Author: The Reviews Hub - East Anglia & South East

A rambling choose-your-own-musical caper that rivals national improv groups. It’s Friday night, and we’re in Iceland the supermarket. Ralph the virgin/tech guy has a budding flirtation with the store manager, who has a delightfully Icelandic surname this reviewer can neither remember, nor pronounce. There’s a frozen prawn platter on standby, just in case you’re feeling a little peckish. No, this isn’t a dodgy 1970s film in the making. We’re watching Do the Thing, the Brighton-based musical improvised comedy trio. The audience chose this musical, and they’re absolutely loving it. Their involvement is vital to the storyline, with three designated audience…

Written by Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen Director: Isobel McArthur There are plenty of punchlines in the riotous Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of), which breathes new life into the Jane Austen classic. Isobel McArthur’s production throws us sideways, instead showing us a different angle of the classic novel, this time from the perspective of the house servants, always there but forever ignored, and who act out the events of the novel in their own, comedically chaotic, way. From the moment you arrive in the theatre, you are brought into the housemaids’ world as they clean and sweep around you as…

We gather on a Thursday evening at 9pm. A fairly sizeable crowd, given the timeslot. We’re here to see the debut solo hour, Frenzy, from reformed raver, Kit Loyd, who has just hit the milestone of eighteen months sober. With the audience as his rave buddies, Loyd peppers his personal story into a one-man-sketch-show, interspersed with incredibly funny impressions. Does the world need another one-man-sketch-show? From Loyd, it’s an absolute yes. Purveyor of a multitude of funny faces, Loyd brings life and character to any role he takes on. From the iceberg in Titanic, to a painfully accurate impersonation of…

Writer: Ciaran Chillingworth and Kit Finnie Director: Joz Norris We join The Mayor and His Daughter in their delight at the discovery of Russell Howard’s Good News (Series 2), DVD edition, in a local ditch. As their villagers, we’re recruited to observe their rhapsody on laughter and village life, A Genuine Appreciation of Comedy. A vintage projector beams their idol onto the screen in front of us. This, a knowing nod to the notion of what a traditional comedy show is ‘supposed’ to look like in this cult-esque alternative landscape. A Genuine Appreciation of Comedy feels somewhat like a show…

Voyages into the absurd from a pair of alternative comedy masters. Some artists meet you halfway, with a trail of reassuring breadcrumbs luring you to darker forests. Sketch duo The Mayor And His Daughter, on the other hand, are more likely to ward you off with empty crisp packets and beer cans. If you ever make it to their metaphorical comedy clearing, curiosity getting the better of you, rest assured it’ll be absolutely on their terms. And you might not get out alive. We arrive at the show to the sound of an old May Day folk tune, as befits…

Writer/Director: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman Ghost Stories has been running in various adaptations since 2010 and part of its success is down to the secrecy of the plot which the audience is asked to maintain. Without giving too much away then, the play opens with Dan Tetsell, as Professor Goodman, appearing on stage presenting a lecture on the paranormal and inviting the audience to examine their own thoughts on ghosts and unexplained events, the action then unfolds from here. With most scenes presented as two handers at most, the cast are under serious scrutiny, fortunately they all deliver, with…

Adaptor for stage: Charles K. Freeman Director: Nikolai Foster Co-Director/Choreographer: Nick Winston Calamity Jane, inspired by the 1953 Doris Day film, first premiered as a stage musical in 1961 and at the time developed a devoted following of both mediums. The revival follows Calamity (Carrie Hope Fletcher) through a tangled romantic plot in the town of Dead Wood, staying true to the source material and along with a few songs that never made it to screen. The question, however, is whether it lives up to the memories, and whether it can charm a new audience. The story follows Calamity (Carrie…

Music and Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman Stage Adaptation: Jeremy Sams Director: Thom Southerland  The iconic car shines as it takes flight in this whimsical musical adaptation of the 1968 classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Largely following the original film’s plot, the production sees Caractacus Potts (Ore Oduba), Truly Scrumptious (Ellie Nunn) and Potts’ children Jeremy and Jemima attempt to escape the clutches of the vicious Vulgarians desperate to steal the magical car. It is a production which thrives on its nostalgia but it misses the mark in attempting to combine newer songs with those more familiar. …