How did this sad state of affairs come to pass? Losing precious Arts Council funding was the final nail in the coffin, but truth be told, the Coliseum’s card was marked for burial a long time ago. Local Council bunglers must shoulder a lot of the blame; years of inertia and neglect, administered like a slow acting poison, are significant reasons why.

It’s common knowledge that the Coliseum building is falling down, balanced precariously on rotten timber foundations. Tentative plans to move to a different location were discussed as long ago as the late 90’s. Ten years later, the council finally got round to commissioning an architectural practice; after drafting plans, the company went bankrupt. At this point, Oldham Council seemingly lost interest. ‘Dare to be wise’ is their motto – entirely laughable given the amount of money they’ve wasted on failed development projects (one of the biggest being the doomed Mumps based ‘Hotel Future’, a white elephant which bit the dust in 2015).

The wider cultural impact of Oldham losing one of its few jewels has yet to be calculated. There are only around four restaurants in the town, all of which get business from the pre-theatre crowd. Will they survive without the Coliseum? It doesn’t bear thinking about. The Coliseum has a new board of trustees but their role will not be to plan a future, merely focus on curating a Coliseum legacy: something more substantial than a blue plaque on Fairbottom Street, I hope.

A bitter sweet experience then for Thick Skin Theatre, gifted the accidental honour of being the last theatre company to officially perform at the Coliseum. Written by Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrati, How Not To Drown is a dynamic piece of work, the painfully true story of Kastrati’s experience as a child asylum seeker, arriving in the UK from Eastern Europe, after the end of the Yugoslav Wars.

Given the speed of the modern news cycle, it’s easy to forget this war – a series of separate but related ethnic conflicts – lasted for a whole decade, from 1991 to 2001. The scale of atrocities committed throughout, are beyond most people’s comprehension; the complete truth will probably never be known. After almost twenty years, it’s a jolt to again hear the name of dead war criminal Slobodan Milosevic (a vile individual who met his demise in a prison cell, whilst awaiting trial for human rights abuses).

How Not to Drown, is less about the war itself, and more about the consequences which occurred directly afterwards, the brunt of which were borne by the children. Kastrati – who also stars – was shipped over to the UK by his fearful parents, worried he wouldn’t be safe in an Albania now controlled by dangerous criminal gangs. An emotional wrench given the maxim espoused by various characters in the opening stretch: ‘Without a family – you’re nothing!’

Director, Neil Bettles directs the journey across land and sea with considerable verve, giving parts of this show the feel of a political thriller. The five strong ensemble – including Ajjaz Awad, Esme Bayley, Daniel Cahill and Samuel Reuben – perform with great urgency. Bettles and Jonnie Riordan are credited as choregraphers, and it’s an intensely physical show. Becky Minto’s cantered, rotating floor set means the cast are often performing on a slope, yet they swing round a series of crash barriers – during one sequence, to portray a rocky boat journey – with carefully controlled abandon.

There’s no smooth assimilation for Kastrati, when he finally arrives on these shores. He’s immediately removed from his UK blood family, and shunted off to a detention centre, before drifting from one unsuitable foster family to the next. Bullied at school and home, he fights back, behavior which causes him to become more deeply enmeshed in a bureaucratic system founded on the concept of indifference. This is the sort of theatre show ‘Cruella’ Braverman should be forced to watch – though it would be unlikely to crack a chip in her stone-clad heart. This lady isn’t for turning, particularly when there’s a Rwandan bound jet taxiing on the runway.

How Not To Drown takes an unexpected turn when Kastrati returns to Albania. He struggles to communicate with his parents; English is now his first language. He’s become a nomad, someone who doesn’t belong anywhere. It seems that the traumatic experience of asylum seeking has – for him like many others – been a tragic, pointless waste. This doesn’t stop him demanding answers from his parents. McCartney and Drittin’s text is balanced enough to present both sides of the argument. There are no black and white explanations in this world of a million greys.

Under the circumstances, it was unsurprising how many people leapt to their feet at the end. It’s a double edged sword to watch a show this good with an engaged audience, knowing that the planners and builders are greedily waiting in the wings, ready to knock down a small piece of theatre history. And replace with what, exactly? A car park, or a new branch of Lidl.

The Oldham Coliseum will live on in our memories; the Arts Council and Oldham Council can never erase that.

