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Showing posts from October, 2021

Isla – 18th October 2021 – Theatr Clwyd

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I have a love hate relationship with technology. When I was at university in the 90’s, those around me worked on computers whilst I had an electronic typewriter that seemed to have a mind of its own. I think I was nearly 30 before I finally succumbed to enter the modern age and buy myself a laptop. When I was driving somewhere new, I would study my map book – I would work out which route I was to take and write down the major junctions I needed on post-it notes which I’d stick to my dashboard…discarding each one as I travelled along my hosen route. Now of course it’s much easier, I never bought a Satnav but I have become reliant on Google Maps on my phone…or as I call it Satnav Woman.  Satnav Woman is brilliant...until she isn’t. She can tell you which route to take and then reroute if there’s an accident or heavy traffic ahead, but she can also be a bit slow telling you where to go, or perhaps a little unclear in her meanings. And then there are the times when she just won’t listen. I

Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn– 12th October 2021 – Theatr Clwyd

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Three married couples. Three kitchens. Three Christmas parties. Yes, I know it’s October and I’ve mentioned the “C” word, but forgive me, this was another of those long-awaited productions delayed by covid that I’ve been itching to see and believe me it could have been worse; when the tour started in Derby they were having Christmas in June! Sidney Hopcroft doesn’t have much going for him, he’s uneducated, charmless, a local tradesman, but he has a will and a desire to succeed. His wife Jane is the typical suburban 1970’s housewife, lacking ambition and maintaining a spotless home. And I do mean spotless. The play opens in the Hopcroft’s kitchen and Jane is cleaning. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Everything must be perfect tonight; somehow, Sidney has persuaded her to throw a Christmas Eve party to impress his bank manager and a local architect. As the celebrations begin, unsurprisingly, these three odd couples all end up in the kitchen – I mean this is a party and all the best parties

Being Mr Wickham – 8th October 2021 – Theatr Clwyd

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Back in 1995, the BBC made what I would consider the quintessential adaptation of Jane Austin’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. The six-part series elevated actor Colin Firth to fame when he set hearts a flutter whilst striding out of the lake at Pemberley as the dashing Mr Darcy, wet white shirt dripping and clinging to his torso. The foil to Mr Darcy was George Wickham, played by Adrian Lukis, a man who shared his history with Darcy. Wickham was a charming militia officer who manged to attract the sympathy of the heroine Elizabeth Bennett. She believed Darcy to have mistreated Wickham in the past and it took the interaction of her aunt to forewarn her that the path to happiness was most certainly not to be found in George Wickham. As the story continues, the aunt’s warning plays out and it is revealed that Wickham is a manipulative cad. He is a wastrel, a compulsive liar, a seducer and live the life of a rake…in fact Jane Austin doesn’t really have anything nice to say about the m

The Hound of the Baskervilles – 21st September 2021 – Theatr Clwyd

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After the last 18 months, we all could all do with exercising those chuckle muscles a bit and where better to do it than by watching live theatre? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated adventure has been given the most glorious comic transformation by the Original Theatre Company. The world-renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his ever-faithful sidekick Dr Watson are tasked with unravelling a mystery regarding the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Rumours abound that there is a cursed giant hound roaming the moors which surround the Baskerville home, so it is up to Holmes and Watson…or should that be Watson and Holmes, to use their wit and guile to save the remaining Baskerville heir from succumbing to the same fate that has befallen Sir Charles. This ingenious adaptation combines wonderful comic performances by all three cast members who take on a variety of roles throughout the evening. Serena Manteghi plays a whole host of colourful characters, she is a delight as

Dial M for Murder - – 27th September 2021 – Theatr Clwyd

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Retired champion tennis player Tony Wendice (played by Strictly Come Dancing winner Tom Chambers) wants to murder his socialite wife Margot (X-factor finalist Diana Vickers.) Not only has Margot been unfaithful to her husband by having an affair with crime writer Max Halliday, but she’s also sitting on a small fortune which her husband needs to get his hands on the because he’s broke. Whilst he may have several trophy’s lining his front room shelves, he was playing tennis in an era where tennis players weren’t paid. Many people will be aware of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film version of Dial M for Murder starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly, however, it was BBC television that first aired a production in 1952; the same year that a theatrical version was also performed. As I loved Hitchcock’s version, I was rather excited to finally watch this play; I’d bought tickets pre-covid when the tour was first announced, but unfortunately the production had to be postponed several times until it