Review of Natalie Merchant at The Royal Albert Hall, March 16th. I’ll be surprised if I see a better concert this year. Perfect sound, unusually for that hall. Beautiful songs and delivery.

17/03/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of Natalie Merchant at The Royal Albert Hall, March 16th. I’ll be surprised if I see a better concert this year. Perfect sound, unusually for that hall. Beautiful songs and delivery.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
13/03/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of the Kenneth Branagh Company’s third production, The Painkiller (LINKED), a full-on French farce with Kenneth Branagh as a hit man and Rob Brydon as the suicidal Welsh photographer in the next hotel room, it may not sound funny, but it is hilarious and the support cast is first-rate too.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alex MacQueen, Alice Power, Claudie Blakeley, Francis Veber, Kenneth Branagh, Marcus Fraser, Mark Hadfield, Rob Brydon, Sean Foley | Leave a Comment »
11/03/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of Broken, by Motionhouse (linked). Dance theatre with digital imagery and a gloriously powerful soundtrack. A must-see.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Kevin Finnan, Motionhouse | Leave a Comment »
06/03/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of Harold Brighouse’s classic comedy Hobson’s Choice, in its centenary production. Bath Theatre Royal and touring. Directed by Jonathan Church.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bryan Dick, Christopher Timothy, Florence Hall, Gabrielle Dempsey, Harold Brighouse, Jonathan Church, Martin Shaw, Naomi Frederick, Simon Higlett | Leave a Comment »
28/02/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play For The Nation. (SEE LINK) This superb production starts its tour of the country in Stratford, and will use different amateur actors as the “rude mechanicals” in each city for the play within a play, 84 in total, and 580 schoolchildren. A five star review.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ayesha Dharkar, Chris Nayak, Chu Omambala, Erika Whyman, Jack Holden, Laura Harding, Laura Riseborough, Lucy Ellinson, Mecy Ojelade, Peter Hamilton Dyer, RSC, Sam Redford | 2 Comments »
27/02/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of Don Quixote (SEE LINK) at the RSC, with David Threfall and Rufus Hound added.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Angus Jackson, David Threfall, Don Quixote, James Fenton, Rufus Hound | Leave a Comment »
20/02/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of The Tempest at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe, Shakespeare’s last solo-written play and Dominic Dromgoole’s last play as Artistic Director of The Globe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Christopher Logan, Dominic Dromgoole, Dominic Rowan, Paul Rider, Pippa Nixon, The Tempest, Tim McMullan, Trevoe Fox | Leave a Comment »
18/02/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of Ira Levin’s hit comedy thriller Deathtrap, at Salisbury Playhouse. Good production standards, a full theatre … but we had some doubts on the play itself.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Adam Penford, Bevereley Klein, Ira Levin, Julien Ball, Kim Wall, Lesley Vickerage, Salisbury Playhouse, Sam Phillips | Leave a Comment »
13/02/2016 by Peter Viney
The hilarious Secondary Cause of Death reviewed.Great touring production. The stage murder mystery will never be the same again! First rate cast includes Jeffrey Holland, David Callister, David Janson, Michelle Morris, Judy Buxton.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged David Callister, David Janson, Jeffrey Holland, Judy Buxton, Liz Garland, Megan Terry, Melissa Clements, Michelle Morris, Peter Gordon, Polly Smith, Secondary Cause of Death, Talking Scarlet | Leave a Comment »
07/02/2016 by Peter Viney
Review of the 2016 movie of Dad’s Army added with inevitable comparisons to the TV series.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alison Steadman, Bill Nighy, Bill Paterson, Blake Harrison, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Mays, Mark Gattis, Michael Gambon, Toby Jones, Tom Courtney | Leave a Comment »