Shirley Valentine

Milton Keynes Theatre 27th March - 1st April 2017

Shirley is a Liverpool housewife.  Her kids have flown the nest and now her life consists of lugging shopping bags home in the rain, cooking dinner for her husband...and talking to the wall in her kitchen.

Where has her life gone? Where has that carefree, wild Shirley Valentine gone?  Is she just plain old Shirley Bradshaw now? What has she got left to look forward to?  These are all questions she asks the wall on a daily basis!

Then, out of the blue, her best friend offers her a trip to Greece for two weeks.  Shirley is torn...should she go? How can she? Would her husband even notice?  Secretly she packs her bags in readiness to head to the sun...

When she gets there, she discovers something very unexpected, she finds and falls in love with herself - Shirley Valentine.

Willy Russell's heart-warming comedy made famous by Pauline Collins, now enjoying its 30th anniversary, stars Jodie Prenger in the first revival of this wonderful story.

BBC TV's "I'd Do Anything" winner Jodie Prenger gives an absolutely fantastic performance as the bored housewife.  Her clever and well timed delivery was superb, you almost forget she is on the stage on her own throughout the production!

The kitchen set in the first act is the perfect setting for cooking "chips and eggs" (even though it's a Thursday and on a Thursday it just has to be steak and chips...however, this particular Thursday the steak was fed to a neighbours dog!)

The second act the stage is transformed into a Greek shore (although this was a little disappointing with what looked like huge plastic mounds for rocks and a wrinkled aqua marine backdrop for sea and sky.)

Saying that, it did not detract from the brilliance of Prenger's ability to hold the audience in the palm of her hand.

Jodie Prenger's portrayal of not only Shirley, but the other characters she 'interacts' with whilst telling her story was absolutely brilliant.  Prenger was definitely deserving of the standing ovation she received.

There are lots of laughs to be had in this delightful comedy - a great evenings entertainment.

Enjoy!

Lily B x

Tickets are on sale now!  Book at Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office, call 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee) or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes  (bkg fee)

WNO - Madam Butterfly
Milton Keynes Theatre 24th - 25th March 2017

"Joachim Herz’s Madam Butterfly has been with us for over three decades and with good reason. It’s a classic, traditional staging of this much-loved opera.

While being completely faithful to the composer’s intentions it also critiques imperialism to powerful effect. Each scene looks like a sepia photograph through which we glimpse a vanished world".

Tickets are on sale now!  Book at Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office, call 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee) or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes  (bkg fee)

Fantastic Mr Fox

Milton Keynes Theatre 7th - 11th March 2017

This brand new musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox is family fun at its best. 

"A juicy tale of greed, pride and the power of friendship, a dahlicious theatrical feast with live music and songs and gloriumptious designs. A wondercrump treat for the whole family! Boggis, Bunce and Bean, three greedy, smelly, horrid farmers hate the cunning Mr Fox... no-one outfoxes a fox!"

Mr Fox is smart, clever and rather fantastic, but he doesn’t realise how determined the farmers are to get revenge. Can he hatch a plan to save his family and friends? Can they outrun the diggers and outsmart the farmers? And can Rabbit shut up long enough not to give the game away?

There is a very apt grisly beginning to the show, where a little bird meets a very sad end (it gets shot!)- it’s very evident from the start that Sam Halcroft’s adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox is not afraid to tackle the more grim themes from the book. 

The story follows the tale of the fantastic Fox, who constantly outwits a trio of greedy farmers. Mr Fox, a big-hearted rascal, each night steals food from three greedy and repulsive farmers in the valley - Boggis, Bunce and Bean. 

Each night he takes the stolen food back, not only to his wife and little kit but all his furry forest friends too.  Sharing the spoils and his exciting tales nightly amongst them all...until he manages to get his bushy tail shot off by the disgruntled farmers! Mr Fox has to learn a sharp lesson about working as a team and not fantastically on his own.

The cast are brilliant at making every character distinctive, and the doubling up works really well. The costumes were a bit of a surprise but still very clever, using sports-wear inspired representations of each animal, from Rabbit’s skin tight leotard, to Fox’s brightly coloured tracksuit. 

 

The set is cleverly designed and very well utilised, it takes you from Mr and Mrs Fox's den to the farmer's food stores and much more. The energetic cast (who seem to be having lots of fun) do a lot of running, jumping and shouting all over it. 

The vibrantly colourful props are cartoon like versions of the real thing and are a definite winner with the little ones in the audience.  I particularly loved the comedy rubber chickens to show that we were inside Boggis’ farm... 

The entire cast are filled with infectious enthusiasm and makes this a really enjoyable production. Fantastic Mr Fox is a show for all the family...it's fantastic fun!

Enjoy!

Lily B X