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Archive for May, 2022

The Unfriend (review)

Posted in Uncategorized on 30/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review of THE UNFRIEND by Steven Moffat (LINKED) at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre. Directed by Mark Gattis, so we have the team behind Sherlock, Dr Who, Dracula etc. Peter and Debbie are an extremely polite British couple who meet an American on a cruise ship. She invites herself to visit them, and they Google her and find she’s been implicated in six murders of family members … It’s a sparkling comedy, which strangely attracted ‘Marmite’ reviews ranging from five stars to two stars. We’re at the happy end. It’s on for another month. Well worth a pleasant trip to Chichester, plus I’d say a West End run is a certainty.

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Murder on The Orient express – review

Posted in Uncategorized on 27/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review of the stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (linked) at Chichester Festival Theatre. Adapted by Ken Ludwig, starring Henry Goodman as a superb Hercule Poirot. This is a marvellously theatrical production, and there’s a week left to get in to see it. However, given the cast, costumes and incredible set, I’ll guarantee that it will move to London, then tour in the fullness of time. It’s fascinating to see how they managed to get in on stage … it takes place on a train stuck in a snowdrift in Yugoslavia in 1934 after all. No plot spoilers in the review.

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Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, review

Posted in Uncategorized on 23/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review of the second play in the Royal Shakespeare Company Henry VI series, WARS OF THE ROSES (follow link). This is not the Barton and Hall adaptation from the 60s, it is a retitled HENRY VI-PART 3. This was so much the better of the two productions, in spite of the same director, cast and musicians. It was truly thrilling, full of action, all brilliantly executed (as are several characters in the play – literally). It will be touring. as they filmed the previous one, this is bound to be filmed too.

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Henry VI – Rebellion, review

Posted in Uncategorized on 22/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review of HENRY VI-REBELLION (link to review). This is a large cast Royal Shakespeare Company production (the play is normally known as HENRY VI – PART TWO), and it will be touring so you do have a chance to see it. It was filmed the night we were there, so there’s another opportunity. It’s a traditional arms and armour production, with a strong concept. It pairs with HENRY VI- WARS OF THE ROSES, with the the same director and cast. That review will follow. Surprisingly, one play worked much better than the other. The review also discusses the gender and colour-blind casting issues.

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Eurovision 2022: a rant

Posted in Uncategorized on 15/05/2022| 1 Comment »

Definitely not in the music section here. A piece on the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest (LINKED) which may serve to offend people from 25 different countries. Hopefully with a laugh or two.

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Our Man in Havana (musical, review)

Posted in Uncategorized on 13/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review added of the new musical version of Graham Greene’s OUR MAN IN HAVANA (linked) at the wonderful Watermill Theatre in Berkshire. You won’t seea production with higher energy this year- the small cast play multiple roles, sing, dance and back themselves instrumentally. Catch it if you can. I suspect a tour is on the cards.

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Our Man in Havana (film)

Posted in Uncategorized on 13/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

Review added to the 60s Retrospective series of OUR MAN IN HAVANA (linked). Graham Greene wrote the novel and the screenplay, and it was a major success in 1960, with Alec Guinness, Noël Coward, Ralph Richardson, Maureen O’Hara, Ernie Kovacs and Burl Ives. We re-watched it because we were about to see the new musical version.

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One Man Dog

Posted in Uncategorized on 08/05/2022| Leave a Comment »

A new one at AROUND AND AROUND. One Man Dog by James Taylor from late 1972 added to Reviled! The Albums Critics Loved To Hate. It only spawned one hit, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, and was considered an underwhelming album at the time, though astute commentators like Jon Landau and Peter Doggett rated it very highly. So how does it stand up? The Rolling Stone Record Guide rated it as a two star album , but decades later Record Collector rated it at 5 stars. Where does my rating lie? Read and see.

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