The Lowry

Kill The Beast – Don’t Wake The Damp

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After delighting audiences (me included) with previews earlier this year before heading up to the Edinburgh Fridge and receiving 4 and 5* reviews like they were going out of fashion, not to mention the small matter of wining The Stage Edinburgh Award, glorious comedy quintet and Lowry Associate Artists Kill The Beast, return to The Lowry with their revamped and rebooted Don’t Wake The Damp.

Set in a crumbling concrete tower block, doomed for destruction by the almighty Council planning department due to the rising of some devilishly dangerous damp we find our heroin June (Natasha Hodgson). Former Science-Fiction screen siren now more at home cradling a casserole June is determined neither the Damp nor the Council will take her down. After kidnapping Council worker Terry Brambles (needs must….we’ve all been tempted right?) June is unwillingly thrust into the company of her nerdy and narcissistic neighbours to tackle the deadly damp that’s rising all around them.

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Directed by Clem Garritty who also co-writes with performers David Cumming, Oliver Jones, Zoe Roberts and Natasha Hodgson, Don’t Wake the Damp it a riotous jape full of glorious gags, bonkersly brilliant songs and electric performances. The team are fantastic, playing weirdly wonderful characters to perfection; their strong characterisation makes even the most deliciously daft totally lovable. The writing is brilliant; the speed at which the gags come is seriously quick, you’ve barely stifled your snorts from one joke and you’re laughing your socks off at the next. The use of projected animations designed by Alex Purcell displayed on three large moveable screens behind the performers allow this quick paced piece to move from scene to scene effortlessly and adds perfectly to the unique charm of this retro sci-fi comedy mash-up.

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There isn’t a more marvellous way to while away an evening than in the company of Kill The Beast, an absolute treat from start to finish, get yourself to The Lowry before the Damp overcomes us all! On until Saturday 29th October, tickets available below!

http://www.thelowry.com/event/dont-wake-the-damp1

Stick Man

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Scamp Theatre’s Stick Man – Live on Stage from Scamp Theatre on Vimeo.

If you know a little person say six years old or under then there’s no doubt you may have heard of a children’s book called the Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. In fact Julia has written a number of books for youngsters that have gone down a storm both in and out of the classroom. Stick Man is one of those well-loved tales and, like the Gruffalo before it, has also been made into an animation and now a stage play.

Packing out the Quays Theatre at The Lowry, Salford during the October half-term Scamp Theatre and Freckle Production’s Stick Man is a delightful show from start to finish. With just three talented actors at the helm (Jennifer Greenwood, Robert Jackson and David Shute) it provides 60 minutes of non-stop family entertainment involving, song, dance and puppetry.

The story is a simple tale to tell, of Stick Man (yes, a man who is a stick), his Stick Lady Love and their three little stick children. When Stick Man goes out for a jog one day he ends up in a number of dangerous situations; he gets picked up by a dog; played with by a little girl and gets pecked at by a swan – all of which, for Stick Man, is pretty terrifying! His pleas of “I’m Stick Man that’s me and I long to be back in the family tree” are ignored as he is left stranded and alone, struggling to find his way home.

The majority of the show is sung, accompanied by music and sound effects which bring Stick Man’s story to life. Combined with this the actor’s physical movements and miming are used to full effect to really engage with the children’s imagination, managing to create an array of characters with minimal costumes and props. There’s audience participation a plenty as the cast run out into the audience creating a panto-style chase that has the kid’s joyous voices crying out in unison ‘He’s behind you’ plus there’s even a game of bat and ball to get everyone involved.

As a child of the 80’s the talented Stick Man trio of Robert, Jennifer and David reminded me of a Rod, Jane and Freddy for today (without the mad perms and bad dress sense and with 100 times more talent and panache). The kids loved them, the adults adored them too and by the end they made sure everyone had fallen in love with Stick Man and his family.

