BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF

  Robin Hood and His Merry Men:

Bath Drama, The Rondo Theatre, Bath

13 January 2011

 

What a very merry band of men (and women, and women dressed as men, and men dressed as women) they were - there was more cross-dressing in Nottingham Forest than ever there was in the Forest of Arden.

And didn't they just love it? What is it about men in tights or men in frocks that reduces grown blokes to naughty schoolboys with plenty of nudge-nudge wink-wink jokes around the 'camp' fire? Geddit?

Of course it was all in the best possible taste and the finest tradition of pantomime.

This production of Robin Hood written by Robin Bailes and Jonathan Hales, was an uproarious romp from start to finish.

The opening night audience - most of whom were probably cast groupies or relatives - threw themselves into the responses with plenty of banter back and forth.

What characterised the show more than anything was the sheer fun of it - the silliness, the corny jokes and the willingness of everyone watching to engage in sing-alongs and look-behind-you responses.

The songs were great, from the Sheriff's rendition of Great Balls of Cash through a Robin and Maid Marion duet of You're The One That I Want, to a very funny variation on I Really Can't Stay between the Sheriff and panto dame Jemima Gusset.

Director and choreographer John Pamplin stepped into the role of Jemima at the 11th hour as though he had found his true calling.

John was superb, a genuinely funny man, even when he was obviously lost for words in some of the choruses, and one of those actors who instantly has the audience on his side.

Steve Huggins made a fantastic boo-hiss baddy of the Sheriff of Nottingham, along with his sexy henchwomen Lady (Claire Wilkins) and Gaga (Diluki Kevitiyagala). Those two really gave it up with their raunchy version of Great Balls of Fire.

Carina Baverstock gave a robust performance as Robin Hood, if outshone by the humorous antics of his merry men - Ian Crook as a camp Will Scarlett, Joel Lintern as Little John and Philip Holme as Friar Tuck - and Lesley Castens made a lively narrator as Ellen-a-Dale.

Rachel Hodson and Charlotte Howard made light work of playing two feisty wenches as Maid Marion and Jim (Gymkhana Thatch) respectively.

Daisy the Cow was a delight, played superbly by Amy and Lucy Baldwin.

If you want a laugh, take the kids and go and see this show. It's a cracking piece of entertainment.

Jackie Chappell

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BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF 

They Never Noticed A Thing, Bath Drama, Rondo Theatre, Larkhall

14 October 2010

They Never Noticed A Thing is the latest play from local playwright Stephen Curtis and a comedy that follows the ups and downs of theatre life. It is a 'play within a play' that finds the humour in all the things that can all too easily go wrong.

The plot concerns ordinary family life and relationships, in particular Eddy (Rod Moor-Bardell) an accident-prone amateur actor whose only desire in life is to please his wife. Set in Bath in the 1950s the lives of the families often seem troublesome. Minnie (Alex Oliviere-Davies) is pregnant with her eleventh child, one of which is Angie (Jazz Hazelwood) a very keen actress hoping to lose her broad Bristolian accent to pursue her dream.

Herbert (Marc Delangri), Angie's on-off boyfriend does all he can to help her but ends up more of a hindrance. New neighbours Maxine (Charlotte Howard) and Eddy are desperately trying for a baby but have been unsuccessful and are so frustrated by Minnie's seemingly easily produced brood.

As the play is set in Bath and Bristoll, local references within the script such as Newbridge, Weston Super Mare and mention of the old cinemas in Bath raised laughs of recognition from the audience.

It would also seem that most of the audience were in the acting profession themselves. With references to Rose Bowl awards, mock over-acting scenes and superstitious acts carried out by the drama club producer Dorothy Spurgeon (Nadine Comba) on their 'stage within in a stage' there were roars of appreciative laughter and ripples of sniggers.

You really either had to know the area or know acting to appreciate these little added remarks, but the plot beneath was for everyone to enjoy.

Alex Oliviere-Davies in Minnie's character shone the brightest. She was very comfortable in her role and it showed. The crowd warmed to her West Country dialect and she had the typical mumsy quality.

As well as Minnie, it was the other older players who seemed the strongest in this show, in a way stealing the limelight from the young ones.

The laughter flowed throughout, the scenes brilliantly written and the real play was much more professional than the play within. Even if anything did go wrong, the audience never noticed a thing.

Alaina Henderson

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BATH CHRONICLE PREVIEW OF THEY NEVER NOTICED A THING - OCTOBER 2010

 BATH DRAMA IS BOUND TO GET NOTICED

On stage Alex Oliviere-Davies has shed the habit she wore last year to play Isabella, the lead in Bath Drama's Rosebowl-nominated production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.

