Review: JOCK NIGHT @ Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

 

The world of chem-sex among the nocturnals of Canal Street might seem an unlikely subject for a play, but writer / and director Adam Zane has crafted a surprisingly enjoyable piece of theatre.

The scenes take place in 'Daddy' Ben's flat over the course of six months, where a group of addicts attend weekly Jock Nights at JOCK nightclub in Manchester.  Jock Nights are an actual thing, where guys dress down in just jock straps to dance, cruise and have random sexual encounters with each other,  many fuelled by an entire alphabet of recreational drugs, some of which we have never even heard of frankly. It's here we discover under the duvet covers that Ben is having a great night with self confessed twink 'AJ' and sharp tongued Kam, chem-sex addict who reserves his awe for reports of Coronation Street's Barbara Knox seen shopping in Sainsburys! Into the fray come Russell, who is quietly in love with Kam and latterly porn star Hunter alias Simon from Sydney. As the rotating door of players and their physical and emotional connections with each other intensify,  the play becomes a melting pot for secrets and behavioral excess.

The cast are uniformly excellent in selling this morality tale to the audience.  David Paisley is the bear, an older Daddy figure making up for lost time spent in the closet. Eddie Ahrens summarises the slightly annoying bitch who railroads everyone into more extremes and is obsessed with seedy dating apps,  James Colebrook gives Russell a more reserved and quietly troubled demeanor. Gabriel Clark sparkles as young 'AJ',  new to the chem-sex scene and on the cusp of an alternative lifestyle and finally real life Australian gold meal Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, having swapped careers and is now quite at home as the porn star Hunter, perhaps ready to settle down with his Daddy, but still craving the highs of Jock Night. Kudos to the guys for performing much of the play dressed in little but underwear, and sometimes less, and being able to convey the highly charged sexual atmosphere with choreographed moments, which never overwhelm the disturbing nature of the substances that fuel them.  

 

Naturally, there has to be a price to pay for extremeism, and there is. But we won't spoil it here.  The effects and dangers of the drugs are spelt out in various scenes, but thankfully it is done with wit and sharp dialogue which provide many laughs throughout the piece, a scene involving the painful removal of a metal cock ring for example had a few of us wincing!  

 

 

The play walks a fine line between educating and entertaining, with the balance just about right, at the end of the play we don't know whether world weary Ben is walking away from Jock Night or is resolved to carry on,  but I guess that is the dilemma for many involved in the scene, particularly as the ageing process becomes involved. These snapshots into the dark and the light of five men, all using Jock Night to mask real life neuroses, is sobering and joyous. The play deserves a wider audience and hopefully will get one. Bravo to Hive North, Hope Mill and Seven Dials Playhouse for bringing this brave new work to a sold out theatre.

 

Rob & Ian 

More information can be found at the HIVE NORTH website

 

Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (UK Tour) @ Regent, Stoke

 

 

It was great when it all began,  I was a regular Franky fan...

Our combined history with The Rocky Horror Show stretches back in Rob's case to his first live experience in 1983 (when Frank was the peerless Peter Straker) and Ian experienced his first Floor Show sometime around 2008..  Both of us devoted to Richard O'Brien's cult classic which had its first performance in 1973 at the tiny Royal Court Upstairs and a couple of years later was made into a movie which has since gone on to become one of the biggest cult movie franchises ever. 

If there is anyone out there unaware of the story,  the strange events take place in the 1950s when an all-American teenage couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, set out to visit their science tutor Dr. Everett Scott.  However, on the way their car gets a flat tyre and they are forced to seek help at a nearby castle.  That is the start of their undoing, for it is here they meet creepy servants Riff Raff, Columbia and Magenta.  They are under the spell of the Master of the house, Dr. Frank N. Furter,  alien transvestite and scientist. Brad and Janet have arrived on the night the Master is set to birth his new genetic experiment, the ultimate man - Rocky Horror.  But things take a grisly turn when biker Eddie escapes from the freezer where he has been made captive by Frank...

This homage to 1950s B-movies has captured the imagination of the world, there has been no major city where this incredible showcase of eccentrics has not played. Richard O'Brien's songs remain as fresh as the day they were minted,  and as an usherette begins proceedings proclaiming the greatness of the  "Science Fiction, Double Feature" we are taken into the recesses of O'Brien's mind where gender and sexuality are fluid and a jump to the left can alter time itself...  

