The Merry Wives of Windsor by The Castle Players @ Bowes Museum

Bowes Museum, the magnificent French styled palace just outside Barnard Castle, plays host this year to the UK’s first exhibition of fashion designer and pioneer Yves St Laurent.  Guaranteed to draw crowds from all over the UK and beyond, the YSL show – Style is Eternal -  has already piqued the interest of  VIPs and fashionistas alike but this isn’t the only production at Bowes with such a far reaching appeal destined to play out to capacity crowds.  The Castle Players, the premier al-fresco production company bring their summer show to the museum grounds and guarantee to give as unique and ground-breaking an experience as the Algerian/French fashion designer himself.

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare’s bawdy comedy written in the early 16 hundreds and set in & around the castle of the same name (rather than pertaining to the family name) is this year’s offering by the much awarded and truly dedicated cast and crew. Bringing back to centre stage, Shakespeare resurrects Falstaff, the larger than life, womanising philanderer with a waistline only shadowed by his ego, to play linchpin to this typical comedy tale of cross and double cross.  In his oft deluded state, the portly knight believes that his appeal to the fairer sex is impossible to deny and he merely needs to cast an eye their way to have them swooning and fawning.  In need of money to maintain his extravagant lifestyle, Falstaff hatches a plan to woo and seduce the wives of 2 wealthy men, blackmail them for their silence and steal all their wealth.  Of course, the audience know all too well that Falstaff is regularly played at his own game with his ego being laid out before him, destined to trip and tumble back to his rightful place at the foot of the inn keeper.

This new approach, directed by Mary Stastny, sets the tale in the Edwardian era, with the introduction of streetwalkers, inn girls, suffragettes and even a motorised tram car.  It is testament to the writing of The Bard that his style, prose and in particular storylines are so readily transported to a more modern setting with little lost in terms of both character or plot.  The introduction of some ‘traditional’ bar songs bring the tale into the musical hall and helps serve to engage the audience further.

What is always a favourite aspect of watching the Castle Players is the ease at which the cast deliver their parts; not only are they consummate professionals in their approach to learning and understanding the script, but they are so relaxed with each other that should there be a slight slip or deviation from the plan then they embrace it (and each other) – there are no airs and graces here, the 4^th wall is more a loosely constructed picket fence through which the audience is encouraged to peek.

Stand out performances must start with the Portly Knight himself – Falstaff, played with total abandon by Gordon Duffy-McGhie.  Gordon was brilliant; lecherous, conniving, self-centred and totally deluded in his own self importance.  The two ‘wives’ – Mistress Ford (Marzia Aloisio) and Mistress Page (Jill Cole) were equally beautiful and alluring and yet held the newly found strength and confidence befitting the ‘modern’ woman of the early 20^th Century.   Sean Mitchell, as Abraham Slender, showed again his fabulous character acting – he seems able to immerse himself in any role and I’m sure there were many in the audience who, like me, would expect to see a lot more of Sean in the coming years.  Special mention to Steven Bainbridge – not only has Steven arranged and directed all the music, but had to sit at the Garter Inn piano throughout the whole performance – not easy to stay there in the rain and cold and still get his fingers to keep moving.

This is the first summer production to be directed by Mary Stastny  As many of her predecessors have learned through experience, sitting in March & April planning an outdoor summer production is oft done with the rose tinted expectations of long balmy evenings, temperatures still holding in the low 20’s and the ground giving back its stored heat of the day. The ambition to create the best possible production, to include a few more scenes, an extra song or two or to be less critical in the abridging of a few monologues (and let’s face it, Shakespeare loved his pages and pages of monologues) can take over from the reality that many of the audience will have been sat from before 7 and won’t get to leave until gone 11pm.  The British summer can never be relied upon as seen by last night’s performance which was played out in rain, a cool breeze and, by the time of the 45 minute interval, temperatures in single figures. Sadly this is not unique for our summers so maybe there needed to be a more pragmatic understanding that whilst the intent to showcase all the director’s skills was admirable, less is more – cold and tired hands don’t tend to applaud for too long.

The Castle Players production of The Merry Wives of Windsor is on at Bowes Museum until Saturday – parking for the next few nights is not available at the museum itself but will be open at the adjacent school.  Bring a picnic for the interval, a cushion for your bum and a blanket for your knees and settle down to watch another wonderful performance by one of the UKs best Shakespeare companies.

