Reviews

Before Isabella Perversi’s arrival on stage, we peer at a very small television screen showing clips from movies in which an actor cries.  Her program notes tell us that 96% of female Oscar winners ‘have cried in their performance’.  So… is crying a good thing, a bad thing, a revelation of vulnerability, a manipulative thing, a game-player tactic, a sign of neurosis, or of self-absorbed self-pity?  For Perversi, it’s a disability that is ruining her life.  The show explores such questions, although the central question is, ‘Why can&rs

The chandelier rose at the Ipswich Civic Centre on the opening night of Ipswich Musical Theatre Company’s production of The Phantom of the Opera. Playing to a sold-out audience, this classic musical proves its enduring popularity thirty-seven years after it was first performed.

If you ever wish to have night at the theatre that is intriguing and absorbing in plot and characters, while involving the audience in what is happening on stage, then a visit to this play is the ideal. The audience members are given questionnaires to test how observant they have been and they can also ask the characters various questions before the villain is revealed. With so many possible killers in the scenes, do not expect the same person to be found guilty more than once.

While I have never been fond of Liquorice Allsorts, this One Act Play season by Darlington Theatre Players is a treat that I really enjoyed. Named in honour of the popular confection (and with a themed cocktail available at the bar), this season of one-act-plays fulfills its promise of having something for everyone.