Stupid Blip Amongst The Good.......

 
It was only last week we called out the British Gas engineer as the water wasn't heating up. He fixed it by replacing a worn out part (Hubby did tell me details but I can't remember what) he was at the boiler, up in the loft and in the airing cupboard and while he was here he did a service on the boiler as that will be due soon anyway. This Sunday morning I found my box of pills, which sit under the boiler and thankfully in a sealed plastic box, had a huge puddle in the lid. Hubby called British Gas and an engineer came the same morning. It turned out to be a small pipe that needed replacing and not caused by the previous engineer just coincidence. 

Lovely sunny Wednesday and Hubby took advantage by cutting back the hedge. Nice weather also brings out neighbours to chat. 

I had a lunch date with friendM and we never run out of conversation. 

Local election day Thursday. Not an easy decision this year. We always try to agree so Hubby and I vote the same, otherwise I feel we just cancel each other out so no point even going. 

Arrgghhhh I've lost count of the times I've said "if it looks too good to be true then it probably is" however I stupidly got caught without doing all my usual checks. It was an ad on Facebook that looked like it genuinely came from amazon and it was only £2 so if it turned out to be rubbish I haven't lost much. After doing all the order form and placing the order it told me a different name would appear on my statement. Amazon sell for all sorts of companies so I wasn't immediately suspicious but a bit later I was curious so went to Google....... it was definitely a scam, I'd get no product at all and they have my credit card details! Stupid! I've now cancelled my card and waiting for a new card to arrive (which was also a long story I won't bore you with).

Friday evening (while Hubby was home dog sitting) friendKK and I went to our local John Mills theatre. 

When we arrived there was an Irish band playing in the bar and we were told there will be a Ceili/Ceilidh after the play. 

The play was brilliant, two actors that worked so hard to bring so many characters to life for us. Humour and sadness together. 

And afterwards friendKK danced getting overheated with a roll neck jumper on and clomping a bit in her riding boots. I found watching very entertaining. 

All Improved With Chocolate.......

 
I bought tickets for myself, Daughter and R for a performance of Village Idiot at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. It looked OK on their what's coming page and the cast included members of the Ramps on the Moon group. I'd seen the group before and they were brilliant. 
This time, however, only a few were included into this cast of just six. 

We were warned......

     Contains very strong language and discusses themes and uses language some may find upsetting relating to class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, sex, gender identity and disability.
     This production contains flashing lights, mild strobe lighting, loud music and sound effects, haze, fire, a shotgun (fired offstage), the smoking of herbal cigarettes, blood and realistic magic tricks.
     'Village Idiot' uses outrageous comedy to tell the story. It will certainly shock some people. It will certainly offend some people. Some will be upset by the very strong language, which includes swearing. The characters make jokes about class, race, sexuality, sex, gender identity, trans people and disability. 

     The New Wolsey Theatre doesn’t endorse the offensive terminology used by some of the characters. We believe one of the roles of theatre is to hold a mirror up to the world we live in; to begin a dialogue and challenge perceptions. For us, 'Village Idiot' ultimately carries a message of inclusivity, arguing that when we learn to accept each other’s differences and celebrate our individuality, the world is a richer place.

However, there was a reasonable story line that for all three of us was totally spoilt by constant swearing and constant mention of very explicit sex which was so constant it lost the shock value and the humour. The story was also interrupted all the time by the ridiculous front of curtain side story bits which is often used to allow for elaborate costume changes or very physical scene changes, so I was disappointed when the curtain raised to hardly any change at all. 

There was laughter from the audience throughout and some even stood at the end, the three of us did neither, had we missed something or were they being polite? Maybe my mistake for buying tickets for 1st April.

This reminded us of another awful performance daughter and I saw in October 2013 and one of the actors even agreed on my blog post review. Very funny. 

Lovely sunny weather this week, still chilly but everything is looking spring like. In the pond there's still a very large cloudy mass of frog spawn and although you can't see them on this photo, there are lots of tiny tadpoles swimming. 

While I was over there Hubby showed me lots of scratches in the paving. So what clawed animal had made them and was it chasing something or being chased? You may need to zoom in to see what I mean. 

