Review – Dial 1 for UK, The Place Theatre, Bedford, 20th November 2025

Posted on November 21, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Dial 1 for UK

No matter how long you spend at the Edinburgh Fringe – this year we were there for four weeks and saw 152 shows – you always remember the ones that got away. And one of mine this year was Mohit Mathur’s Dial 1 for UK; I really wanted to see it but I just couldn’t make the dates work. So, I was delighted to discover that the production was continuing with a post-Fringe tour, and its final performance (for now at least) was held at The Place in Bedford.

©Deven Ahire

I know from first hand of people who lead a pretty good life in India but who still think that the streets of the UK are paved with gold and will consider the most expensive and problematic options to realise that dream of moving, working and one day becoming a Britisher. The insightful Dial 1 for UK tackles that romantic notion from the point of view of Uday Kumar – yes those really are his initials – a call handler in New Delhi on the night shift and a YouTube influencer in his spare time, extolling the virtues of London and the United Kingdom to his subscribers with boundless enthusiasm and, sadly, no knowledge of the reality.

©Deven Ahire

We meet the kindly and upbeat Uday in his new day job as a carer visiting many old people, including Major Robinson from Hounslow, once a proud cricketer and father, now eking out a lonely, not to mention incontinent, existence with only a brief visit from Uday to put a smile on his face. But Uday has plans to study accountancy via the University of Sunderland, and life will be rosy once his visa sponsor arranges his proper accommodation. But it doesn’t take long for all his plans to change and for that kind sponsor to become no more than a slave trader, with Uday living on a pittance and having to sleep in a public toilet.

©Deven Ahire

Beautifully structured, the play takes us back and forth comparing Uday’s life in the UK with his earlier years in India, working at the call centre under assumed English names to give his British callers more confidence; an ambitious young man frustrated at the confines of his existence but at least having a roof over his head and freedom. Feeling he can take India no more, he hatches a plot – disreputable and criminal – to raise the 14 Lakh rupees (that’s about £12,000 – yikes!) he needs to pay the intermediary for the visa, flight and accommodation, and soon he’s away in the skies courtesy of Emirates. We share in his joy at discovering London despite facing some racism, doing Insta-ready posing on his phone and updating his YouTube channel.

©Deven Ahire

There’s a very poignant scene when, in need of some assistance, he encounters another Indian who looks just like him, whom he feels he can trust as a brother from another mother, but who refuses to offer any help. That’s the sharp moment when he realises that, for all its promise of bright lights and success, life in the UK is ruthless and cruel. From then, it’s just a battle of wits and the need to survive, dragging Uday further into a life of crime.

©Deven Ahire

Innovatively staged, a simple office chair effectively doubles up as both his call centre office and the wheelchair used by the Major. He uses photographs to create his supporting cast of characters and creates a veritable and literal web of red tape that links all his connections to a police evidence board, becoming more complex and trickier to negotiate every time he makes a fresh contact.

©Atka Photography

It’s a true tour-de-force performance from Mohit Mathur that instantly endears us to the enthusiastic Uday; so powerful is his connection with the audience that we continue to like him and support him even as a criminal. He is an engrossing storyteller, filling in his narrative with small but perfectly judged elements such as the Indian obsession with Primark, and his choice of whisky on his flight. Primarily, he truly makes us believe every aspect of Uday’s plight; and when he rails on his stupid fellow countrymen for having those misplaced expectations, and beseeches them to read the small print, you know it’s coming from the heart.

With delightful flashes of humour to lighten the undoubted tragedy of the story, Dial 1 for UK lifts the veil on what is essentially people trafficking, making fat lawyers rich and the gullibly ambitious poor. You come out of the show with a deeper understanding of how some people can become used and abused simply by being innocent and hopeful. Insightful, poignant and powerful, this important play fully deserves to reach more audiences in the future; highly recommended!

Five Alive, Let Theatre Thrive!

Review – Fawlty Towers, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 18th November 2025

Posted on November 19, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Hello, Fawlty Towers?

If you’re anything like me, gentle reader, you quake a little at the prospect of seeing a stage show based on a TV show. I have gloomy memories of seeing the stage production of Yes Prime Minister and the recent stage adaptation of Drop the Dead Donkey was only moderately entertaining. I genuinely hated the Menier Chocolate Factory’s 2009 production of Victoria Wood’s Talent as the two main actors simply did impersonations of Victoria Wood and Julie Walters as they performed in the original TV play; and it only made you want to see the real Victoria Wood and Julie Walters. So I was in two minds about how wise it was to spend a theatrical evening at Fawlty Towers.

I Know!!!…

Those twelve classic TV episodes are unassailably cherished in many people’s memories, so it was an undoubted risk on John Cleese’s part to adapt the show for the stage. It hit the West End with huge success in May 2024 and now it is touring the UK and Ireland right through to August 2026. The show is a compilation of three episodes, The Hotel Inspectors, The Germans and Communication Problems, with the odd nod to a couple of other stories. I’m not going to tell you what they are all about because I’m sure you haven’t been living under a rock for the past fifty years.

