Review: Frank Sumatra at South Shields Customs House

Charity Begins At Home

Frank Sumatra

South Shields Customs House

9^th March 2015 and on tour

Imagine what would happen if your charitable cause suddenly decided to deliver the animal that you used to sponsor to your home. Keith had originally bought his wife, Bev, a sponsorship of an endangered orang-utan. Little did he realise that a few years later the bundle of hairy orange fun would land on their doorstep armed with an iPad that acts like a speak and spell. Any teenager will often have attitude but this simian can also literally swing off the lampshades.

Mike Yeaman, whose writing credits include Lucky Numbers, has written another comedy cracker which frequently had the audience laughing. Presented as a recording of a radio show in which the voices are separated from the sound effects, a number of the laughs come from that partitioning. Indeed the audience’s imaginations are allowed to explore the scene being described in the same way as one would listening to a play on the radio. Director Bev Fox is therefore able to weave a scene of chaos and the pace is not held up for a prop to arrive. It is an interesting delivery which works very well.  Our sound engineer, Mat Hobbins, finds himself producing many of the sounds that Frank would produce with tight comic timing.

In the centre of the story is a couple that is trying for a baby. Bev, played by Jessica Johnson, is strong willed and enthusiastic. She is not always sympathetic the needs of others such as her elderly kleptomaniac mother.  Her other half Keith is less than enthusiastic about his lot, worrying more about the contents of the bin than trying to conceive a new child. Pip Chamberlin is engaging as the bloke for whom quickly changing circumstances are taking things beyond his control.  His cynicism is typified by his outburst “I don’t want to be oppressed by simian overlords!” Much humour is gained by the banter that often goes on in relationships behind closed doors.

The short play is a real gem that frequently made the audience laugh. It might answer questions such as whether an alpha male can drive a Fiat Punto or if an orangutan can be mistaken for Mick Hucknell? The radio play format adds to the humour and the actors did a fine job presenting the pandemonium of an teenage bundle of joy who refuses to tow the line.

Frank Sumatra is a wonderful comedy riot highlighting the discord in relationships.

Frank Sumatra was commissioned by Queens Hall Hexham.

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

Original Jowheretogo Preview: http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/preview-frank-sumatra-on-tour.html 

Cast: Jessica Johnson, Mat Hobbins, Pip Chamberlin. 

Directed by Bev Fox.

Remaining Tour Dates:

12/13 Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre Venue website link

14 Bedlington Community Centre Venue website link

Preview: Frank Sumatra On Tour

Frank Sumatra

On Tour Across The North East

Imagine Paddington Bear gone wrong. And not a bear. Bev and Keith are a nice young couple who do their bit for the environment and pay 10 quid a month to the World Wildlife Fund to sponsor an orphaned orangutan. They’re also trying very hard to have a baby but when their orangutan turns up on the doorstep they find themselves parents to a hairy, unruly teenager.

A dark and surreal comedy written by Mike Yeaman (Lucky Numbers, Canoeing for Beginners) performed live in the style of a radio drama.

Frank Sumatra is a new One Act play, commissioned by Queens Hall Hexham.

Cast: Jessica Johnson, Mat Hobbins, Pip Chamberlin. 

Directed by Bev Fox.

Tour Dates:

March 06 Hexham Queens Hall Venue website link

07 Bishop Auckland Town Hall Venue website link

08 South Shields Customs House Venue website link

12/13 Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre Venue website link

14 Bedlington Community Centre Venue website link

Review: Lucky Numbers at South Shields Customs House

When Nana Come To Stay

Lucky Numbers

South Shields Customs House

Until 25^th October 2014

We all love our Nanas. They love us back. What happens when they move into your home as they need your help and support? When they feel they should be in charge but keep nipping to the shops for bread several times in a single day? Or believe the relatives that have long since passed away are still with us? When they disapprove of your husband, and your children?

How would relationships change if Nana scoop £8 million on the lottery?

Lucky Numbers describes such a pickle. Nana Patterson is played by the lovely Pat Dunn, who was recently in the BBC’s sitcom Hebburn, in Mike Yeaman’s clever tale of family friction. Nana is a cantankerous old busy body who sticks her nose into the family’s business in a benevolent way. Jayne Mackenzie plays the daughter who is under pressure to please but never seems to make the right decisions in life. The onstage chemistry between these two great actors helped set up both the laughs and the empathy for the family as the story unfolded.

The audience laughed on many occasions throughout the play as Husband Ronnie, played by Pip Chamberlin, tries to chill out in his own house whilst his son Steven (Michael Addison) plays on his computer games and daughter Lisa (Harriet Ghost) hangs around bus stops as a goth picking up bikers who have yet to actually buy a bike. Michael and Harriet do come across well as a pair of siblings who often pick fault with one another. Pip ensures the husband comes across initially as loving, laidback and, at times, lazy. Michael Strassen has directed a play which keeps the story and chuckles flowing.  

