ensemble’s activity … the stage isn’t the largest and there’s a LOT of nuns strutting their wimples but a blend of sways, grinds and hand jive leaves at times a breathtaking display before your eyes.

This is a large cast and so “I haven’t got a prayer” of covering everybody – but rest assured though that EVERYBODY was “Fabulous baby!”
Frankie Walker leads from the front as Deloris Van Cartier (“You know, like Cartiers”). Her stage presence is immense, and she captures the initial sassy character of Deloris that shifts to a later caring communal love to perfection. Tim Hobbs wades in as the grand master of chaos and nastiness as Curtis, with his unlikely trio of useless henchmen – well done with the Spanish Paul West! – including the irrepressible TJ played by Noah Heard with the slickest of moves on the dance floor.

Eddie was wonderfully portrayed by Davey Evans compete (of course) with sweaty armpits and – with some help naturally – a stunning double clothes rip change. The three “Sisters of Mercy” – Marys Robert, Patrick and Lazurus – were more than ably carried by respectively Carisma Dolphin, Daisy Woodruffe and Dani Fuke. Carisma’s vocals more than rose to the occasion, soaring over the band, while Daisy’s portrayal of the goofy nun was slapstick at its finest, and full kudos goes to Dani’s comedic timing and delivery as the straight-laced but wonderfully sardonic ex choir leader. Finally in this mini round-up is last but by no means least, the show’s Mother Superior Michelle Hole. Clear as a bell and with wonderful projection, her every line and note were delivered perfectly. A truly bravissimo performance.

Now – no musical is complete without its ensemble, its chorus. And what a chorus! If anything, and if this is not an unfair thing to say in a community theatre review, they collectively stole the show. Take a bow all twenty nuns for your rousing singing, harmonies, choreography akin to the red arrows at times, hand jive, swaying and a swinging and a grinding. As well as tiny cameos amongst it all, including (my favourite) an homage to the Dance of the Cygnets from Swan Lake at one stage (and hats off to choreographer Anna too of course!). And a special mention is needed for all of the cast that had multiple costume changes in the show stretching between a nun, fantasy dancer, bar patron, street singer, hooker and goodness knows what else in their blur of appearances. You all made it look as if you were indeed finding it “Good to be a Nun”!

The set was simple but well presented, with effective use of corners for office scenes etc. No musical of course is possible without its band and the ten piece orchestra led by Musical Director Helen Heaton with a GREAT horn section delivered all the right notes AND in the right order 😊

There is one real star of the show not mentioned yet. Top music, top singing, top performances, top choreography all lead to a top show but there was one thing that really set this entire thing off brilliantly. By far and away the dazzling STAR of the show were the costumes, so take a bow Sandra Tucker, Karen Grant, Kirstie Blackwall and Sarah Davies.

“Sister Act” by Trowbridge Muciscal theatre is showing at St. Augustine’s, Trowbridge nightly from May 29^th to Saturday 1^st June at 7.30pm plus a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

So “Spread The Love around”, grab a friend or ten and get thee to the show – tickets available from the Ticket Source box office.

No recorders were harmed in the making of this production.

“The Thrill of Love” at The Wharf Theatre, Devizes, May 13th-18th 2024

By Ian Diddams
Images by Chris Watkins

Ruth Ellis was hanged aged 28 years old, by Albert Pierrepoint the official executioner in the UK, at Holloway prison on July 13^th 1955. Her trial had taken a little over just one day – the jury took only twenty-three minutes to find her guilty. She made no defence of her own actions though there is much to indicate she was at least coerced into shooting David Blakely and was likely acting under duress and was certainly easily influenced. Court investigations found her not to be insane – again there are indications that this was not as clear cut a scenario.

Her story is portrayed in “The Thrill of Love”, by Amanda Whittington, showing soon at The Wharf Theatre.

This is not an easy play to watch. Its subject matter is of course an indication of that, but it’s the underlying stories that the plot reveals and hints at that are the disturbing aspects. The sexual, physical and psychological abuse by multiple men throughout her life, from her childhood right up until her execution. Her low self-esteem, desperation for attention, acceptance, and love. Clearly self-delusional, gas lighting herself, a neurotic personality,Ruth Ellis was doomed from a young age and the play brings all of these into a stark expose of life in Britain at the time. As her character opines she was “never part of society”.