A quiet week and thought it would be a very quiet bank holiday weekend as Daughter and Son had other plans. However Son needed to come over Friday morning to swap his car for his van and he invited Daughter to join us who also brought O and the dog. So that was lovely having them here for a few hours. O made himself pancakes as he has had pancakes every day since shrove Tuesday and is planning to keep that up till next shrove Tuesday. 

Daughter's weekend house guest has had to cancel (covid still interfering) so now she's invited themselves to have Sunday dinner here with us. Phew as that now means the whole leg of lamb won't last the two of us months hahaha. 

Happy Passover or Easter whichever you celebrate.

Theatre: Quality Street........

Phoebe Throssel lives on Quality Street, the bustling hub of a quaint northern town where she runs a school for unruly children.
Ten years since a tearful goodbye, an old flame returns from fighting Napoleon. But the look of disappointment on Captain Valentine’s face when he greets a more mature, less glamorous Phoebe, spurs our determined heroine to action. She becomes the wild and sparkling Miss Livvy, a younger alter-ego who soon entraps the clueless Captain.

As their romance is rekindled, can she juggle both personas? Or will her deception scandalise the town and wreck any future with the man she loves? J.M. Barrie’s delicious farce, written years before his now much-loved Peter Pan, was so well known in its day that it gave its name to the UK’s most popular chocolates, made in Halifax since 1936.

In Laurie Sansom’s directorial debut for Northern Broadsides, this rare revival also features a commentary from the Quality Street™ factory workers, whose own stories of hapless romance and growing old disgracefully give the show a playful Yorkshire twist.

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Well it's quite difficult to know what to say about this. This is a good story with a clever amusing script but I would never have described it as farce as it was far too slow and wordy. Daughter said "That ball seemed to go on forever". 

The introduction of the factory workers was confusing. Audience that were caught up in the play wasn't funny just annoying. And their having to keep explaining what was obviously going on was totally patronising. 

Mixing the old and new also spilled onto the set design with period furniture covered in crochet and walls of industrial metal poles. To make the connection between the Quality Street drama and the chocolates for the second half they decorated the metal poles with huge shiny flower shapes and dressed all those at the ball in shiny sweet wrappers. 

I also dislike the constant use of the dry smoke and as we were in the pit in row B our heads were level with the stage and breathing it in. 

And the final line by one of the factory workers was "So now you know why the chocolates were called Quality Street", and really they hadn't said why at all. 

Remember when the tin was this big? 

Oh dear that makes the whole thing sound a dreadful evening, but it wasn't. Overall it was a pleasant evening at the theatre and gave the three of us plenty to talk about all the way home.

On another plus note, we sat in the pit of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and it's a beautiful old Regency theatre with the circle and upper circle as all individual boxes.

And that was over a week ago and the last out-of-the-house social event I'll go to until we get the coronavirus all clear. Stay safe everyone!
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Theatre: Absurd Person Singular....

Three married couples. Three kitchens. Three Christmas parties.

Sidney Hopcroft, a small-time tradesman, persuades wife Jane to throw a party hoping to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As celebrations begin, class differences and naked ambition combine to hilarious effect as, one by one, the characters seek refuge in Jane’s kitchen.

Over the next two years, the Jacksons and Brewster-Wrights take turns to host festivities. But Sidney’s star has begun to rise and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.

Alan Ayckbourn’s comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s suburbia fuses a potent mix of farce and black comedy.

==================================

This was laugh-out-loud funny.
I enjoyed each character and they were all so different.
Clever set changes
Hilarious script
Great timing
Good observations of believable relationship issues
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Theatre: The World Turned Upside Down.......

Ipswich 1644. From Mistley to Manningtree. Voices in the Shadows. Accusation of Witchcraft.

THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN is a new historical play about the Suffolk Witch Trials and the rise and fall of the self-proclaimed ‘Witch Finder General’, Matthew Hopkins.

A group of young people growing up in Puritan Ipswich begin to question what is happening and challenge the persecution which is turning the world upside down.

=============================

This performance was amazing, and yes I'm saying it because my very talented granddaughter R was in it, however I'm also saying amazing because these amateur teenage youth theatre actors put on a play better than some professionals could have.

So much dialogue all delivered without hesitation, with perfect timing and with so much passion.

There was a musical dance which helped to break the heaviness of the subject but didn't make light of the seriousness. Also a very well rehearsed and wonderfully choreographed whole cast fight scene.