Ghost Train @ Darlington Civic

Written in 1923 by Dad’s Army regular Arnold Ridley, this talking Scarlet production brings to the stage a wonderful glimpse into yesteryear which, through the clever setting and brilliant acting, never feels dated or twee – it is a perfect pastiche of 1920’s Britain with a cross section of society placed into a very natural situation with very supernatural undertones .  Over the years The Ghost Train has been billed as a horror, thriller, crime, tragi-comedy and even forerunner to the Scooby Doo style method of final twist, but I like to think of it as a perfectly timeless piece of storytelling – it would be equally at home being told round a camp fire as it is in a theatre (or even on film as the 1941 Arthur Askey version).

When a group of mismatched train passengers are stranded at a rural station overnight, they soon hear of a sinister local legend telling of a ghostly train that passes through the area, ever since a terrible accident 43 years ago. Anyone who happens to gaze upon the train will face death and disaster. When the station master is suddenly found murdered, and when a disturbed young girl arrives from the local mental hospital, the 6 passengers are thrown into further panic when they hear the roar of the approaching ghost train...

Talking Scarlet productions never fail to bring together brilliant casting which perfectly fit into the roles, enhancing the story with chemistry and believably and suspending the ‘where have I seen them before’.  Led by the irrepressible Jeffrey Holland as Saul, the station master, the strength on stage and the ease in which each actor immerses themselves into their role means there is little need to take the audience through character identification.   Instead we can get straight into the story. 

The ever-perfect Corrinne Wicks and Ben Roddy play Elsie and Richard Winthrop; a 2^nd time married couple who have hit a rough patch.  Elsie strives to convince everyone, but mostly herself, that she is still a strong and independent woman, despite Richard being a very dominant, yet caring, husband.  Corrine plays these parts with such integrity (she was previously at Darlington in The Holly & The Ivy in a similar role) and, despite her obvious successes in Emmerdale and Doctors, it is on the stage that you can truly appreciate her craft and skills (not to mention her beauty).

Newly wed young love birds Charles (Chris Sheridan) and Peggy (Sophie Powles) Murdock are desperately trying to get to Truro for their first night as a married couple so the inconvenience of this enforced stopover is much felt by both, though for slightly different reasons.  Always aware of his duty as new husband, Charles wants to lead, to challenge, to seek out the truth but still falls back to put a protective arm round the shoulders of his blushing bride.  For this, Sheridan is brilliant – torn between the machismo of youth and yet emulating Richard’s more mature approach to husbandry, he portrays the turmoil of now having another to protect perfectly.

Despite the aforementioned couples providing most of the action, it is Tom Butcher, as Teddie Deakin, who is the linchpin.  Previously seen here playing the twins in talking Scarlet’s Double Death (and giving the best performance of the year), Butcher gives another masterclass in character acting – this time as a foppish, hooray Henry who seemingly takes everything with a pinch of childish wonder and never appears to grasp the gravity of the situation.  He is very reminiscent of Michael Palin in some of his Monty Python roles, but even more so of Palins cameos in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits.  Of course, with every good thriller, things are never quite what they seem and Teddie proves that you should never judge a book by its cover.

As the story is set in the 1920’s there are some cultural references, and indeed the crux of the reveal, which are dated, though not out-dated.  You need to allow yourself to step back into this time to fully appreciate the writing but I believe that the best ghost and thriller stories are set in the early part of the 20^th century – the world was breaking free from a class driven society giving rise to both legit and somewhat dubious entrepreneurial endeavours.

Backed by great performances throughout, a large degree of humour (not comedy) and a claustrophobic set, the story rattles along like the titular mode of transport and yet time itself seems to pass immeasurably slow with the whole tale covering less than 2 hours – it is this cleverness in the writing that helps to build the tension towards the climax.  Sadly, if there was one disappointment for me then it was the final ‘reveal’ – more Scooby Doo than Edgar Allen Poe but maybe that’s just my macabre side crying out.

The Ghost Train is coming to the end of the current line after its stop in Darlington but there’s still time to grab a seat and be thoroughly entertained. Or if you can’t make this train, then why not get tickets for Darlington Civic’s next thriller – Sherlock Holmes and the Ripper Murders which starts on July 7^th.

Avenue Q @ Darlington Civic

“Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away” and so began an hour of puppet mayhem, learning and fun for millions of kids back in the 1980’s.  In fact, to many, Sesame Street was the natural progressor to The Muppet Show and brought with it an extra dimension of the titular make believe street, a mix of puppets and humans and plenty of surreptitious learning. Well, now the Sesame Street gang have all grown up, struck out on their own and taken up residence across town in Avenue Q, and they’re quite a naughty bunch!.

