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December 31, 2019

BREVIEW: Peter Pan @ Birmingham REP – running until 19.01.20

Words by Vix & Ruby-Lou / Pics by Johan Persson

The opening scene of Birmingahm REP’s new production of Peter Pan, ‘reimagined’ by Liam Steel and Georgia Christou, is set outside a dull and depressingly grey concrete apartment block, where adults and youths collide and tensions run high.

Wendy (Cora Tsang) plays an angsty teenager in foster care, with major trust and abandonment issues, who ‘mothers’ her foster brothers and has clearly lost all concept of her own carefree youthfulness.

Nia Gwynne plays Jess, the children’s patient foster mother – and later a fabulously female Hook, scared of nothing; nothing but the crocodile’s ticking clock.

We are soon transported to a fantastical urban underworld; imagine Peter Pan being given the Mad Max treatment, but with way more vibrant, clashing colour. The crew kick it with a rap-rock track and we can feel their energy. Ruby-Lou turns to me wide-eyed, “Mummy! This is brilliant!” I agree. The whole ‘Post-Apocalyptic Day-glo Steampunk’ vibe is a visual delight.

Lawrence Walker is an amiable Peter Pan, staying true to the iconic character, whilst Tinkerbell (Mirabelle Gremaud) is a feisty, foul-mouthed fairy. Let me clarify, when I say ‘foul-mouthed’, the worse it gets is her calling anyone and everyone a “silly ass”. Ruby-Lou is quite shocked (I’m pleased and proud to say) exclaiming: “Tinkerbell is my favourite, but why does she keep saying that?!”

Thankfully, my 9 year old daughter totally understands when I explain Tink is angry, unhappy, and doesn’t have anyone to tell her what’s right and wrong etc – one of the intended morals of the play. Plus, Tink flies about wearing a spacetastic silver tinsel and glitter outfit which is great fun to watch (I’m sure I wore something very similar with Fuzzbox on John Peel stage at Glastonbury back in ’86!).

Needless to say, REP’s new production of Peter Pan is right up our street – following the parallel universes and the deeper parallel meanings, and for me relating to my own experience running Community projects with LAC (Looked After Children) and Foster Families.

Moreover, as a proud Brummie born and bred, I am delighted to hear local accents (far more authentic than in Peaky Blinders, I might add) in a new take on a literary classic that has been adapted ‘specifically for Birmingham audiences.’ Thank you for the positive promo Birmingham REP.

I ask Ruby-Lou her thoughts and she exclaims that this is “the best show ever! The actors, the scenery changes, the songs, the costumes…!” We unanimously give Peter Pan a big fat 10 out of 10 – this imaginative reimagining by Liam Steel and Georgia Christou is everything it promises to be, and then some.

On stage at the Birmingham REP well into the New Year, there is still a chance for many more people to catch this wonderfully creative and contemporary take on a classic festive fave. Peter Pan runs until 19^th Jan, so book your tickets now and let a little magic in. The clock inside that pesky croc is not the only one ticking down…

Vix & Ruby-Lou’s Live Vlog Review – Peter Pan @ Birmingham REP

A special season’s greeting from Vix & Ruby-Lou

Peter Pan runs at the Birmingham REP until 19^th January 2020 – adapted by Liam Steel and Georgia Christou. For direct show information, including a full production schedule and links to online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/peter-pan

For more on the Birmingham REP, including venue details and further listings, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues surrounding sexual violence – or if you want to report an act of sexual aggression, abuse or assault – click here for information via the ‘Help & Support’ page on the NOT NORMAL NOT OK website.

December 25, 2019

BREVIEW: Grandpa’s Great Escape Live @ Arena Birmingham (last show on 26.12.19)

Words by Vix & Ruby-Lou / Pics courtesy of Arena Birmingham

It was my daughter, Ruby-Lou, who spotted this event, exclaiming: “I am a huge David Walliams fan – I read all his books and I’ve seen all of his films; I need to see Grandpa’s Great Escape Live!”

Although this is the only Walliams flick I haven’t seen, I have heard of his bestselling book (and favourite, apparently). Plus, if it’s from Walliams you can trust the content will be humorous, thought-provoking, and suitable for child and parent alike. So, we’re on our way to Arena Birmingham… full of Frankfurt Christmas Market food and good cheer.

Getting tickets to the very first performance of Grandpa’s Great Escape Live (which will run for three days at Arena Birmingham before heading out across the country) we sit down in our rickety seats amidst an almost sold out venue – packed with excited children, accompanying parents and grandparents.