How Not to Drown is at Oldham Coliseum from 23 to 25 March 2023

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The venue is one of only 32 regularly producing theatres in England and the last surviving professional theatre in the borough, which has been listed by the Government as a ‘Levelling Up for Culture’ area. And its commitment to entertain remained unshaken at the opening of its family pantomime Robin Hood.

Shorelle Hepkin, a familiar face at Oldham panto, returns as principal boy, Robin Hood. Her joyous energy is infectious from the start, and she takes everyone with her on this forest adventure.

The pantomime is written by previous long-time dame, Fine Time Fontayne and Chris Lawson, who also directs. It’s full of witty political and local references, silly dad jokes, slapstick routines and traditional panto shout-outs. But this year it feels even more full of music, almost like a musical pantomime.

Dave Bintley leads the live band whose music covers a whole range of hits from Dolly Parton to George Ezra. There is something for everyone here and it keeps the action moving at a rip-roaring pace.

As a dame, Fine Time Fontayne left huge shoes to fill, but Charlie Ryan as Nurse Nellie delivers his lines with a similar cheeky sparkle that has the audience in stitches. His dance to Aqua’s Barbie Girl is hilarious.

Celia Perkins, who won best costume design at the UK Pantomime Awards for the theatre’s Aladdin last year, has again created a vibrancy to aptly match the performers’ energy. And the Dame’s costumes are both clever in their references and suitably outrageous.

Liz Carney and Ian Crowe play the Sheriff and side-kick, Sir Guy of Gisbourne with an element of sci-fi villainy, their comedic injections hitting the perfect note by not being too loud and scary for little ones.

The whole cast bounce off each other brilliantly and are terrific. The final fight scene is expertly choreographed by Kaitlin Howard to create a sense of slap-stick chaos. And the dance moves of the young chorus keep the stage filled with a youthful vibe.

Indeed, it feels like there is so much talent there isn’t enough time in the two-and-a-half hours to showcase it fully. Nathan Morris (Milo in Hollyoaks) plays dumb Failsworth with great physical comedy but it isn’t until the end that we get to hear his singing voice – and what a voice it is!

Oldham Coliseum has always been our favourite family panto but this year feels even more special. For joyous Christmas cheer, this is the show to see.

Robin Hood runs at Oldham Coliseum Theatre from Saturday 12 November 2022 – Saturday 7 January 2023.

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Possibly the worst of the bunch is Dr Wayne Dyer, star of popular spirituality documentary ‘The Shift.’ An annoying clever dick, with an answer for everything, Dyer passed away in 2015 but, miraculously, still posts on social media. The man must have crawled through the earth for a Wifi connection.

The Road Less Travelled, by psychiatrist M.Scott Peck, was one of the first spirituality texts to cross over into the bestseller charts. Peck was perceptive enough to see that living in a permanent state of happiness is impossible, and some degree of suffering is a necessary part of the human experience. The book begins with a stark truism – ‘Life is difficult.’ What has all this got to do with Road? One of the characters in Jim Cartwright’s 80’s set drama simply asks why things have to be this tough. ‘It’s like walking through meat in high heels.’ A perfectly reasonable request when you feel life is pulling you under.

Constructed around a series of linked vignettes, Cartwright’s raw account of deprivation and unemployment is seen through the eyes of narrator Scullery, and the occupants of a Lancashire street. First produced at the Royal Court in 1986, Road came to be seen as a seminal portrayal of Thatcher’s ‘other Britain’. Without question, it was the must see drama of the eighties, quickly filmed for the BBC by legendary maverick Alan Clarke. Not long afterwards, it arrived at the Octagon – Cartwright’s home town – in a production that featured poet John Cooper Clarke. Road is now part of the modern classic canon. Is it still relevant? After years of austerity, Brexit, and a global pandemic, Britain is experiencing another collective trauma, in the guise of a cost of living crisis. This Oldham Coliseum revival has arrived at exactly the right time.

To make a successful production, various components are required: text, direction, performance, costume, lighting and set design. One element supports another. In a flawed production, they can work against each other. And that’s the case here. Road has a terrific cast. It also features one of the most uninspired sets I’ve ever seen in a professional stage production. It’s as if designer Foxton (who dropped his Christian name for some unfathomable reason) spent £80 on a pile of fire damaged timber, and lazily tipped it onto the stage. With the actors surrounded by a ring of characterless tat, movement is hindered, tamping down the energy in certain scenes. The result is a production that only hits the high notes in fits and starts.

