INDUSTRY REVIEWS OF OUR PRODUCTIONS
'Sunday Supplement' THE STAGE review 2004
Here in Practical Productions’ Sunday Supplement', the contents of the increasingly weighty magazines are picked apart and put under the imaginative, if erratic, scrutiny of no less than 12 actors in the compact Barons Court Theatre. Like the often padded-out publications they lampoon, there is plenty to get through in the show’s two hours and the range of characters and subjects tackled is impressive - everything from the artificial world of an It girl (Olivia Hemingway) to the very real one of coping with cancer, in a scene featuring Marlies Huebner. Andrew Catlow, as Lexy, clearly drew the longest straw during casting as he is the narrator, tucked up in his duvet and cueing up each story as he wades through his paper. Like the actual experience of flicking through your average Sunday paper, if you are not hooked by one storyline, you don’t have to wait long for the next and there are several priceless moments, as the mood swings swiftly from the frivolity of human existence to the darker side and back again.
Sally Hadfield making her professional stage debut correctly underplays a transsexual, and with a performance of that level, I think we will be seeing a lots from her over the next few years, a casting directors dream. Paul Beckham is outstanding as Danny - one of Soho’s so-called ‘lost boys’, forced to do tricks for male punters to pay for a drug habit - while Simon Brencher brings a marvellous mischievousness to each of his roles, notaby as ‘geeza’ Kev laying down some dating rules. As a hospital DJ out-rapped by an 82-year-old caller, Joe Agyeman is also hugely entertaining - he is training to be full-time stand-up and on this all too brief showing, has real comic potential.
Full Credit to the director, Erin Wheeler, who through subtle use of lights and impressive sound, has taken this complex piece of writing and theatre and given it pace and punch.
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'Joy Division' & 'The Bridge' - REMOTEGOAT review 2008
| "Relevant & Powerful Denford Drama" **** by Tenille Wong |
A double bill is always an exciting, if daunting, prospect. Am I going to get two plays each following a similar idea reworked with characters suffering similar fates with only the geography to differentiate? Well fear not, the pairing of Harry Denford's The Bridge & Joy Division couldn't be more contrasting.
Just looking at Harry's rap sheet you immediately realise that this man is no one-trick pony. His body of work which includes acting, stand up comedy, writing & directing clearly shows we are dealing with a man who is complex, diverse and not afraid of a challenge.
First up is The Bridge. The story of one bridge & two jumpers, each trying to persuade the other to leave so they can get it over with in peace. When an enthusiastic traffic cop is thrown into the mix a curious twist ensues.
Director Tim Macavoy is brilliant as the instantly likeable obsessive male bridge jumper. This is a fun light-hearted comedy with neurotic characters I think we can all relate to in some way.
Our second Harry helping is Joy Division. A magnificent all-female cast brings to life this sensitively written yet powerful & confronting portrayal of life for female sex slaves in a forced labour camp in Nazi Germany. The narrator, brilliantly played by Rosalie Jorda, immediately engages the audience as she recalls her time spent at one of these camps. We are then taken back to that time and place and are drawn in by believable characters all striving for survival. It soon becomes clear that although connected by the same situation, each woman's idea of survival is different, defined by her personal beliefs, her fears and her natural human instincts. I find myself thinking 'Is the greater power in submitting to your situation and manipulating it to your advantage or standing by what you believe in no matter the cost?'
As the play draws to a close, our narrator brings us forward with a glimpse of today's reality and I am left wondering just how far it is we have come as humans in the past sixty years.
As I make my way out into the night I feel I have had an evening of well-balanced theatre - a light fluffy starter, a heavy yet nutritious main finished off with a doggy bag of food for thought.
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'CLUB CLASS' - Bracknell Times review 2005
CLASS ACT TAKES OFF WITH CABIN CREW
Review by Laura Kinsale - ‘Club Class’ - South Park Arts Centre, Bracknell July 2005
Some would argue that air travel is a dour affair, with its cramped seating, dodgy food and awful in-flight movies. For playwright Harry Denford, however, the business of flying is a comedy gold mine. Denford, a former commercial airline pilot, has mined the minutiae of life as a cabin crew member for his latest play, ‘Club Class’. The play follows four stewards and stewardesses on a charter flight to Portugal and is performed in the Brecht style, which embraces minimal staging to allow the story to leap from location to location with the actors playing multiple roles from pilots to baggage handlers.
The ‘set’ is simply two chairs that represents numerous objects and places and the cast - including stand up comic Dan Thomas who excels in numerous roles within this production along with fellow cast members Simon Brencher, Catherine Adams and Melissa Jones. Denford himself play the narrator and distances himself somewhat from the action as per this style of theatre, although makes a qick cameo appearance as a 'chav' in a very funny set piece about him being on the the wrong flight to Benidorm. This style of theatre does rely heavily on sound effects and lighting and atmosphere and choice music is used throughout to help with the seamless scene transfers.