Polly squares up to the Major

The theatrical Fawlty Towers is massively more entertaining than any of those three productions I mentioned earlier. The adaptation is excellent, combining the three stories into one cohesive narrative, and the staging emphasises the farcical nature of the production; Feydeau would have loved it. It’s performed with tremendous conviction and manages to recreate the original with huge affection as well as putting its own subtle individual identity on it. Wisely, it doesn’t try to end with any form of resolution to the stories, just a chaotic tableau of everything going wrong, which perfectly encapsulates Fawltyland.

I’m sorry, he’s from Barcelona

Liz Ascroft’s breathtakingly impressive set occupies the entire stage, with the hotel reception, the dining room, the stairs up, and a top floor bedroom as well as cleverly showing us the hotel frontage and that persistently unreliable hotel name sign. The costumes are totally faithful to the original series, as is the incidental theme music. My only quibble with the overall production is that we hear that theme way too often during the course of the show; I can only imagine that if they were live musicians, Basil would have headbutted them in exasperation and snipped their strings before the evening was out.

Papers arrived yet, Fawlty?

There is a separate question to be asked: fifty years on, does it still work as comedy? Some people maintain – and indeed John Cleese is one of them – that comedy has been ruined by the wokerati and you can’t say funny things anymore. This is of course nonsense; you just have to be better at it. What certainly stands the test of time is the immensely funny characterisations: the belligerent, bombastic, oleaginous host, his coarse, braying, bullying wife, the demanding customer who only speaks circuitously, the forgetful old fool living in the past and the impatient deaf old woman who won’t turn her hearing aid on.

Don’t mention the war

Where, for me, it becomes less appealing is with its approach to foreigners, primarily the treatment of the idiotic Spanish waiter, and its carefree portrayal of violence, both domestic and against the staff and customers. In the 1970s, the TV series absolutely captured the zeitgeist with the British continued uneasy relationship with Germany, which was immaculately realised with Basil’s largely unintentional harassment of his German guests. Today, that whole Goebbels, Goering and Hitler funny walk routine just makes me cringe. But I must be honest, there were sections of the audience who found that completely hysterical.

He’s got a gun…

When you’re adapting such a well-known original work, it’s vital that we believe in the actors’ characterisations, and here the production is extremely successful. I hardly recognised Danny Bayne from his excellent performances in Grease and Saturday Night Fever, playing such a completely different kind of character, but he is again extremely good. His dancer training really allows him to convey Basil’s physicality and his fluidity of movement; bouncing back from behind the reception desk, being knocked out by the moose head, and the goosestep are performed with extraordinary precision and skill.

Hope there’s nothing trivial wrong with you dear

Mia Austen absolutely nails Sybil’s ruthless streak, those piercingly angry eyes burrowing into Basil’s soul whenever she gets a chance; and she’s also great on the phone, with her suggestive cackle and that trademark I know… Waitress Polly never had that much of a characterisation in the TV programme, perhaps just being the lone voice of sanity, so there isn’t much for Joanne Clifton to get her teeth into, but it’s a sunny and nicely comic performance. Hemi Yeroham has a difficult task to make Manuel a believable person as the original was written as so much of a caricature, but his comic timing is immaculate.

I know nothing

For me, the scene-stealing performance of the show is Paul Nicholas as the Major, because it’s the least hysterical and most realistic characterisation, playing the whole thing straight when everything around him cascades into nonsense. He delivers his killer lines beautifully, genuinely makes you think he is talking to a moose, and is the embodiment of a loveably forgetful old duffer. There’s also terrific support from Jemma Churchill as the cantankerous Mrs Richards and Greg Haiste as the troublesome Mr Hutchinson.

…and curtain!

Very nostalgic but with a creative twist, this is a strong production with immense attention to detail. A suitable show for both Fawlty Towers fans and those who know nothing about it. There are hardly any tickets left for the rest of the week, so you’d better get in quick if you want to see it!

Production photos by Hugo Glendenning

Four They’re Jolly Good Fellows!

Review – The Seagull, Chichester Festival Theatre, 13th November 2025

Posted on November 17, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

The Seagull premiered at the Alexandrinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, in 1896. This isn’t the Alexandrinksy, but it is St Petersburg!

If you were to imagine the plays of Chekhov arranged on a seesaw (bear with me on this idea), his early offerings like Platonov and Ivanov would be high in the air on one side of the seesaw and his meaty humdingers like Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard would be firmly rooted to the ground on the other. The Seagull would be hovering over the fulcrum in the centre, bursting with Chekhov’s teeming ideas and themes, but never quite playing them out to their maximum effect.

I’m glad to get that iffy metaphor out of the way. The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh production of The Seagull enjoyed a brief extension at the Chichester Festival Theatre last week and marked not only new Artistic Director James Brining’s first show for the Lyceum but it has also been hinted that it will have been Caroline Quentin’s swansong in live theatre (which would if true, officially, be a travesty). In his programme note, adaptor Mike Poulton emphasises that he hasn’t attempted to modernise Chekhov to make him in some way more relevant today, because Chekhov is naturally eternally relevant; and when I read that before the show started, it was music to my ears.