Debby Wilkinson, Director of this quite superb piece of theatre, explained that it
has been a challenge to bring together, not just because of the subject matter
itself, but that as a historical record in many ways it is vital to reflect the
truth. Debby and the cast spent the first three weeks of rehearsal immersing
themselves into their characters, motivations and the social mores surrounding
that time, before starting to build the show. Their intensive preparation has clearly worked to perfection. All the characters are wholly believable, whether they be the real life characters of Ruth Ellis and Vickie Martin, or the fictional ones designed to reflect aspects of the work relationships and public thought.

Freddie Underwood plays Ruth Ellis. Hers is a staggering portrayal. From bumptious party queen, to mentally downtrodden and crushed, spurned, and beaten lover, Freddie encapsulates the vast array of emotions and reactions to perfection,sometimes just mere seconds apart as scenes develop. Words do not do justice to the depth of her skill. On top of that, she also has nine costume changes in the two hours of the show, one even onstage as she transforms from Ruth Ellis to prisoner.

Vickie Martin, Ellis’ friend, is played by Jessica Whiley. Carefree party girl
with a plan, Jess’s characterisation is spot on. Entering cat-walk model like, to dancing with Ruth, her coquettishness shines through, lithely and gracefully. Jess also doubles up as prison warder and prosecution barrister. The relationship between Ellis and Martin is strong – catty, then supportive, then loving, then bitchy. Both actors excel at this relationship. Their scene where Ellis “teaches” Martin to flirt provocatively with the Gentlemen’s Club’s patrons is also cleverly choreographed and performed; they are both so childlike – whilst existing on the sleazier edges of life.

Overseeing them both is Sylvia Shaw, the Court Club’s manageress. The Court Club is central to the entire play –its is where we are introduced to all the women characters, the club where they work. Mari Webster plays Sylvia, again to perfection. While Martin is coquettish and bright, Ellis focussed yet vulnerable, Sylvia has been there, done that, got the badge. She runs a tight ship, knows the score but is sliding into her fifties with a drink problem and failing health. She is also a mother hen to the girls in her club albeit one with a hard edge … though it is revealed that this is really a trait of self-protection.

The final female part is that of Doris Judd, the char. Mitzi Baehr (who you
may even recognise from some TV appearances) is the calm, collected, caring big sister character that will have nothing to do with the real business of the
club, but delights in supporting those that work there. From cups of tea to sympathy, to post abortion care and a few plainly put admonishments, Doris is, if not the power behind the throne, certainly the grease that smooths the paths of their lives. She loses her husband over her all night devotion to the club, to Sylvia and to Ruth in particular.

That leaves D.I. Jack Gale, representing in many ways, the folks that vociferously opposed Ellis’ sentence and execution. He gets the conviction – but knows it isn’t the full truth, and he is fighting for that truth the entire time, despite the accused’s own blocks to his attempts. He is a decent man, dedicated to his job, to finding the truth. Sean Andrews finds Gale’s inner turmoil and even angst, amongst a sardonic turn of phrase. “London’s a market – and this [The Court Club] is the trading floor” he almost shrugs … before later spending hours going over and over notes, papers, cuttings, photographs of evidence. Sean completes this quintet of superb actors.

The set is a simple one yet effective. The “Court Club” – then later the “Little
Club” that Ruth ends up running – with tables, chairs, a record player, a bar.
Stage left and right empty for police cell, interrogation room, the street, a bedsit. Downstage for a crematorium. Costumes are a delight – aside from Ruth’s dazzling array everything is fitting for the period. Lighting is at times quite brilliant – the last we see of Ruth, hidden in shadow except for a blinding almost halo like shine of her blond hair is a stunning visual.

And surrounding all of this is Billie Holiday’s voice … a soundtrack of her singing washing in, over, around the scenes.

Ultimately, it’s a play about loss.

Of dignity. Of husbands. Of lovers. Of hope.

Of life.

“The Thrill of Love” plays at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes, from May 13^th
to 18^th at 1930 every night.

Tickets are available from the Wharf website at https://www.wharftheatre.co.uk/show/the-thrill-of-love, or from Devizes Library.

“The Incident Room” at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, May 1st-4th.

by Ian Diddams
images by Ian Diddams

I was born in 1962.

In 1975 I was 13 years old, in my second year at secondary school.
By 1981 was I was about to take A-levels that summer.

In that time Peter Sutcliffe, a.k.a. “The Yorkshire Ripper” murdered thirteen women and attempted to murder seven others.