There is a ‘catwalk’ style walkway which protrudes from the stage and into the audience. Then, out of the blue, Walliams himself walks out across the stage, down the catwalk and into the centre of the arena. This is a real surprise and a lovely personal touch, as he promises us that we are “in for a treat” and indeed we were.

Nigel Planer stars as the beloved Grandpa Joe and WWII flying ace, who is struggling with dementia. Jack, his grandson and only true ally, keeps him on path by using military metaphors and commands – played superbly by Tom Cawte, who hops around the stage like a young effervescent Gordon Ramsey (but without the potty mouth of course).

Jack’s traffic cone obsessed father isn’t much help. His teenage sister is too preoccupied with her boyfriend and Duran Duran, whilst his aerobics instructor mother just wants to send Grandpa Joe to Twilight Towers (cue lightning crack and loud thunder sfx) the dreaded retirement home where residents are doped up on sleeping tablets as the evil owner, Miss Dandy, swindles them out of their money. And if you haven’t already cottoned on this story is set in the 1980s, so contains numerous references that only ‘we of a certain age’ would understand. Having spent my teenage years as a popstar in the mid-80s, this is an added bonus for me (however, they could have used Fuzzbox’s ‘International Rescue’ for one of the rescue scenes).

All that’s left is for Jack and Grandpa Joe to plan the titular ‘great escape’ – saving all the old folks from Twilight Towers, Grandpa flies away in a life sized Spitfire just as he did in WWII. It’s a poignant reminder to value and respect our elderly family and friends, the moral of this story, with a particularly sombre moment at Grandpa Joe’s eventual funeral.

I definitely want to watch the film of Grandpa’s Great Escape now, and if you get a chance to see the live production both Ruby-Lou and myself would recommend it – my daughter giving it a whole-hearted 10/10 because “it was soooo good!”, whilst I award a slightly more reserved 7/10 due to the description of a ‘spectacular show’ and ‘wondrous stage design’ feeling a little exaggerated.

And whilst it may be down to opening show jitters, a few of the jokes fell a bit flat and more encouragement for audience participation would have gone down well – it wasn’t always clear when we should or shouldn’t join in. But the life-size props of a Spitfire airplane and real tank were exciting to see, and overall Grandpa’s Great Escape Live is a very enjoyable afternoon.

Vix & Ruby Lou’s Live Vlog Review – Grandpa’s Great Escape Live @ Arena Birmingham

Grandpa’s Great Escape Live presents its final show at Arena Birmingham on 26^th December, before touring across the UK– as presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.arenabham.co.uk/whats-on/grandpas-great-escape

For more on Grandpa’s Great Escape Live, including full tour details and online ticket sales, visit www.grandpasgreatescapelive.co.uk

For more on Arena Birmingham, including further event listings, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

December 22, 2019

BPREVIEW: Grandpa’s Great Escape Live @ Arena Birmingham 23-6.12.19

Words by Ed King / Pics courtesy of Arena Birmingham

Running from 23^rd to 26^th December (withstanding Christmas Day), Grandpa’s Great Escape Live gets it’s first on stage outing at Arena Birmingham this Christmas.

Tickets are on sale from £29.50 to £52.25, depending on seating position with Arena Birmingham, with two performances daily – doors opening at 12noon (show at 1pm) and 3pm (show starts at 4pm). There is a further evening performance at 7pm on 23^rd December. For direct information, including venue details and online bookings, visit www.arenabham.co.uk/whats-on/grandpas-great-escape

After finishing at Arena Birmingham, Grandpa’s Great Escape Live will be touring the UK until 4^th January 2020 – with dates in London, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Liverpool. For more on Grandpa’s Great Escape Live, including full tour details and online ticket sales, visit www.grandpasgreatescapelive.co.uk

Since being released in 2015, David Walliams’ children’s story Grandpa’s Great Escape has gone on to sell over 2million copies worldwide. Now, in its live production adaptation, the story of Jack and his titular Grandpa (and escape) come to life on stage – opening at Arena Birmingham this Christmas.

The story is simple: Grandpa is getting older and his behaviour becomes increasingly odd and erratic, to the point where one night he must be coaxed down from the local church roof. Grandpa is suffering with dementia and flits between the present day and his time flying Spitfires in World War II.

