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This Weeks Entertainment

People say it's like waiting for a bus, you wait ages for one then two come together. This week I had two fantastic evenings entertainment. The first was a trip to the theatre to see All or Nothing, the musical based on the 1960's Mod band the Small faces.   A friend gifted me the tickets and I'm glad she did it was a brilliant show.  It reminded me in its structure of Buddy, the Buddy Holly Story.  It follows the rise and fall of the band and then deals with the tragedy of the lead singer Steve Marriott.   The show starts with the infamous performance at New Years when Marriott sensationally quit the band, the narrator an older Steve Marriott then takes the audience back to the beginning when the band met.  With live performances of the bands greatest hits including the title song All or Nothing, Itchycoo Park and She La La La Lee, the audience is taken along for the roller coaster ride that was the bands life.   The ending leaves you with a lump in y

Romeo & Juliet - Branagh @ The Garrick (NTL Production)

I love theatre, have done all my life.  There's something so intense and intimate about sitting so close to the performance, embraced by it but on the periphery not an intimate part but a part of the collective with an impact on the performance. It's not always possible to get to the theatre to see the performance you want, I don't live in London so travelling there to see a show is not always possible.  So when I heard that National Theatre were doing a live feed of Kenneth Branagh's Romeo and Juliet I ensured I got my tickets quick smart. Not only do I love seeing Shakespeare performed - that's what it was written for after all, but I'm a fan of Kenneth Branagh.  I loved and studied his Henry V and have enjoyed his work throughout my child hood and more recently in films like The Boat that Rocked. The cast for this production is also a major draw; Juliet Lilly James has been growing as an actress and wowing audiences since playing Lady Rose in Do

Alas Poor Hamlet

I love London, I love theatre land, unfortunately I don’t get there as often as I would like, which is why I love the National Theatre’s live streaming of some truly remarkable performances. The Barbican’s current run of Hamlet staring Benedict Cumberbatch was the latest offering, which I was glad to see knowing I wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to see the performance. The Barbican is a grade two listed building, from architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon as part of the regeneration of London’s bombed landscape.   It opened in 1982 and is Europe’s largest multi arts and conference venues. Hamlet (5 August – 31 October 2015) Shakespeare’s great tragedy has been adapted for the stage by Director Lyndsey Turner and Producer Sonia Friedman.   The run time is approximately 1 hour 50 minutes. Hamlet played by Benedict Cumberbatch is grieving for the loss of his father and is enraged by the marriage of his mother to his uncle.   As war looms outside the gates of their

A Curious Evening

Now, firstly I must admit when Mark Haddon’s novel “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time” was released I wasn’t really aware of it.   I saw it in a few books stores but it never really caught my fancy.    Then I heard it was being adapted into a play for the West End and I read a bit more about it.   After seeing a documentary on the production and hearing there was to be a UK tour I decided this was something I’d love to see.   So, over twelve months ago I booked tickets for the opening night at the Sunderland Empire and well I wasn’t disappointed.   Late one night Christopher (Joshua Jenkins) finds his neighbour’s dog dead in the garden, speared with a garden fork.   After being found with Wellington (the dog) he has a run in with a police officer who doesn’t understand Christopher doesn’t like to be touched. He is taken to the police station where his dad, Ed (Stuart Laing) comes to collect him.    Christopher decides at this point to investigate Wellington’

Weekend Who Done It

So if you're reading my other blog, "My Life as a Writer" you're already following the path I take when writing my novels, this blog is an attempt to illustrate what else I do and love in life. Where to start, well I might as well start off with this past weekend as I indulged in something I do love. I have always had a love of movies and theatre, so on Saturday I indulged my theatrical love and attended the Theatre to see "And Then There Were None" (Agatha Christie). Now this not only plays to my love of theatre but also my love of Christie as a writer, in this 125th Anniversary year her work is still as entertaining and edge of the seat as it was then. The show, which is touring the UK stars Paul Nicholas, Verity Rushworth, Frazer Hines, Colin Buchanan and Ben Nealon, and follows the plot of her famous novel. On a secluded island a group of strangers come together having each received a mysterious invitation.  Following the path of a children