Preview: Buffy Revamped at Darlington Hippodrome

 Darkchat Award Winner 

Buffy Revamped

Darlington Hippodrome

Thursday 29th February 2024

Seventy minutes. Seven seasons. One Spike.

Written by and starring Brendan Murphy

Directed by Hamish MacDougall

Brendan Murphy is delighted to announce that the tour of Award Winning Buffy Revamped is to be extended yet again in 2024 due to its popularity at venues throughout the UK and Ireland and in Toronto and America.  This hugely popular, award-winning show based lovingly on the iconic 90s TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer has garnered critical acclaim across the board including for a second Edinburgh Festival Fringe season where it was recognised as the best-reviewed comedy show of the entire 2023 Fringe by The British Comedy Guide.

In this fast-paced new production we bring you the entire 144 episodes of the hit 90s TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as told through the eyes of the one person who knows it inside out… Spike.

Funny, satirical and bursting with 90s pop-culture references, it’s the perfect parody for Buffy aficionados and those who never enrolled at Sunnydale High alike. 

Brendan Murphy is a London based actor, improviser and comedian. He was nominated for the Spotlight Prize in 2008 and he has toured extensively across the US and Canada as part of the Olivier Award nominated Potted Potter. He also wrote the hit show FRIEND: The One With Gunther (www.OneWithGunther.com) which will tour alongside Buffy Revamped in 2024.

Other theatre credits include The Crown Dual (Edinburgh, Wilton's Music Hall & US Tour), Twelfth Night (Orange Tree) and The Adventure (The Royal Exchange). Screen credits include Doctors (BBC), Broadchurch (ITV), Twin Thing (Sky Arts), SO Beano (Sky Kids) and Spiderman: Far From Home (Marvel Studios).

An experienced improviser, Brendan is a member of BBC Radio One's BattleActs! and has been a guest player for Second City and Monkey Toast Players. He has written and performed several solo comedy shows including BAGMAN and Enter The Bagman and FRIEND (The One With Gunther) which won the award for Best Play in the World Wide Comedy Awards. The award-winning success of Buffy Revamped the following year (Darkchat Awards 2022: Best Comedy Performer and Best One-Person Show) has confirmed him as one of the country’s most talented young writer/performers with both critics and audiences.

Hamish MacDougall’s recent credits include The War of the Worlds (UK & USA tours); Project Dictator (New Diorama); Willy by William Andrews (Soho/Pleasance); Hammerhead by Joseph Morpurgo (Soho/ Southbank/ Pleasance/ tour and winner of The Brighton Comedy Award); Life and Rhymes by Abandoman (Udderbelly/ Soho/ Melbourne) and The 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic).

On The Web: www.buffyrevamped.co.uk

Tickets:

Venue: Hippodrome DARLINGTON

Dates: Thursday 29th February 2024

Time: 7.30pm

Box Office: 01325 405 405

Online              https://www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

News: The global phenomenon returns - War Horse at Sunderland Empire November 2024

The global phenomenon returns - the National Theatre’s multi-award-winning production of War Horse to embark on a major UK tour arriving at Sunderland Empire November 2024 

The National Theatre’s global smash-hit production of War Horse, the unforgettable theatrical event based on Michael Morpurgo’s beloved novel, will embark on a major 18-month UK Tour from 5 September 2024, touring through to 2026.

 

Opening at the New Wimbledon Theatre (5 – 14 September), War Horse will then tour to The Lowry, Salford (18 – 28 September) Mayflower Theatre, Southampton (8 – 19 October), The Marlowe, Canterbury (22 October – 2 November), Sunderland Empire (5 – 16 November), Theatre Royal Plymouth (26 November – 7 December), New Theatre Oxford (10 December 2024 – 4 January 2025), with future dates and venues to be announced.

