Tezza's Theatre Place

You can get overwhelmed by the amount of Christmas themed shows currently in theatreland, so it’s quite nice when a venue decides not to mount a traditional style production for their festive offering. So, it was with great pleasure I headed off to the Jack Studio Theatre for  The Invisible Man . A mysterious stranger (Shaun Chambers) has arrived in the quiet English village of Iping and taken up residence in the Coach and Horses, presided over by Mrs Hall (Matthew Parker). The stranger, whose name is Griffin, is indeed mysterious. Muffled up with a broad brimmed hat, dark glasses and a ‘kerchief covering the lower part of his face, Griffin, is impatient to have his things brought up from the station. As he explains to Mrs Hall, Griffin is an experimental investigator, and his luggage contains equipment for his work. He also emphatically tells her that he does not like to be disturbed when he is working and that he had been in an accident that left his eyes weak and sensitive. ...

Cinderella: A Fairytale Well, it’s pantomime time once more and as excited youngsters head off to the traditional Christmas entertainment, not many of them will give thought to the history of this particular theatrical genre. I mention this, as one of the most popular pantos is also one of the oldest, dating back in one form or another to the story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo around 7 BC, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt. Over 2,000 years later, I found myself heading over to the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley for the latest version of the story as  Cinderella: A Fairytale  opens for the festive season. Now, this is no ordinary version of the classic story. Young Ella (Molly Byme) is a girl who spends as much of her time as possible in the woods round her house, communicating with the birds that live there, who have become her only friends since the death of her father. Her home life is not great thanks to her stepmother (B...

Radiant Vermin by Philip Ridley Getting on the housing ladder these days is no easy task. There are lots of schemes to help but in order to get that first rung on the ladder, many couples have to compromise their wishes to get something. One plan is to buy a property that needs renovating. The idea being, get it cheap, spend a couple of years with the old DIY manual then sell it on for a fortune. This is great plan unless you are someone like me who is to DIY what Liberace was to subtlety, in which case you might need a helping hand and in Philip Ridley’s  Radiant Vermin  at the Brockley Jack, that help comes in the strangest way possible. Ollie (Matthew John Wright) and Jill (Laura Janes) have both good news and a problem. The good news is that they are expecting their first child. The problem is that they are living in a poky flat on an exceptionally bad estate – where drug dealing and suicide (even in the same family) are the norm – and there seems little chance o...

I enjoy writing, but I’m certain nothing I write will ever change the world, and that’s probably true of most writers. However, in 1897, a certain Irish author by the name of Bram Stocker wrote a book that not only changed the world but also set the standard for every book, play, radio show, film, etc that followed. The book was, of course  Dracula and 121 years after first being published a new version of the play has arrived at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley. I’m assuming that most people will know the basic story but just in case you don’t here’s a quick synopsis. Newly qualified solicitor Jonathan Harker (Conor Moss) is on his travels. As he goes he writes to his fiance Mina Murray (Beatrice Vincent) telling her of what he has seen and how much he is looking forward to arriving in Transylvania where he will be meeting his client, Count Dracula (Christopher Tester). Back in England, Mina excitedly shares news of Jonathan’s travels with her best friend Lucy Ioannou (Lu...

The Night Alive Have you ever been banjaxed? I first heard that word a good many years ago when Terry Wogan used it in his radio show. It’s a good Irish word meaning among other things confounded. The reason I mention this is because I was left feeling banjaxed after seeing Conor McPherson’s The Night Alive at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley Tommy (David Cox) is in his early fifties. He is a bit of a jack-the-lad but he is also lonely. He is estranged from his wife and kids and is currently living in a little room in the house owned by his uncle Maurice (Dan Armour). Tommy doesn’t really work in the conventional sense of the word. He has a van and, with the help of his friend Doc (Eoin Lynch), he makes some sort of living doing odd jobs and moving things for people. Doc and Tommy rub along just fine until one night when Tommy rescues a young girl called Aimee (Bethan Boxall) from being beaten and takes her home, which like Tommy himself, may not be much to look at but is at lea...

