Michael Hugo Archives - North West End UK

30Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Pinocchio – Hull Truck Theatre

Theatregoers braved freezing temperatures on Wednesday evening to see a production of Pinocchio at the Hull Truck Theatre. It never got much warmer inside, to be honest - so was glad I wore socks, scarf, gloves, but I never expected to keep them on once seated. But that’s my only gripe on what was a magical night of colour and energy. Everyone knows the age-old story of how poor, lonely carpenter, Gepetto, carved a puppet out of a piece of pine he found in the forest. In this thoroughly enjoyable adaptation by Mike Kenny, the pine was left behind by Stromboli (Patrick Dineen), ringmaster of a travelling circus, who was transporting his puppets, Colombine (Deb Pugh) and Harlequino (Niall Ransome). As Gepetto (James Clyde) picked up the pine log in the forest, it lit up, havin...

Tom, Dick and Harry – Alexandra Palace

Tom, Dick and Harry is a flamboyant, fun, family friendly version of what most people will recognise as The Great Escape. After extensive research, a more truthful, less Hollywood retelling is what this play gives its audience. The title, Tom, Dick and Harry reflects the research undertaken by the writers by using the code names given to the tunnels which the prisoner’s of war use in an attempt to escape German capture. Written by Michael Hugo, Andrew Pollard (both of which perform in the play) and director Theresa Heskins, the writing brings levity and humour to what could be a long and historically heavy play. The scenes can linger a little on humorous asides and there is a lack of tension in places but the pace picks back up in the group scenes. Set in the round in the beautiful Alex...

Greatest second world war escape plan comes to the stage

In 1944 76 allied prisoners of war escaped from Stalag Luft III and new play Tom, Dick and Harry tells their remarkable story. Tom, Dick and Harry were the codenames for three tunnels dug by the prisoners from many different nations deep under the camp’s barbed wire fence that were designed to support their mass escape. Newcastle-under-Lyme's New Vic Theatre and Kenny Wax Ltd are producing an original script co-written by Andrew Pollard, Michael Hugo and Theresa Heskins inspired by top secret information that was classified in the war archives until 1972. They will be debunking the myths while honouring the people who engineered the tunnels and their unrelenting resistance to their Nazi captors. “We’ll tell it as a really dynamic, vibrant piece of theatre that celebrates th...