I grew up in Kent, two hundred and forty-five miles away from the area of those crimes. I was – am – male. It didn’t affect my life. Not directly. Yet, in retrospect it did touch my life, peripherally. A female friend went to university in that area during half that time – another in another part of Yorkshire similarly. A best friend’s dad was a senior officer in the West Yorkshire Constabulary, though not attached to the police investigations. And it was a dominant, recurring news story, alongside the Northern Irish “troubles”. For six years.

“The Incident Room” by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, tells the tale of the West Yorkshire police’s investigation, seen through the characters of five C.I.D. and one uniform officers, one civilian special constable, and a journalist. Adding context and background is a party girl and a taxi driver – one a survivor, the other a suspect. It’s a fairly no-holds barred expose of the misguided processes and investigative lines taken, of the egos and personalities that ultimately proved to be so disastrously wrong in the “Ripper Enquiry”. It is also a portrayal of the humans behind those decisions and the impacts on their lives. It carries an increasingly strong message of female suppression, misogyny and general undertones of constant rivalries threaded throughout the story. It is a story of ultimate triumph – but one that is hugely clouded by self-doubts, missed opportunities, ruined careers.

Platform 8 Productions have embraced all the above and delivered it, in spades. The Rondo Theatre’s intimate space works well with the short, sharp-scened focus of the play. Rich Canning has once again excelled with his set design encapsulating the increasingly oppressive and crushing confines of the Millgarth office with areas for external scenes as stage left and right. The design draws the eye into the very nub of the entire issue at hand … the pin board where, as the death toll rises, the board gets filled with the stark photos of the victims, plus the attack survivor, Maureen Long’s. This is a tech heavy show and the tech crew of Will Ward, Alex Latham (who else at the Rondo?!) and Julie Dallimore have delivered director Nadine Comba’s wonderful visions to a tee – time slips with ticking sounds and flickering lights a constant thread as the scenes race through the years of the case, stark office lighting, subdued 4am paperwork and filing… not to forget the disco and driving music of course.

As so the cast… this is a character driven story as well as being a “history”, as opined previously. And the cast perform the characters SO believably. As the play progresses each character grows stronger. There’s George Oldfield, in charge, played by Mark Hale. All brusque and bullish at first, but the job wears him down of course and by the end he is broken, a spent and bitter man. Mark’s mannerisms reminded me of somebody I knew, perfectly… Dick Holland, played by Rich Canning (of set fame!) is Oldfield’s number two and he shows Holland’s devotion to Oldfield and … interest… in special constable and man-hunter Sylvia Swanson played deliciously by Alex Oliviere. PC then DS Andrew Laptew, played by Matt Rushton, grows from “Bradford Twat” to sure footed detective until being crushed by the weight of his realisations over his suspicions that were glossed over and he didn’t push. Steve Brookes came to the cast quite late to play Jim Hobson, the tyre specialist – forthright and convinced of his leads. It’s a small part in the overall play but Steve makes his mark in the opening salvos with Oldfield well. Louche and cocksure Jack Ridgway is superbly acted by Chris Constantine, all swagger and insouciance, delivering his barbed pro-Manchester, anti-Yorkshire remarks to perfection – he is the boyfriend you hope your daughter never brings home. Chris doubles up as sometime suspect, taxi driver Terence Hawkshaw with an interesting 1970s style beard! How does he shave it off so quickly and grow it back again every night ? Then there is conniving, ambitious, feminist Tish Morgan played by Leah Brine with her eye for the main chance and the big scoop and not caring who gets hurt en route, and the survivor Maureen Long acted by Jude Bucklow, capturing the loss of joie de vivre and ultimate depression so poignantly.

That leaves just one character – that of Megan Winterburn, uniformed sergeant and controller of the incident room. Meg is on stage for the entire show – or if she isn’t I must have blinked and missed it. The play – though being a quasi-historical record and about one perpetrator in particular, is really about Meg. Of her struggles against a male dominated workplace and her self-doubt and blame of how she may have missed something along the way. Her in-the-future reflections with Holland frame the story throughout underpinning each section of the investigation. It’s a huge part and the core and crux of the performance and so chapeau to Alexia Jones for a bravado delivery par excellence. Absolutely super.