Stick Man runs at The Lowry until 30th October. Performances at 11am, 2pm and 4pm daily.

www.thelowry.com

 

 

 

Relatively Speaking

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Relatively Speaking copyright: Nobby Clark

Alan Ayckbourn delivers a rip roaring comedy of errors in one of his early plays, Relatively Speaking. Currently on tour around the UK, the King of Farces work is a genius piece of writing that doesn’t fail to amuse almost 50 years after it first took to the stage.

The latest production stars famous faces Robert Powell and Liza Goddard as middle-class husband and wife Phillip and Sheila whose leisurely Sunday afternoon gets interrupted by a young man with a huge case of mistaken identity.

Set in the 60s the play opens to reveal a cramped bedsit where we find new lovebirds Ginny (Lindsey Campbell) and Greg (Anthony Eden).  Ginny is busy getting ready to visit her parents, whilst boyfriend Greg becomes increasingly annoying as he quizzes her over mysterious phone calls she has been getting, along with deliveries of flowers and chocolates.

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Ginny and Greg copyright: Nobby Clark

Lindsey Campbell and Anthony Eden are superb as the young couple both creating well rounded characters and delivering huge dualogues with ease. It’s often hard to keep the audience’s attention when there are only two actors onstage for such a lengthy time but Campbell and Eden manage to keep you transfixed and eager to find out what is going to happen next.

Peter McKintosh does a great job of the set design, capturing the period with garish yellow print wallpaper that wouldn’t look out of place on a sixties record sleeve and posters highlighting the popular films of the time like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and A Hard Day’s Night. There is an awkward scene change when we move from crammed city bedsit to the picturesque countryside involving a full curtain closure and music for at least a couple of minutes, so much so you feel it might be an early interval. It’s quite a dramatic move for director Robin Herford to make and does jar the action. However, as the curtains eventually re open, you can appreciate why this is necessary as there’s an impressive backdrop of a detached house complete with French doors, patio, and garden furniture.

This signals the action moving to the upmarket home of Philip and Sheila who are enjoying reading the Sunday papers in the garden.

On press night Liza Goddard was unable to play the role of Sheila so understudy Sarah Simpkins stood in for her, doing a sterling job. It’s not often nowadays to see productions that have understudies for every role but Relatively Speaking does just that with a full set of actors available should the need arise. Simpkins facial expressions are priceless as she tries her best to fathom why young Greg has turned up on their doorstep and even more so when Ginny follows soon after. The laughter from the audience is constant, especially as you move into the second half of the play and the farcically action reaches its heights. Robert Powell demonstrates his acting prowess playing the ageing businessman who delights in winding up both his wife and those around him with dry wit and amusing frustration. There’s a moment when it looks as if Powell will corpse at the hilarious antics on display but the Salford born actor shows his professionalism and manages to hold it together.

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copyright: Nobby Clark

Watching Relatively Speaking was the most fun I have had at the theatre in ages. Prepare to leave with sore sides from all the laughing you do during the two hours it is on stage. Thoroughly enjoyable, the play runs at The Lowry until Saturday 22nd October.

www.thelowry.com

 

Interview with Kill the Beast’s Natasha Hodgson

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Ahead of Multi-award winning Kill The Beast’s (no doubt) triumphant return to the Lowry with the deliciously dark and brilliantly balmy Don’t Wake The Damp, we spoke to Natasha Hodgson, 1 fifth of the team and all round comedy genius, about competitive pumpkin carving, comedic inspirations and the sheer terror of the Silent Singer.

–          Your return to The Lowry around Halloween seems perfect timing for the show, are you a fan of Halloween? If so how will you be marking the occasion?

I’ve always been a massive Halloween fan – it’s essentially an international competition to see who can look the stupidest and who can eat the most teeth-meltingly terrible sweets. There’s nothing not to love about it. Pumpkin carving is probably on the cards this year – Lidl do an absolutely barnstorming deal on pumpkins, and I get very competitive about creating a pleasing design. I’ll probably do a couple of practice pumpkins, just so that when I get to Pumpkin 2.0, I don’t embarrass myself. Or Lidl.

