Reviews

Once Upon A Mattress is an infrequently performed musical, which is a pity as this slightly spicy fairy-tale of a show is a delight for audience and performers alike. This youth production is presented by Laughing Horse Productions and features performers from eight year of age. While there is a wide range of experience and varying vocal and acting abilities in the cast, they are all focused and working hard and there is a wonderful feeling of camaraderie.

Hachikō was probably Japan’s most famous dog, This loyal akita, who waited patiently for his deceased owner to return for nearly ten years, is remembered in a statue at Shibuya Station in Japan, where he had kept his vigil. This production is a lovely interpretation of his story.

This show has nods to its Japanese origins in some of the costuming, and in an origami feel to ‘lead’ puppet Hachiko. Lots of natural tones in set and puppets blend with splashes of primary colour, in a thoughtful design by Matt McVeigh.

As the title of the show has it, Nikki Britton’s fast and very funny stand-up spiel is anti-romantic.  Or, more exactly, it points up the contrast between ‘Romance’ and the harsh or sordid or humiliating or, sometime, smelly, reality.

William Golding’s iconic novel is enjoying, along with Orwell’s 1984, something of a resurgence in this strange new era of society we find ourselves embroiled in. Golding’s novel is confronting, and often frightening, as it holds up the mirror to a world driven by power, as well as survival, where the weak and the gentle find little compassion, where the will of the Tribe over-rides the rights of the individual. It is a stark and challenging narrative, crystal clear in its intent and very pertinent today, given what we are seeing overseas.