Caroline Worswick

Andy Kesson and Jimmy Tucker, joint founders of ‘A Bit Lit’

7Jan

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Andy Kesson and Jimmy Tucker, joint founders of ‘A Bit Lit’

After hearing Andy Kesson speak at a Shakespeare Festival a couple of years ago, I was eager to find out more about the newly formed collaboration ‘A Bit Lit’. Founded by couple Andy Kesson and Jimmy Tucker, they are excited to share their passion for Shakespeare with others who wish to learn about the culture of the 1600’s. Using performance, this will be a truly interactive, inclusive way of learning. A Bit Lit’s A Day Out in Shakespeare’s Theatre will take place on Saturday 15th January 4pm–6pm, and will be followed by a longer course, How to Make an Elizabethan Theatre starting 14th February. To find out more and book tickets visit - https://abitlit.co/ Further courses and events will be announced soon. Your first course A Day Out in Shakespeare’s Theatre, offe...

Into The Night – Original Theatre Company

29Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

REVIEWS

Into The Night – Original Theatre Company

On the 19th December 1981, the Penlee lifeboat the ‘Solomon Browne’ was launched with a crew of eight men (including the coxswain), to rescue the crew from a coaster, the ‘Union Star’, which was in danger of foundering on the jagged rocks of the West Cornwall coastline. There were sixteen lives lost that terrible night as the bad weather conditions made the rescue impossible. The Original Theatre Company, in collaboration with writer Frazer Flintham and the author of ‘Penlee – The Loss of a Lifeboat’, Michael Sagar-Fenton, have brought together their skills as theatre makers, with North South who specialise in bringing the stage to the screen. Writer Frazer Flintham had the difficult task of bringing together the historical detail, whilst always considering that the viewe...

A Show With No Name – Woodford War Memorial Community Centre

26Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

North West

A Show With No Name – Woodford War Memorial Community Centre

A musical theatre show is always a must in the calendar of a theatre lover, and after a warm welcome at the door, the audience were in for a treat. The Company put together a very well thought out programme of musical favourites, but also included some less well known but equally deserving songs. The staging was kept simple which kept the showing flowing, and cast changes were sleek and went without a hitch. The show began with ‘A Million Dreams’ sang by David Lambert and Gilly Thompson with wonderful support from the ensemble, this was an easily recognizable winner to begin with. The trio of songs from Les Misérables were well performed with a passionate delivery of one of my personal favourite songs, ‘On My Own’ by Abi Frost. Steve Sheppard treated us to a remarka...

Persephone – Oxford Playhouse Livestream

13Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

REVIEWS

Persephone – Oxford Playhouse Livestream

Oxford University students present their production ‘Persephone’ on the main stage at Oxford Playhouse, in what is the first production by their production company Jazz Hands Productions since the Playhouse re-opened. The mythical Greek tale of Persephone (Bethan Draycott), daughter of Demeter (Maddie Hall) (the goddess of harvest and fertility), and Zeus (Lorcan Cudlip-Cook). Persephone is an innocent young woman who loves nothing more than wandering through the woods and enjoying the natural world. On one of these walks, she is taken by Hades (Peter Todd), ‘God of the Underworld’, as he has fallen in love with her beauty and wants her to live with him as ‘Queen of the Underworld’. Demeter is heartbroken at Persephone’s disappearance; she had hidden her daughter away to kee...

Spotlight on Matthew Jeans – White Christmas The Musical

12Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Spotlight on Matthew Jeans – White Christmas The Musical

Ahead of the White Christmas The Musical UK Tour, we caught up with Matthew Jeans who plays the role of Bob Wallace. If you would like to see something festive during this Winter season, that will truly put you in the mood for Christmas, then book tickets to see White Christmas at one of its four tour destinations. To book tickets go to - https://www.whitechristmasthemusical.co.uk/uk-tour/ For those who have never seen the movie, what can audiences expect to see when watching ‘White Christmas’? I think people can expect to see a truly beautiful show, with a heart-warming story and stunning musical score. The set and costumes are fantastic, and the dance numbers are unlike any I’ve seen in a good while. I really think it has got something for everyone and is a ...