That said, this production took traditional to its extremes. It was the very essence of reverence; yes, it allowed Chekhov’s text to do all the talking, but it came across as surprisingly bland. There was very little change of pace; the big dramatic moments (of which there aren’t many) were softly delivered, and both the comedy and the tragedy of the play were dialled down. The central character, the fading but still vain actor Arkadina, has the potential to horrify the audience with her insensitivity but still make you laugh with her asides; the main tragic character, her son Konstantin, ought to move the audience to tears with his mental torture, so that his final act comes as an awful culmination of his misery. But the production was neither funny enough to make you laugh much, nor tragic enough to make you cry. Overall, it just wasn’t enough.

There were, nevertheless, a number of successful aspects to the show. You really gained a sense of what it might have been like to live in the middle of the Russian nowhere in the 1890s, with decent people scraping a living whilst decadent others showed no empathy. It offered a substantial atmosphere of hopelessness; the disparate elements of a non-cohesive community where the only thing you could enjoy was the sunny weather, which would eventually turn into your enemy when winter came. Colin Richmond’s set judged that faded glory perfectly, with its tall windows and encroaching fields, suggesting that the natural environment would soon overtake the increasingly dismal dacha as it falls into decline; a lovely allegory of the last days of the Tsars.

Are these seagulls? Whatever, there are a lot of them.

Caroline Quentin’s Arkadina was the picture of haughtiness, full of a pretence of caring whilst scarcely hiding her selfish soul. She gave the character an urban sophistication to contrast with the rural backwater and portrayed her as a genuine person rather than an any kind of caricature. The humour that is an essential part of Arkadina never quite came to the fore, but it was a very believable performance. Harmony Rose-Bremner was excellent as Nina, unassuming but ambitious, looking to improve herself and gain favour wherever possible. She made a good partnership with Lorn Macdonald’s Konstantin, trying to perform his pretentious play to the best of her ability; Mr Macdonald portrayed Konstantin as a weak and ineffectual aesthete, trying to find his artistic voice – but perhaps not trying that hard. Unfortunately, the final scene between the two where Nina explains why she went off with Arkadina’s lover Trigorin, and Konstantin’s beseeching that she stays with him, came across as very static and monotonous, creating a conversation that ends very much with a whimper rather than a bang.

Elsewhere, Steven McNicoll made the best of his opportunities as the estate manager Shamrayev, bringing in some welcome humorous petulance when refusing to budge over providing horses for the carriage; Tallulah Greive was a splendidly belligerent Masha, Forbes Masson gave a wistful, but distant, performance as Dorn, Michael Dylan’s Medvendenko was suitably hard-working but under-achieving, and Dyfan Dwyfor a convincing, if perhaps over-likeable Trigorin.

Art versus reality, eloquence versus an inability to communicate, fresh ambition versus the reality of failure. Chekhov’s ideas are all there, but they felt particularly sub-surface in this production rather than given their full potential. All very respectful and all very safe; it was good, but you can’t help but feel that with that cast it should have been better.

Three-sy Does It!

A Day at Huntingdon Races, 11th November 2025

Posted on November 16, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Every once in a while, it’s a real treat to spoil oneself to a day at the races. Last Tuesday, HRH the Crown Prince of Bedford and I were gifted a visit to Huntingdon Racecourse as guests of the Jockey Club. What can I say, it’s not what you know it’s who you know. It’s been 22 years since I last went to Huntingdon Races – I can prove that as I still have the tag on my binoculars.

It’s definitely seen a lot of updating and investment over the interim years. In fact, Huntingdon Racecourse impresses with its smart buildings, clean environment, friendly staff and welcoming public spaces. Its prime purpose is, of course, to host a safe and enjoyable card of seven races, for you to experience the whoosh of the horses flying past and hurling your hats in the air when you win a fortune. But there’s more to it than that. For example, the racecourse has partnered with the charity Creating Nature’s Corridor, which has planted 9,600 trees on the site, and structured 1.5 km of new hedgerow and new wet woodland, forming a genuine nature corridor linking one part of the grounds to another, like a green zebra crossing for wildlife.

Whoosh as they fly by

Another initiative that the racecourse supports is Racing to School, an education charity that provides outdoor events for schools at racing venues, introducing them to the sport and also giving them an insight into equine care, breeding and even the possibility of becoming a jockey as a career. It was delightful to watch about twenty kids all lined up on the course, dressed in jockey silks, having a running race; all that they were missing were sheepskin nosebands! They were clearly having a terrific day, and I thought how much I would have loved that experience when I was at school.

In the paddock

It was a very informative day, with our host Dara full of knowledge about every aspect of racing. Did you know that climate change is having a severe effect on the sport? The warmer weather and lack of rain mean that the going stays hard when one might have expected it to go from good to soft. If you’ve noticed that recently races have fewer horses taking part, it’s because many horses today cannot thrive on the harder ground, so they are not being entered into the races. If you’re a climate change denier, tell that to the Jockey Club and watch their reaction.

