House of Ghosts - Altrincham Garrick


It’s a mystery - Morse and Lewis played by Jonathan Black and Andrew Higson

WHEN I discovered John Thaw was to play another TV detective I expected him to be something like Jack Regan, who I idolised as a child when I sat glued to The Sweeney in the 70’s.

This was a man straight out of the boot in the door and ask questions later school of policing. But Inspector Morse was a world away from the much loved maverick from the Flying Squad, cultured, considered, cerebral and with a deep seated love of classical music.

It takes a lot of guts and no amount of talent to play a character so inextricably linked with an acting icon like Thaw. But Jonathan Black certainly succeeds here and doesn’t try to impersonate the late stage and screen great.

Black has quite a presence and the way he reprimands his sidekick Sergeant Lewis for his verbal faux pas is genuinely funny. Andrew Higson plays the part perfectly and the chemistry between the two very different men certainly comes across.

The duo are asked to investigate the dubious death of a young actress playing Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. All of a sudden the company finds itself embroiled in a real life tragedy as fingers of suspicion are pointed and cupboards release their skeletons.

I’ve seen Sarat Broughton in countless productions at the Garrick and her performance as Ellen Underwood is her best yet and Jacque Hamilton also impressed me as the old soak actress Verity Carr, an actress who has been there, done it and bought enough t-shirts to open her own t-shirt shop.

My only criticism of Alma Cullen’s play is it is something of a slow burner in places. But this in an engrossing and intriguing tale all the same.

Who can resist the chance to play detective?

Until May 28. Tickets are available from 0161 928 1677 or www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk. Star rating - 3.5/5.

Photo - Martin Ogden

Ross and Rachel - Lauriston Studio


ONE lady in the audience she was in tears by the time Fiona Primrose was bowing to the audience at the end of the evening.

While this deeply unusual piece of theatre didn’t have me reaching for my handkerchief, it certainly takes us on an emotional journey.

Ross and Rachel isn’t a case of love hurts. More a case of it should come with a Government health warning.

This engrossing single hander may be inspired by the off and on romance of their namesakes from the TV show Friends, but that’s where the comparisons well and truly end.

If you turn up to the Lauriston expect a night of cosy camaraderie and witty jokes that were a hallmark of the hugely popular 90’s sitcom, you’ll be disappointed.

This is an evening of raw emotion, from jealousy to devotion or rather taking devotion to whole new depths.

Fiona Primrose plays both characters and her gender swapping is as effortless as it is engaging. While in character she has a few sips of wine but she certainly deserves a glass or two of the real thing afterwards for putting so much into roles that are anything but carbon copies of their small screen namesakes.

How frustrating then, for both her and her director Carole Carr, for there to be just 12 of us in Altrincham Garrick’s fabulous little studio space on Wednesday night to watch a play she’s evidently nurtured with so much love and care.

But I’ve often found that to be the case as a reviewer, with certain people shying away from plays and shows they’re not quite sure of.

Ross and Rachel is very different, absorbing to the point of being hypnotic and well worth the ticket money.

Enjoy this piece of top quality, brilliantly acted theatre.

Until May 22. The box office is on 0161 928 1677. Star rating - ****

Photo - Martin Ogden

Jumpers for Goalposts - Altrincham Garrick


Team spirit - Jumpers for Goalposts

JUMPERS For Goalposts will, on the evidence of Monday night’s performance, attract a different, younger audience.

For far too many years Altrincham Garrick has been seen as a safe night out for older people and the appointment of artistic director Joseph Meighan, a dynamic and adventurous twenty something, is about to change that misguided perception.

A quiet revolution is taking place on Barrington Road and it feels so exciting and exhilarating to be part of it.

But this theatre isn’t working hard to get the message across that the Garrick is a is a theatre for everybody. All power to their elbow, say I.

Jumpers for Goalposts follow the misfortunes of Barely Athletic, a five-a-side team largely made up of gay men who struggle with the basics of the beautiful game.

This doesn’t stop Viv, their straight talking coach with a very short fuse, encouraging her clueless charges to try to win the league in which they play.

It’s certainly a league with a difference – one team plays in drag!

The play takes place in the club’s dressing room, an ideal backdrop for writer Tom Wells to delve into the private lives of the players, including a burgeoning relationship between Danny and Luke.

