News: Southwold and Aldeburgh Summer Theatre Season launched

The sun may yet to have made a meaningful appearance on the coast this year, but Southwold and Aldeburgh Summer Theatres are looking ahead to a bright summer, with the announcement of their summer season of plays.Opening the season on July 11 is Dave Freeman’s farce A Bedfull of Foreigners, which will play in the town until 21st July before heading down the coast to play in Aldeburgh from 26th July – 4th August.Other plays making up the season include Frederick Knott’s Write Me A Murder, Richard Harris and Leslie Darbon’s Two And Two Make Sex, Mark Simpson’s adaptation of The Curse of Dracula and Peter Shaffer’s Five Finger Exercise.The Jill...

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News: Corrie Bad Boy expects boos in Lowestoft

Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre is encouraging Coronation Street fans to book tickets to boo one of the Street’s biggest bad boys, announcing Nigel Pivaro will be leaving his character Terry Duckworth in Weatherfield to take on the role of Abanazar in the Suffolk venues’ pantomime, Aladdin, this winter.The iconic character of Terry Duckworth has become synonymous with the Street, since his first appearance in 1983. His many wicked ways, from breaking his parents’ hearts, along with several girlfriends, to selling his own son, have made him the villain everyone loves to hate.Pantomime producer Paul Holman, from Paul Holman Associates said: “Nigel is...

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Review: The Sunshine Boys - Savoy Theatre

Comebacks after acrimonious splits are becoming something of a showbiz trend. Take That and Steps just two examples of acts burying the hatchet for a return to the limelight.Neil Simon looks at a more theatrical reunion. After 43 years of working together, legendary comedy duo Willie Clark and Al Lewis haven’t spoken for 11 years. Willie’s nephew (and agent) is determined to get the duo talking again, if only for the sake of a forthcoming TV documentary.Simon’s 1972 play however, is beginning to creak as much as the ageing bones of the comics; the script itself contains a paper thin plot that never really tells us much about either men. We wait...

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Feature: The top 10 theatre debate

There’s nothing like publishing a top ten list to get a debate raging. As soon as the list hits the page (or screen) people start to disagree and produce their own lists.So when Michael Coveney listed his ten favourite theatres, it was only a matter of time before other contenders started to be proposed. Mark Shenton soon followed with his proposals and Rev Stan has now shared her ten favourite venues. Never one to miss a trend, here are my top ten venues.How have I selected them? A mix of architecture, atmosphere and productions all play a part. Seat comfort is also a key consideration and one that has seen several, otherwise strong contenders,...

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Review: The Winter's Tale - Theatre Royal, Norwich

Shakespearian scholars may have to revise their thesis for, if we are to believe Ed Hall’s vibrant staging of The Winter’s Tale, Delia Smith’s now infamous Carrow Road touchline cry of ‘let’s be having yer’ is in fact a long lost line from The Bard. Then again, any production that also includes the line ‘take it away, saxophone sheep’ tells you this isn’t any normal Winter’s Tale.To keep the football metaphor, it is in many ways a game of two halves. Act one, set in a slick Sicilian court, is a more traditional affair. Modern dress, yes, and set against a chrome clad, minimalist set but played very much low key. As Leontes falsely accuses his...

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Review: HighTide Brunch Plays - The Cut, Halesworth

A leisurely Sunday morning. Coffee, bacon rolls and new writing. What could be better? HighTide have assembled a team of writers either based in, or inspired by the area, to write a series of micro plays. Given rehearsed, script in hand, readings, the series of ‘Brunch Plays’ allows an audience to see the germ of an idea in an informal setting.Tracks by Shiona Morton is set on a small station on the East Suffolk Line. It’s a quiet Sunday, an unmanned station but for Ryan the chance conversation with a passenger gives him the only entertainment on an otherwise dull day. Morton captures perfectly those one sided conversations we’ve all witnessed...

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Review: HighTide: The Adventure - The Printworks, Halesworth

Some reviews are difficult to write, not because there isn’t anything to say about a production, but, because the fact that the element of surprise is so central to the success of the piece, that to say anything that would weaken the whole experience.So it is with Bad Physics’ The Adventure. Forget sitting in a theatre to watch a play, here you are active participants on a wild adventure that without your help is doomed to fail. Inspired by the Famous Five it’s a jolly jape as we follow the clues and pit wits against an unseen foe as we race to save the day.To give anymore away would, as said, spoil the fun. Suffice to say it’s a full on adventure...

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