Still one place available on tomorrow’s ‘An Introduction To Creative Producing’ online workshop. See http://www.TheatreProducerTraining.com.
Tomorrow!
Review: ‘The Lady and the Tiger’ – Theatre at the Tabard.
‘The Lady and the Tiger’ by Jeremy Paul and Michael Richmond. Music by Nola York.
Theatre At The Tabard, Bath Road, London W4.
🍷🍷🍷 – 3 out of 5 glasses of Tiger Juice !
Image: Charles Flint.
‘The Lady and the Tiger’ is a very pleasant, ‘quirky’ show, with some great songs and a cleverly crafted book. But given that the piece is described as ‘a musical, absurdist comedy’ and screams out for a surreal, fantastic (as in the stuff of fantasy and whimsy) delivery and stylised characters and performances, this rendition was all a bit too tame and naturalistic.
I should state from the outset that the show had problems in production with one of the four actors having to be replaced with less than a week before the first night. So it was surprising to see that Wayne Smith, stepping in as The King, with only a few days rehearsal, showed a genuine grasp of the piece and delivered a brave and specific characterisation. He clearly made his performing decisions and ‘went for it’.
Georgie Rogers as The Princess, has an excellent singing voice, and delivered all of her numbers well. However, she seemed unsure of which of her several characters in which to perform them. We had a ‘spoilt brat/Blackadder-Queenie’type, a girl power/new woman fighting for recognition in a man’s world type, a juvenile female lead type and a sexually repressed, femme fatale….. among others.
Bob Karper as The Factotum, comes with an impressive comedy history. I felt that he had some excellent ideas, but seemed to lack confidence in them. That said, his multi rolling/ quick change set pieces were slick, precise and very funny, so he undoubtedly has the talent.
Juan Lobo as The Hero, really didn’t seem to be completely with it. There was quite a lot of striking Hero type poses and soulful looks to the ether, but not in a comedic, stereotypical/characature kind of way.
Given all of the above, I can only conclude that the Director Keith Strachan, who has a long history with this piece, must have been confused by his many memories of other performers and performances and what we were witness to, was a rather confusing mishmash of ideas and thoughts which left me a little disappointed with the whole affair, and the cast rather out on a limb. The individual performers are clearly actors and singers of some note though.
On a final positive note, the Lighting design of Sandra Szaron was slick and cleverly done and in spite of its failings, the audience seemed to have a great night.
Richard Woolnough.
Tickets and Info – https://tabard.org.uk/whats-on/the-lady-or-the-tiger/
Celebrating Creative Women.
Nick Hennegan plays music and poetry celebrating International Women’s Day.
A theatrical week!
The end of a very theatrical week! Saturday night, at the London Palladium..!
West End again..?
ANOTHER West End Press night! The brilliantly acted two-hander ‘Blue’ at the Seven Dials Playhouse in Covent Garden. Written and performed by June Carryl from the USA, 🇺🇸 see our interview on www.BohemianBritain.com
Another Opening, Another Show…!
Another Theatrical Opening Night in London! This time the brilliantly bonkers new musical ‘The Lady Or The Tiger’ at Theatre at The Tabard, #chiswick Full review to follow on http://www.BohemianBritain.com
Celebrate World Book Day!
Happy World Book Day! Come and celebrate with us in #Soho, #London this Saturday at 5pm. Cheers! ✍️📚🍺www.LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com
They stole my voice!
My voice was stolen at the end of a showbizz week! Actually, I donated it to help @ResonanceFM You can too!
Hungry for a new story at the Royal Court Theatre?
Another mad, media week continued this Monday morning, with the launch of the new season at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square., London.
There’s a new artistic director too, although you can read more about him in the mainstream press. David Byrne. His inaugural season will include actors Emma D’Arcy, Ben Whishaw and John Lithgow in shows directed by Katie Mitchell and Nicholas Hytner.
The season includes nine productions from writers who are making Royal Court debuts, with Byrne promising a “new generation of bold voices with big, messy stories to tell”.
It comes as Byrne also reveals a new ticketing structure for the venue, with half of all seats in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs available from £22.50 or less.
You had to apply to attend this launch/lunch, which I did as I’m thinking of concentrating more on my writing. And although I still feel the Royal Court is a bit ‘posh’ for working class writers like me, a main delight was bumping into half the cast of my Edinburgh hit shows, P.A.L.S and Romeo and Juliet FC.
It was a coincidence, but a lovely one. Actors Amy and Phil are great performers and if the Court can develop their writing too it will really be proving it’s worth.
The lunch was lovely, by the way. I still feel at home in the Royal Court bar. It’s a good place to work. To write this, for example! Still posh and although it’s not a ‘Spoons, the prices are fairly accessible too..!
Here’s to the new season.
‘Blue’, the hard-hitting, award-winning Edinburgh hit comes to London.
Image: Michael Matthews.
Nick Hennegan talks to writer and performer June Carryl about ‘Blue’ her award-winning star vehicle, premiering in London and dealing with race, and the Police. They talk about society, growing up… and her writing practice and background.