Needless to say they received wonderful local reviews, and R was mentioned by name on a couple of them.
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Theatre: Sherlock........

​     "Who'd be interested in this old relic, Holmes?" murmured Watson, one morning at the breakfast table of 221b Baker Street. "Nonsense, Watson. A splash of cologne and a trim of your moustache, & I’m sure someone would have you". "Be serious, Holmes. Look here - in the Morning Post!"
     Thus began the case that Dr Watson dared not share with the public, till now. A case that, were its full facts to be known, would shake the nation to its very core, and beyond.
     Ancient artifacts are disappearing from museums and private collections all over Europe,. A pre-Christian effigy one day, a shamanic totem the next, a pagan fetish at the weekend. Either someone's on their own personal antiques road trip, or they're trying to summon dark forces. and gain mystical powers. But to what end…and why?
     The ensuing adventure takes Holmes and Watson from the wharfs and alleys of East London, to the icy wastes of the north and the hidden temples of the east (changing at Peterborough), as they pursue "The Warlock of Whitechapel"

     Julian Harries and Dick Mainwaring once again don the deerstalker, plus fours and travelling capes of Holmes and Watson, & are joined by Common Ground regulars Joe Leat & Emily Bennett in this classic Xmas comedy thriller.
     Common Ground have been bringing their distinctive brand of  music theatre - with strong narrative, strong emotion and just a touch of the surreal – to venues across East Anglia, since 2008.

==================================

We try to fit in one of these every Christmas, so it's almost our pantomime. This time it had to wait till January and performed in a different venue but just as good (apart from hard seats).

It's very predictable. Makeshift costumes, deliberate overreacting, mistakes and trips which I'm not convinced weren't scripted anyway, and an abundance of rude innuendos. Total nonsense that makes us laugh out loud and come away smiling.
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Theatre: The Season......

A Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, co-production

A New Musical by Jim Barne & Kit Buchan

It’s Christmas Eve and Dougal has travelled from Ipswich to New York for his father’s wedding. At JFK Airport he’s greeted by Robyn. Tomorrow her sister becomes his stepmother and Robyn’s dreading it. Dougal can’t wait. But then Dougal loves Christmas and Robyn’s the original Grinch.

Thrown together for a wild weekend in the city that never sleeps, their adventure becomes a musical whirlwind of confession, frustration and maxing-out credit cards in Macy’s. Will these two endearing misfits provide the ultimate test for the theory that opposites always attract?

This brand new romantic comedy is filled with heart-warming and hilarious songs, from writers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, winners of the 2018 Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award, celebrating the very best of emerging British song-writing talent.

================================

Robyn is played by Tori Allen-Martin and Dougal is played by Alex Cardall and they are both brilliant character actors with amazing voices and in this performance they have totally believable chemistry together!
In fact they are the only two characters in the whole play.
We thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Theatre: One Under.......

A bold revival of Winsome Pinnock's play about the need for atonement, The Stage.

Sonny and Christine want to escape. They have a night to remember but underneath the surface things aren’t what they seem. Cyrus is frantically trying to piece together the truth about that night. Unexpectedly a tragedy is about to unite them all…
An evocative thriller of intertwining stories, One Under explores the unanswered questions left behind when someone vanishes from our lives.

A brand new version of the 2005 play by award-winning writer Winsome Pinnock and directed by Amit Sharma (The Solid Life of Sugar Water, Cosmic Scallies), this powerful story explores human relationships and sparks pertinent, timely conversations on mental health and well-being.

Graeae is a world renowned innovator in theatre and its productions place creative access at their heart. This play will feature a creative use of captioning and will have audio description on offer at every performance (ask the Box Office for details).

4-stars “One Under is a keenly enjoyable experience – and being brave enough to leave parts of the story untold pushes this drama into a different league. Complex and darkly satisfying, One Under proves that when drama moves beyond formula, anything can happen.” The Spy in the Stalls

========================

Yes it was wonderfully acted and yes it was certainly deep and meaningful, however,  90 minutes without an interval is a long time to take in all the heavy dialogue and the constant changing of people and the different times of events, all overlapping within such a minimalist set. I found it interesting but repetitive.....friendT hated it.
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Theatre: Murder, Margaret and Me........