The play works on multiple levels. Yes, it’s about a famous police investigation. But its also so much more. It’s a play about rivalries. Between different police forces, different counties, different regions, different sexes, different professions. Misogyny is rife, but so is distrust of others – whether they be from Bradford, Manchester, London… or non-coppers. It’s a play about pig headed stubbornness, about detrimental devotion to superiors. About social bigotry. It’s the 1970s in a nutshell…

Ultimately the police get their man. But not through the thousands of hours spent on the investigation – but a chance encounter by two uniforms in a red light district. Two years after Laptew had tried to file a report about the killer. The play thus is really about failure – individual’s failures because of stubbornness, or devotion, or misdirection. Oldfield loses his job, Holland his marriage, Megan her self belief, Laptew his career, Maureen her confidence. Ridgway and Hobson survive to fight another day but tarnished by association.

Its only Tish that “wins” – her career climbs from Yorkshire Post to Daily Mirror to Sunday Times. Whether we are left feeling she is a “winner” is open to conjecture.

And finally… Towards the end of the play Meg comments to Tish about a book to be published about the Ripper and the investigation, that it is isn’t journalism, but merely “entertainment” and “tittle tattle”. It’s a reminder maybe that what we are watching is in some ways “entertainment”. A play in a theatre. About the subject of the book that Meg is decrying. Though I’d suggest “The Incident Room” is far from tittle-tattle.

There are thirteen characters that haven’t had a mention in this review, in the cast list. But without them this story won’t ever have happened, this play never written. This top performance by Platform 8 Productions would not be showing. And its them that we should remember – the people that ended up as a photo on a pin board in …

“The Incident Room”.

Wilma McCann Emily Jackson Irene Richardson Patricia Atkinson Jayne MacDonald Jean Jordan Yvonne Pearson Helen Rytka Vera Millward Josephine Whitaker Barbara Leach Marguerite Walls Jacqueline Hill

“The Incident Room” plays at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath from May 1^st to 4^th 2024

Tickets from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bath/rondo-theatre/the-incident-room/e-vqryvo

From Kerouac to Hagrid – Jinder at the Queens Head, Box April 28th 2024

by Ian Diddams
images from Jinder facebook

It has somehow been a few years since I last saw Jinder – or Phil Jinder Dewhurst – play so Sunday evening was a serendipitous outing to the Queen’s Head, Box to catch him play the second half of a gig alongside Mark Harrison.

I’ve talked about the venue in Mark Harrison’s review but its only fair to repeat that the Queens Head, Box as a free house actually espouses that position serving St. Austell ales alongside Bath Gem (top marks!) and is a more than decent music venue with a dedicated space, working with promotor “Schtumm” to put on last evening’s entertainment.

Jinder is an imposing figure – he admits to being six foot six inches or in new money a full two metres give or take the width of a gnat’s doo-dahs. He is resplendent in a C&W shirt, but he quickly pointed out he wouldn’t be playing either musical style last night, even though it appears his daughter has views on what such apparel may mean as to his persona potentially as a cowboy cosplayer!

Jinder is another easy watching (no faint praise here intended either!) performer, totally at ease with his music, his instrument, himself and being on stage. He is accompanied by a tantalising array of pedals all of which get used to great effect during the gig – but more of that later. He also has an easy chatting style with amusing anecdotes and stories, moving seamlessly between songs. He isn’t afraid to share the harder parts of his life, along with the many highs, and with a British self-deprecatory manner describes his conversion from Jack Kerouac to Twat in three days as he was forced to live in his car. And includes a brief etymological discourse over the differences between mash-up and medley and their fruit based versions (I kid you not!).

It’s his music that of course speaks loudest for him. And we were not disappointed. He has released two albums since I last heard him, as part of a loose trilogy, produced by chum Pete Millson. The songs Jinder treated us to appear on his albums Codetta, The Silver Age and Crumbs of Comfort amongst other sources of his work, and each and every one of them delivered with passion and heart and not a little bit of skill. Another plucking style player utilising those pedals to promote a bass line, overlay an electric guitar sound, and loops to create a mesmerising array of rhythms and melodies to underpin sublime “lead” lines.

And the stories continue – the difficulties of using names in a song title so as not to be suspected of being a closet pervert, or harbouring secret desires towards those off-limits, or confusing ex and current wives! And that even when a safe name is found… it transpires that inevitably that is also doomed to failure…

It’s a curtailed set sadly as the march of time moved relentlessly to last orders, but we are regaled for his last song with his greatest triumph of all. How as a Hagrid lookalike he bestrode the red carpet for the world premiere of the film “Fisherman’s Friends” where his hastily recorded song in a shed ousted Ronan Keating in the final production.

