By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
WriteFest 2019 at the Progress Theatre. Image (c) Richard Brown
The Progress Theatre are staging their fourteenth annual WriteFest this week, featuring seven scintillating new short plays of dramatically contrasting genres, written, directed and performed by its multi-talented members.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
King Lear at Reading Abbey (2019). Photo (c) Richard Brown.
The prodigiously talented Progress Theatre Company are staging Shakespeare’s King Lear in the atmospheric surrounds of Reading Abbey this month. This harrowing tale of human folly is directed with shimmering insight by Dan Clarke, assisted by Louisa Cowell and Matt Urwin and produced by the inspirational Carole Brown.
‘The Last Abbot’ preview at the Reading Abbey, June 2019. Image (c) Reading between the Lines
The fabulous Reading Between the Lines (RBL) theatre company, led by Dani and Toby Davies, and fresh from their Cultural Award for Henry II, are embarking on another historical drama to further develop the cultural identity of Reading, in collaboration with second year history students. The Last Abbot, penned by prodigious playwright Beth Flintoff, examines the intriguing tale of Hugh Faringdon, the bloodily executed last abbot of our newly re-opened abbey… was he true or treacherous?
‘After the Rain’ by Calina Lefter
The fabulously creative Reading Guild of Artists (RGA), headed by the inspirational Carole Stephens, have collaborated with Reading University’s final year BA primary education with art specialism (QTS) students in an energised exhibition of extraordinary elan and artistic diversity.
Trinity Concert Band. Image (c) TCB
Last Saturday, on a glorious summer’s evening, the fabulous Trinity Concert Band raised the roof of the Michael Malnick Centre at Leighton Park with an evening of dazzling musical entertainment. The concert, under the supremely skilled baton of Paul Speed, celebrated the best of British, honouring the Queen’s birthday, with memorable musical highlights from every decade of her reign.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
‘Top Girls’ at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Aidan Moran
Progress Theatre are staging the exuberant Top Girls by acclaimed author Caryl Churchill this week. It is directed with passionate verve by Rebecca Moir and explores the timeless theme of female empowerment.
Ah, c’est Nigel des Livres, le poète.
A fabulously riotous evening was held at the the warmly welcoming Namaste Kitchen (formerly the Hook and Tackle pub) on Saturday 18 May to remember our much missed and totally brilliant friend and colleague, Matthew Farrall.
‘Tulips’ at South Hill Park, Bracknell
The Exit Pursued by Panda Theatre Company is performing the dark and thoughtful psychological drama Tulips until Saturday 18 May at Bracknell’s South Hill Park Arts Centre and at the Woodley Theatre from 25 until 29 June.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Gordon Bird as Elwood P Dowd in ‘Harvey’ at the Shinfield Players Theatre. Photo: Eilish Phillips
The Shinfield Players are staging the charming Harvey, written by Mary Coyle Chase and deftly directed by Maggie Smith. Members of the audience may remember the original version, a huge Broadway success, and the 1950 film version starring James Stewart as the amiable Elwood P Dowd.
By Brenda Sandilands and Gillie Tunley.
“Peter’s Wife” at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Aidan Moran
Reading’s Progress Theatre are staging two new plays as part of their Progress Premieres this month: Dan Clarke’s fascinatingly ambiguous Equivocators and the compelling Peter’s Wife, by Christine Moran.
By Gillian Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Photo (c) Lizzy Lam
The Shinfield Players Theatre are presenting John Buchan’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller The 39 Steps this week in a highly comedic adaptation by Patrick Barlow (from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon) involving four stellar actors playing over 130 roles in over 50 locations, phew!
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Nora (Tara O’Connor) and Torvald Helmer (Chris Pett)
Progress Theatre are staging Ibsen’s timeless classic, ‘A Doll’s House’, in a lovingly crafted production by Adrian Tang. It is a play about domestic revolution and a woman’s place in society and these powerful themes resonate still today.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
‘Jerusalem’ at the Progress Theatre. Photo courtesy of the Progress Theatre.
The inspired Progress Theatre Company are staging Jerusalem, the acclaimed and award-winning play by Jez Butterworth. Tautly directed by the insightful John Goodman, it is a savagely funny and anarchic masterpiece of life in our green and pleasant land whose themes of disaffection, poverty and homelessness resonate still now.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Blood and Ice at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Richard Brown
In the summer of 1816, a monster was born.
Reading Rep are staging the charming A New Coat for Christmas by Anna Glynn, directed by Owen Jenkins, with sprinklings of festive fizz and a magical musical score by Robin Colyer, directed with zest by Catriona Mackenzie. It is based on a true tale of finding friendship by Harriet Ziefert.
The accomplished Progress Youth Theatre are presenting their bold interpretation of the ancient Greek canon The Oresteia (ingeniously adapted and delicately directed by Rhys Lawton). Its themes of justice and gender equality still resonate today.
Liz Real and Martina Hildebrandt, eminent local artists, have combined their creative forces to present a fun and feisty exhibition of work at the Central Library’s HolyBrook gallery portraying eminent women of the area and also examining the compelling history of our prison.
‘Birdsong’ at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Richard Brown
We will remember them…
The Progress Theatre are performing Sebastian Faulks’ poignant Birdsong this week. Cleverly condensed for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff, this story of love and loss alternates between the war torn horror of 1916 and the tranquil peacetime of Amiens and is directed with great emotional insight by Steph Dewar.
By Gillie Tunley and Evelyn Williams.
Katori Hall‘s powerful play, the Olivier Award winning ‘The Mountaintop’, is being performed at Reading Rep this week, with dynamic direction by the JMK award winner Roy Alexander Weise.
By Gillie Tunley and Adam Harrington.
Mark Middleton as Henry II. Photo: Pieter Lawman Photography.
The theatre company Reading Between the Lines (RBL) present the final instalment of their Conquerors trilogy, Henry II, in the thrillingly atmospheric St Mary’s Minster, Reading, until Saturday October 27. It is the story of love and power; love between a husband and wife, a King and his former drinking buddy, and a Welsh monk and a beaver.