The play was the winner of the 2008 People’s Theatre People’s Play Award and been performed across the world since then in a number of languages. This will be down to, in part, Mike Yeaman’s hilarious script.  It is also funny because the cast present a believable normal dysfunctional present day affectionate family. Pat Dunn’s Nana character, in particular, has a number of traits that the audience could relate to and this helps her get many laughs.

A very funny evening which The Customs House, cast and crew should be justifiably proud of.

Cast:
Pat Dunn as Nana
Jayne Mackenzie as Janice
Pip Chamberlin as Ronnie
Micky McGregor as Mick
Harriet Ghost as Lisa
Adrian Chisolm as Shane
Michael Addison as Steven

Mike Yeaman - writer
Michael Strassen - director

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

Tickets

Tickets for Lucky Numbers at the Customs House, South Shields, priced from £14 or £26 including an evening meal, are available now by calling 0191 4541234 or visiting www.customshouse.co.uk

Review: How Did I Get To This Point? at Newcastle Live Theatre

Where Do They Get

Their Sleeping Bags From?

How Did I Get To This Point?

Newcastle Live Theatre

19th, 24th & 25th September 2014

Live Theatre currently has two productions to prick ones conscience: Wet House on the main stage and Alphabetti Theatre’s How did I get to this point? in the intimate studio theatre.  The Rowntree Foundation have stated that most us of are just two pay checks from homelessness and yet we may be guilty of not giving the matter a second thought.

As the audience enter they are asked to answer a question about homelessness such as Where do they get their sleeping bags from?The studio is set up in the round and sat in centre stage Amy Foley and Ali Pritchard were ready to spring into action.  The production features audience and public reaction to issues of homelessness coupled with the tales from interviews with those affected. The addition of comments made in incident books adds the closest thing to light relief. 

The actors do a great job of drawing the audience in to question their own belief structure. By the time Pip Chamberlin crashes into view with his hammer one has to consider the fine line between keeping that roof over ones head and losing it.

This is a production that creates more questions than answers.  An unsentimental journey which probes our values as a society – should we do more? Under Ben Dickenson’s direction Alphabetti have delivered a timely reminder of the need for society.

Brilliant, moving, thought provoking, unsettling & sympathetic – this should be compulsory viewing for the Daily Mail reader.

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

Researched & Written by   Ali Pritchard, Allison Davies and Pip Chamberlin

Directed by                          Ben Dickenson      

Performed by                       Amy Foley, Ali Pritchard & Pip Chamberlin

On The Web:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alphabetti

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlphabettiSpaghettiTheatre

Website: www.live.org.uk/whats-on-book/how-did-i-get-to-this-point

Tickets:

When:  19th , 24th & 25th September 2014, 20:00

Where: Live Theatre, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE1 3DQ

Ticket Price:  £5

Running Length:  40 minutes

Preview: How Did I Get To This Point? at Newcastle Live Theatre

How far are any of us

from losing our home?

How Did I Get To This Point?

Newcastle Live Theatre

19^th, 24^th & 25^th September 2014

Join the innovative Alphabetti Theatre, described as 'Original, off the wall and clever' by a producer from BBC Radio 4 for forty minutes of challenging, emotional and funny drama in response to Live Theatre’s Wet House.

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation we're all just two pay cheques away from losing our roof.

Do you know someone who struggles with money? Someone who went through a tough break up? Maybe they drink too much, use risky substances, have lost someone close, lied on form, fallen ill. But they could never lose their home…right?

How Did I Get To This Point? is a new play made up of interviews with members of the public, workshops with homeless people, log books from supported accommodation, internet discussions, forms, facts, government statistics and a everything else that makes up life. When affordable housing is scarcer than ever, How Did I Get To This Point? asks just how close we all are to a life without a home. This is a production that shows just how close you and I are from becoming homelessness, through real and chaotic experiences. 

Researched & Written by   Ali Pritchard, Allison Davies and Pip Chamberlin

Directed by                          Ben Dickenson       

Performed by                       Amy Foley, Ali Pritchard & Pip Chamberlin

On The Web:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alphabetti

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlphabettiSpaghettiTheatre

Website: http://www.live.org.uk/whats-on-book/how-did-i-get-to-this-point

Tickets:

When:                         19^th, 24^th & 25^th September 2014, 20:00

On Friday 19^thSeptember  - There will be two performances one at 6pm & one at 8pm

Where:                        Live Theatre, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne,  NE1 3DQ

Ticket Price:               £5

Running Length:        40 minutes