Fair goes Jinder. We’ll keep you in our hearts buddy.

Jinder
Web: https://www.jinder.co.uk/
Facebook: mmjinder
Youtube: JinderSongs
Bandcamp: https://jindersongs.bandcamp.com/music

Setlist
The Old Horizon
A Simple Song/Making Plans/Angels Dressed In Black (medley)
Diving Board
I Still Believe
Isabel
Between Vermillion & Mitchell
Overthinkers Anonymous
Keep Me In Your Heart

Blessed are the Toolmakers – Mark Harrison at the Queens Head, Box April 28th 2024

by Ian Diddams
images from Mark Harrison Facebook

Last summer I was lucky enough to see Mark Harrison play at the “Tangled Roots” festival over Radstock way (highly recommended that is too, for a laid back weekend of camping, workshops, and americana/roots music!). So when I saw him appearing on a Sunday night card at the Queens Head, Box it was too good an opportunity to miss.

It was my first visit to the venue which clearly sets itself up as a genuine music venue with its dedicated performance room, aided and abetted by “Schtumm” the promoter of music events here; a good space reminiscent of “The Tree House” at Frome, “The Pump” at Trowbridge and nostalgically “The Fold” in Devizes.. A quick word here too for the pub – a free house offering last night St. Austell ales. Most acceptable.

Mark – a.k.a by his blues monicker “Morose” Mark Harrison – has a relaxed, laconic persona with a lightly cynical view of life. Right up my street. His music is loosely “blues” – though he himself says “but it’s not stuck in the past. I’m tapping into the timeless quality of the early blues to produce music totally relevant to the present day.” Mark plays a 1934 National Trojan resonator guitar, previously owned by Eric Bibb, and he uses a finger plucking style rather than strummed chords.

It was a bijou, intimate crowd at the Queens Head – which as the other act of the night, Jinder, jokingly opined just means “small room, small crowd”. Well, how lucky were WE at such a bijou, intimate gig? Mark played a 75 minute set which might have been 80+ minutes had he not forgotten how one of his own songs started 😊; I’ll cut him some slack… he has another 98 he can remember to choose from after all… Mark’s lyrics are not so much about his own life – “I don’t want to hear about my life, I have to bloody live it” (or words to that effect!) – but about his view on society and the changes he has seen in it in his lifetime. He grew up in Coventry surrounded by car manufacturing, went away for a weekend and on his return the car factories had been replaced by garden centres. People that did real jobs replaced by Marketing Consultants. People with … irritating haircuts… Real activities replaced by twitter – oh sorry Mr. Musk… “X”. In this vein his numbers “The Wild West”, “The Great Stink” and “Toolmaker’s Blues” encapsulate this exasperation and incredulity.

This is not a political standpoint though, to be clear. Just a reflection of one man’s interpretation of a few decades through the medium of blues influenced music. Songs are interspersed with humorous and/or pointed stories and anecdotes. Often with a pithy, short epithet at those responsible for society’s ills…

Mark’s songs are in many ways stories in themselves, drawing you in with clever lyrics and the haunting finger plucking – simple stuff but (lest this sound damning with faint praise) so skillful yet easy on the ear. Its not until you start watching his fingers dance over the strings you see how there are two patterns going on simultaneously by his thumb and index finger, using the strings as two separate areas while his left hand works the frets on the higher strings.

All too soon the show was over. Eleven songs, eleven chats. A view of life and death in Bognor, the tribulations of late night driving and route diversions, social history… covid and lockdown as a metaphor for 21^st century life.

He also has a phenomenal memory; whilst chatting to him after the gig and buying his latest album he asked me if I’d met him also at “Tangled Roots” last June! I can’t remember what I had to eat this morning!

If Mark is playing near you, go and see him.

If he isn’t, buy his music.

In fact – do both!

Mark Harrison Music
Web: www.markharrisonrootsmusic.com
Twitter/X : @mharrisonmusic
Facebook: markharrisonmusic
Instagram: @markharrisonbandofficial
Youtube: markharrisonband
Bandcamp: https://markharrison.bandcamp.com/music

Setlist
Tribulation Time
Ain’t No Justice
Black Dog Moan
Road Ahead Closed
The Wild West
The Great Stink
More Fool Me
Go Nice
Highgate Hill Blues
Toolmaker’s Blues
Easy Does It

“Skylight” at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath, April 24th-27th.

by Ian Diddams
images by Jim McCauley & Bath Drama

Its 3 a.m. You are tired. You are still going round and round in circles in a discussion with a partner, lover, friend about a lover, their lover, a friend’s lover.