Here come the jockeys

There’s no doubt in my mind that the safety, health and wellbeing of the horses is of prime importance at Huntingdon. They were all immaculately presented in the paddock; and it was fascinating to see them at the end of a race, with teams of grooms pouring loads of water over them to cool them down after their exertion. This was the first time I’ve ever been authorised to stand in the middle of the paddock to get a really close look at the horses and it’s a memory I’ll treasure for a long time! Dara’s advice on picking a horse was to look for one who’s alert but relaxed and not tense. You can have that one for free.

Peterborough Chase Restaurant

Aside from the horses and the races, there are of course many food and drink outlets. As guests of the Jockey Club, we enjoyed the hospitality of the winners’ restaurant which was a complete treat; a delicious boeuf bourguignon and a Mâcon Lugny to die for. Otherwise, the elegant top floor Peterborough Chase Restaurant offers a fantastic meal and views of the course, and you don’t even have to get out of your chair to place a bet.

You can take your dog too!

As for my own day at the racing, I allowed myself a £10 bet per race, so even if I did abysmally, I would limit my loss to £70. As it turned out, we were enjoying the boeuf bourguignon during the third race, so I only bet on six races. There was a horse called Lennie Godber whom I backed, because everyone likes Porridge. He did rubbish. In another race, there was a huge horse whom we all admired in the paddock, Catchim, but he was an absolute giant carrying a load of weight and thought, surely, he couldn’t manage the win, so we backed other horses. He did much better than they did.

Watch them go!

Fortunately, I had one winner, a horse called Forget the Way, who fortunately didn’t, and accredited himself superbly. We decided to bet on the final race without having looked at the horses and just choose on a whim. There was a rank outsider, Laysoft, on at 66-1 and I was very tempted. But instead, I backed Crystal Jet, the 2-1 favourite. Laysoft sailed home, having improved his price to 28-1. Crystal Jet came third, and I went home £31.25 down instead of over £600 up! Always, ALWAYS, trust your initial instinct!

Greys never win

A tremendous day, and many thanks to the Jockey Club for the kind hospitality. The next meeting at Huntingdon will be on 22^nd November, but the big day coming up will be on December 7^th for the Peterborough Chase. It’s going to be a massive event! All the details about future race meetings at Huntingdon can be found here.

Review – Emma, Festival Theatre, Chichester, 6th November 2025

Posted on November 8, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

I confess, gentle reader, that I’ve never read Jane Austen’s Emma, but I sense that’s probably an advantage for anyone who sees this Theatre Royal Bath touring production of Ryan Craig’s adaptation of Austen’s 1815 novel. Dramatising a book always means having to make massive cuts to the original, otherwise you’d never be able to fit it into two and a half hours including an interval. But an Emma fan might well have firm ideas as to what to keep and what to boot out.

Jane Austen is very much in vogue at the moment – indeed, was she ever out of it? With the recent joyous production of Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) and Laura Wade’s affectionate upending of the Austen landscape in The Watsons, she’s a target for modernisation and mickey-taking, whilst still admiring and relishing the essence of the original. I expected this adaptation to be much more surreal or meta; but, in fact, it’s a pretty straightforward production that tells Austen’s story (as far as I can make out) reasonably honestly and with a charming lightness of touch that brings all the relevant aspects of the nineteenth century into the present day.

Emma is a meddling, big-headed and insensitive young woman who knows her own mind and doesn’t know when to back down. She plucks a poor orphan girl, Harriet Smith, from obscurity and tries to make her fit for society, with no empathy for Harriet’s wishes or the honest farmer with whom she has been romantically linked. Instead, she sets her up with the local clergyman Mr Elton, who completely gets the wrong end of the stick and thinks that Emma has romantic ideas for herself on him, rather than trying to cultivate a romance between him and Harriet.

The first Act is very much a comedy of errors; but by the start of the second Act Elton has quickly married the snobbish Augusta, shattering Harriet’s expectations. Local gent Mr Knightley is sorry for Harriet and dances with her at a ball – which instantly convinces Harriet that they are both madly in love with each other; further disappointments ensue. Add to this mix Emma’s Achilles heel – the long-admired Mr Churchill, her rival in love Miss Fairfax, her bumbling old father and some heavy home truths from Knightley, and you have a recipe for a veritable West Country Coronation Street of tussles, resentments and misunderstandings.

Stephen Unwin’s production is slick and smart, with an emphasis on the comedy which can divert you from the fact that, deep down, Emma is a truly nasty piece of work, with a malicious streak revealing that she doesn’t give two hoots about anyone’s happiness or wellbeing. Her relish, for example, at the prospect of watching the admittedly dreadful Mrs Elton eating a strawberry (to which she allergic) is downright cruel. Any other character insights are pretty much ignored, as it’s all done for fun, and everything turns out all right in the end.

Ceci Calf’s set design is as blank and simple as you can imagine, inviting a silent running joke about the endless times that Mr Woodhouse’s chair and side table are diligently and knowingly brought on and off the stage. Her costume design is traditional and functional, all very respectable and nothing too showy except for the extravagant costume of the tastelessly imperious Augusta.