–          How did your partnership with The Lowry come about?

We first approached The Lowry back in ye olde 2011, with a small, horrible children’s book called The Boy Who Kicked Pigs. We explained that we wanted to adapt it, as it ended with a small boy being impaled by spikes and then getting eaten to death by rats. Naturally, they had to have it. They offered us a position on their amazing ‘Developed With’ programme, and the rest, as they say, is getting eaten to death by rats.

–          As well established performers at the Fringe how did you find the transition to performing in theatres?

Actually our first ever performance as a group was on The Lowry theatre stage – so we’ve been very spoilt from the off! It’s ruined us, really. The strangest place we’ve ever performed was probably underneath a railway tunnel – you had to try and time your lines so that they didn’t get drowned out by the (extremely) regular trains overhead. It really added an interesting atmosphere (the atmosphere being that of many, many trains). 

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–          You’re sometimes labelled as one of the darker comedy collections, who would you say were your key influences?

All five of us grew up adoring dark comedy, and it probably still makes up about 95% of our conversation (the other 5% is The Apprentice, which thinking about it is just another type of dark comedy) – we grew up devouring The League Of Gentlemen, Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, I Am Not An Animal, Monkey Dust, The Office – all wonderful food for our dreadful little souls. The films of people like Ben Wheatley, Alice Lowe and Richard Ayoade are also massive inspirations – long may they reign.

–          As huge fans of The League of Gentleman and Psychoville, your work is right up our street, if you could beam any comedy character into your work which would you chose?

For me, personally, it would be the Silent Singer from Pyschoville – never has a character with absolutely no lines filled me with both pure terror and pure joy. You wouldn’t even need to do anything else to the scene. Just a couple of people having a normal conversation about trams or gout or chess or something, whilst in the background, Silent Singer writhes. What a creation. What dreadful people they are.

–          Following on from this, would you ever consider inviting guest performers? If so who would be your dream person to work with?

We’re far too insecure to allow anyone else on-stage with us. Please don’t try. If I absolutely had to, I’d say probably Julia Davis, creator of Nighty Night and Hunderby, among other things. She has a dark, genius brain and I would take any opportunity to see it up close.

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–          Do you write collectively as a group?

We do, it’s both highly enjoyable and extremely inefficient. We all go off and write first drafts of scenes on our own, bring em to the group, read them out and then we let battle commence. The good lines stay – there is usually about 3 good lines in any given draft, unless they’re written by me in which case every line is absolute gold – and everything else gets tossed out. We talk and talk and endlessly argue. And then the process begins again. You’d think there’d only be so much conversation you could have about the word ‘pamphlet’ and whether it is comically superior to the word ‘leaflet’. You’d be wrong. And it is.

–          Do you consider yourself primarily as an actor or comedienne?

I think I’d consider myself primarily a writer, who for financial reasons has to read out her own lines on-stage whilst wearing an imposing wig. I think that’s the technical situation we’re in. I enjoy creating comedy more than any other type of performance, though whether that enjoyment makes you a comedian or an actor I’m not sure. I think there’s an in-between space somewhere that we’re all happy to wriggle stickily into.

Only one of us trained formally as an actor (I’ll let you guys guess, answers on a fairly hurtful postcard please), the rest of us just really enjoy messing around, bellowing and creating horrid stories about dreadful people. 

–          As performing as a group works so well for you all do any of you ever perform alone?

Kill the Beast is getting really busy, which is lovely, but means we don’t have loads of time for other performancy commitments. Dave performs solo as his amazing drag character/beat poet Cheryl Dole (who you should check out, she’s incred) and I also perform as a backing singer in a theatre/rock band called Felix Hagan And The Family –we’re actually about to go on tour with Frank Turner, come along! Ollie and Clem also performed a duo show at the Edinburgh fringe last year, a series of comedy poems called The Tale Of The Twiddly Widdlies – in fact, what am I talking about, we do loads of stuff outside Kill the Beast, am I even in Kill the Beast?