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

8Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

Writer Samuel Beckett wrote ‘Footfalls’ between March and December 1975. It premiered at the Samuel Beckett Festival in 1976 at the Royal Court Theatre, when he directed the play himself. From the amount of stage directions written for this play, it is clear that Beckett had a very strong vision of how these plays should be presented. ‘Rockaby’ was written and performed later in New York in 1981. The accurately titled ‘Footfalls’, is aptly titled. A woman called May is pacing the floor with a need to hear her footfalls as she paces. It’s as though the rhythmic sound helps her to make sense of her thoughts. We hear May’s mother’s voice in the background, talking and occasionally counting the steps before May wheels around and begins pacing in the opposite direction. Beckett stipulated in...

5Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The Sugar House – Finborough Theatre

‘The Sugar House’ receives its first production outside of Australia after being nominated for ‘Best New Australian Work in the Sydney Theatre Awards after a showing at the Belvoir Street Theatre in 2018. The Finborough Theatre is renowned for breathing new life into old rarely performed plays or helping new writers to establish themselves. Alana Valentine has written a very powerful, thought-provoking play set in three different time periods. It begins in 2007, with Narelle Macreadie (Jessica Zerlina Leafe) looking around a posh flat in Sydney which was situated in a converted sugar factory. It becomes clear that this building stimulates old memories, and she begins to reminisce about her childhood, spending time with her father Sidney Macreadie (Patrick Toomey) who worked at the facto...

Maxine Peake, The Guilty Feminist and Johnny Flynn at Shakespeare’s Globe

3Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Maxine Peake, The Guilty Feminist and Johnny Flynn at Shakespeare’s Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe has announced a series of new events running alongside the season of Shakespeare plays in the indoor candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. These include: a panel discussion with Maxine Peake, Artistic Director Michelle Terry and Co-Director of Education Professor Farah Karim-Cooper, dubbed ‘Hamlet and She’ as part of a ‘Women and Power’ festival; the hit feminist comedy podcast, The Guilty Feminist, returns for another live recording in the Playhouse hosted by Deborah Frances-White; Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane present a live performance of their stunning new album; and a whole host of education events including February half-term activities for families. Despite the difficulties faced since the Globe closed its doors in March 2020, from May 2021, the theatre has ...

1Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Spotlight on Jenna Russell

Olivier Award winner Jenna Russell is due to take to the stage at Cadogan Hall in her first large scale solo show in a few days’ time. We were interested to hear how Jenna is preparing for her new adventure. Follow this link to book tickets to the show at Cadogan Hall on the 7th November 2021 at 6.30pm - https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/jenna-russell-live-in-concert-2021/ With such a large repertoire to choose from, how have you selected the songs for the show? I absolutely wanted to have some songs from shows that I have been in and love singing, and songs that have shaped my career, but I also wanted to bring in some comedy because I always think that a really good evening consists of you laughing and hopefully having a little emotional moment at the same time. I’ve really tried...

One Man Poe Livestream – The Space Online

23Oct

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

One Man Poe Livestream – The Space Online

Written in the 1840’s by Edgar Allan Poe, this quartet of short stories and a poem show off to best effect Poe’s interest in the dark side of human nature. Many writers have been inspired by the works of Poe, who pioneered the genre of ‘horror’, and his work is still as popular today. Artistic Director of Threedumb Theatre, Stephen Smith has taken his passion for gothic horror and the original works of Poe and created a one-person show using an unknown narrator to deliver these authentic Poe tales. Smith is directing and performing all the roles himself. First off is ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’, a disturbing look inside the mind of an unnamed narrator who is believed to be insane, but he will try to convince the audience that he is sane, by describing the events that led up to a brutal murder...