Agatha Christie turns sleuth in a play by Philip Meeks.

Agatha Christie and Margaret Rutherford should never have been friends. But they were. Their paths crossed when they found themselves at the heart of one of British cinema's most successful franchises. However, the Miss Marple films almost didn't get made.

Murder, Margaret and Me is a story of friendship, identity and the achievement of women in the long-lost world of the silver screen.

===============================

Lin Blakely played Agatha Christie. I knew her from her long running Eastenders character. Sarah Parks played Margaret Rutherford, and Miss Marple was played by Gilly Tompkins.

They were all brilliant, bouncing off each other to deliver a very funny script that also had some deep emotional stories to tell too.

For anyone expecting a typical Agatha Christie murder mystery they would have been surprise but I hope not disappointed at this private look behind the scenes at the unlikely friendship that developed.
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Theatre: Two Trains Running......

A Royal & Dergate, Nothampton and English Touring Theatre co-production

There’s a controversial new president in the White House, and racial tensions are on the rise.
It is Pittsburgh, 1969, and the regulars of Memphis Lee’s restaurant are struggling to cope with the turbulence of a rapidly changing world. The diner is in threat of being torn down, a casualty of the city’s renovation project that is sweeping away the buildings of a community, but not its spirit.
The iconic American playwright August Wilson paints a vivid portrait of everyday lives in this defining moment of American history. When Two Trains Running opened on Broadway in 1992, its legendary premiere won TONY and Drama Desk Awards. Directed by the 2018 winner of the RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, Nancy Medina, this major revival will introduce this Pulitzer Prize shortlisted modern classic to UK-wide audiences for the first time.
Supported by the Royal Theatrical Support Trust.

=====================================

Our first reaction was 'great set'. An old run down American dinner with back windows on two sides so we could see who was arriving before they came through the restaurant door. A half broken roof not only so we could be inside but showing how neighbourhood buy-up and rebuild was very close. Amongst the rubble on the roof was a red door.

The characters were very clearly defined with accents so strong that sometimes I didn't understand what they said. My friend and I both agreed that the character with  the educational disability was acted brilliantly.

However, amongst all the very heavy dialogue I never heard any mention of the new president and it's impact on these people, there was no reference to the red door. The black actors talked constantly about the white man's persecution of "niggers", a word they used so much it made me feel uncomfortable, which may have been the point.

Another odd thing is while the script often explains that the diner's jukebox has been left unrepaired for months, we frequently heard off-stage music and sound effects that serve no purpose except raise questions with the audience of 'Where is this coming from? What's it for?'

We were both exhausted and frustrated when it finally broke for the interval, exhausted by the long fusty half with the sheer volume and speed of dialogue, but frustrated because neither of us could work out what it was trying to put across or where it was going.  My friend had decided to ring her Hubby (who had driven us there) to come and collect her, leaving at half time is something I hate doing so I was going to stay to the end and ring my Hubby for my lift home.......then we found out it was a three hour play and not finishing till nearly 11pm! Life is definitely too short to put myself through another hour and a half.

So we will never know where were the two trains and were they running or not?
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Theatre: In Loyal Company.......

Hosted by Red Rose Chain

In Loyal Company is the incredible true story of missing World War II soldier and prisoner of War Arthur Robinson, written and performed by his great-nephew, David William Bryan.

May 1941. Hitler’s bombs rain on Liverpool. Local packer, Arthur Robinson, joins up becoming a private in the 18th reconnaissance division. Deployed to Singapore, his ship is destroyed by Japanese dive bombers on arrival. Arthur is declared missing. This extraordinary true story of survival is a tour-de-force war epic.

========================================

I was so moved by this play last night. An amazing powerful emotional performance about a Liverpool lad, youngest of six, going off to war in WWll. He is captured by the Japs, shares with us the horrors of Changi and is worked hard building a railway. 

Very moving indeed. Nothing on stage but him and a chair and he made about four minor costume changes, however you were drawn in to every part of his life and his emotions. He also gave character and substance to many other people that were part of his story.  

The Liverpool Blitz is scarily brought to life by powerful sound and light effects, in fact all the way through one man on sound and light did a brilliant job from a very small technical desk at the back of the room (beside me).

