THE highly-polished sophistication that can be seen on every inch of film in Alfred Hitchcock’s screen version of Frederick Knott’s expertly contrived thriller may not be fully replicated in this production, but under tight direction from Anthony Banks there is still plenty of tension and thrills on view for the audience to enjoy. For those…
ANYONE who has met a 30-something American clean- freak, displaying all the gesticulating neuroses that come with the territory, will immediately recognize Pony Jones, one of four extraordinary characters in Will Eno’s award-winning play The Realistic Joneses, which is making its UK premiere on Bath Ustinov Studio’s stage. Set in two neighboring houses, both surrounded…
IMAGINE the torrid, passionate and intense traditions of rural Spain in the 1930s transported to Salisbury Plain. That’s what Barney Norris has done to Lorca’s play Blood Wedding. The original has a cast of 12 and embodies death as a character. The Wiltshire playwright has cleverly pruned the company to six, cutting out the feuds…
THE gleeful excitement of Jennifer Saunders playing Madame Arcati is a sight to behold and Bath audiences have a second chance to experience it before Coward’s Blithe Spirit moves into London. The Richard Eyre production opened in Bath last June, and returns until Saturday 8th February, and overall it’s a delight. A few changes have…
CHOREOGRAPHER and dance theatre maker Mark Bruce made his recent reputation with a series of works based on familiar and classical stories – Frankenstein, The Odyssey and Macbeth. His new creation, Return to Heaven, is an original piece, a homage to horror and gothic exploration films, and love. As atmospheric as the earlier works –…
COR – they can sing! So said one member of the capacity audience at the New Elizabethan Singers’ performance on Saturday at St Mary’s Church. The soaring trumpets that opened Bach’s ‘Magnificat’ signalled that this was to going to be a special evening. From their first entry the choir filled the church with a unified…
Beethoven Symphony No. 1 Stravinsky Violin Concerto Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Eroica Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra leader Amyn Merchant Kirill Karabits: Conductor Stefan Jackiw: Violin THERE has been a complete revolution in how orchestral Beethoven is performed and sounds during the last 50 years. On Radio 3’s Record Review last Saturday, available recordings of Beethoven’s 1st…
ON Sunday evening I watched Liverpool on TV give away a two goal lead in their FA cup tie against the lower ranked Shrewsbury Town side. When they were two goals in front, they relaxed a team sure of their position and skills. Watching the first half of this ballet I had the same feeling….
THE big selling point of Romantics Anonymous (both the French film and this wonderful musical show) is “love and chocolate, what’s not to like?” But that would be to overlook the many extra delights that Emma Rice has included in her inspired production, which sold out the Sam Wanamaker Theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe as she…
LINSEY O’Neill’s hysterical Castle Players pantomime is based on the story of Macbeth, with a few other Shakespearean plays thrown in for good measure, and liberally sprinkled with a satirical look at game shows and “reality” television and the traditions of the panto genre. What could possibly go wrong – other than the electrocution of…