By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands
Our cultural journey began at the elegant Barn in Upper Redlands Road and we admired Joy Frey’s gloriously vibrant handmade original prints and Ursula Waechter’s gorgeous brush-decorated earthenware, so reminiscent of the classic and well-loved Aldermaston pottery. We also enjoyed watching the resident hens scuttling joyously over the velvet green lawn!
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Happy Jack at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Richard Brown, courtesy of the Progress Theatre.
Progress Theatre are staging Happy Jack, John Godber’s timeless and touching tale (inspired by his own grandparents) of a couple in mining Yorkshire, where coal is king.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Photo (c) Aidan Moran, Progress Theatre.
This week the inspirational Progress Theatre are staging two original plays which examine the troubled world of mental health.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Alison Hill as ‘Kay’ in ‘Little Gem’ at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Richard Brown.
The Progress Theatre are performing Elaine Murphy’s tenderly crafted Little Gem next week. Steph Dewar’s warmly funny and moving production, intimately staged, employs seamlessly interwoven monologues that are delivered by three generations of working-class Irish women.
By Gillie Tunley and Matthew Farrall.
‘A Clockwork Orange’ at the Progress Theatre. Photo (c) Richard Brown
The fabulous Progress Theatre Company take us on a dystopian romp in their latest production of A Clockwork Orange, based on Anthony Burgess‘s cult novel and tautly directed by Matt Tully.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Nanny Ogg (Liz Carroll) and Granny Weatherwax (Melanie Sherwood) in ‘Maskerade’. Photo (c) Aidan Moran
The Progress Theatre are staging the late-lamented Terry Pratchett‘s Maskerade this week, a Discworld play full of mystery, murder and musical mayhem. Chris Moran’s production fizzes with delicious lunacy – opera has never been such fun!
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
The Picture of Dorian Gray. Photo (c) Richard Brown
The Progress Youth Theatre staged a winning and witty production of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Progress Theatre, Reading this week. It was skilfully adapted and slickly directed by Ali and Liz Carroll and engagingly performed by a mercurial cast of six, who slipped effortlessly between characters with the help of imaginative headwear and accessories, draped around the atmospheric set.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
Elisse Power, Alex McCubbin and Charlie West. Photo (c) Richard Brown
The Progress Theatre serves a slice of small-town America in the charmingly offbeat Buddy Cop 2 from the Debate Society of Brooklyn (Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen) and delightfully directed by the insightful Dan Clarke.
O joy, I’ve just discovered the divinely glitzy New Fashion ladies shop at 94 Whitley Street in Reading.
A Little Nibble. Photo (c) Richard Brown courtesy of the Progress Theatre
The Progress Theatre are presenting a sumptuous smorgasbord of superb drama this week in their 12th Annual Writefest, showcasing the best of local writing in six short plays.
Rob Rose (right)
Mick Jagger was not the only musical luminary to grace Milman Road. Musician Rob Rose, who died in 2014, lived on the road from 2012.
Having recently inhabited the delightful world of Toad, Rattie, Mole and various other riverside creatures in Progress Theatre’s enchanting production of Wind in the Willows, I pondered on how much they would’ve enjoyed messing about on the River Thames in one of these sleek boats at Henley’s Thames Traditional Boat Festival.
Darvulia (Hanna Rohtla)
The dynamic Attila Theatre Company presented their latest show Skin Deep, written by Lee Anderson and powerfully directed by Ailin Conant and Christopher Montague, at the Penta Hotel in Reading this July as part of the exciting Reading Fringe Festival.
We attended a very special launch of the Reading Fringe Festival in the glamorous Dome at Station Hill on the night of Tuesday 18 July.
By Brenda Sandilands and Gillie Tunley.
The Progress Theatre presents a captivating production of Kenneth Grahame’s timeless The Wind in the Willows this week, in the enchanting setting of Caversham Court Gardens alongside the tranquil Thames.
By Gillie Tunley and Brenda Sandilands.
The Progress Theatre’s latest production is Harold Pinter’s 1978 classic, Betrayal, which is famously based on Pinter’s real-life affair with BBC television presenter Joan Bakewell. In this play, he uses clever reverse chronology to explore the complex theme of betrayal.
The author Philip Meeks has had a lifelong obsession with Agatha Christie and was inspired by the idea of turning Agatha Christie sleuth to uncover Margaret Rutherford’s dark secret. His sensitive and witty script is laced with intrigue and delightful humour.
Hindu Temple
Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, commemorates the victory of good, peace and love over evil. It also heralds the bright arrival of spring after a dull winter, and on Saturday 18 March the Hindu Temple in Whitley Street burst with joyful colour as children in richly bejewelled costumes performed music and dance to an enthralled audience.
The talented Progress Theatre Company are presenting Steve Thompson’s vastly entertaining No Naughty Bits from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 January. The play centres on the controversial legal battle in 1975 between the Monty Python team and a US television network over the latter’s censorious editing of the comedy series.