                            The originals:  Tim Curry as Frank with Richard O'Brien (show creator) as Riff Raff, 1975

 

 Rose Tint My World

Over the years we have sporadically popped into productions of Rocky Horror, and in that time we have seen the show in many different productions and guises, until it fell into the hands of the Rocky Horror Company, set up by O'Brien and accolytes to licence and protect the brand.  This latest tour directed by Christopher Luscombe has been doing the rounds with a few touch ups, for about twenty years now.  It styles itself as 'a guaranteed party' and so the unique Rocky Horror experience begins...

The 2024/25 tour cast are a curates egg. Each playing their respective roles, but with little symmetry to those opposite.  Adam Strong's Frank leads the way, he's trying not to be Tim Curry but never really finds the genius degenerate core of the character, he does shine momentarily giving his 'I'm Going Home' though.  Lauren Chia and Connor Carson as Janet and Brad respectively look suitably bemused by the goings on most of the time,  I'm not sure if this is due to Brad and Janet's situation or the fact they are coming to terms with the contract they have signed. Job Greuter's Riff Raff is strangely passive,  no sense of the simmering resentment of O'Brien's original. Natasha Hoeberigs and Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli are more spirited as Frank's groupies Magenta and Columbia,  Zanoncelli particularly spits out fire to Frank when she has had enough of his excessive control. Guest narrator Jackie Clune shows her mettle as a stand up comic and writer delivering the Narrator's speeches with added adlib flourishes which had the audience warming to her from the off.  Kudos also to the pint sized Rocky, Morgan Jackson, who backflips, sings wonderfully and looks very pretty.  At the performance we saw, understudy Ryan Carter-Wilson stepped into dual roles, giving us a rock 'n' roll Eddie and for some reason a Glaswegian Dr. Scott.  But the production is such a hotpotch of performances, by that stage pretty much anything was accepted.

 

Rocky Horror has an identity crisis.  It's most unique feature - the growth of the audience participation - has become its biggest setback.  There is no doubt  O'Brien's script remains genius,  but the current production feels like a tired re-tread of a good idea two decades ago. And whilst the Rocky Horror Company might like to think it is looking after the shows interests, what it is really doing is making sure it generates money which is not quite the same thing. Director Christopher Luscombe has given his all in making this version of Rocky Horror, but it is done. Time to move on.  Back in 1973 as Britain emerged from the swinging Sixties into an ever greater social freedom, the events in The Rocky Horror Show had the power to thrill and shock.  We are in a much bleaker era now, and after a good long rest the show needs to be re-imagined as a darker, more dangerous creature, where Dr. Frank is not just a campy figure trotting out phrases for the audience to respond to, but a dangerous and intoxicating presence who is a genuine threat to our society. Its time for its audience to give it back to creativity, and let the show re-invent itself for the next fifty years.  

We'll be back in a few years to re-connect with something we love so much, in the hope that it has renewed itself enough to be a proud addition to the long legacy that Rocky Horror has earned.

Rob & Ian 

Tour details can be found at the ROCKY HORROR UK TOUR WEBSITE

Further listening:

The sky is the limit with recordings of Rocky Horror, albums are available in many different languages. We find ourselves listening to the 2001 Broadway cast recording rather a lot.  Its a great singalong on car journeys

although for a wild card you might like to check out the 2018 Icelandic production, which has a great energy to it.

Review: A KNIGHT'S TALE THE MUSICAL @ Opera House, Manchester

It came as a bit of a bolt from the blue, when we saw the announcement that A Knight's Tale was being presented as a musical. Given that the movie has rather large set pieces of medieval jousting,  this is not going to be the easiest of shows to stage. Based on the cult 2001 movie starring Heath Ledger and Paul Bettany,  Brian Helgeland's movie script has been adapted for the stage by Brona Titley and directed by Rachel Kavanaugh (responsible for the mostly excellent new Steps musical too).  

For those unfamiliar with the movie,  it centres on a jousting tournament at which squire William Thatcher impersonates his dead master Sir Ector, much to the concern of fellow squires Roland and Wat.  Buoyed by Thatcher's win,  they set off to enter more tournaments with William styling himself as the noble Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein.   Along the way they encounter  wordsmith and gambling addict (naked) Geoffrey Chaucer,  a flirty noblewoman Jocelyn and a decidedly rogueish Count Adhemar of  Anjou, who bests Thatcher in a joust but its the start of a simmering rivalry.

As this is a medival roadtrip with jousting set-pieces, it falls to set designer Tom Rogers to get around all the obvious problems with staging. This he does brilliantly (and no we are not going to reveal the tricks he uses).  Add the suitably medieval looking costumes by Gabriella Slade, and some stunning lighting by Howard Hudson and you have got yourself one seriously impressive vista.