The cast all capture the spirit of the show very well, with a strong and credible central performance by India Shaw-Smith as Emma, bristling with confidence and the certainty that she is the most important person in the universe. In her professional debut, Maiya Louise Thapar gives us an affectionately unworldly Harriet, trapped by Emma’s plans and convincingly disturbed when all her prospects turn to dust.

William Chubb gives a scene-stealing performance as Woodhouse, curmudgeonly but not irredeemably so, knowing when to escape for the good of his senses. Ed Sayer gives a charismatic performance as Knightley, dishing out the criticisms much to Emma’s annoyance; Oscar Batterham is excellent as the hopeful Elton, only to be replaced by a more world-weary version after his marriage, and Rose Quentin is superb as the ghastly Augusta, point-scoring wherever she can, and never satisfied even when she has the best of everything.

The production never really soars into either the blissfully funny or revelatory character examination, but it bubbles along jovially in a sequence of amusing scenes and does exactly what it says on the tin. Did it make me want to read the book? Not really. But it was an entertaining way to spend a Thursday evening in Chichester!

Three-sy Does It!

Review – Death on the Nile, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 4th November 2025

Posted on November 5, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Death on the Nile is one of Agatha Christie’s most famous stories; its enduring popularity evidenced by its being adapted for film twice, with Peter Ustinov as Poirot in 1978 and Kenneth Branagh in the role in 2022. Christie even adapted the book as a play herself – Murder on the Nile, which appeared in the West End in 1946. Wisely, this production goes nowhere near that play, which isn’t that impressive to be honest. Instead, Ken Ludwig, who also adapted Murder in the Orient Express a few years ago, has created a brand-new adaptation – and certainly taken plenty of liberties with the original.

I mention this because, if you are an Agatha Christie purist, you might be aghast at some of the changes made. Christie filled her book with several extraneous characters who are all red herrings and play no part in the “plot”, so it makes sense to remove some of them. However, in so doing, Ludwig has also created new characters, such as the Shakespearean actor Septimus Troy and British Museum curator Atticus Praed, primarily to enable a new introductory scene where Poirot attends an unveiling of a priceless sarcophagus on loan to the museum. This provides the museum donors with the opportunity to accompany the sarcophagus on its journey back to Egypt, transporting it on the luxury Nile cruise boat, the Karnak. A sheer flight of fantasy by the writer, but it does at least provide a purpose for the cruise.

Once we get to Egypt, the play starts to become more recognisably Death on the Nile, although there are still liberties taken – for example, the scene in the book where Linnet escapes being crushed by a falling boulder at Abu Simbel is replaced by her being trapped inside the sarcophagus and only just escaping in time. Ludwig’s script tells its story very clearly and engagingly and Lucy Bailey’s direction, despite a few unnecessarily stylised moments, is clean and effective in presenting the story whilst being honest with the audience as to how the crime was committed. And, most importantly, the play remains true to the book as regards the victim and perpetrator – although some other crimes in the book are omitted in this production.

Ludwig makes Poirot the narrator of the story, bookending it with an opening scene where he accidentally observes Simon Doyle meet Jacqueline de Bellefort at a train station, and ending it with an explanation of what happened to some of the other characters who were not involved with the crime. Ludwig can’t resist a couple of meta moments, with Colonel Race saying he hates the bit in the story where Poirot brings everyone into the room to confront them with a final denouement and Poirot contradicts him saying he loves that bit and goes offstage to prepare for it; and perhaps most cheekily when Poirot announces that Shakespeare’s not at all bad, but he’s no Agatha Christie. Well done, very clever.

Mike Britton’s set gives a good sense of the luxury of the boat, and combined with Oliver Fenwick’s lighting, effectively suggests various distant cabins and lounges, inhabited by transitory shadows, and general gives a convincing vibe of what “boat life” is all about. Unfortunately, the set doesn’t give you any sense of the gentle cruising motion of the boat, nor any sense of passing scenery. There’s a metal railing at the back of the set suggesting that beyond it is the river and its bank, but the backdrop remains firmly rooted in stillness, depicting some sheer rock face, so it doesn’t look as though they’re moving at all. Fenwick’s lighting comes into its own in the final denouement where it shines light on the crime reconstruction in a most satisfying way. And the costumes are arresting, with some glamorous evening dresses, even if they are more suggestive of the 1920s than 30s (that’s the purist in me raising his head again).

The performances are mostly very good, occasionally excellent. Esme Hough as Jacqueline and Libby Alexandra-Cooper, in her professional stage debut as Linnet, make a formidably antagonistic duo. Ms Hough is the picture of revenge as she targets her plots against those who have done her wrong, and Ms Alexandra-Cooper is delightfully petulant, rejecting any responsibility for what she has done. The coupling of Camilla Anvar as Miss Otterbourne and Nicholas Prasad as Ramses Praed also works extremely well, with very believable characterisations and an entertaining portrayal of young love.