Avenue Q is a madcap mixture of song and dance and is so engrossing that people and puppet merge into one, regardless of size, shape or thread count.  Make no bones about it, this is not a Punch & Judy puppet show, nor is it a black screen with puppeteers hidden behind a curtain, this is a very talented cast who can all sing, dance, act and jest and do so whilst bringing to life their ‘alto ego’s’ .  This show gives the audience double bubble – the puppets are all characters in their own right but the humans add themselves into the show so much that you’re not sure who to watch most.  Add to that the freedom to explore (and exploit) more ‘grown up themes’ and you’ve got a show that takes aim at modern pop culture and hits it right between the eyes (though at times you don’t want to know what with).

The story centres around Princeton (controlled and voiced by Richard Lowe), a young graduate who moves to Avenue Q to start out on his own grown up adventure.  Looking for his purpose in life, Princeton is soon befriended by all the residents, especially Kate Monster (whose human is the totally delightful Sarah Harlington).  Kate, who is a Kindergarten TA, has her own dream of opening a school for monsters so that little ones don’t have to suffer the stares from ‘normal’ kids but is struggling to raise the funds to do so.   They are joined on the Avenue by the hilarious Etisyai Philip playing superintendent Gary Coleman (yes he from Different Strokes), Ariana II who is the Asian American ‘Christmas Eve’ and her chunky stand up wannabee boyfriend Brian (Richard Morse). 

The rest of the gang all have their own back stories which we explore in a series of hilarious song and dance routines taking great joy in breaking away from the child friendly offerings normally associated with puppetry, including unrequited love between Nicky and Rod, the onanistic bedroom antics of Trekkie Monster and the corrupting 2 Bad Idea Bears.  So that’s pretty much every possible group covered and non are sacred.

For many of us who grew up watching Sesame Street, we always believed there were hidden messages, sub-contexts and unsaid stories, (more often to do with sex, race, drugs, drink, prejudice and greed), that have fallen into popular urban legends – Avenue Q says to hell with sub context, let’s tell it as it is, loud, proud and right in your face.  We are treated to a rather steamy one night stand, the perils that drink can have on your work life, the dangers of suppressing feelings, the true use for the internet (!) and how love will win out in the end.

With this year’s GCSEs and A Levels almost done, Avenue Q would be a perfect way to celebrate and start the summer – hope to see you there but remember to bring your tissues. 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels @ Sunderland Empire

Take two con men, one suave, sophisticated, charming; the other brash, uncouth, common; throw them together in the south of France and let them try and con the same mark, who unbeknownst to them has her own secrets and you’ve got the essence of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the smash hit musical from Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek.

Based on the 80’s movie starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, DRS is packed full of double cross,  con and counter con and more twists than a twisty, turny thing.  What sets this musical apart from many other attempts at bringing 80’s movies to the stage is that it is simply brilliant.  The cast is perfect, the songs are as witty as Noel Coward yet as risky and risqué as Mel Brooks and the choreography is total French Riviera; beautiful girls, beautiful boys, beautiful costumes.

The story opens with Lawrence Jameson, the debonair Englishman wooing his way through most of the available wealthy ladies staying in Beaumont Sur Mer, the fashionable and luxury resort in the South of France.  Michael Praed, reprising the Michael Caine role, is elegant yet deliciously naughty, and glides through the whole show with total charm and sophistication.  Praed has surely found his calling in this role, he is totally believable yet plays it all with a telling glint in his eye and a mischievous lilt in his voice.  He reminds me of Malcolm McDowell who, in his more recent guises has found elegant Britishness couples perfectly with an undercurrent of danger and desire.

Ably supporting Jameson is the local chief of police, Andre Thibault a role that is smashed out of the park by Mark Benton.  Whilst the chief is, to many, a 4^th part of the ménage a tois, he provides the glue through the whole story to keep the action centred and yet, in attempting to help Jameson avoid one his more amorous conquests, he manages to hook himself his own special lady.  Benton is one of my all time favourite actors, I loved him in the Booze Cruise trilogy (Matey Boy) as well as his longstanding partnership with Robson Green in the ‘Lights’ series.  Having watched him on Strictly I was even more keen to see him strut his stuff live on stage and boy he didn’t disappoint.  Coupling comic timing with genuine rhythm Mark lights up every scene he is in, even if he’s stood side stage.  His accent is brilliant, Poirot meets Pepe le Peu with ‘joost a leel beet’ of Officer Crabtree.

