Reviews

Billed as a magical, musical world of Pantomime, the show is a not-so-traditional take on the much loved Cinderella scenario. It is a creative blend of family fun and darker, tongue in cheek humour, packed with quirky characters. This is no production for the politically correct and the careful gender protectors. After all, this is pantomime where the gloves are off and we are shown ourselves for what we are. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun at our own expense. Laughing at misfortune is the role of pantomime.

Alan Bennett’s 1991 part history lesson, part comedy is a curious beast that may well owe its popularity and awards to the performance of the character of King George himself.  Here the title role is played by Mark Gatiss (possibly most familiar to audiences via his role as Mycroft Holmes in the television series Sherlock, of which he is also co-creator).  Mr Gatiss’ performance is truly astonishing: a sustained tour de force, he gives us a character who is eccentric, embarrassing but somehow – and so importantly – admirable and endearing, and then

House of Dracula, billed as “A Monster Hit”, is a romp of a show that gathers your favourite characters from gothic literature in an unlikely situation and ties it all together with a collection of campy hijinks and gags.

Like West Side Story and its original inspiration, Puccini’s La Bohème, Rent doesn’t date.  Despite its specificity – 1996, East Village, New York, the aspirations of the characters, and the persisting stigma and threat of the scourge of AIDS – audiences respond as if the story were yesterday.  The depiction of LGBTQI characters is more ‘acceptable’ to the mainstream, but AIDS isn’t ‘over’, and the show’s themes are as contemporary as ever: loyalty, friendship, the search for and risks of