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–          After a great 2016, what can we expect to see from you all in 2017?

 We’re hoping to do a bigger run of our new show Don’t Wake The Damp (though not sure we’ll bring it back to Manchester, so this Halloween is your last chance!) and we’re looking forward to starting a couple of new projects – a podcast, and a theatre project that DOESN’T involved projection screens (we can’t wait to leave the projector at home for a while). I don’t want to say too much, but currently Kill the Beast’s 2017 will involve detectives, bananas, lifeguards, estate agents and an inevitably high body count. We can’t wait.

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Kill The Beast will be performing Don’t Wake The Damp at The Lowry, Wednesday 26th-Saturday 29th October, if you haven’t seen them before then what the hell is wrong with you? If you have you’ll already have your tickets and be feeling delightfully smug about it.

Tickets are selling fast so be quick, available from the link below…

http://www.thelowry.com/event/dont-wake-the-damp1

 

Pride and Prejudice

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First published back in 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice marks the return of Regent’s Park Theatre to The Lowry for a third time following their hugely popular visiting productions of To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies.

Austen’s classic comedy tells the much-loved story of the Bennett family and their five unmarried daughters. Mr and Mrs Bennett soon see an opportunity to rise through the ranks of society when the wealthy and devastatingly handsome Mr. Bingley and his friend, fellow eligible bachelor, (and even more wealthy) Mr. Darcy arrive in the area. The Bennet’s eldest daughter Jane soon catches the eye of Mr Bingley while the brooding Mr Darcy clashes with the Bennet’s feisty second daughter, Elizabeth, despite this, their paths are destined to repeatedly meet.

Adapted for the stage by Simon Reade and Directed by Deborah Bruce, the creative team have worked their magic on this production, delivering a bright and joyful reworking of Austen’s wonderful comedy. Set Designer Max Jones has created a remarkably effective revolving structure which works wonderfully well and allows the cast to glide with ease from the Bennett’s parlour at Longbourn to the grandeur of the ballroom at Netherfield Park.

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Both opening and closing this production is the delightfully dramatic Mrs Bennett announcing “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Played by Felicity Montagu, this role couldn’t have been better cast; she is everything you’d wish for in a ‘Mrs Bennett’, brash, attention-seeking, uncouth and ridiculously excitable. Her shameless attempts to get her daughters married off are hilarious; Montagu was made for this role and carries it off to perfection. In contrast to Mrs Bennett is the reserved, thoughtful and long suffering Mr Bennett, played wonderfully by Matthew Kelly, he is the calm to Mrs Bennett’s storm, the pairing of the two actors is a delight to watch.

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The five actresses playing the Bennett girls each offer something different and ensure that each sister has their own strong identity and characterisation, amazingly several of the girls are making their professional debuts. Tafline Steen who takes on the tough role of Elizabeth does so with ease, she is sublime. Feisty and passionate, and just as headstrong and determined as Austen wrote her. Steen’s performance is outstanding, an actress no doubt headed for big things, she is truly exceptional.

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Her clashes with Mr Darcy, played by the broodingly handsome Benjamin Dilloway are realistic and believable; the change in her emotions is moving to watch. Mr Darcy is another hard role to deliver, a fine balance to get right, by Act II we see Dilloway convey the warmer side of Darcy that Austen’s reader adore and yearn for and the side ultimately we knew was there all along . Special mention must go to Steven Meo with his riotous interpretation of Mr Collins the clergyman, irritating, try hard and totally nauseating, the last person you’d ever want around, he is hilarious, utterly brilliant to watch. Also praise for Leigh Quinn who takes on two roles, Mary Bennett and Annabel De Bough, although smaller roles she absolutely shines in each.