Always one of my favourite actors, Howard Gossington is great as Atticus Praed, mixing geeky enthusiasm with paternal pride; and Nye Occomore is very good in the slightly underwritten role of Simon Doyle, quietly confident and nicely smug at his success with women. Some of the other characters come across a little too pantomimey for my liking, but I don’t think that’s a failing on the actors’ part, it’s what they’re required to do. Ludwig’s adaptation has made Colonel Race something of a comic buffoon, which is not how Christie presents him at all.

Mark Hadfield plays Poirot in a very engaging, confiding, understated way; he absolutely looks the part and, in the second Act, commands the stage with his interrogations and crime solving expertise. His French accent is a little unreliable; I’m sure you don’t pronounce très important as tray important but tray zimporton, but maybe it’s a Belgian thing. He also occasionally stumbles over his lines, and that’s very un-Poirot-like, who’s the paragon of precision. But overall, it’s a very good performance and he does convince you that he has little grey cells beyond the dreams of avarice.

Overall, an entertaining and diverting adaptation, well staged and acted. Just try not to be a purist if possible! After its week in Northampton, its extensive tour continues through to May 2026, visiting Truro, Torquay, Cardiff, Guildford, Canterbury, Chichester, Cheltenham, Malvern, Aberdeen, Glasgow, York, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Brighton, Birmingham, Nottingham, Dublin, Belfast, Norwich, Cambridge and Plymouth.

Production photos by Manuel Harlan

Three-sy Does It!

P. S. I was most delighted to read about the references to other works in the Christie canon in the programme, as they are almost identical to the references I mention in my Agatha Christie Challenge, so this is a perfect opportunity for me to plug my two-volume book. An excellent early Christmas present for a Christie fan!!

Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths, a new children’s book by Claire Bramwell-Pearson

Posted on November 3, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths

The Charitable Association, The Friends of Oleksandriya, in Ukraine, announces the release of a new children’s novella, Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths by Claire Bramwell-Pearson. Set in the city of Bath, this is the tale of an unlikely friendship across cultures, sprinkled with oodles of dragon-filled magic. Now available in paperback, this new title is the perfect fantasy read for children aged 8 and beyond.

Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths follows talented footballer Vitalii, his mother Tetiana, and little sister Nadia, who flee the war in Ukraine and settle in the outskirts of Bath. Their arrival coincides with fish mysteriously disappearing from supermarkets and ponds all over Bath. Vitalii is befriended by hopelessly disorganised but history-loving Edward Austen who shows Vitalii Roman coins that he has discovered in his back garden. While waiting to consult the Roman Bath’s Curator, Vitalii accidentally drops magic coins into the warm water which awaken a Ukrainian three-headed dragon, Zmiy Horynych…and an unexpected adventure begins.

Author Claire Bramwell-Pearson, illustrator Alexandra Dikaia and Chair of the Friends of Oleksandriya, Zhenya Shkil

Both heartwarming and heroic, the narrative is complemented by captivating illustrations by Ukrainian artist Alexandra Dikaia, bringing the story’s characters and settings to life. Whether read aloud at bedtime, used in a classroom setting, or independently explored at the weekend, Vitalii Petrenko and the Secret of the Roman Baths ignites the imagination while spotlighting Britain’s solidarity with Ukraine in a spellbinding and strikingly original way.

Author Claire Bramwell-Pearson completed a Communication Arts Degree and subsequently worked on ITV’s successful cartoon series The Telebugs, followed by Walt Disney’s groundbreaking Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Following a stint in New York, she worked for Steven Spielberg on Balto, We’re Back and American Tail II, and Warner Bros Studios on Space Jam and Quest for Camelot. In 2019, New York’s renowned Gotham Writers Workshop led her to the wonderful Writing for Young People MA at Bath Spa University.

Alexandra Dikaia is a Ukrainian illustrator, writer, and concept artist with over fifteen years of experience in design and illustration. She is the author and illustrator of The Moonmill Fairy Tales and founder of Add Magic Academy, where she leads creative courses and challenges. She has been a featured speaker at Women Techmakers events inspired by Google and she illustrated a non-fiction book about chocolate for the prominent Staryi Lev Publishing House. Her art blends simplicity with profound meaning, embodying her philosophy of healthy minimalism and creativity as a path to self-discovery.

Children in Oleksandriya with the book

The Friends of Oleksandriya is a charitable association that promotes support and solidarity for Ukraine, particularly between Bath & North East Somerset and Oleksandriya. It believes that by working together, a difference can be made to people’s lives and a better world can be created. The team is made up of volunteers who are passionate about helping others and creating impact.

Since its establishment, The Friends of Oleksandriya, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Bath, managed to raise more than £100,000 to buy 13 7.5kW generators, a 70kW generator for the Children’s Hospital in Oleksandriya, and a 100kW generator for the Central Hospital of Oleksandriya. The Friends of Oleksandriya believe that everyone deserves access to basic human needs such as food, shelter, education, and medical care. In December 2024, Oleksandriya received a 200kVA generator from the charity for one of their hospitals, as well as over one thousand Christmas presents for children of all ages.