Now Alex (in real-life a mother of one) waddles out as Mrs Minnie Rogers, coping with a family of ten and with an eleventh on the way, in They Never Noticed A Thing, Bath Drama's autumn show at the Rondo Theatre in Larkhall.

They Never Noticed A Thing is an uproarious comedy set in Bath during the 1950s. Haycombe Cemetery and the Scala cinema both get a mention. It is about people's hopes and dreams and the difficulties of fulfilling them.

It is about amateur theatre and the difficulty of getting enough good actors to fill the parts. And it is about family life and the difficulty people sometimes have in starting a family … which is where the character that Alex plays comes in.

Minnie Rogers and her husband Joe (played by Derek Le Page) are picked on by their new next-door neighbours the Nixes (played by Rod Moor-Bardell and Charlotte Howard) as consultants in the business of getting into the family way. Throw in the Rogers' stage-struck daughter Angie (Jazz Hazlewood), her chirpy boyfriend Herbert (Marc Delangri), Dorothy Spurgeon, the producer of the local theatre group (Nadine Comba) and Bristol fringe impresario Cedric Steele (Mike Taylor), into the mix, and you have enough comic complications to need a final, hilarious play-within-the play to sort them out.

"I like the character I'm playing a lot," says Alex, "and while everyone else is rushing round the stage I get to sit in a deckchair and knit quite a bit. The only problem is, this was my year for getting slim. If Steve (Stephen Curtis, author and director of They Never Noticed A Thing and director of Measure for Measure) wants me to act for him again, he'd better cast me as someone willowy."

They Never Noticed A Thing is being staged at the Rondo Theatre, Larkhall, from October 13 to 16 at 7.30 pm.

Tickets (priced £9 with concessions £7) are available from the Bath Festival box office (01225 463362) and on the door.

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BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, JUNE 2010

 

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BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF RING ROUND THE MOON

Thursday, April 29 2010

 Ring Round the Moon, performed by Bath Drama, is set in France in 1910. Embarking upon social issues including wealth, poverty, and the obligation of marriage, the farcical plot and its amusing characters make for an entertaining evening.

Ring Round the Moon involves a rather confusing spider's web of character relationships, but due to steady acting and neat staging from Bath Drama, it was not impossible to understand.

Each character embodied an element of melodrama, requiring the audience to suspend their disbelief somewhat, but this was easily achieved, and the play was enjoyable.

The story revolves around Hugo who, at the start, 'schemes a scheme' to make his infatuated brother fall out of love with his indifferent fiancé.

Hugo's plans become increasingly elaborate and quite ridiculous as other characters get dragged in. By the end, everyone seems to have swapped partners, denounced their riches or gained new assets. But a play in which characters change makes for an interesting watch.

Twin brothers Hugo and Frederic, who are identical in looks but who couldn't be less alike in personality, were played by the same actor. Rob Dawson's effortlessly convincing portrayal of the selfish, scheming Hugo, and the nervy and pathetic Frederic were successfully performed and cleverly choreographed. Often Hugo might exit the stage leaving one arm in view, pointing from the wings, while Dawson entered the next scene as a different character. This joke, like others was repeated but did not became tiresome - the friendly and farcical humour of the play made for a soothing evening.

Julie Knight

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BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

Thursday, January 14 2010 

Most of the usual suspects were there too, portrayed by a huge and enthusiastic cast from Bath Drama. The seven dwarves were, well, actually, a politically correct diverse bunch who weren't too vertically challenged and occasionally thinking they were hobbits when the story needed it.

In fact the plot involved more diversions than the SouthGate shopping centre, somehow involving a dungeon of doom where Dangling Dan, suspended by chains, managed to sing most of The Sound Of Music, while elsewhere the superbly bad Queen hit the high notes of the more apt Killer Queen. And the pantomime horse must get a mention; his favourite musical was, of course, Gigi.

Dame Nanny Gote excelled at frocks and ad-libs (as did many others when the need arose) and the scenery builders and movers can never have been so busy before at the Rondo.

Even the audience worked hard on this inclement evening, but be warned, if you're not up for participation then normal rules apply - avoid the front row. Although even that may not save you.

It's an odd English ritual, pantomime, and every year we approach it with a huge sense of deja vu, but its spell always works, so if you haven't overdosed this festive season then call in at Larkhall. You'll be swept along again.