That’s not to say there aren’t inspired moments. Paula Lane is hilarious as a spurned lover, storming down the street to call out the man who dumped her, and coming across like ‘The Woman in Black’ on steroids. Veteran local actor, William Travis gives a superb, moving monologue as Jerry, a widower who pines for the days when life was kinder.

Loneliness is a recurring motif in this grey world. Claire Storey has several great scenes, including one as a desperate, affection starved older woman: copping off with a drunken soldier, who passes out in her living room, she pretends he feels desire by clumsily moving his limp hands over her body, in the manner of a mad puppeteer.

The finale still feels audacious, because it hinges on a scene of inactivity – two girls and two boys, back from the pub, listening to Otis Redding soulfully sing ‘Try A Little Tenderness.’ The song, as Louise (Zoe Iqbal, a goofy and charming stage presence) observes, is all about the finer things in life. How can a love so pure survive in a world this callous? Watching these characters react is enough, as the music touches something deep inside them. A shame that director Gitika Buttoo loses her nerve, and feels compelled to introduce a lot of busyness, with other characters drifting on, and indulging in some pointless dancing. She even cuts Otis short, which takes the edge off what comes next.

It’s a mixed bag, then. Buttoo’s production feels like a work-in-progress. There are plenty of empty buildings in Oldham: it would be great to see this show return in a different space, and staged again (like the first Royal Court production) in a promenade style. A cast this good shouldn’t be wasted.

Road is at Oldham Coliseum from 16 September to October 2022

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Perhaps the growing traction for Easter pantomimes has encouraged this two-week holiday run, and it is warmly received by the youngsters and their grown-ups in the audience.

The show itself has been a long time in the making. Director, Sarah Punshon began working on it back in 2019, but the pandemic halted the production just 6 days into rehearsal. Thankfully for the team the hard work hasn’t gone to waste and the energy on display demonstrates how pleased the cast is to be back on stage.

Rudyard Kipling’s collection of short stories, ‘The Jungle Book’ has captured the imagination of children for more than 100 years. Its most famous adaptations are the 1967 Disney animation, and the more recent 2016 film which mixes live action and computer-generated animals.

Writer, Jessica Swale has given her adaptation a contemporary twist for the stage while focusing on the central themes of Kipling’s original stories of family, friendship, bravery and celebrating difference under a unity of the same sun. Fans will still recognise the central story and its characters – man-cub Mowgli, the villainous tiger Sheer Khan, loveable comic Baloo the bear and the hypnotic python, Kaa. But, here the jungle is portrayed as an urban adventure playground, with concrete underpass, skate ramp, and both steel and rope climbing frames.

The basic costumes, which give us a representation of the animals rather than a full costume, make it easy for the cast of 7 to quickly switch from one character to another. All actors works hard to keep the energy high, and the leap of imagination required by the audience means the children are invested in the action all the way through. This is helped along by Joe Stilgoe’s upbeat tunes which span a range of contemporary genres from ambient to hip-hop. There is even a nod to the Madchester days with Manc monkeys, nicknamed the Funkies, taking on a definite Gallagher swagger.

If you’re looking for a treat for primary school children this Easter, The Jungle Book is a winner.

The Jungle Book is at Oldham Coliseum from 7-24 April 2022.

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Having been unable to stage this pantomime at Oldham Coliseum Theatre last year, the production team were clearly wanting to make up for lost time with the show and cast they have assembled. Making a welcome return to this year’s line-up are three familiar faces that make up the Twankee family. Richard J Fletcher, many-time Buttons-like performer but now top-class Dame, is Widow Twankee, Sam Glen is her cheery entrepreneur son, Wishee Washee and ever-improving Shorelle Hepkin as Aladdin.

Fletcher, Glen and Hepkin work great together but can also hold the audience when alone on stage.

Co-written by Oldham Dame past master Fine Time Fontayne with Director Chris Lawson, this version of Aladdin is rooted firmly within the East… East Manchester that is. The main Aladdin tale is there with the Princess Jasmine, lamp and the flying carpet still intact but the show is set in Oldham and the wilds of Belle Vue Funfair. The traditional baddie Abanazar has been replaced by Aunty Banazar, played with glee by Liz Carney who manages to get boos without petrifying the kids, even when singing Bon Jovi songs.