This was visual storytelling at its very best.

I was the first to stand and applaud, however, I'm short and from one of the raised tiers he probably didn't notice I was standing hahaha.

It was the true story of his great uncle. Afterwards I told him it was also my dad's story who had also spent nearly five years as a POW, dad had been in Changi and built the Kawasaki Railway, David hugged me!

I didn't even know about this. It was one night only and Daughter had bought tickets for her and R but couldn't go at the last minute so I went with R. 

It was meant to be eh? 

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Theatre: The Night Watch.........

The Original Theatre Company and York Theatre Royal present
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

“I get hooked on moments. I can’t move forward. The mind has hooks in time, little hooks that trip you up and take you back to way back when."
Tender, tragic and beautifully poignant, set against the shadows of feats of heroism both epic and everyday, The Night Watch is a thrilling portrait of four ordinary people caught up in the aftermath of an extraordinary time. A time when hearts beat faster and life burned more brightly.
Sarah Waters’ award-winning story of illicit love and lost souls takes you from a dazed and shattered post-war Britain back into the heart of the Blitz, hurtling towards the secrets that are hidden there.

===================================

Saw this with my usual two theatre friends and we also got talking to a guy sitting beside us. None of us would say we enjoyed it. But T didn't mention leaving at the interval so not bad, just slow and stage choreography that was hard to work out why.

I thought it was really well acted by them all. With just a few deep and meaningful moments. Quite liked the scene overlaps with the lighting directing our attention.  But mostly it seemed a pointless dragging out of obvious relationships with a backwards play that ended nowhere.
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Theatre: A Sidecar Named Despair........

Estranged brothers Dick & Julian never did really get on. Since the death of their father, they’ve been forced together, living in their old family home while they try and rebuild their lives and their dad's rusty old motorbike and sidecar.

Having been working in the States as an accountant, Julian has returned suddenly, and won't talk about his time there. He starts getting threatening messages, and it becomes clear that his business "associates" are not to be trifled with, and that his past is catching up with him, putting both their lives in jeopardy. It's "The Odd Couple" versus the Mob!

A black comedy with original music by Pat Whymark, featuring Julian Harries and Richard Mainwaring

==========================

A typical crazy comedy in the style we are used to whenever Julian Harries is involved. Clever songs with the two women having good voices and the men as animated backing singers. And some of the script was of the laugh-out-loud quality.
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Theatre: One Man, Two Guvnors........

By Richard Bean
Based on The Servant of Two Masters by Carl Goldoni
with songs by Grant Olding

Set in the colourful underworld of Brighton in the swinging sixties. Richard Bean’s riotous farce mixes all the elements of classic comedy into a fizzing cocktail of fun. Mistaken identity, cross-dressing, physical knockabout, slapstick, mad gags and outrageous puns are shaken and stirred as Francis Henshall, cast out of his skiffle band, finds the best route to satisfy his considerable appetites for food, sex and money, to become One Man serving Two Guvnors.

This joyous updating of Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy from the 18th century, The Servant of Two Masters, has quickly established itself as one of the great British comedies of the 21st Century.

--------------------------------------------------

This was absolutely hilarious. Brilliant casting, very talented musicianship and amazing set changes.

The lead character Francis Henshall, played by Philip Tomlin, was an enormous task and he gave it everything, lots of dialogue, perfect timing, exhausting physical comedy and plenty of interacting with the audience. I was amazed afterwards to read it was his first professional stage performance out of stage school!

I won't mention something great about each member of the cast, although I could, but I do have to give special credit to the character Alfie, played by Richard Leeming, who literally threw himself headfirst into his part....and down the stairs many times!

A great evening and perfect for the start to the autumn season.
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Theatre: Romeo and Juliet........

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep;
the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite”

The Montague Mods are riding their mopeds, the Capulets are rocking their leather biker jackets – bitter rivals from different worlds and that’s the way its always been. But there’s one thing they hadn’t counted on…Romeo and Juliet have never been the kind to obey the rules!
Can these rebels in love ever break free from their families and create a truce between Rockers and Mods once and for all? 

This year’s marks 20 years of Theatre in the Forest and what better way to celebrate 
than with the love story that changed the world in the beautiful woods of 
Jimmy’s Farm as we take you back in time to the 1960s.