Tickets will be on sale from our affiliate ATG Tickets from Thursday 29 February 2024: Ticket link - https://prf.hn/l/zpB4V5X 

 

War Horse, adapted by Nick Stafford and originally directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, has become the most successful play in the history of the National Theatre, winning more than 25 major awards and has been seen by over 8.3 million people worldwide.  This all-new tour is co-produced with Michael Harrison, Fiery Angel, and Playing Field.

 

War Horse tells the remarkable story of a young boy called Albert and his horse Joey, set against the backdrop of the First World War.  This powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness, filled with stirring music and songs, featuring ground-breaking puppetry work by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, which brings breathing, galloping, charging, horses to thrilling life on stage and has inspired a generation of theatre-makers since its premiere in 2007.

 

Director, Tom Morris said, “It is a huge privilege to be invited to revisit War Horse and to share this powerful story once more with audiences around the country.  Michael Morpurgo’s brilliant idea, to explore the crushing violence of war through the experience of a horse, makes his story as powerful and resonant today as it has ever been.   And in this time of increasing commercialism in theatre, it’s worth remembering that the production which carried War Horse to an international audience was a wild experiment, developed through workshops at the National Theatre Studio, the unique theatre laboratory where ground-breaking hits from Coram Boy and London Road to The Witches were devised.   It has been an enormous thrill to return there in recent months to reunite Adrian Kohler’s magnificent puppets with designer Rae Smith, composer Adrian Sutton and other members of the original cast and creative team to start the process of bringing Joey back to the stage.”

 

Author, Michael Morpurgo said: “I am so delighted the National Theatre’s iconic production of War Horse is back!  When Covid closed the show down in 2020 in Australia in the midst of its second World Tour, many thought, and I was amongst them, that we’d never see War Horse on stage again.  Now it’s really happening - we will hear the music and songs, be amazed by its design and lighting, live Joey’s story again.  War Horse is about the tragedy of war and about a horse and his boy, but it's also so many other things - it's about family and community, courage and loss, hope, and most importantly reconciliation.”

 

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. Albert, who remained on his parents’ Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. Though still not old enough to enlist he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

 

This tour of War Horse marks 110 years since the start of the First World War and follows the 40th anniversary of the publication of Michael Morpurgo’s global best-selling novel, which has now sold over 35 million copies world-wide and in 37 different languages.

 

Executive Director of the National Theatre, Kate Varah said: “We are delighted that we are able to launch this major new UK tour of War Horse.  This moving and spectacular production has captured the imagination of millions of audience members across the world since it was first performed on the Olivier stage in 2007 and we are deeply appreciative and excited, to be working with our co-producers to make this possible in the current landscape.  We look forward to connecting with our partner venues with this much-loved story, that appeals to all ages and which beautifully showcases the magic of live performance.”

 

Creative development for the tour is being led by Tom Morris with revival director Katie Henry, featuring reimagined designs by Rae Smith and additional music by Adrian Sutton.  Puppet design and fabrication is by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company, lighting design is by Rob Casey, movement and horse choreography is by Toby Sedgwick with puppet direction by Matthew Forbes.  Animation and projection design is by Nicol Scott for 59 Productions, John Tams is songmaker and sound design is by Christopher Shutt.  Casting is by Jill Green CDG and associate designer is Will Fricker.  Casting is to be announced.

 

War Horse received its world premiere on 9 October 2007 at the National Theatre, where it played for two seasons before opening at the New London Theatre in March 2009.  Since then, War Horse has been seen in 97 cities in 14 countries, including productions on Broadway, in Toronto and Berlin, with touring productions in the UK and Ireland, North America, the Netherlands and Belgium. 

 

For more information visit WarHorseOnStage.com.  War Horse will visit Theatre Nation Partner venues, including The Lowry in Salford and Sunderland Empire.  Assisted performances are available throughout the run at each venue.