There are no blue genies either but there are a couple of actors who play dual roles of boys in blue and genies. Alex Phelps gives a charming display and performs the greatest stage exit you will see this Christmas as Spirit of the Ring. The Jinn of the Lamp (Mark Zayat) is vocally reminiscent of a James Corden character from an animated movie but also brings many laughs.

Shaun Hennessy provides a fun Emperor as father to Aladdin’s love interest, Princess Jasmine (Dora Rubinstein), who gets her own time to shine performing Head and Heart with the energetic backing dancers.

There is so much to enjoy in this traditional pantomime and all of the elements are there. The ghost scene always manages to raise the volume of the children in the crowd to ear-splitting levels. Widow Twankee’s outfits become more elaborate but reach a peak with the Billie Eilish green hair and dress combination. The audience participation is there all the way through and there isn’t a generation going who can’t join in with the Sweet Caroline sing-a-long. In fact, the music choices this year were excellent and spanned many decades and genres but remained upbeat, excluding any schmaltzy songs ensuring the show never slowed its pace. Extra marks must go to Dave Bintley, the Musical Director who matched the introduction of the flying carpet with Dua Lipa’s wonder song, “Levitating”.

As befits a pantomime including current affairs jokes, the pandemic did get a mention but was handled brilliantly by introducing it early but time boxing references to that one-minute slot.

The set design for the Coliseum pantomime is always bright and packed with additional visual gags and more adult references and this year is no exception. The Squidgey Games may be over for this year, but with shows like this, I’ll certainly be returning for Robin Hood in 2022.

Aladdin is at Oldham Coliseum from 13 November 2021 to 8 January 2022.

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Based on the 1969 novel by Melvyn Bragg, The Hired Man. Set in Cumbria during the first quarter of the 20th century against a backdrop of working class rural and industrial life and the first World War, it tells the story of Bragg’s grandparents’ and their journey from land labourers to colliers and back to the land.

The novel was adapted for the stage as a musical in 1984 by Grammy award-winning composer, Howard Goodall, whose other musicals include Bend it Like Beckham and Love Story.

It was Goodall’s first professional musical, featuring a superb score of rousing foot stomping rhythms and soaring choruses, inspired by English choral and folk music.

In 1984, during its West End run, The Hired Man was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for Best Musical, earned four Olivier Award nominations, and was voted Best Musical of the Year by the critics of Time Out, The Guardian, Punch & The Stage.

The 2019 actor-musician revival played to packed audiences and also received national critical acclaim across the country, securing three Offie Award nominations with Lauryn Redding a finalist for Best Female Performance in a Musical for her role as Emily.

Together, the three theatres reach over 380,000 people a year through their live productions while their theatres are closed to the public. to raise vital funds for current and future creative projects.

This much loved actor-musician revival played to national critical acclaim across the country, securing three Offie Award nominations including finalist Lauryn Redding as a finalist for Best Female Performance in a Musical for her role as Emily.

With the support of The Really Useful Group Ltd, the premiere streaming of The Hired Man will take place on Monday 15 June 2020 at 7.30pm, and will then be available for one week on the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch YouTube channel and via each of three theatres’ websites until midnight on Sunday 21 June.

Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Hull Truck Theatre together reach more than 380,000 people a year through their live productions. And while their doors are sadly closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the theatres still in need of vital funds for current and future creative projects. Online viewers are being asked to donate what they can to help ensure the venues can survive in these difficult times.

In its 135-year history the Oldham Coliseum has closed only once before. Established as a circus in 1885, the Coliseum – then the Colosseum – opened on Henshaw Street before moving to its current spot on Fairfield Street in 1903 where it ran as a popular theatre and music hall, until in 1931 the venue was converted into a cinema, closing nine months later. It was reopened in 1939 by the Oldham Repertory Theatre Club, and during World War II hosted celebrated London companies Saddler’s Wells Opera and the Old Vic.

Visit the Oldham Coliseum website for more details on how to donate.

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When Fine Time Fontayne announced he was stepping out of the Dame’s shoes last year it felt like a turning point for the theatre. After 11-years in the role he’d become a long-standing favourite with the public. Who could fill such big shoes?