This Brecht theatre style worked well within the venue, a converted basement bar usually used for stand up comedy and live music at the South Hill Park Arts Centre. This venue will soon also see Godber’s ‘Bouncers’ performed by a separate theatre company there, and I mention ‘Bouncers’ as ‘Club Class’ follows the same format as its more famous brother, but there similarities end. ‘Club Class’ stands alone and one would think with this level of writing and energy, ‘Club Class’ will in a few years be as popular a play to perform as Godbers ‘Bouncers’. I also find this style more enjoyable for the audience, because they’re able to become more involved in the production than with “drawing room-style” theatre, which keeps viewers at arm’s length. It’s interactive but not so much so that the audience are intimidated. In fact the interaction starts as the audience take their seats and are served drinks and sweets by the trolley dollies.
’Club Class’ is populated with over-the-top characters with real-life alter egos. The four main characters are cabin crew and with this style of theatre means they must be played in a truthful and naturalistic manner, and so by making these four so natural, everyone else they play can be cartoon-like and caricatured. The audience has to be able to say, ‘Okay, the person who was playing an Australian cabin crew member is now playing a Scouse baggage handler’. Otherwise, it can get quite confusing for the audience. However slick direction and obvious character changes make following such a complicated theatre piece easy on the audience. The two cabin crew trainers, played by Jones and Adams for example, are completely grotesque and over-the-top. They just insult anybody who’s not perfect and pretty and then simply snap back into the two cabin crew the trainers are referring to.
The play has a longer first half then second half, and the pace changes somewhat in the latter, as more drama enters the plot line. Much of the second half is back story and leaves the confines of the aircraft and like any good drama, earlier unrelated scenes start to piece together. The strongest cabin crew characters for me were Cindy who obviously shouldn’t be flying after a death of a close friend and slowly her state of mind starts to impact on the flight and MJ who we slowly see as a user and correctly underplayed to perfection by Melissa Jones. The two male cabin crew are less obvious in their personal traits and still somewhat cartoon like in overall campness. Although some of the best lines were given by the boys in full camp mode including the wonderful line when referring to a gay fellow steward ‘He couldn’t spot a plane full of Judy Garland fan club members on a flight to a Soft Cell concert’ Certain aspects didn’t fit well with the silliness of the piece such as a sexual assault on MJ by her step dad, and as such came as a shock to us all. However the strength of the writing and the crafted performance of Jones as M, meant that seconds after such a scene, we were in stitches again as the baggage handlers from hell arrived and provided plenty of laughs.
The play is on a national tour before coming to London at end of July. My advice is get a ticket now and don’t miss the flight! - July 2005
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth
6:12pm Friday 5th March 2010
By Ray O'Luby BOURNEMOUTH ECHO
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Practical Productions, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth WHAT’S in a dream? Simply the Bard’s spellbinding genius.
Shakespeare’s comedy of thwarted young lovers, mischievous forest spirits and earnest but hilarious amateur actors is always warmly welcomed, whatever the season.
With an enchanted woods backdrop, this company fully captures the play’s humour and proves that the human ability to make fools of ourselves never changes.
Jennifer Healey and Matthew Giffen are the absconding lovers, Hermia and Lysander; Christopher Slater is the pursuing jilted Demetrius, pursued in turn by a foolishly forlorn Helena, delightfully played by Katie Anna Whiting.
Vince Tycer plays the Fairy King, Oberon, dressed as an American general (well, it is a dream), Cheska Moon is Titania and Blake Askew the tireless, ready-for-anything Puck.
But it’s the immortal Pyramus and Thisbe players that provide the best laughs. Will Timbers is the wonderful unscary lion, Tony Marrese a particularly thick brick wall; Tim MacAvoy is a splendidly far-from-fair Thisbe while Harry Denford as the pretentious Bottom, who goes from a complete ass to make a tragic “tears of laughter” death as Pyramus, tops the lot just brilliantly. A very perfect night from an ideal dream team.
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http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk
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CLUB CLASS - South London Press Review 2007 when it played in Greenwich
THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN SENT BY THE DIRECTOR OF BRITAINS BIGGEST THEATRE CLUB WHO HAD MEMBERS ATTEND OUR SHOW AT EAST GRINSTEAD
“The atmosphere was amazing, and people seemed to love it! I certainly did! From the very beginning, the actors really make it seem like you’re boarding a plane – from welcoming you onboard to offering food and drink, and it was amazing that they stayed in character even through the breaks! It was also quite neat to have the actors wandering about in the bar area during breaks in character, and also having others directing you back onboard and such when the break was over.
The performance was amazing! It was hilariously funny, the actors were constantly in character, and it was just a really wonderful experience!
Yes, I would definitely recommend it to friends!
To say the least, this performance certainly exceeded my expectations and the actors outdid themselves!!! They did a fabulous job – the show was put together very well, and I would love to see more performances like this in the future!”
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“I think it was pretty much full.
There was a good atmosphere, there was good audience participation and I think everyone had fun and enjoyed it.
The performance was really good, the actors were enthusiastic and lively and they made the characters likeable and fun.
I would recommend it to a friend. But I would advise them not to sit in the front row - poor Man!!!!!!
The Pre-show interaction and nibbles by the 'cabin crew' were a nice touch along with the airport audio sounds. Well done. The cast must have been exhausted by the end.”