The pantomime runs until Sunday January 17 at 7.30pm with matinées on Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm.

Philip Horton

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BATH CHRONICLE REVIEW OF MEASURE FOR MEASURE

What a fine job Bath Drama made of Measure for Measure under the direction of Stephen Curtis.

Shakespeare's comedy of morals is no easy play to stage turning as it does on a series of finely-honed debates on the use and misuse of authority, corruption and deceit.

The plot loosely revolves around the fact that Angelo, the corrupt regent of Vienna, has sentenced Claudio to death for impregnating his betrothed Julietta out of wedlock. When Claudio's sister Isabella, a novice nun, pleads for his life Angelo lusts after her and will only spare Claudio if Isabella agrees to bed him.

The notion that sex out of wedlock is a crime may seem quaintly old fashioned to our society, but the arguments about justice and mercy are every bit as relevant to a modern audience and Bath Drama tackles this complex play extremely well.

And, lest it all sound a trifle serious, there are some fine comic scenes involving, bawds, constables and petty criminals, admirably performed by Mike Auton as Elbow and Paul Olding as the foolish Froth.

Robert Constantine put in a fine performance as The Duke of Vienna who has gone walkabout disguised as a friar to discover what his subjects think of him, while Adrian Philpott was splendidly stern and unyielding as the corrupt deputy.

Christopher Constantine, who played the dissolute Lucio, a friend of Claudio, was word perfect and assured throughout, while Alex Oliviere-Davies was superb in her role as the wronged nun pleading for justice.

The sets were effective and simple and the cast made good use of the Rondo's tiny stage.

There were one or two fluffed lines on occasion but that was probably just down to opening night nerves and were a minor consideration in a production that would have done credit to a professional company.

Measure for Measure plays until October 17 every night at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £8 from the festivals box office on 01225 463362.

Jackie Chappell

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From the Bath Chronicle website:

 Open-air players see shelter's work

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Two Bath theatre groups, who put on a joint show in the summer to raise money for Julian House, have visited the shelter to see how it helps the homeless.

Representatives from Bath Drama and the Rondo Theatre Company were taken on a tour of the Manvers Street shelter to see where their money will go.

The groups, who put on an outdoor production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in July, raised more than £1,400 for the organisation.

The charity's fundraising manager Cecil Weir went to see the show, which on one night saw actors forced to perform in the rain. He said he always welcomed supporters to the shelter to witness the cramped conditions endured by clients on a regular basis.

He said: "We encourage people to come and see the projects. That way they get more of an understanding of the real issues that impact on homelessness. For instance, currently we can only accommodate three women in the building, when very often we know there are more female clients who need our support."

The shelter runs projects across the city to tackle the causes of homelessness and needs more than £300,000 each year to keep going.

For more information or to donate, visit www.julianhouse.org.uk .

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From the Bath Chronicle website:

 The Taming of the Shrew: Rondo Theatre Company

 and Bath Drama, Royal Victoria Park, Bath

Monday, July 20, 2009

Watching open air theatre on a balmy summer evening is usually a delight, so what happens when it rains?

For Bath Drama and The Rondo Theatre Company the play goes on, and for the hardy audience - a couple of dozen - there was much fun to be had. Sure, a few lines were changed, or added, referring to the weather, but this was a splendid production , concentrating greatly on the humour rather than, what some see as, the misogyny.

As the play is now 400 years old you probably know the plot - man offered huge dowry by father to marry hot-tempered elder daughter, tames her and gets dowry. But this is Shakespeare and it's never quite that simple.

As Petruchio, Darian Nelson excelled, braving the weather and a really volatile, pouting Amy Hughes as Kate, also played to perfection. In fact, the whole cast were terrific. Maybe the rain heightens the senses and brings out the best in us.

Kate's final speech, pointing out that wives should always be subservient to their husbands (the final straw for feminists) was played with more than the usual irony and the throughout comedy was king.

All proceeds were going to Julian House, so unfortunately there wouldn't have been much cash generated on the Thursday of my visit, but top marks for effort in all departments.

Philip Horton

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 Bath Chronicle review of Glengarry Glen Ross   

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Presentation of the Best Dramatic Production Rosebowl 2006 byFred Wedlock for The Servant by Robin Maugham, and the citation for the award.

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Presentation of the Best Dramatic Production Rosebowl 2004 for Accidental Death Of An Anarchist by Dario Fo.

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 The citation for the Best Dramatic Production Rosebowl 2002 for Dead Funny by Terry Johnson.