Photos by Brinkhoff Mögenburg

Tickets will be on sale from our affiliate ATG Tickets from Thursday 29 February 2024: Ticket link - https://prf.hn/l/zpB4V5X 

REVIEW: The Mystery of Dracula at Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

David Alnwick Presents

The Mystery of Dracula

Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre

Until Saturday 10th February 2024

Crossing the boundaries between theatre and magic, David Alnwick held the audience in rapt attention throughout the show which landed in Newcastle this week.

There is an art to storytelling. The ability to keep an audience interested for just over an hour is definitely one that David Alnwick possesses. Starting with a passage read from Bram Stokers classic 1897 novel using a flicking light and moody music that is straight out of a Hammer movie, it is easy to be misled into the direction that the show is going. 

Quickly though, the lights are up and David reminds the audience that at the time of publication, a significant number of the world’s population identified with spiritualism and Stoker’s novel tapped straight into that mood. Thus the show is not just about the creation of a legend as Dracula uncertainly is, but also the antics of the mediums, as we see them today, and spiritualists of the time. The use of illusion, or as we tend to call it, magic, still features in entertainment of course.

David Alnwick is a good with his magic tricks and quickly the audience are up of their feet trying to “read his mind”. It is this level of friendly interaction helps maintain interest. Don’t panic - there was nothing that one should be worried about if asked to help out. There is also an interesting narrative linking incidents to Stoker and the town of Whitby which is interesting thanks to good pace, as well as a subject that you want to hear more about. There are a number of moments which had the audience laughing - perhaps more than some comedies that we have seen. 

As is usually the case in these shows, the action reaches a climax which we won’t spoil but I will acknowledge that some of the Friday night crowd let out audible gasps of astonishment.

This is a fun show which opens up the audience's minds to the Victorian beliefs. Thanks to strong storytelling, good pace and some very well executed “magic” the audience left very happy. This is a fine slice of fringe theatre that deserves greater exposure.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Website: https://davidalnwick.com/upcoming-shows.html 

Tickets:

https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/mystery-of-dracula 

News: Cast Announced for New Musical: The Audition at South Shields Customs House

 

Cast Announced for New Musical: The Audition at South Shields Customs House

 

A new musical with songs from the Great American Songbook will premiere in South Shields next month. Charlie Hardwick and Rachel Unthank take to the stage at The Customs House in The Audition, the story of five leading ladies competing to star in a new show.

Charlie, whose credits include Emmerdale, Ackley Bridge and Cooking With Elvis, will join Rachel from the award-winning band The Unthanks making her theatrical debut in the production.

Rachel said: “I was 15 years old when I first saw Charlie Hardwick perform and I’m a bit bowled over that I will be sharing the stage with her for my first ever outing into the world of acting. The Audition is full of songs and stories about women, something which has long been at the core of Unthanks material. Although I am more used to singing such stories, I am looking forward to embarking on this exciting new journey.”

Rachel Unthank

Charlie added: “I last performed at The Custom’s House in The Awkward Squad and am very much looking forward to being back there.  My character Jennifer is a fading Broadway star now resident in England working on a comeback. I’m looking forward to exploring what makes her tick and of course performing some wonderful songs.”

Charlie Hardwick

The Audition is written by former television producer and commissioner Graeme Thompson and directed by Max Roberts, whose credits include The Pitman Painters (West End and Broadway), Educating Rita, Cooking with Elvis, And a Nightingale Sang. The pair – who have a shared love of music theatre - met when Graeme joined the board of Live Theatre in Newcastle where Max was artistic director.

The show sees five women turn up at a theatre in North East England to audition to play a famous diva in a new musical about her life. They’ve been told to tell personal stories as a way of relating to the roller-coaster life and career of an ageing screen, stage and recording star - who may or may not, be fictional.

As the audition progresses, the women talk about their lives, loves and their career highs and lows. And they choose music from Broadway and the Great American Songbook to highlight their personal experiences.

The music of Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Sondheim, Hoagy Carmichael, Kander and Ebb and others allows the women to open up about ambition, success and disappointment. A bond develops between the five as they support each other in laying bare their own lives.