Sound familiar? Flashbacks? We have all been there – well, anybody that has any friends and has reached the age of eighteen anyway.

David Hare’s play “Skylight” is all so reminiscent of those long, dark tea times of the soul (to paraphrase Douglas Adams). Over the course of this riveting two and half hour play we are witness to the post match analysis of two ex-lovers (their … “love” … briefly rekindled over the course of half time a.k.a. the interval) exploring their previous, illicit, relationship and the potential for the future.

The play opens, set in the mid-1990s in Kyra’s (Phoebe Fung) flat in Kensal Rise as she returns from work, as a teacher. It is an unglamorous property, and that is being kind. She is soon joined as a total surprise by Edward (Samuel Elliot), a confident eighteen-year old on his gap year. We learn that Edward has had an argument with his father, Tom (Jeremy Fowlds), and has moved out… that Kyra was part of his family household for years. That his mother, Alice, had died. That Kyra had inexplicably left one day. Then a while after Edward has left, Tom arrives. It transpires Kyra and Tom haven’t seen each other for three years. Were ex-lovers. That Alice had found out. And so, Kyra left.

And the talking starts.

“Skylight” is fundamentally a triple duologue, a play in three parts over two acts. Kyra is on stage aside from brief periods out of sight in her bedroom for the entire play. Tom is on stage for much of that too. Edward has what may be called a cameo role by some but still has a hundred lines to deliver, over the prelude (as above) and an epilogue.

The play’s title is derived from a feature from the bedroom of the play’s fourth character that we never see, Alice, who was dieing of cancer. The bedroom’s sloping glass roof is the “Skylight” … and its existence sums up succinctly Tom’s perception of life. Tom is an extremely wealthy self-made restaurant owning businessman (allegedly modelled on Terence Conran) where life is smoothed by the presence of the “Yellow Pages” (remember that?). Everything can be paid for and that’s all that matters. Kyra once lived in this bubble of financial ease but now chooses a life of social fulfilment – passionately too.

And so, to the set. What a set! Hare once apparently said he doesn’t write plays set in a room but as the exception (?) that proves the rule this one is – it is quite literally a kitchen sink drama. All the action is in Kyra’s kitchen/diner/lounge. Anyone reading this that lived in cheap rented accommodation in the 1980s and 1990s will recognise it immediately. Peeling and patched wallpaper, mould on the walls, gas boiler safety certificate so old its ripped mostly off the boiler, scratched lino floor, rusty doored fridge-freezer, grubby paintwork. You can SMELL the lack of upkeep. Delve deeper into the flat and the attention to detail is superb. Mixed library of books from Freud to Shakespeare to Phillip K. Dick to Salinger to Verne. A working sink. Yes. You read that correctly… a WORKING sink. Water comes out of the taps. Goes down a plughole. And the pièce de resistance, the cooking hob. That works. And on which Kyra cooks, on stage, in real time, a spaghetti and sauce dinner. (Incidentally, it smells divine – do make sure you have eaten before you go and see the show because you will be feeling hungry if not!)

Full kudos must be given to the set designer here. Rich Canning, take a HUGE bow, along with your build crew. You could give guided tours of this set. I WANTED to be able to see the bedroom. I WANTED to see the flat’s front walkway and stairs. Absolutely amazing.

Which brings me onto sound and lighting. Once against at the Rondo, Alex Latham has pulled out all the stops. From the “whoomphing” gas boiler to traffic sounds as doors and windows are opened, to running baths, day turning to night turning to day. Another sublime performance in the tech box.

Andy Cork directs, assisted more than ably by Stephanie Richards who also produced the show. Andy’s program notes expand on this, but he has perfectly helped the cast capture the societal divide post-Thatcher, pre-Blair that resonates so much with contemporary Johnson/Truss/Sunak 2020s. So much so that if we were told this was set in 2024 it would be as valid, as meaningful. Possibly even more so. Social bigotry, monetary divide, I’m-all-right-jack, anti-woke, no-lives-matter.