===================================

This evening performance was actually rounding off a lovely catchup day with friendKK. Friends for nearly 40 years, spending so much time together when our children were young. However now we have trouble finding suitable matching free time so when we do it's a whole day. We started at 9:30am - driving - tea and cakeing - walking and mooching - shops, antiques, galleries etc - driving - late lunching at the Artisan Smokehouse yum yum - driving - admiring beautiful landscapes - popped into her house - ending our day with the Bard - really good weather all day AND WE NEVER STOPPED TALKING hahaha

Again Red Rose Chain Theatre have a great success. All the actors were brilliant. They always stick to Shakespeare’s scrip and add. This time it was 60's music, a few song and dance routines, deck chairs and sand and audience participation panto style for the Punch and Judy puppets. The enthusiasm and enjoyment of the cast is contagious and we were well looked after before, in the interval and when leaving by the merry band of crew who are youth theatre volunteers.
We loved it and would highly recommend it.
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Theatre: The Lady in the Van......

Presented by Gallery Players 

First a book, a play and then a film, The Lady in the Van tells the true story of Alan Bennett's strained friendship with Miss Mary Shepherd, an eccentric homeless woman whom Bennett befriended in 1974 before allowing her ‘temporarily’ to park her Bedford van in the driveway of his Camden home. 

For Alan Bennett charity truly began at home but little did he know that she would remain there for fifteen years. 
This wonderfully witty play centres on their extraordinary relationship, which for Bennett was a source of intrigue, frustration and compassion.

"One seldom was able to do her a good turn without some thoughts of strangulation”.

As Alan Bennett very candidly admits, he and Miss Shepherd mutually benefited from her presence; he provided her with a safe haven while she acted as his muse, providing endless humorous material with her rude interactions with the outside world.

The story is funny, poignant and life affirming.

=================================

I'd seen the film some years ago and this was an amateur production that certainly did it justice.

Two Alan Bennett's (Steve Taplin and Daren Nunn) who complimented and mimicked each other really well. An excellent way of thinking out loud by talking to each other!
And Mary Shepherd (Jenni Horne) who delivered her lines so well it was really hard to decide if she was highly intelligent or a raving lunatic.

A very clever set with a full size Bedford van not only on stage but moving around the stage too.

There were quite a few other characters supporting the whole story.
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Theatre: Little Miss Sunshine.........

The road to happiness is a bumpy ride.

Based on the Oscar-winning film, Little Miss Sunshine is a new musical comedy from Tony Award winners James Lapine and William Finn.

The Hoover family has more than a few troubles, but young Olive has her heart set on winning the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. When an invitation to compete comes out of the blue, the Hoovers must pile in to their rickety yellow camper van. Can it survive the 800-mile trip from New Mexico to California – and more importantly, can they?

This uplifting, modern classic celebrates the quirks of every family, the potholes in every road, and the power of overcoming our differences.

Lapine and Finn’s inventive musical version opens in London in a brand new production directed by Arcola Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen, then takes to the road for a national tour.

=============================

Lucky for us the tour brought it to Ipswich.

Firstly, this was a fun production, great acting, fantastic singing voices, very clever very minimum set and most of the cast have tv credits.

Secondly a very special mention has to be given to Sophie Hartley Booth who played Olive. Not sure how old she is,  possibly about 10, a real pocket rocket taking on a huge part of dialogue, song and dance, but not coming across as anything other than cute. There are two other child actresses taking turns to play Olive.

But finally I have to have a moan yet again about calling them musicals, when words are put into such strange untuneful arrangements that you'd never hear it again elsewhere or if you did you wouldn't be singing along saying "oh I know this it comes from......".
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Theatre: Grandma Saves The Day......

It’s Ipswich in the late 1980’s and the Giles family are thrown into confusion when the upwardly mobile Stinkletons move in next door. It takes Grandma Giles to sort it all out with a few swift blows from her brolly and her familiar battle cry – ‘Gertcha!’.

Combining the much loved Giles cartoon characters with classic hit songs from the eighties including Our House, Simply the Best, Wake Me Up Before You Go- Go and many more, all played live by our multi-talented company of actor-musicians, this is a fast-moving, funny and pop filled comic strip for all the family.