Step forward Richard J Fletcher, another familiar face who’d played the comic character alongside Fine Time for as many years. Fletcher is used to the Coliseum stage and playing comedy to the crowd as well as making kids feel special – singing happy birthday to a young girl at the front who danced with delight. He’s also a master of the physical humour necessary to carry off the Dame. And Oldham Athletic fans are in for a treat with his first costume, topped with a meat pie and sausage roll hat.

Although Fletcher wins the prize for the most outrageous costumes, this pantomime, more than the star-led pantos, is a strong ensemble piece. Fletcher builds great rapport with the other cast, particularly Sam Glen, who plays his son and comedy side-kick, Jack. Their quick-paced take on the old Abbott and Costello sketch, Who’s on First is terrific.

Fine Time is still involved as co-writer, keeping the same winning recipe for family humour that’s at times both silly and clever, and always topical. This year the main themes are tech and climate change. And as always there are all the big hits of the year (7-year-old Zachary was thrilled to hear Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road in there) and some old musical favourites like, ‘Me Ol’ Bam-Boo’ to keep everyone happy.

Jenny Platt, in strong voice, switches well between sweet Good Fairy Greenfield and dastardly Mavis Moorside. As the villain of the piece she channels a mix of the Child Catcher from Chitty Bang Bang and the Pied Piper, hypnotising youngsters to give over their favourite tech – phones, tablets and TVs. The tech is being used to fuel the mechanics of a huge giant, who, Wizard of Oz style, keeps the people of Oldham under his control.

To the rescue come Sam Glenn and Shorelle Hepkin as Jack and Jill, the young heroes of the show – smiley, gutsy and full of energy. But to save the day they first must sell their best friend Hazy the Hippy Cow – a brilliantly chilled, comic turn from Mitesh Soni. The team manage to pack in about 15 songs from the live band, a Ghostbusters ‘It’s Behind You’ sketch, a sloppy decorator scene with water pistols at the crowd, sweet throwing, an audience sing along, a crashing giant beanstalk, and a rugby tackling all cast fight scene. The time flies by.

After two hours of dancing, singing, cheering and booing as one of Jack’s army in the audience what does young Zachary think: ‘I loved that I recognised all the music. It was epic!”

Jack and the Beanstalk is at Oldham Coliseum from Saturday 16 November 2019 – Saturday 11 January 2020.

Read our interview with Richard J Fletcher.

The post Jack and the Beanstalk: Pantomime Review appeared first on Quays Life.

How does it feel to play the Dame and were the rehearsals much different as Dame instead of as the Comic?

Richard J Fletcher: “It’s not hugely different because it’s still a comic character. I’ve got a bit more scope to do stuff for the older members of the audience this year. The Comic is really mainly for the children, and that’s why I loved doing that character, but I can be a little bit more cheeky playing the Dame. It’s slightly ruder because the Jack character is very naive whereas the Dame character is anything but. It’s just a great laugh.

“It’s quite odd watching Sam [Glen, playing Jack] doing what I’ve been doing for the last decade, but he’s brilliant at it. I think he’s great, he’s got a really good energy.

“What was really funny was that he told me that he’d spent his youth coming to watch me playing that character – which makes me feel really old! But that’s why it’s great being back at the Coliseum, because I used to come here throughout my youth to watch panto. This is where I started watching pantos from the age of probably three or four-years-old – with Kenneth Alan Taylor and Jeffrey Longmore as Dames”.

Can you tell us about your big reveal as the Dame?

Richard J Fletcher: “Every new costume is a big reveal with the Dame, that’s another thing that I’m looking forward to. The Wardrobe department at the Coliseum are so good and the designs are so brilliant that you only have to walk on stage in the costume and it often gets a round of applause. The costumes are so hilarious. I’ve got five or six costumes this year and they’re big costumes – I’m not going to spoil it and tell you what they are but there are some brilliant ones. The Wardrobe team start making them in the middle of the summer and quite a lot of them will need one or two dressers to get them on me, because they’re quick changes backstage as well”.

What can audiences expect from your Dame?