Danny carries a secret that he feels unable to share with the child like Luke, a lovable geek and a study in social awkwardness.

Joe Meighan, who directs this engaging, absorbing and heart-warming comedy must have thought all his birthdays had come at once when Dan Ellis and Mason Lockwood turned up to audition for these roles.

If anyone was ever born to play these parts it’s these two actors and Lockwood, who gets the funniest lines as Luke, displays a sense of comic timing that is simply second to none.

Beverley Stuart-Cole is highly believable as Viv, Sebastian Farrell is also enjoyable as the team’s token straight man Joe, aka the keeper who couldn’t catch a cold and Lewis Sewell is perfect as the crackpot Beardy Geoff.

Throughout the production the cast convinces the audience they’re watching a real football team, complete with the personality clashes you find in all organisations, sporting or otherwise.

They say football is a game of two halves and that old adage can certainly be applied to Jumpers for Goalposts, with the best one liners saved for the second half.

While this play contains some strong language it’s in context and gives the play a realistic feel. It’s sure to strike a chord with anyone whose set foot inside a sports club’s dressing room while not alienating those who haven’t.

Great fun, with a dash of poignancy thrown in.

Until May 14. Tickets are available from 0161 928 1677. Star rating - ****

In aid of The George House Trust.

Photo - Martin Ogden

George's Marvellous Medicine - Altrincham Garrick


WHILE I’m not one of those irritating people who witter on about ‘the good old days’, it was really refreshing to see children completely immersed in a form of entertainment that wasn’t screen based.

And big kids like me enjoyed it, too.

I been reviewing theatre for 30 years and this was the first time I’d ever seen - well, I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you.

This production is also a triumph for the director/designer Sean Duvall for has designed a set that smacks of fairytale charm and a talented team of puppeteers who successfully transport the audience to a world in which anything is possible.

Poor George - played by an engaging Andy Withers - has his school holiday ruined when his grouchy old grandma comes to stay at his family’s farm.

She really is a grump, snarling her orders at George and his oh so patient parents, played by Michael Gallagher and Christine Perry.

Withers is an engaging and likeable George and instantly won over the youngsters in the audience as he hatches a plan to put the old battle axe well and truly in her place.

The panto season may be eight months away but this show has that well known staple ingredient of the panto. Audience participation.

But take comfort folks - the jokes are an awful lot better.

Hannah Collman, far, far, far younger than the role she is playing, is really good value as Grandma, perfectly capturing her mannerisms and with a voice that could, quite easily, curdle milk.

The world may be a bad place at the moment so what better than 90 minutes of good, clean fun to whisk us away from these unprecedented times?

Until April 24. Tickets are available from 0161 928 1677 or www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk. Star rating - 3.5 out of 5.

Photo - Martin Ogden.

Nora A Doll's House - Royal Exchange Theatre


IT’S really depressing when you think about it.

Just how an adaptation of Ibsen’s classic, still has relevance today, a play about the way women are still expected to play a certain role in society and are forced to dilute their dreams and aspirations or abandon them altogether.

Stef Smith’s engaging and thought provoking adaptation makes us question just how much has changed for women in our society by flitting between 1918, when women of a certain age were first allowed to vote, 1968 and 2018.

This piece works quite brilliantly because it reminds us how far we’ve progressed and how far we still have to go before full gender equality is achieved.

While this may sound like heavy going, it’s not. While this play is sure to fuel a debate or two over a post performance drink it certainly isn’t an evening of man bashing even though Thomas, the husband figure played by William Ash, is incurably condescending.

His control over Nora/Christine reduces over time and you’re sure to find yourself rooting for her as she thinks about fleeing her domestic prison.

In this adaptation the role of Nora is shared between three very different actresses. Different in the sense they Yusra Warsama, Jodie McNee and Kirsty Rider bring something very different to the part.

This is very thought provoking, intelligent theatre that remains true to the spirit of a play that’s more than a century old and director Bryony Shanahan and a gifted and close knit cast ensure not a single word of Stef Smith’s dialogue is wasted.

Highly recommended - theatre with a brain and a heart.

Until April 2. Star rating - ****

Tickets are available from www.royalexchange.co.uk.

Photo - Helen Murray