Zhenya Shkil, Alexandra Dikaia and Claire Bramwell-Pearson

Founder and trustee of The Friends of Oleksandriya Zhenya Shkil says: “We were extremely lucky to be introduced to a graduated writer for Young People from Bath Spa University, who has an incredibly original vision and vibrant imagination. When we first met, I told Claire about a children’s café I went to in Oleksandriya and how there was a huge statue of Ukrainian fairytale characters outside it. One of them was Zmiy Horynych and the other was Kotyhoroshko, who fought Zmiy Horynych, and I showed her the picture. She managed to take the antagonist of the story and transform him into a sympathetic character, moving him to Bath and creating a magical world, a new form of folklore.”

Now available in paperback, the book was featured as part of the Bath Children’s Literature Festival and can be purchased from a range of local independent shops, including Mr B’s Emporium, the Bath Abbey Gift Shop, Topping & Company Booksellers, Bathford Community School, and the bookshop in Bradford-on-Avon. The official book launch will take place on Saturday 8th November 2025 at 2pm at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. It’s free to attend and everyone is welcome; all the details can be found here. In addition, I hope to introduce The Real Chrisparkle readers to the author Claire Bramwell-Pearson in an interview very soon!

Review – Screaming Blue Murder, Underground at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 25th October 2025

Posted on October 26, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

It’s so great to see Screaming Blue Murder back in rude health in the Underground where it belongs. Sold out too – always rewarding when the start is slightly delayed by staff having to bring in extra chairs. Our genial host Dan Evans was on tippety-top form as he negotiated the slings and arrows of twins Laura and Henry’s joint 40^th birthday party outing, with a considerable number of the audience vocally in support of the uninhibited pair. If that wasn’t enough, another lady on the front row said she had a dream about Dan the night before and – let’s just say – he had proved himself to be all man. Well. If that isn’t sexual harassment in the workplace, I don’t know what is. Dan spent most of the show avoiding her gaze or quietly smug about his sexual expertise.

Our first act, new to Northampton but not to us, was Abigoliah Schamaun, someone we’ve seen many times at the Edinburgh Fringe and who always brings a gutsy kick up any proceedings. Ohio’s loss is London’s gain, as Abigoliah gave us her impressions on how an American survives in the UK, including our (apparent) obsession with butter in a sandwich – I mean, it’s what butter was made for, honestly – how sexy an English accent is, and how to deal with fellow Americans on a long train journey. Her comedy is intelligent, relatable, and delightfully teasing. A fantastic start to the evening.

Next up was Toussaint Douglass, who had a great Edinburgh Fringe this year with his Accessible Pigeon Material; successful no doubt because he tried it out at Northampton’s Comedy Crate earlier this summer. No pigeon on Saturday night, just his incredibly funny and recognisable content about being in a relationship for eight years, having an 87-year-old flatmate (his Grandma) and the reasons for his personal ambition to die alone. He has a marvellously disarming style; very engaging and confiding, almost physically cosying up to the audience to get across his comic gems. His beautifully delivered final jokes, about how his bedroom activity can be likened to a football manager, provided the best laughs of the night.

Our headliner was Tony Law, someone who you either “get” or you don’t, and in the past I’ve found that I usually don’t get his surreal and otherworldly humour. But on this occasion, he knocked it out of the park. Brilliant use of props for completely throwaway purposes, and a hilarious use of accents, including a damn fine stab at the bizarre Northampton accent which is like a cross between Cockney and Brummie. His rapport with the audience was exceptional, and we were laughing about his act all the way home.

That was the last Screaming Blue for 2025 but there are already four gigs in 2026 on sale. Can’t wait!

Review – Safe Space, Minerva Theatre, Chichester, 23rd October 2025

Posted on October 25, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

When I was a kid, Statues meant a game where you had to freeze whenever the music stopped or someone looked at you. Ah, the halcyon days of innocence! Today, statues are just as likely to be a symbol of oppression or a monument to the unforgivable. Who can forget the statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in 2003, or the division caused by chucking the statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour; or the efforts of the police to protect the statue of Winston Churchill during recent protests, and the debate over the future of the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College Oxford?

In 2017, Colhoun College, part of Yale University, changed its name to Grace Hopper College, in honour of the computer scientist, mathematician and Rear Admiral who had earned two doctorates from Yale. But there had been calls for the college to change its name since the 1960s, John C. Colhoun having been an outspoken supporter of slavery. Safe Space is Jamie Bogyo’s first play, and he based it on the real-life events that happened at Yale University in 2016/7, where he studied playwrighting. When you enter the auditorium at the Minerva Theatre you are immediately confronted by an imposing statue of Colhoun, suitably bespattered by bird droppings, and you just know he’s going to be a problematic presence.