Richard J Fletcher: “I’ve spent the last 11 years in a rehearsal room with Fine Time [Fontayne, co-writer and former Coliseum Dame] so I think subconsciously I’d been learning quite a lot over those years from him. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring a little bit of what I’ve learnt from him to the show. My Dame is a bit younger than Fine Time’s and she’s a better dancer! I’m joining in with more of the big dance routines and the design is different – I requested a kitten heel for the opening costume and my makeup is different to his. People will notice a difference. I’ve been practising walking in my heels because it’s not easy dancing in heels as I’m sure ladies will agree! A kitten heel is enough for me!”

Are there any other differences in this year’s show?

Richard J Fletcher: “The writing of Jack and the Beanstalk is so up to date. Although it’s pantomime and it’s fun and stupid, it has some serious issues behind the writing. We talk about the villains who are really bad for the environment and they litter – those are very important messages to get across to children – what’s good and bad about littering and the effects on the environment. It’s really relevant to today.

“Musically, there are songs that have only just come out and some big hits from the year. I didn’t know any of them before we started rehearsals, except for the ones I recognised from my daughter’s bedroom! When you walk into a shop or you put the radio on they’re playing the songs that you’ve been singing twelve times every week, but that just proves that those are the popular songs. Sometimes you find yourself singing along in the middle of Boots”.

Do people recognise you in Oldham town centre through the year?

Richard J Fletcher: “ Because the Comic character always has the call and response from the audience, for the past ten years I’ve had those shouted at me in the aisle in Tesco all year round. I wonder whether they will recognise me this year because I’m going to have a lot of makeup on and I’m going to have some fantastic wigs”.

What was it that made you want to get involved with pantomime 12 years ago

Richard J Fletcher: “I trained in physical theatre at Drama School and one of my favourite genres is Commedia Dell’Arte, which is kind of where pantomime is derived from – Italian Theatre Commedia. You can find a lot of the Commedia characters in each pantomime. I also like musicals and I’m not good enough to be in them so I get the chance to pretend I’m in a musical! Jack and the Beanstalk is like a full on musical, I think we’ve got 15 songs this year”.

What is your history with the Coliseum?

Richard J Fletcher: “I started coming to see pantomime at the Coliseum when I was very young and then I did youth theatre here throughout my childhood. When I was 15 had a Saturday job here working in the café, which was called The Lion’s Den – I used to make toasties for all of the actors in a little kitchen which is now the offices next to the upstairs bar. I grew up coming to this place all the time. I went to London for twenty years and then, getting the chance to come back and now to be the Dame myself, it feels like a complete cycle”.

Jack and the Beanstalk is at Oldham Coliseum from Saturday 16 November 2019 – Saturday 11 January 2020.

Read our review.

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Some Pinter plays are relatively easy to decode: most critics concur with the idea The Dumb Waiter (1960) is about a pair of hit men, awaiting instructions for a job. Betrayal (1978) is the story of a love affair, with the narrative running in reverse. But there are other works which defy straightforward interpretation. No Man’s Land, first produced in 1975 (and starring legendary thespians, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson), belongs firmly in the latter camp. It was successfully revived a few years ago in the West End, with another pair of big-hitters, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. This touring revival from London Classic Theatre can’t compete with such star wattage, but it’s a decent production which director, Michael Cabot imbues with a sense of low-level dread. What it lacks at this stage is a sufficient degree of polish.

The plot revolves around a chance meeting between two elderly writers in a North London pub, which leads to an alcohol fuelled night of reminiscence, fantasy and verbal jousting. Hirst (Moray Treadwell) is a wealthy and successful critic, who lives in an oppressive Hampstead Mansion, alone but for the presence of two slightly threatening man-servants, Briggs and Foster (Graham O’Mara and Joel Macey). Spooner is a down-on-his-luck poet, who helps out in a local pub. As the shadows lengthen and the booze flows, their stories – including a shared University history  – become ever more elaborate and improbable. Is this real or merely a twisted role play? Who wrote the rules? And why is Joel Macey wearing such a terrible wig?

Many of Pinter’s plays are structured around the intrusion of a stranger – or strangers – into a hermetically sealed world, their presence a catalyst for disruption (Pinter is arguably the Godfather of the ‘home invasion’ horror sub-genre). The dynamic between characters is often ambiguous: there’s a power struggle going on, and language – oblique and repetitive – is the weapon. The insults Briggs hurls at Spooner in Act 2 are vicious and blackly funny. In spite of this humiliation, the desperate Spooner believes he has more to offer Hirst as a manservant, and offers up a long verbal resume. ‘I can play chess and the piano’, he enthuses, ‘and my kitchen would be spotless!’ When it finally arrives, Hirst’s dismissal is witheringly cruel.    