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Pride and Prejudice is a classy production, accessible and fresh. An complete joy for Austen’s fans, it’s also is the perfect introduction to those dipping their toe for the first time. Delightfully entertaining with laugh out loud moments and a superb cast, an absolute must see!

On at The Lowry until Saturday 15th October

http://www.thelowry.com/event/pride-and-prejudice

Be My Baby

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Brooke Vincent makes her professional stage debut in Be My Baby, currently touring the UK with stops in Chesterfield and Bury St Edmund. The Coronation Street star is on home soil this week as the production sets up base at Salford’s Lowry Theatre, where it runs until 8th October.

Brooke has chosen well for her first major dabble into theatre, taking on one of the lead roles in Amanda Whittington’s play about teen pregnancy in the 60s. The period tale is a bitter sweet story of four young girls who form a bond after they are sent away in ‘shame’ to a convent for unmarried mums. Each from different backgrounds they hide away from society’s disapproving eyes until they give birth and return home, without their babies. As the play unfolds the audience laugh and cry along with Mary (Jess Cummings), Queenie (Brooke Vincent), Norma (Josie Cersie) and Dolores (Eva McKenna), as they share their stories with each other, keeping up their spirits and confessing sometimes shocking secrets.

The four actresses are all superb; Jess puts in a credible performance as well-educated Mary who wants to break out from the convent and survive as a single mum, Brooke oozes sass as ‘leader of the pack’ Queenie showing the girls the ropes and delivering some acidic one liners, Josie gives a heart-breaking performance as fragile Norma struggling to cope at giving her child away and Eva displays some great comic timing as she plays ditzy Dolores.

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Hi-Di-Hi star Ruth Madoc has also found a well suited role as the stoic ‘Matron’ of the convent. The 80s sitcom star manages to make the audience see the two sides of her character as she wrestles between her duty to make the girls do ‘the right thing’ and her sympathy towards the pain they are going through.

With scenes interlaced with well-known songs from the female icons of the sixties, such as The Ronettes and Dusty Springfield, Be My Baby has a nostalgic feel about it and at times you could imagine it being turned into a TV series, in the vein of Heartbeat or Call the Midwife. From the young teens in the audience to those who had grown up in the 60s the play manages to engage on all levels as they connect with the action onstage. There’s some great moments to watch out for as the pregnant young girls try to forget their predicament by singing along to Dusty tracks in the laundry room and some shocking revelations in act two.

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Not often does a play come around written for an all-female cast ( Charlotte Keatley’s My Mother Said I Should being one of them, along with Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls) so Be My Baby is a refreshing treat. It is also a harsh reminder of what the stigma was like to be an unmarried mum to be in the sixties and the unthinkable agony that many women went through went they were forced to give their babies up for adoption.

4-8th October The Lowry, Salford Quays, www.thelowry.com/drama

GENESIS premieres at The Lowry this November

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Image: Morag Siller and Sally Dynevor [Steve Searle/WENN.com]

The world premiere of Genesis will open at The Lowry, Salford, on Friday 11 – Sat 12 November 2016.

Genesis has been created by Forward Theatre Project and is the result of a two-year research partnership with the UK’s only charity dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer, South Manchester’s Prevent Breast Cancer.

The story of Genesis began when Charlotte Bennett, Artistic Director at Forward Theatre Project, met one of Prevent Breast Cancer’s patrons, actress Morag Siller in 2013. Morag shared her story of her battle against the terminal breast cancer and how this prompted her to get involved with Prevent Breast Cancer. In 2015, Charlotte began working with Morag to create a piece of theatre that would help raise awareness of breast cancer prevention. Sadly Morag passed away this April,and now Genesis has become part of of Morag’s legacy in supporting the work of the charity, and the play will be performed in her memory.
Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor was close friends with Morag and a co-patron of Prevent Breast Cancer. A breast cancer survivor herself, Sally says:“In order to build a breast cancer-free future, prediction and prevention are imperative. This play is about telling the human side of science. It addresses the incredibly difficult emotional journey we embark on when we are told we can potentially avoid rather than survive cancer by being told our predicted risk.”