Directed by Pete Rowe, and in true New Wolsey style, this show is not to be missed!

====================================

Someone should have proof-read the entry above which came directly from the Wolsey website and I'm assuming is the same as the season brochure, because actually we saw the Giles family move in and the Stinkletons who live next door come round with a quiche to welcome them! Not the other way round.

I'm not sure if the Giles cartoons are nationally famous but I first heard of Giles when we moved to Ipswich as there's a large statue of Grandma in the town center.

The cast were all so talented and hilariously funny. I wasn't too amused by some of the insulting personal remarks about the queen or politicians of the time. The script was almost solely there for the purpose of introducing the next song but they were great tap-your-feet sing-along songs and there were so many laugh out loud gags, corny but still very funny. We both enjoyed it immensely. 

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Theatre: Kiss Me Quickstep......

 A sequin-studded warm-hearted ballroom drama

Three young couples are striving for glory on the competitive dance circuit - having finally made it to Blackpool's National Amateur Championships, via the motorway hard shoulder. But there's pain and heartbreak beneath the dazzling glitter ball when you're dancing to other people's tunes and hiding secrets. And with the world at your feet, it only takes one false step... 

This bittersweet comedy reveals the backstage stories behind the fabulous frocks, fixed smiles and fake tan, looking at the real lives of those for whom dancing is everything. 

Please note that we have an exciting new seating plan for Kiss Me Quickstep with an additional bank of seats behind the stage. This show will be performed in the round, with actors performing to all sides.

==========================

Well as if going to the theatre Tuesday and Thursday this week wasn't enough I also had my ticket for a Wednesday matinee at The New Wolsey Theatre. There always used to be four of us going together, sadly one of our group has died. This time another had double booked and was away on holiday. The other was expected but didn't show (I found out later she had just forgotten) so I went in alone.

As mentioned above the seating had been arranged around the floor level stage and the extra ones were temporary folding seats and not particularly comfortable for sitting on for two hours.

The show itself was really very good. Not a subject I've seen on this stage before so made a nice change. The actors were all very suited to their characters and all were really good dancers too. In fact a woman behind me said "I wish they'd just get on with the dancing and not bother with all this arguing in between" hahaha.
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Theatre: Private Lives.....

Directed by Joanna Carrick
At Red Rose Chain Avenue Theatre

Here come the fireworks! And the martini cocktails!

It’s Noël Coward’s best loved and multi-award winning comedy – new and 

re-imagined! Private Lives follows the escapades of former lovers Amanda and Elyot as they suddenly reunite…while on their honeymoons to other people! But is it new love or true love? And can they really live with(out) each other? Featuring popular songs of the era, prepare to see sparks fly in Joanna Carrick’s interpretation of this wickedly funny Spring time comedy.

Our love-struck stars of Much Ado About Nothing – Fizz Waller and Ricky Oakley – reunite this March! Joined by multi-talented newcomer to Red Rose Chain Harriet Leitch alongside Red Rose Chain favourite Ryan Penny (The Elves & The Shoemaker, As You Like It, Treasure Island).

Also introducing Rei Mordue from our youth theatre as Louise the Housemaid.

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This was so good Daughter and I saw it twice!
Actually we bought tickets for first night as this is R's debut in her first professional play, then Daughter was invited to press night and I was her guest.

As this is an arena stage or theatre-in-the-round (which is more square than round) we sat on opposite sides of the stage each time and got very different perspectives.
I'll not say too much that might spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet and I hope you do get to see it.

First night on Tuesday was very funny and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. R was brilliant, of course, and made the wonky trolley wheel look like it was meant to be a bother to her. Very proud Grandma 😊
Press night on Thursday was packed with invited guests who are not all press. It started with a reception in the foyer with drinks and nibbles. The actors seemed more relaxed into their characters and the audience were loudly enthusiastic. Another hilarious performance by them all.
After Thursday's we were also given a performance by members of the Youth Theatre called 'Marvellous Moments' based on memories of those living with dementia. The young actors had gathered the information by visiting local care homes and talking to dementia sufferers then writing their own script. R was part of this too. It was very moving. I'm not sure if this is being performed again or when.

More very proud Grandma moments when I read the reviews. Here are links to just two of them and they say lovely things about R 😊
Ipswich24
Theatre Cat
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