Eventually, his family reach their wits’ end and make the decision to send Grandpa off to the appropriately titled old people’s home, Twilight Towers. Alone and confused, Grandpa’s world is ebbing away, both the one in his head and the one at his fingertips. But Jack and Grandpa can still connect and armed with imagination (and the ability to fly a plane) they embark on a final ‘great escape’ – breaking free from Twilight Towers and the self-serving staff at the horrible nursing home.

Since turning his hand to children’s fiction in 2013, David Walliams has released 13 novels – alongside a selection of picture books and short stories. But compared more than once to another great children’s writer, who again could balance the marvellous and macabre, Walliams’ fairy-tales are more than a childish play in the park.

His first book, The Boy in the Dress, addresses gender identity (in both young people and adults) – whilst his second and third books, Mr Stink and Billionaire Boy respectively, tackle the adage that money can’t buy you love. Well, not real love anyway. Grandpa’s Great Escape, Walliams’ eighth children’s book, tackles the issues surrounding dementia and our perceived care for the elderly.

But with fun firmly at their hearts, Walliams’ stories have been embraced by families the world over – with near constant adaptations onto stage and/or screen since his debut back in 2008. Grandpa’s Great Escape was first taken to the small screen – aired on BBC One on New Year’s Day 2018, with Tom Courtney as Grandpa, Kit Connor as Jack, and Jennifer Saunders as Miss Dandy.

This Christmas, Arena Birmingham will welcome the first stage production of Grandpa’s Great Escape Live – before it’s chocks away across the country, with subsequent dates in London, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Liverpool.

Nigel Planner will be starring as Grandpa, with Tom Cawte as Jack, and Siobhan Redmond as both Miss Dandy/Reverend Fine.

David Walliams talks about Grandpa’s Great Escape Live

Grandpa’s Great Escape Live comes to Arena Birmingham this Christmas, with shows on 23^rd, 24^th and 26^th December – as presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments. For direct show information, including venue details and online ticket sales, visit www.arenabham.co.uk/whats-on/grandpas-great-escape

For more on Grandpa’s Great Escape Live, including full tour details and online ticket sales, visit www.grandpasgreatescapelive.co.uk

For more on Arena Birmingham, including further event listings, visit www.arenabham.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

December 20, 2019

BPREVIEW: Peter Pan @ Birmingham REP – running until 19.01.20

Words by Ed King / Pics by Johan Persson

Running throughout Christmas and up to 19^th January 2020, a new production of Peter Pan comes to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre – offering a “brand new re-imagined version” of the J.M Barrie classic, one that has been adapted “specifically for Birmingham audiences.”

A production that is accessible for both children (aged 7 plus) and adults, and those that sit resolute between the two, tickets for Peter Pan range from £15 – £39.50 – depending on date/time of the show and seating position within the theatre.

For more direct information, including the full production schedule and links to online ticket sales, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/peter-pan

**Peter Pan will be presenting a relaxed matinee performance on Sunday 5^th January 2020, at 2:15pm – with a special evening show interpreted by British sign language on Tuesday 7^th January 2020, at 7:15pm. Click here for more details.**

There is the old adage, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. And Peter Pan is a classic. But Liam Steel and Georgia Christou are unperturbed, taking the J.M. Barrie fairy tale from the tight lipped turn of the century and dragging it into modernity – replacing London’s ‘seen and not heard’ cast of children with the yute and yoofs of millennial Birmingham. The characters have been shaken up, gender bent, and the coy copy on the show’s press release promises ‘surprise twists in the casting.’ That and a man eating crocodile, so I guess some things are still status quo in Neverland.

But there are some pretty strong credentials at the helm of ‘Peter Pan in Birmingham’ (say it out loud), with Georgia Christou’s debut play, Yous Two, being shortlisted for a Verity Bargate Award in 2015 – paving the way for a solid portfolio on both stage and screen.

Her co-adapter and Peter Pan director, Liam Steel, also has a pretty gleaming CV across musical theatre and film – riding the success from his adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, which ran with aplomb at the Birmingham REP this time last year. Well, The Guardian called it a ‘thrilling Oz of racial diversity, gender reversal and voguing androgyny… more current – and vibrant – than the MGM musical.’ Sorry Judy.

“All the beloved characters will be there,” explains Liam Steel – talking about his and Christou’s adaptation, “but we have transposed it from London 1904 to Birmingham 2019 and made the characters much more relatable and relevant for a modern day audience. For children encountering the story for the first time, I want them to feel this was how the characters were originally written, and for those who know the story well, then I want them to experience it with the joy of re-discovery, as though they are hearing it for the very first time all over again.