However, there’s more to life at Yale than being concerned about its alumni’s provocative pasts. I had no idea that, along with all the other Ivy League universities, there is a long tradition of student a cappella singing; today there is even a National (and International) Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Bogyo inserts a cappella moments into his plot to reflect the wider aspects of college life. There is also a subplot of rivalry between students to take control of influential student groups, with jealousy, false friendships and distrust rife. And there’s also that awkward uncertainty about accidentally saying the wrong thing or using the wrong word when it comes to matters of race or equality; come on, even the most proudly woke of us has been there.

So that’s at least three plots, each of which could sustain a full-length play. Unfortunately, Bogyo has concatenated them all together, with the result that none of them is examined in sufficient detail to create a cohesive and satisfying narrative. Questions, ideas, arguments evolve, but then go nowhere. For example, what damage was done to the statue, and who did it (we never find out, despite an extended scene where the students are waiting to be grilled by the principals). Act One ends on a very lightweight non sequitur that sends us into the interval deflated. One character has an unexpected panic attack, following which we spend a minute or two calming him down – but it is an event that has no bearing on anything that either precedes or follows it. Another truly chaotic and overly busy scene culminates with a fist being smashed through an artwork, but it goes nowhere.

The final scene uses a cappella in a highly unlikely attempt at a reconciliation and we’ve no idea whether the reconciliation is successful. The only issue that receives some kind of resolution is that a decision is made to rename the college – but it’s presented in a very underwhelming way, by disparate characters doomscrolling on their phones. Of course, leaving some issues unresolved is fine – real life is like that – but leaving virtually everything up in the air is annoying. Why did the couple who have sex act so unpleasantly to each other the next day? Why did one of the characters turn from being a supportive friend to a ruthless enemy on the flick of a coin? There’s too much going on and not enough sense being made.

Nevertheless, there’s much to enjoy in the performances and production as a whole. Khadija Raza’s set cleverly adapts to different student bedrooms – basic and luxurious, as well as the intimidating corridor outside the principal’s office and the quadrangle around the statue. The costumes are decently studenty and delightfully formal for the a cappella. Talking of which, the singing is beautiful; both Jamie Bogyo (Connor) and Ernest Kingsley Jr (Isaiah) have exquisitely delicate voices and their harmonies in that final scene – for all its dramatic faults and suspension of belief – are stunning.

All the performances are first rate; Ivan Oyik’s earnestly enthusiastic Omar is a very believable portrayal of a scholarship boy surprised at how well he has done. Bola Akeju almost has to act two characterisations – the friendly supportive Stacy of the opening scenes and the ruthlessly dismissive Stacy once she has achieved power. Céline Buckens is excellent as Connor’s unimpressed girlfriend Annabelle, amusingly checking her phone whilst he’s giving it his everything under the duvet. Jamie Bogyo’s Connor convinces as the kind of guy who simply assumes everything he says is right and that every decent person would always agree with him, and Ernest Kingsley Jr is superb in the most interesting role of Isaiah, the quiet, unassuming student who keeps his beliefs to himself until he is forced to assert his individuality.

It’s a real shame that, despite these excellent elements, the play itself lets the rest of the production down. It’s full of promise, but the end result just doesn’t hang together. So many questions, so few attempts at providing answers. It’s rather like a mass of jangling muscles that need some strong massaging in order to smooth them out and make them do the work they’re meant to. And it’s uncomfortable to be so critical of a writer’s first staged work because there’s obviously a very important and riveting play lurking just beneath the surface – but unfortunately, this isn’t it.

Two Disappointing for More!

Review/Preview – Christian Dart: Gumshoe! Soho Theatre Dean Street London, 7 – 8 November 2025

Posted on October 22, 2025 by therealchrisparkle

Christian Dart brings his smash hit Edinburgh show Gumshoe to the Soho Theatre in Dean Street London for two nights in November. It’s a clever mash-up of a Philip Marlowe/Raymond Chandler 1940s New York private detective hero (for want of a better word) with contemporary improv, as a member of the audience provides Christian with the bare facts of what will be his final case to solve. As a result, no two shows are ever the same, which means you never have to confine yourself to just one performance.

His improv skills are second-to-none – he is a member of the comedy group The Bad Clowns – and he manages to create a proper story that genuinely holds water from just fragments of ideas. No spoilers, but expect a lot of gun shooting and twirling, sassy dames, dead colleagues, a real live jewel theft, and even a bit of song and dance. I can only assume Mr Dart has a very high dry-cleaning bill.

The show makes excellent use of a complex and technically demanding sequence of sound cues which constantly keep the audience (as well as Christian) on their toes. It’s very high on energy, and if you sit in the front row you may well get involved in some of the plot – but it’s always funny and never humiliating or stressful!

Unpredictable, frenetic (but in a good way) and exhilarating, this is the kind of show you have to throw yourself wholeheartedly into – the more you put in, the more you get out. You’ll even find out whodunit in the end – although this is definitely a case of the journey being more important than the conclusion! Madcap, racy and pacy, and incredibly good-humoured, this is an hour of enormous fun and impressive imagination. Highly recommended!

Production photos by Johanna Dart Design & Photography

Four He’s a Jolly Good Fellow!

You can get tickets to see the show at the Soho Theatre here.