Tag Archives: Michael Taylor

Writer: Stephen Jeffreys Director: Michael Fentiman Reviewer: Stephen Bates We hear a great deal today about the difficulties that young people face in getting a foothold on the property ladder, which makes it easy to forget that, only 30 years ago, during the era of the Margaret Thatcher Government, home ownership was almost mandatory and the property ladder could often ...

Book: Douglas Day Stewart & Sharleen Cooper Cohen Director: Nikolai Foster Choreographer: Kate Prince Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys Another day, yet another iconic 80s movie is adapted as a stage musical. This adaptation of An Officer and a Gentleman by Douglas Day Stewart (with Sharleen Cooper Cohen) of his own original 1982 screenplay, is a cheesy, overblown but ultimately likeable production ...

Book: Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen Director: Nikolai Foster Reviewer: Victoria Bawtree This could be a show that splits its audience: those that know and love the film will likely be won over, but for those who don’t, the near-constant stream of 80s hits may or may not be enough to keep all onside. Douglas Day Stewart’s original ...

Book: Douglas Day Stewart Director: Nikolai Foster Reviewer: Dominic Corr With more cheese than a 70s fondue party, An Officer and a Gentleman is a jukebox-style music, replete with ‘bad boy’ attitudes and lovers tiffs. First attempted in 2012, thirty years after the film’s release it now has a revived life touring the UK. Would it really be any kind ...

Writer: Terence Rattigan Director: Rachel Kavanaugh Reviewer: Stephen Bates Like British theatre’s equivalent of a hardy perennial, Terence Rattigan’s 1946 play The Winslow Boy is never long away from our stages. This sturdy touring revival shows again why the story of a 13-year-old boy who is accused falsely of stealing a five shilling postal order continues to intrigue us. It ...

Writer: Terence Rattigan Director: Rachel Kavanaugh Reviewer: Simon Topping A sumptuous Edwardian living room decked out with rich blue walls and plush contrasting furniture, beautifully designed by Michael Taylor, draws the Brighton audience into the theatre. The lights go down and a boy in naval uniform takes the spotlight.  This is the start of Birmingham repertory theatre’s excellent adaption of Terence ...

Writer: Joe Orton Director: Nikolai Foster Reviewer: Claire Hayes 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Joe Orton’s death, and this brand-new version of What the Butler Saw, a joint production between Theatre Royal Bath and Leicester Curve, commemorates his final full-length play. But as a dark farce, this work is now showing its age; shocking at the time for its anti-establishment ...

Writer: Ronald Harwood Director: Sean Foley Reviewer: Bill Avenell There is always a slightly guilty pleasure felt in laughing at a play which is based on a harrowing subject, but as well as being a first-rate production of a well-written play, The Dresser at Chichester is extremely amusing, partly because of Ronald Harwood’s tight script and partly because the players, ...