This is all encapsulated in the plot and characterisation, expounded so brilliantly by Phoebe and Jeremy. Tom is one step from the “smelly homeless should be fined” brigade – if that far even. Kyra has a social conscience – or has developed one once freed of Tom’s wealth when she was much younger. And that is the crux of their non-relationship. Despite each other’s strong love for each other still it becomes increasingly clear there is no future. They are poles apart – at one stage I even thought “Why/How do these two even get on? Like each other?” They are the antithesis of each other’s perspectives. Tom crashes though life with a plan that is so focussed he has lost focus on everything else; while he had provided a “Skylight” for his dieing wife he is just Gaslighting constantly. And mainly himself. Maybe even only himself. Kyra has no plan, is drifting, but cares. Passionately cares. About social injustice and Tom’s obvious lack of social conscience. At one point as Kyra rages against the unfairness of society, I was struck by the Jonathan Pie-esque rhetoric, delivery… quite superb. And let’s not forget Samuel as Edward. Edward demonstrates another side of his family. The lost nephew almost for Kyra that arrives in the epilogue, so to speak, to raise Kyra’s spirits, to display tenderness. Tom makes a point that he, Tom, genuinely GIVES because his gifts are without ulterior motives. But in reality, he is not giving at all, he is gifting. Whereas Edward is giving of himself… such that he isn’t really even giving, he is sharing. A sweet portrayal by Samuel.

I could continue in similar vein for pages. I won’t though. The best thing would be for you, dear reader, to grab a ticket and get yourself to the Rondo and see this amazing show. See David Hare’s words come to life through Andy, Stephanie, Phoebe, Jeremy, Samuel, Alex, and Rich’s creativity. We are so blessed with great community theatre in Wiltshire and Bath, but this may well be the best show you see this year.

“Skylight” runs from April 24^th to 27^th at 1930 each evening at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, Bath.

Tickets available from https://rondotheatre.co.uk/skylight/

A View to a Thrill

“The Thrill of Love” at the Wharf Theatre

by Ian Diddams
images by Chris Watkins Media

Just over a year ago, the Wharf theatre performed a sell out show “Ladies Day” written by Amanda Whittington. In less than a month’s time they are to revisit the same playwright’s work, with her drama “The Thrill of Love” featuring the turbulent and tragic story of the nightclub hostess and later manageress Ruth Ellis.

The story revolves around five characters – Doris Judd (Mitzi Baehr) , cleaner, Detective Inspector Jack Gale (Sean Andrews), Vickie Martin (Jess Whiley), club hostess, Sylvia Shaw (Mari Webster), club manageress and of course, Ruth Ellis (Freddie Underwood). Directed by Debby Wilkinson.

This evening I was privy to a rehearsal, watching the cast working through several key scenes. I arrived as Debby and Freddie were discussing the shooting scene – straight into the core of the plot – then to a discussion about Ruth’s taking control of her own “Little Club”. A request for biographies to the cast for the program, and then we were onto the stage.

The set is taking shape – the nightclub takes centre stage with tables, chairs, lamps, a bar, a record player… parquet flooring to come blurring into the extremities where prison cell, police interview rooms and the outside world are positioned. It’s a simple set but everything is pertinent, in place and neither too much not too little.

With three weeks to go until run week, it is immediately clear that the cast are not only comfortable with each other but complement each other perfectly. Characterisation is spot on, from world weary Shaw, mirroring Gale, to Martin’s youthful exuberance, Ellis’ glamourous and troubled personality … and good girl Doris with a heart of gold. I read the superb script a few weeks ago, but these actors are already bringing the written word to life quite wonderfully, all aided and abetted by Debby’s suggestions, tweaks and developments as the evening progressed. Their use of the full depth and width of the stage kept the action flowing beautifully from nightclub to prison cell, to crematorium and back to the club.

The cast are well off book (that’s thesp-speak for “don’t need the script” !!) and while the prompt is used when needed the lines are there. The production is in a good place.

So with a clever set, top casting, smart direction, and class acting what else does “The Thrill of Love” offer? How about the sublime music of Billie Holliday? The show is interspersed her songs and cleverly so… each song underpinning a scene’s messages and plot. It’s a wonderful symbiosis of art, and worthy of watching.

I’ve deliberately not given away too much of the plot this early hoping this piece serves as a teaser – the Wharf’s last three shows were all sell-outs and this one deserves to sell-out too. I’ll be back for a full review at the start of show week but don’t wait for that fuller review … I urge you to get tickets early while you can. You will not be disappointed.

