James William-Pattison Archives

I say it every year - oh yes, I do - that the success of any panto depends on how good their Dame is and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto has one of the best purveyors of that quintessentially British mix of laughs and seasonal smut in Simon Nock. This is his fourth year at this historic city centre home of light entertainment and his Dame Bessie Bigbreaths - see what they did there - is a glorious mix of spraying out corny laughs for the children and some very near the knuckle gags for the not so young kids. He gets away with it - oh yes, he does - because he has charm to burn and times a gag well, combined with a wonderfully expressive raise of the eyebrow when the Dame has gone too far. This is the tenth year of the Rock ‘n’ Roll franchise in Leeds who have become the masters of integratin...

Rereading my June 2019 review of The Hired Man, my heart sank when I saw that I’d written: “For reasons I can’t explain, I found my mind wandering in the first half.” That was in the confines of the Hull Truck Theatre, so what chance did I have of stopping my mind from wandering at home, with the kettle and fridge within easy reach (my two favourite things during the coronavirus lockdown)? Well, as 7.30pm strikes, I hit the play button on YouTube. I’m going in …. As the first scene of The Hired Man comes up on my screen, the first thing I become aware of are the subtitles. Usually a pet hate of mine - I find them distracting - I found them very helpful in this case. They clarified much of what was happening and helped me remember more clearly the events as they happ...

Tag: James William-Pattison

Beauty and the Beast – Leeds City Varieties

The Hired Man – Hull Truck Theatre Online