Sally continues:“Breast cancer prevention is something that’s extremely close to mine and my family’s hearts, which is why we’re backing this incredible project to create awareness through the art of theatre.”

In developing the play Frazer Flintham, Genesis playwright, and Charlotte Bennett interviewed over 40 people – from geneticists, scientists and surgeons to patients, families and fundraisers connected with Prevent Breast Cancer, to explore the complex human impacts of predicting illness through science.

The all-female cast, featuring Helen Bradbury (who played Elizabeth I in BBC2’s Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary in February this year), Joanna Nicks and Charlotte Melia, will be rehearsing in Manchester throughout October, which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Judi Hibbert of Prevent Breast Cancer said: “1 in 9 women and 1 in 1000 men will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. We are delighted to be working with Forward Theatre Project and tremendously excited that they will be able to help portray the breast cancer situation in a way that even more people across the UK will understand the situation and help support it.”

Alongside the production, Forward Theatre Project will deliver a series of workshops and events including:

  • Free educational drama workshops with young women (aged 16+) from schools about body confidence and teaching breast checks.
  • ’Feel Good’ workshops for breast cancer patients including a pamper day of makeovers and professional portrait photographs.
  • A live stream of the show online for audiences to access across the world
  • A photography exhibition of 5 topless images of patients who have had mastectomies which celebrate survival, to be shown at The Lowry during the opening run of Genesis.
  • A full post-show panel discussion at The Lowry on Friday 11 November with collaborating scientists and artists.
Following its premiere at The Lowry, Genesis will then tour to Soho Theatre (London); Beggar’s Theatre (Cumbria); The Continental (Preston) and CAST (Doncaster).

Listings information
Genesis (UK Premiere)
11 & 12 November (8pm) | 12 November (2.30pm)
Tickets: £12 (£10 concessions)
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ
Box office: 0843 208 6000
www.thelowry.com/event/genesis

First Look: Things I Know To Be True

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Imogen Stubbs copyright: Manuel Harlan

Things I Know To Be True is an exciting international co-production between Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company of South Australia.

Opening Night has a sneaky peek at a few of the production photos ahead of its opening night tomorrow, Friday 16th September, at the Lyric Hammersmith and prior to its tour visiting Oxford, Warwick, Liverpool, Salford and Chichester.

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Frantic Assembly Cast copyright: Manuel Harlan

A brand new commission by leading Australian writer Andrew Bovell, Things I Know To Be True is co-directed by Frantic Assembly’s Tony and Olivier Award nominated artistic director Scott Graham and State Theatre Company’s artistic director Geordie Brookman. Following its world premiere at Adelaide Festival Centre in May 2016, it has been recreated for the UK, with a UK cast, as part of State Theatre Company’s first ever international co-production.

Featuring Frantic Assembly’s celebrated physicality, the production stars Matthew Barker (Mark Price), Natalie Casey (Pip Price), Richard Mylan (Ben Price), Kirsty Oswald (Rosie Price), Ewan Stewart (Bob Price) and Imogen Stubbs (Fran Price).

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Ewan Stewart and Natalie Casey copyright: Manuel Harlan

A complex and intense study of the mechanics of a family that is both poetic and brutally frank, Things I Know To Be True tells the story of a family and marriage through the eyes of four grown siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents’ love and expectations.

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Kirsty Oswald copyright: Manuel Harlan

Parents Bob and Fran have worked their fingers to the bone and with their four children grown and ready to fly the nest it might be time to relax and smell the roses. But the changing seasons bring home some shattering truths.

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Ewan Stewart copyright: Manuel Harlan

 

North West dates:

 

2 – 5 November, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse (Playhouse Theatre)
www.everymanplayhouse.com

8 – 12 November, The Lowry (Quays Theatre)
www.thelowry.com