Musical numbers include Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered, Lush Life, Maybe This Time, But Not For Me, I Get Along Without You Very Well and I’m Still Here.

The musical director is Andrew Richardson and further casting will be announced next week.

Writer Graeme Thompson, well known to Customs House audiences as the co-writer of the annual pantomime, commented: “The show has five leading ladies sharing their stories and singing some of the greatest songs ever written. We can’t wait to see how the show will develop after its week in South Shields.”

Max Roberts said: “There are so many contemporary themes explored through the lyrics and the book. And I’m hoping audiences will enjoy being in the company of great actors and great music from some of the finest songwriters of the last century.”

 

Tickets:

The Audition will be performed at The Customs House Studio on Thursday March 14th and Friday March 15^th (2:30pm and 7:30pm both days). The show will be presented in the form of a rehearsed reading as part of a week of workshops and rehearsals.

 

For more information visit www.customshouse.co.uk

REVIEW: A Song for Ella Grey at Newcastle Northern Stage

A Song for Ella Grey

Newcastle Northern Stage

Until Thursday 15 February 2024 

David Almond's 2014 teen novel based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice is enjoying its second adaptation at Northern Stage. The 2024 version, under direction of Esther Richardson and with a script from Zoe Cooper is a very different beast to the single handed production from 2017.

Grace Long as Ella Grey 

This is, in part a teen coming of age tale. We are told from the off, that Claire (Olivia Onyehara) will survive the event that will take the life of her close friend Ella Grey (Grace Long). After that revelation the audience find out how the tragedy occurred during act one and then witness the teens trying to reconcile the events in act two. The point that is quickly apparent is that this is a very theatrical performance through the lens of a group of sixth formers who are about to take their A levels and head off to university.

Amonik Melaco as Sam

The group are a group of friends who see Ella as a unifying member. In addition to Claire we have Angeline (Beth Crame), Jay (Jonathan Iceton) and Sam (Amonik Melaco). Each one works within the group but also has their own personality. The lazy option of just viewing them as a single entity has thankfully being avoided.

Beth Crame as Angeline 

The show relies massively on a lot of spoken words, which can have an almost-Shakespearean like lyrical feel in the delivery. Having said that, the actual language is modern. 

Grace Long as Ella Grey and Olivia Onyehara as Claire

As the group head off to the coast ones becomes very aware of the cinematic sound design. The birds and noises are often coming from behind and to the side. This is not common in theatre and it worked in this example. The projection are more subtle than some shows we have seen recently and work perfectly well in this context in helping to give a sense to the feel of the play. 

Grace Long as Ella 

This is a different show. The story examines how immature teens try to make sense of their world, including interactions with parents and teachers. Whilst teens may feel that their take on life is correct and get annoyed when older people contradict that view. The tale also examines how they cope, or don't cope, with unexpected tragedy. 

Olivia Onyehara as Claire and Amonik Melaco as Sam 

The music has sometimes got a folky feel, which is in keeping with the folky style of the tale. There are well choreographed moments of movement from the cast plus some delightful singing.

The company of A Song for Ella Grey

The cast work hard in a show that demands tight direction. The teen-like chatter helps keep the energy going in the show. This show is different - in both staging and its tone. It is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I warmed to the story despite the heavy doses of exposition. If this show encourages an audience in their teens/twenties to get into live theatre then that it is be welcomed.  

The company of A Song for Ella Grey

Review: Stephen Oliver

Photos: Topher McGrillis

A Song for Ella Grey will open at Northern Stage, Newcastle (1-15 February) then tour to York Theatre Royal (20-24 February), Theatre Peckham (27 February-2 March), Hull Truck Theatre (5-9 March) Liverpool Playhouse (13-16 March) and Yvonne Arnaud Guildford (19-23 March).

Tickets:

For more information on A Song for Ella Grey visit www.pilot-theatre.com To book tickets for Northern Stage, visit www.northernstage.co.uk

The company of A Song for Ella Grey