Trust me… I’m a reviewer 😉

“The Thrill of Love”, by Amanda Whittington, is performed at The Wharf Theatre between May 13^th and May 18^th, at 1930 each evening. Tickets are available from the Wharf website at https://www.wharftheatre.co.uk/show/the-thrill-of-love, or from Devizes Library.

“And Then There Were None” at The Wharf Theatre, Devizes, April 8th-13th 2024

By Mick Brian.
Images by Chris Watkins Media

Mention the name of the author “Agatha Christie” and most people will immediately think of her two main detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. But Christie wrote more than just crime mysteries featuring these two characters … her prolific creative palmares include many stories without these protagonists. Arguably her most famous such tale was published in 1939 with a title that it is unacceptable to use in these far more enlightened times. In 1985 in the UK that title was amended to “Ten little Indians”.

During World War II, she used that book to produce a stage play, named for the already re-named US title “And Then There Were None”. The book’s grisly ending was amended for this stage play, in an attempt, allegedly, to provide a lighter feel-good ending during the dark days of 1943, though later an alternative ending matching the book’s was written. Directors are free to choose whichever ending they wish…

Having read both the book and now the play, it must be said that the book stands up to scrutiny far better than the play does. There are some rather glaring oddities in the plotline of the play that just don’t withstand a very deep forensic review. One rather gets the impression Christie may have been asked by “somebody” to create the play as a matter of public levity at a sombre time in history, and do so quickly, and as such the play itself seems at times quite slapdash. Key areas of the book are omitted in the play or included in one ending and not the other.

That all said the story is a rollicking one, fast paced and leaves the audience guessing right until the very end (unless they have seen the play, or films, or read the book of course!). And I must stress that the limitations of the play itself as above do not reduce the impact or the Wharf’s performances one iota. The pace is so frenetic that any possible plot oddities probably pass unnoticed as the audience is taken on the roller coaster ride of ten people on a secluded island all being murdered one by one by an unknown assassin.

Rose Fitter’s direction, ably assisted by John Winterton as assistant director and the Wharf’s excellent tech crew have created two and quarter hours of gut churning intrigue and suspense. Costumes by Gill Barnes and her team are totally spot on for a 1939 house party of “rich folks”, waited on by two domestic staff. The set is a classic one room country house murder mystery replete – of course – with “ten little solder boys” and their poem quite rightly literally taking centre stage. There are some lovely, clever stage management touches (Beth Ramsay) throughout the show but to let on here would spoil the impact of them …

The cast of eleven deliver Christie’s lines with panache, aplomb, and tempo. And what a cast! Many familiar faces to Wharf regulars mixed with a new face or two. I shan’t go into details of each cast member here because this review would become “War and Peace” length, but its is more than fair to say that each and every character is fully believable, from obstreperous boatman to deferential staff, hardened and cynical, or repentant, ex-army and ex-police officers, naïve secretary, puerile playboy, quasi-evangelical bigot, stressed doctor and sardonic judge.

The dress rehearsal wasn’t devoid of a couple of slips but given the high pace and quick-fire interactions of the script in a community production that is maybe understandable.

What is thoroughly commendable is that three characters – Claythorne, Lombard and Blore – between them have 60% of all the lines in the play, and with Wargrave 70%.

Not that this diminishes the rest of the cast – the performance thrives as mentioned above on the superb characterisations displayed by everybody involved and the acting displayed is absolutely top notch. The wharf’s own intimacy aligns itself particularly well as usual – those in the front row particularly are literally just inches from mayhem, arguments, and corpses!

Finally to that ending… as the opening paragraphs mention there are two endings available for this play. So, which is it that this performance uses? Well… you’ll have to come along and see it to find out! But on that note – this run of six nights is sold out, so if you have a ticket, you are in for treat. If you didn’t manage to procure one there is always the chance of a return but after all… with regards to tickets…

And Then There Were None…

CAST
Narracott                          Frank Jones
Mrs. Rogers                     Carolyn Miles
Rogers                               Chris Smith
Vera Claythorne            Anna Leyden
Lombard                           Paul Snook
Marston                             Fraser Normington
Blore                                   Ian Diddams
Mackenzie                        Steve Keyes
Emily Brent                      Sian Stables
Wargrave                           Pete Wallis
Dr. Armstrong                Julie Atkinson-Baker

“And Then There Were None” is performed at 1930 each evening Monday 8^th April to Saturday 13^th April 2024 at the Wharf Theatre, Devizes.