Theatre 2016: Review Twenty

Brian, the Switch and the Wardrobe, Blakeney Player, Blakeney. July 2016.

as ever this cannot be an impartial review - the whole cast now feel like family that we just don't see too often!

It doesn't seem possibly that the year is already more than half over and that it is time for the Blakeney Player's summer show.  The weather always seems to be nice on these summer outings and it was a lovely drive up to the coast and we even had time for a nice Cromer Crab salad supper...but I digress.

Brian, the Switch and the Wardrobe was great fun, the audience is taken back to the Norfolk coast in 1958 at a time where the end of the pier theatre is falling down and the cast behind the times - a bigwig from London is invited to come along and save the day...

However this is all with the unique Player's take which takes the strengths of the players and then works the rest out around them. The new writers did this brilliantly and managed to give a new feel to the show whilst keeping the unique style we've come to love, the plot was very strong in this show. As ever the choreography is incredible but it has to be said the narrator stole the show for me.

No more details - tickets are still on sale go see it yourself!

I always love looking for the influences the group have used and in this one I certainly got aspects of The Play that Went Wrong as well as the obvious ones that are shown, the use of Spamalot also had me in stitches.

As ever I left Blakeney Village hall with a huge grin on my face and looking forward to the winter show!

Theatre 2016: Review Two

Sleeping Beauty and the Daleks, The Blakeney Players, Blakeney. January 2016.

as ever this isn't an impartial review - after all I do know one of the cast!

It was a wet and wild day when we ventured up to the coast for this winter's treat from the Blakeney Players but as ever the drive was worth it.

The simple tale of Sleeping Beauty was here reworked so that Frozen and Doctor Who were integral parts. The Princess Jean was a thoroughly modern girl in a kingdom who'd stupidly forgotten the events of her Christening.  A young(!), brave, athletic prince was found to rescue her but only with the help of some rogue female Daleks longing to become good enough to grow legs and lose their traditional form.

As ever the script and plot (which were extremely funny) isn't entirely the point of this play - it is about the cast having a good time, many terrible puns, some wonderful dance routines and a final gag that is so diabolical that remaining in your seat as realisation dawns becomes hard.

I'd love to know how Princess Jean managed to keep so still and feign sleep while so much was going on around her (and what tricks the cast played on her during rehearsal) and I'd also love to know who has taught the cast how to fall on stage with such comic effect.

I already can't wait for the summer show!

Theatre 2015: Review Nineteen

Mummy Mia, The Blakeney Players,Blakeney. July 2015.

As ever this review comes with the disclaimer that I know one of the cast and that I'm never going to be anything other than positive about the Blakeney Player.

This is a show that is totally impossible to review without you all thinking I've been indulging in illegal substances.

We opened with the music from the film Lawrence of Arabia and a sheikh staring into the desert distance as a pantomime camel appears on stage.

The next to appear on stage was explorer Gertrude Bell, the hieroglyphics expert Rosetta Stone and their colleagues Ray and a reluctant explorer, Livingstone.

Thanks to the magic of a cursed tomb we then slipped back in time to the reign of King Tut Tut and the invention of the pyramid. We visited the royal palace, a bazaar in Cairo and a camel race before ending up with the King from Memphis. There was also a dancing camel and an on-stage sand dance in the style of Wilson, Keppel and Betty.

You really had to be there but I can say that this is the most fun I have from curtain up to curtain down since the last Players' show!

The highlight of the show was the illusion dance (here's one I found on line but the Players' version was much better!) but from the dreadful puns to the grand finale this was a show that left us all with aching sides, big grins and a sense of wonder.  I don't want to wish time away but I'm already looking forward to the Christmas show.

I'm not the only one to really enjoy the show - the EDP reviewed it very favourably too!