The pivotal role of wannabe knight William is taken by Andrew Coshan,  he is dashing, has an amazing singing voice and is devilishly handsome with a twinkle. Perfect casting.  He is matched by Max Bennett as Geoffrey Chaucer, on the cusp of writing his 'Canterbury Tales' but for now happy to follow in the wake of the self styled Knight.  Bennett brings wit, and charm to the production, often being the conduit between the audience and the events on stage, as he talks directly to us. Whether naked or fully clothed, he gives a star performance. The ladies are not to be outdone either,  Meesha Turner is Princess Jocelyn with whom William can fall in love,  she is saucy and fiesty and won't be anybody's chattle.  William's squires Wat (Eva Scott, in a gender change from the film) and Roland (Emile Ruddock) circle the proceedings,  giving more humour to the evening.  Scott particularly delivers her punchlines with force, and when her romantic denouement is revealed, it is hardly a surprise.  Blacksmith Kate becomes a force of nature under the watch of Emily Benjamin,  she brings fire to the role (literally) and is a standout performance.  She has a wonderful set of pipes too.

Oliver Tompsett, rapidly becoming a West End legend, delivers once again as the odious Count Adhemar,  whether snarling at his rival, or singing a showstopper, Tompsett has that indefinable star quality that has seen his career flourish to great heights. Whilst not a huge role he manages to put his stamp firmly on Adhemar.  A word too for young Cristiano Cuino who portrayed 'young William' (on the night we saw the show anyway), a good solid performance from a future West End performer we'll wager.

 

Director Kavanaugh knows how to keep the pace going,  just as she did last year with Here & Now,  making this a romp in every sense.  Much has already been written about the eclectic nature of the score.  Naturally we get a burst of 'We Will Rock You' as admirers of the movie might expect,  but then it turns into NOW That's What We Call Random.  Take your pick from Chumbawumba,  The Proclaimers, Adele, A-ha. Bonnie Tyler, S Club 7, Ricky Martin... and so it goes on.  A few of the choices we may question,  but they are all staged wonderfully with enough energy to power the national grid.  It is infectious and as the evening went on, the audience warmed to the show massively.   We were all happy to get on our feet as the curtain call commenced,  a genuine admiration coming over from the 2000 people in attendence.

 

A Knight's Tale was always going to be problematic to adapt for the stage, but the creative team have for the most part got it spot on,  and this is yet another quality world premiere for Manchester on the back of & Juliet and Back To The Future.  And we have picked up a new verb: to 'Fong'.  We're looking forward to slipping that one into our conversations shortly.  In short, this is a Knight to remember. Joust fantastic.

 

Rob & Ian 

Further details can be found at the A KNIGHT'S TALE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

 

 

Review: MURIEL'S WEDDING @ Curve Theatre, Leicester (First preview)

 

The great ABBA revival of the 1990s was due to a number of factors, two of which were spectacularly successful movies from Australia. Both arrived in 1994 and featured ABBA as part of their soundtrack.  The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert has since gone on to became an LGBTQ+ legend, morphing itself into a hit stage musical across the globe. The other movie is perhaps the better watch all told,  the story of poor downtrodden Muriel Heslop from Porpoise Spit, Muriel's Wedding.  With a book by its original movie author P.J. Hogan, and all new songs courtesy of Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall,  the musical is being seen for the first time outside its native Australia where it premiered in 2017.  

Rachel Griffiths, Daniel Lapaine, Toni Collette and Bill Hunter in Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Muriel is the oldest daughter of Bill Heslop, local council senator and massive self publicist.  He's a bully, and frequently belittles his three children and timid wife Betty. Muriel dreams of a life outside her dysfunctional home, and loses herself in the music of ABBA dreaming that one day her life will be as good as 'Dancing Queen'. She is doggedly hanging on to a group of vile and shallow friends,who hate her, but its all she has got. She thinks she is part of the fashionable in-crowd. When her Dad sets her up with a sales rep job selling make-up,  Muriel sees her chance, taking the money he has given her for stock and instead following her wealthy girlfriends on a luxury cruise around the Indonesian islands.  Its here she bumps into former classmate Rhonda,  a no-nonsense fun time pal who helps Muriel realise her worth by ditching her circle of mean girls and hitching up with her for the holiday instead. Coming back home,  Muriel follows Rhonda to Sydney and sets up a new life, styling herself as Mariel. But are the dreams she has the reality she wants?  And when Rhonda finds that having fun is scuppered by illness, just what does the future hold for either of them?