Following an evening spent pretending to be a usurped Prince, Jameson takes a train ride, on which he believes he has found the infamous Jackal, a known American con man.  Played by Noel Sullivan, Freddy Benson is presented as a brash, loud mouthed ’Noo Yorka’, out to try and fleece a buck or two from any unsuspecting schmuck by playing the short con and relying purely on half-hearted sentiment.   Jameson recognises immediately that he poses no real ‘professional’ threat to his carefully crafted money train, but also can see that Benson would happily blow his cover for a dollar, and so agrees to coach the young pretender in exchange for his silence.  Sullivan has it down to a tee; he combines the youthful folly and over excitedness of a 1^st time traveller with the street smarts of a Brooklyn kid – it was always going to be difficult for anyone to recreate the Steve Martin approach, but Sullivan uses what he has to his advantage; he’s younger and thus more believable as an upstart kid rather than an accomplished conman.

As the story progresses, both con men decide that there is not enough room for two and so agree on a challenge; one mark, one goal, winner stays, loser leaves and nothing is off limits.  So begins one of the best double, triple, quadruple plot twists ever written.  The wonderful Carley Stenson becomes the mark, Christine Colgate, the newly crowned Soap Queen who is in France to celebrate and enjoy her considerable wealth.  Of course, having someone as beautiful as Stenson means love (and lust) can’t be far away but it is the way our two protagonists try to both con and woo her whilst trying to derail the other’s plans that makes for truly hilarious, sometimes slapstick comedy.

The songs are fresh and funny and show a new approach to musical theatre; gone are the traditional verse, chorus, verse constructs; each is very catchy, hooks galore with clever wordplay – there’s a chance for Benton to show he can croon, for Praed to make all the women swoon and for Sullivan to make everyone else groon (groan but that didn’t rhyme).  For me however, the best song is Oklahoma? with Phoebe Coupe as Jolene, a good ole mid western girl, painting Jameson the picture of wedded bliss on the prairie.

If you’ve seen the movie then you will have a good idea about most of the twists and turns but seeing it live on stage, full of brilliant musical numbers and expertly cast, it surely has a place already with the greats of comedy musicals – The Producers, Book of Mormon, Singing in the Rain, Little Shop of Horrors, Full Monty, Legally Blonde, Sister Act – you’ve got a new stable mate.

The Hollies @ Darlington Civic

Looking around Darlington Civic on Tuesday night, I reckon I was, for once, one of the youngest in the audience.  The show was "The Hollies, We Got The Tunes" and was the start of their latest, and amazingly 50th anniversary, tour.  What was very clear from the sell out gathering is that their popularity is as strong as ever with not a spare seat in the house.

For one who was (certainly) not around for The Hollies' first hits, I have only really known their works from 60's compilation albums and movie soundtracks but you don't manage to tour every year for 50 years non stop by just replaying a Rock 'n' Roll back catalogue.  Granted, the majority of the audience were there to hear "Bus Stop", "I'm Alive", "Carrie Anne", "Just One Look", and "Stop, Stop, Stop"  but to think of The Hollies as simply being a 60's pop band is to completely miss the essence of a group which has clearly influenced bands as diverse as Genesis and The Beautiful South.  I was enthralled by the folksy "On a Carousel", the bluesy "Gasoline Alley Bred" and the anthemic "The Air That I Breathe" and seeing them played live gave such an insight into the graft and craft that goes into creating a cultural soundtrack.

I don't think the Darlington stage has ever played host to as good a guitar and drum combo as Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliott (except for previous visits by the band); Hicks has such freedom and amazing dexterity and you can clearly see where guitar heroes of the modern age get their inspiration from - without his pioneering style of play people like Slash, The Edge, Mark Knopfler would never have had the belief that guitars could lead a band.  As for Mr Elliott, take a bow Britain's best ever drummer, such diversity of style and technical prowess is unparalleled.

Lead vocals for The Hollies have changed since Alan Clarke left in 1999 but since 2004 Peter Howarth has brought a vocal range and power which can cope with the huge variety of songs, together with a stage presence and obvious enjoyment of performing.  He takes centre stage for two stand out solo acoustic numbers, a beautiful rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Sandy" and a unique take on the Hollies standard "Here, I Go Again"

This show was the first night of a national tour and one which will undoubtedly sell out very quickly - for traditional Hollies fans, go see your heroes again and enjoy reliving your youth; for those who enjoy great live music, phenomenal songs and a fab night out, go, and be amazed at how you haven't seen them sooner.

Tour dates and more information is available on their website www.hollies.co.uk