Given Pinter’s refusal to draw up dramatic specifics, decisions on character motivation are always down to the director and actors. Hirst, Spooner, Foster and Briggs (all named after Golden-era cricketers) each have their own agenda, even its unconscious. A play like this needs detailed, nuanced performances to fly, and whilst the cast are good, there are a number of scenes where the energy flags. I suspect Nicholas Gasson hasn’t fully figured out Spooner’s precise back-story or psychology; his blank reaction to Hirst’s rejection deprives the last scene of the necessary impact.

But this is the first date on an extensive, 22 date tour for London Classic Theatre, continuing until early November. A few weeks down the line, I imagine No Man’s Land will be a richer, far more rewarding experience. I would be interested enough to go and watch it again.

No Man’s Land is at Oldham Coliseum Theatre from 5-7 September 2019. Visit London Classic Theatre website for full tour details.

Read our interview with director and artistic director of London Classic Theatre, Michael Cabot.

The post No Man’s Land, London Classic Theatre on Tour: Review appeared first on Quays Life.

Michael, for those that don’t know the play, how would you describe No Man’s Land?

Michael: “It’s a fascinating piece.  The play is set in the Hampstead townhouse of Hirst, a successful writer.  When the play begins, he has invited Spooner, a down-at-heel poet, back to his home after a chance meeting in a pub.  The pair continue drinking until the early hours, talking and telling stories, getting progressively more inebriated.  But as always, with Pinter, nothing is quite as it seems.  Two younger men arrive at the house in the early hours of the morning, forcing events to take an unexpected turn”.

What do you think Pinter is telling us in the play?

Michael: “I think Pinter likes to tease us, test us.  He doesn’t want an audience to get too comfortable, to settle, so there is an awful lot of ambiguity.  Pinter likes to challenge an audience, so he deliberately creates a sense of tension and unease.  It’s a brilliant platform to build upon as that danger is always present and there is always the sense that chaos, or of course comedy, is just around the corner”.

There have been some very famous productions – John Gielgud/Ralph Richardson, Michael Gambon/David Bradley, Ian McKellen/Patrick Stewart – how do you escape their shadow and approach a new production of No Man’s Land?

Michael: “I don’t think about that too much, if I’m honest.  I approach each new production as if it were a completely new play, so a lot of reading, a lot of investigation and I don’t really pay a lot of attention to previous incarnations.  I saw the Gambon/Bradley production and thought they were both excellent.  I think our production will be very different though.  I’m very excited about our cast, three of whom I’ve worked with before.  During my audition process, I like to get the actors working together on the scenes.  When we auditioned for this production, when our quartet read together, there was something very special happening in the room.  I’m very much looking forward to the start of rehearsals.     

What do you most enjoy about the play?

Michael: “Unquestionably, the language.  Pinter was a master of his craft and his use of words was extraordinary.  Everything is there for a reason.  Every phrase, every nuance, every use of punctuation.  His plays are always a joy to rehearse as there is so much to explore.  And of course, the characters are wonderful.  As with all of Pinter’s plays, he leaves an awful lot unspoken, so that gives the actors a lot of room for manoeuvre and interpretation”.

And what is its greatest challenge?

Michael: “I think you have to trust the play to keep some of its mystery and not try to nail everything down.  Pinter loved to keep his audience guessing.  I think that No Man’s Land has the potential to be extremely funny, but you can’t go looking for laughs.  You have to be confident the play will work its magic”.

You have directed Pinter plays a few times, what is it about his writing that makes him as relevant today as ever?

Michael: “Yes, this will be my fifth Pinter play as director, so you can say I’m something of a fan!  Like Shakespeare, his writing is truly universal and essentially timeless.  He broke new ground throughout his career.  I believe his plays will still be performed decades from now.  His mastery of language, his ability to provoke and surprise will continue to engage audiences for a long time to come”.

No Man’s Land is at Oldham Coliseum Theatre from 5-7 September 2019. Please note that the show has an age recommendation of 16 plus due to use of very strong language.

The post “He doesn’t want an audience to get too comfortable” – interview with Michael Cabot, Artistic Director of London Classic Theatre appeared first on Quays Life.