With spectacular flying, incredible sets on a huge scale, ingenious puppetry, out of this world costumes and of course a giant man eating crocodile, audiences can expect to see one of the most visually spectacular Christmas shows ever to grace The REP’s stage.”

Danke schön, Herr Direktor. But there’s another old adage: ‘the first bite is with the eye’. So, here’s a sneaky peak of Steel and Christou’s Peter Pan (…in Birmingham) – courtesy of Costume Designer, Laura Jane Stanfield.

For more on the Birmingham REP, including venue details and further listings, visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To learn more about the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here. To sign up and join the NOT NORMAL NOT OK campaign, click here.

March 23, 2018March 23, 2018

BREVIEW: Evita @ Birmingham Hippodrome until 24.03.18

Words by Eleanor Sutcliffe / Production shots by Pamela Raith

I adore Birmingham Hippodrome. Granted, I’m not the most well-versed theatre critic, however there is something rather decadent about settling yourselves into the plush red seats ready to absorb an hour or three of theatrical roguery.

Hurling ourselves into the world of 1940s Argentinean politics, it is the opening night for Evita – the long running musical written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, that focuses on the life and untimely death of Argentinean political and social icon Eva Perón.

Church pillars and weeping mourners set the scene as Eva Perón’s casket is brought onto the stage. It is during this opening sequence that we meet the three key performers for the evening. Che, played by Gian Marco Schiaretti, is our narrator; sporting a black flat cap, he ponders the true motives behind Evita’s charity and her rise from poverty to political aristocracy. Next is her husband, Juan Perón, who is brought to life with military precision by Jeremy Secomb.

And finally, silhouetted against a portrait donning the church walls, is Evita herself. Madalena Alberto has had plenty of practice in this role since her critically acclaimed performance in the West End revival of Evita back in 2014, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. As the lead role, Alberto is simply captivating throughout the entire production – from the sprightly 15 year old who runs away with tango singer Agustín Magaldi to Buenos Aires, to the blonde, sophisticated flame of Juan Perón, her impeccable acting skills pay tribute to the late First Lady with class and demeanour I could only wish to have.

The first half shows Evita’s lust for power, as she slowly makes her way to the top of the social ladder in Buenos Aires. At a time where sexual promiscuity was considered sinful and wretched, watching Evita manipulate various lovers to obtain social power was truly entertaining, especially when coupled with the song ‘Goodnight and Thank You’.

This rise to stardom results in her colliding with Juan Perón at a charity concert, and after seducing him with the promise of becoming an asset to his career they soon become an item. The stage glides to and fro as balconies are pushed forwards and backwards for different scenes, from the staging of a military coup using musical chairs during ‘The Art of the Possible’ to the energetic choreography of ‘Eva, Beware of the City’, the cast make use of every inch of the Hippodrome stage with minimal props.

Following an interval (and a glass or two of wine) we returned to the reveal of Juan Perón’s successful election as Prime Minister, with Evita delivering a powerful speech as the First Lady bedecked in a glittering white ball gown. The second half passes in the blink of an eye, as we witness Evita embark on her renowned ‘Rainbow Tour’ of Europe without her husband, and her resulting ill health. Despite this, she seemingly perseveres with her saintly actions, setting up a charity and literally showering her supporters with money.

This is where Che truly comes into form – stripping back the glamour that Evita covers herself with, he reveals a woman spurned by political aristocracy who has carefully moulded the Argentinean people into supporters for her husband. Sombre and lonely, he narrates Evita’s life as she tirelessly works to prove herself as a saint not only to Juan Perón and her critics, but to the people of the world. The scenes surrounding her demise and following death are truly heart wrenching – the performances given by both Secomb and Alberto are harrowingly beautiful as Evita laments for the life she could have lived, had she not pursued fame and glory.

True, the production is somewhat lacking in what my mother would describe as ‘fancy stuff’. But that is the beauty of a theatrical piece such as Evita – it simply is not needed. Props and lights could never replace what this cast deliver, which is a highly emotionally performance guaranteed to resonate, to some extent at least, with anyone who is lucky enough to see it.

Evita runs at the Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 24^th March. For direct show information, including a full breakdown of dates, times and online ticket purchasing, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/evita

For more on the Birmingham Hippodrome, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com