Leicester Curve have teamed up with the original Australian producers Global Creatures to finally bring Muriel to the UK. And in doing so, they have taken the chance to update the show and give it a current flavour without damaging too much the expectations of the audience. Director Simon Phillips (who co-incidentally was also instrumental in bringing Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to the stage) helms the production, just as he did for the Sydney premiere. This is a revised production,  having had a number of musical songs replaced or moved around in the narrative, and an updated script by creator P.J. Hogan to incorporate the social media obsession. The songs of  Miller-Heidke and Nuttall contain enough ear worms to give Andrew Lloyd Webber the shits,  and when you also have a spate of songs by ABBA in the score, then you seriously have to up your game to compete.  'Sydney', an up beat homage to Australia's most inclusive city is a standout. But so is new song 'Ride Or Die', a song cementing Muriel and Rhonda's attitude to life. The composers find the beating heart of the characters whilst still painting the bigger picture of life in a provincial Australian backwater and onto the freedom of the big city. 

A new set by Matt Kinley for the British production gives us a circular frame in which to conjure up Muriel's world aided by a video screen with some great digital designs by Andrzej Goulding. The show looks fantastic, giving us the colours and vibrancy of modern Australia. Clearly a lot of money has been spent on this show, indicating that want it to have a life outside of Leicester.

 

 

The casting is first rate, none more so than Megan Ellis as Muriel. She immediately wins us over, the ultimate underdog, and her voice on songs like 'The Bouquet' is fantastic. She inhabits Muriel completely, making the character her own, tackling the ups and downs in her life head on.  "I am not nothing" she tells the horrible girls. Too true, you are something special girl. She is matched by the zesty performance of Annabel Marlow as rebel Rhonda Epinstall.  Together they make a fine stage pairing,  the fangirls who swoon over the Queens of Six are going to love these two.  

Elsewhere Darren Day channels a few of the late great Bill Hunter's mannerisms as the truly odious Bill Heslop, and Laura Medforth hangs around him being ineffectual and invisible as his downtrodden wife Betty, but she gets her moment to ABBA's 'S.O.S.' in a touching send off for the character. Speaking of ABBA, they appear like Swedish guardian angels throughout the show (emerging from cupboards, and manifesting as bridal shop dummies with their "Ya Ya" mock accents) urging Muriel forward. There are versions of seven ABBA songs in the show which is about right, any more would threaten to overwhelm the fine original music on offer. Helen Hill,  Lillie-Pearl Wildman,  Jasmine Peel and Daisy Twells deliver spot on vileness in the form of Porpoise Spit's beach bitches. Ethan Pascal Peters established himself as an audience favourite as geeky Brice Nobes, the would be suitor who fights for Muriel's affections only to have himself brushed aside in favour of a marriage of convenience to homophobic Russian swimmer Alexander Shkuratov, Stephen Masden providing eye candy in speedos.  His swimming coach Ken is all bluster and ambition, a nice performance from Chris Bennett.  As in the movie, the dynsfunctional Heslop sprogs are mostly hovering in the background but Jacob Warner, Joseph Peacock and Lena Pattie Jones convey nicely the world in which Muriel feels she is trapped, and of course Jones manages to get in THAT catchphrase on several occasions.

A top notch nine piece band (hidden from view) provide the production with its big sound,  this is at all levels a major theatrical event. By default (after a cancelled first performance) we found ourselves at the a British premiere. It is clear tweaks need to be made, ten minutes can be cut off the 2 hours 50 minutes running time without affecting the show, but that is what previews are for. Testing the water to see what is working, trimming and honing. The audience were on their feet at the curtain call and it was deserved,  the cast work incredibly hard to put the story over. However we felt a bit cheated when they quickly disappeared into the wings, a full on reprise of 'Sydney' so we could have a bop would have sent us home even happier.  Now Muriel has finally arrived in the UK, could a West End stopover be in the off-ing?  The signs are good. They may even have to alter the catchphrase to "You're not so terrible Muriel!"

Rob & Ian 

Further details of the production can be found at the official website of the musical which runs at the Curve, Leicester until 10th May 2025.

For musical theatre nerds, the song list of the new 2025 version:

 Further listening:

It can only be the original Sydney cast recording from 2017.  It even features a bonus pop remix of the show's anthem 'Sydney'. Fantastic performances especially from original stage Muriel Maggie McKenna, make this a fantastic showcase for the musical. Available to stream or download from the usual sources.