Kes at Jack Studio Theatre Back in my school days, I, along with everyone else had to read a book called ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ by Barry Hines. At the time, I thought it was an okay book, but I didn’t really think too much about it. The book was made into a film by Ken Loach in 1969 and finally a play by Robert Alan Evans which is currently being presented at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley. A middle-aged man (Rob Pomfret) is troubled. images, sounds and memories are racing through his mind, taking him back to his childhood, in a northern mining town in the late 1960s. We travel back in time with him to a milestone day in his younger life when he was plain Billy Casper (Simon Stallard) a fifteen-year-old boy from a working-class home, with a brother down the mines, a flighty mother and an absent father. By any standards, Billy’s life is pretty bleak. School is horrendous for the young lad, and there is little to look forward to when he leaves and faces a future, like so many ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197791/review-red-squash-theatres-stuffed-brockley-jack-theatre/ I think there was a day, a long, long time ago, when I really wanted children. A youngster or two to look up to me, trust my judgement, call me Dad and support me in my old age. Luckily for me, and the world,, someone opened a bottle of wine, and the moment passed, never to return. So, no, I’m not keen to be a father but some people really do want a child of their own. Fortunately, if the standard method – kids ask your parents – doesn’t work, then there are a range of options available. Welcome to the world of Red Squash Theatre’s  Stuffed  at the Brockley Jack. Kim (Faye Maughan) and partner Jack (Ben Scheck) want a baby. Kim is forty and, as people are wont to say, the biological clock is ticking. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, the couple have found lots of advice on how to improve their chances of conceiving, such as drinking special teas or Kim spending a per...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/196211/review-the-tempest-brockley-jack-studio-theatre/ The Tempest at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre Cole Porter famously wrote “ Brush up your Shakespeare, Start quoting him now, Brush up your Shakespeare, And the women you will wow ” nice words but for the Controlled Chaos Theatre Company fairly pointless as they present their all-female version of William Shakespeare’s  The Tempest  at the Brockley Jack. I’m sure you know the basics of the story. Prospero (Jo Bartlett), rightful Duke of Milan, and his daughter, Miranda (Michelle Pittoni), have been stranded for twelve years on an island after Prospero’s brother Antonio (Shereener Browne) – aided by Alonso, the King of Naples (Orla Sanders) – deposed him and set him adrift. Gonzalo (Alma Reising), Prospero’s friend and the King’s counselor, had secretly supplied their boat with the essentials of life, including some of Prospero’s prize books. On the island, Prospero has caused his ...

https://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/the-importance-of-being-earnest-brockley-jack-studio-theatre/ The Importance of Being Earnest Shakespeare’s plays are very flexible. They can be set in pretty much any time and location and they will still on the whole work. Other writers are not so lucky and are really fixed in time and space. Agatha Christie and Oscar Wilde are two authors that come to mind in this instance. And this theory of mine was borne out with a visit to the Brockley Jack Studio to see  The Importance of Being Earnest . It’s nearly time for tea and butler Lane (Daniel Desiano-Plummer) is setting out the cucumber sandwiches and bread & butter. His master Algernon Moncrieff (Daniel Hall) is expecting guests for tea and wants everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, before they arrive, Algernon gets a visit from his good friend Earnest Worthing (Riley Jones). Normally a welcome distraction in Algernon’s life, Earnest could not have arrived at a...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178307/review-of-lazarus-theatre-companys-the-taming-of-the-shrew/ Lazarus Theatre Company’s The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare wrote his many plays, sonnets, etc over 400 years ago, when times were very different. Should his work, therefore, be judged against current standards of morality and political correctness? Well, probably not but I have a confession to make. There is one Shakespeare play that I have assiduously avoided. This is mainly because I have thought that no matter how the text is treated, the basic premise of the play will always be wrong from every standpoint and, rather than be entertained, I will end up incensed by the production. However, I was recently persuaded to give it a go and so headed to the Jack Studio Theatre to see Lazarus Theatre Company’s production of  The Taming of the Shrew . The production starts before it starts and, there is a great deal going on as the audience take their seats, so it is definitely w...

http://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/review-handbagged-brockley-jack-theatre/ Ever wanted to be The Queen? not a Queen but The Queen? It can’t be a bad life really. You get to travel around for free, everyone does whatever you tell them and it’s a job for life. Of course, there are snakes as well as ladders in the monarchy game. As Queen you have no actual power, can’t vote and every Tuesday you have to spend some time with the current Prime Minister – someone you may not personally like or respect – and listen to them whitter on about how great things are. In the UK, for an eleven year period, the roles of Monarch and Prime Minister were both held by women. Nobody knows what passed between them at their weekly meetings, but playwright Moira Buffini has come up with some ideas and her award-winning play  Handbagged , currently running at the Jack Studio Theatre, is the fruition of her thoughts. Unusually for a play about the monarch and her PM,  Handb...

http://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/crime-and-punishment-brockley-jack-studio-theatre-review/ When you consider the vast wealth of literature available in the world, you sometimes have to wonder why playwrights decide that certain books should be turned into a piece of theatrical entertainment. For example, imagine taking a novel with around twenty-two listed characters and which the author originally divided into six distinct parts with an epilogue and then distilling all of this down to a ninety-minute one-act play three actors. Personally, I would have given up within the first five minutes. However, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus have more fortitude than me and so, they gave the treatment to Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s 1866 novel  Crime and Punishment  and the result of their work can be seen at Brockley’s famous Jack Studio Theatre The play starts with two men in an office. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, (Christopher Tester) is a young man who, going ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/156215/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-brockley-jack-studio-theatre/ For many families, Christmas means that along with decorations, presents, too much food and the Dr Who Christmas special, there is the annual trip to the theatre to see a well-known face appearing in one of the many pantomimes currently in theatres up and down the country. That’s all well and good but, if you fancy taking your family to something a little different this festive season, then I would definitely recommend you head off to the Jack Studio Theatre and go and see their Christmas offering  The Hound of the Baskervilles . If you don’t know the story, the  The Hound of the Baskervilles  concerns the curse of the Baskerville family which appears ready to work its evil way on Sir Henry Baskerville (Andrew Fitch) unless there is some skillful detective work by Mr Sherlock Holmes (Joey Bartram) and his erstwhile companion and assistant Doctor John Watson (Adam El...