Robert Crumpton Archives - North West End UK

The Good Life – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

2Jun

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

The Good Life – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The Altrincham Garrick Playhouse continues its impressive season with a feel good production of The Good Life this week, bringing Jeremy Sams’ wonderfully adapted stage version of the beloved television classic to life with warmth, charm and plenty of laughter. Set in suburban Surbiton, The Good Life follows Tom and Barbara Good as they abandon the rat race in favour of a self-sufficient lifestyle, much to the bewilderment of their next-door neighbours, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. What follows is a hilarious clash of lifestyles, personalities and ambitions, packed with the gentle British humour that made the original series such a success. Directed by Garrick regular; Daniel Ellis, this production captures the heart and spirit of the much-loved sitcom. Jeremy Sams’ adaptation retains...

Bleak Expectations – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

My son, Sam, and I were thrilled to have been invited to the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse to spend an evening watching this hugely entertaining and funny play. Full disclosure, I was a big fan of the original Radio 4 series that inspired this stage adaptation, so my hopes were set high. There is something quintessentially British about the combination of the surrealist, gag-filled scripts from writer Mark Evans and their gentle parodying of all things Victorian that just invokes a knitted tea cosy and a plate of hot, buttered crumpets. How to describe the plot of Bleak Expectations? Basically, take every Dickensian Sunday night telly adaptation you’ve ever seen, pop them all in a blender, add a liberal splash of absolute nonsense and, hey presto! Roughly speaking the story follows the h...

Vardy vs Rooney: A courtroom drama – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

There have been many moments in society that have reverberated around the country and sent media news desks into a spin, more than ever since the advent of social media. Sporting glory, royal deaths, political scandals. When Coleen Rooney, wife of footballer Wayne, posted the words ‘It’s……….Rebecca Vardy’s account’, on Instagram, accusing her fellow football WAG of leaking personal stories from Rooney’s private account to The Sun newspaper, the fallout was as instant and, bizarrely, as explosive of any other major news story. Vardy was promptly vilified for her apparent betrayal of trust and Rooney gained the nickname ‘Wagatha Christie’ when her entrapment scheme to identify the source of the leaks was revealed, leading to Vardy making a libel claim against her rival. Whilst U...