Tag Archives: Richard Bean

Writer: Richard Bean Director: Adam Lacey Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Francis is easily confused. He used to play washboard in a skiffle band but then the Beatles happened and he was sacked. Hungry and desperate for food, he met Roscoe, a dodgy-looking bloke, who offered him a week’s work as his minder. Which is odd as Roscoe was murdered by the ...

Writer: Richard Bean Director: Anna Ledwich Reviewer: Stephen Bates Most of us know about the death toll from the First World War and the Spanish ‘Flu outbreak that followed it, but Richard Bean’s bitter-sweet romantic comedy, first seen at Hampstead Theatre in 2016, considers what one of the consequences may have been – an urgent need to re-populate the nation, ...

Writer: Richard Bean Director: Phillip Breen Reviewer:  James Garrington One thing you can pretty much guarantee with a Richard Bean script – you won’t be bored. Set at the beginning of the English Civil War, The Hypocrite is based on a true story. Hull has the largest military arsenal outside London – with signs of civil war looming, whoever takes ...

Book: Richard Bean Music: David Arnold Lyrics: David Thomas Director: Douglas Rintoul Musical Director: Ben Goddard Reviewer: Glen Pearce As the opening production of his first season as Artistic Director of the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, Douglas Rintoul takes the audacious step of staging the first regional production of Made In Dagenham. It’s a brave choice, not only did the show ...

Writer: Richard Bean Composer: David Arnold Lyricist: Richard Thomas Director: Douglas Rintoul Musical Director: Ben Goddard Reviewer: Michael Gray   Vintage Fords flock to Hornchurch for the homecoming opening of this first major revival of the 2014 musical Made In Dagenham. It’s based on the film of a few years earlier, which embroiders the story of the Dagenham machinists’ 1968 ...

There’s a sense of homecoming at The Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, as the stage musical Made In Dagenham prepares to open at the Essex venue. Based on real life events at Ford’s Dagenham plant, just a short distance away from the theatre, this brand new production proves to be a fitting opening to Douglas Rintoul’s tenure as Artistic Director of The ...

Writer: Richard Bean Director: Eleanor Rhode Reviewer: James Garrington Playwright Richard Bean is probably best known for his more recent work, most notably One Man, Two Guv’nors as well as Great Britain and the book for the musical version of Made in Dagenham – work which is high slapstick humour, sharp satire, or well-observed with fully-developed characters. Much earlier in ...

Writer: Richard Bean Director:Eleanor Rhode Reviewer: Steve Turner   Before going to university, writer Richard Bean spent a year in a bakery working on the production lines among men who had lost work owing to the decline of the fishing industry. This play, set in the canteen of a bread-making plant, demonstrates the effect this experience had on Bean even ...