Relatively Speaking, The Mill at Sonning - ★★★★★ - Until April 18, 2020


The words "Alan Ayckbourn" usually summon up fun and this production is no exception. It is a delight in every way. As soon as we see Michael Holt's clever set with all those doors we are anticipating a good time. It's not long before the characters are popping in and out of them and the laughs begin rolling in. Thanks to director, Robin Herford's perfect pacing of this piece the audience is completely taken into Ayckbourn's world and never given a pause to question the delightful absurdity of it all. The wonderfully silly plot twists and hilarious cases of mistaken identity all work beautifully. The entire cast get it just right with performances that make their unbelievably credulous characters entirely credible. James Simmons as the philandering husband on the verge of exposure is suitably self-serving and lecherous, and Rachel Fielding as his wife strikes just the right tone of gullible and knowing. The other woman, Lianne Harvey's Ginny, radiates the free-spirited 1960s and a delightful desperation as she weaves her web of inventive lies. It is Christopher Bonwell as Greg who has, perhaps, the hardest row to hoe and he does a splendid job! He serves up the perfect foil and naïf to entice the audience into all this madness. Farce is a genre as delicate and difficult to produce as a soufflé. This production is a first-rate concoction. And speaking of food... all of this comes with a wonderful meal at The Mill at Sonning!

 Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Andreas Lambis.
 Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

 Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until April 18, 2020
Tue - Sat: 8:15 pm. Sun: 8:15 pm
Sat: 2:15 pm. Sun: 2:15 pm from March 1
The Mill at Sonning
Nearest station: Reading

 Tickets include a two course meal
Restaurant serving times:
12:15 pm - 2 pm (matinees)
6:15 pm - 8 pm (evenings)
https://millatsonning.com/shows/relatively-speaking/
Map & Location: Sonning Eye, Reading RG4 6TY, UK

Most Popular

Falling Stars, The Union Theatre (online) - ★★★★ - November 22-29, 2020

Image
"Smile" was one of Charlie Chaplin's best-loved songs, and it is with a smile that we welcomed Falling Stars – a charming musical revue inspired by finding an album of old songs in an antique shop. Peter Polycarpou writes, sings and tells anecdotes about well known and long forgotten songwriters active in the 1920s, and he is joined in this venture by another West End star, Sally Ann Triplett. Both artistes perform beautifully, individually and together. With their bursts of comedy and delightful song and dance numbers, like "Yes! We Have No Bananas" and "Tea for Two", they also manage to create real interaction with the invisible audience. Aficionados of the Great American Songbook won't find many surprises here but they will find plenty to enjoy. The balance of the popular and the unfamiliar is just right with quite an emphasis on the music of Chaplin. Immaculate staging by Michael Strassen, top-class lighting from Andrew Exeter, plus some excel
Full Details »

Death of England: Delroy, National Theatre (online) - ★★★★ - November 27, 2020 & Spring 2021

Image
Clint Dyer and Roy Williams' new play, Death of England: Delroy is a compelling ninety minute monologue and a companion piece to Death of England . The reconfiguration of the Olivier Theatre's auditorium into an in-the-round space with a cruciform stage works brilliantly. Aided by superb lighting and sound, Michael Balogun's high-energy performance careers along with torrents of words as he “talks faster than a Tyson Fury left hook.” Balogun doesn't miss a trick and with welcome flashes of wit he captures every nuance of the character as he toys with the unexpectedly glittering language. What is not unexpected, however, is his arrest and mistreatment at the hands of the police. When he is incarcerated in a cell, we learn that he wept constantly for four hours while his pregnant, white girlfriend was in labour. Still, her unseen brother, Michael, attacks Delroy telling him that he will never “be like us - deep down.” Delroy is unapologetically upwardly mobile and admits
Full Details »

Howerd's End, Golden Goose Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until October 31, 2020

Image
Mark Farrelly's outstanding new play, Howerd's End , brings to life the humour and clandestine gay relationship of one of Britain's best loved comedians – Frankie Howerd. Author Farrelly also brilliantly plays Dennis Heymer, the man in Howerd's life for forty years, who here conjures up the ghost of the comic. It is made abundantly clear that enormous work went into Howerd's act with every tiny moment being predetermined; it is equally apparent that just as much work has gone into Simon Cartwright's wonderfully realistic assumption of the role. Each nuance is perfect without becoming a caricature. Helped by impeccable sound and lighting, and as directed by Joe Harmston, we are conducted through the two men's lives both on stage and off. Farrelly and Cartwright hold us enthralled from the moment Frankie's lugubrious face first peers around a corner to the sad ending which manages to avoid that 'tears of a clown' cliché. Howerd's nonconformist
Full Details »

Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene, Club Cumming (online) - ★★★★★ - Until December 5, 2020

Image
We fell in love again! Not just with Marlene, but with Ute. This production is more than an homage to the great Dietrich. Ute Lemper tells us the story and sings the songs, but she doesn't just imitate ... she channels a cultural icon. Marlene Dietrich was someone who defined the "new woman." Sexually liberated, shocking and iconoclastic, Dietrich challenged her society and its values while anticipating ours. Politically progressive and not afraid to stand up for what she believed in, Dietrich was a portrait in political courage that should resonate for our own time. The show also examines the compelling Marlene persona and yields dark insight into the confines that is the construct of 'celebrity' ... a topic so very relevant to today. But ultimately, this is a show about the woman herself, and Lemper offers us insight into a complex and fascinating human being while contemplating her own personal relationship with the star. This is a one-woman show that has all t
Full Details »

Naked Boys Singing, The Garden Theatre at The Eagle - ★★★★ - Until October 25, 2020

Image
There is still a certain taboo around naked men on stage. Well, Naked Boys Singing firmly grasps the nettle and does exactly what it says on the tin. If the sight of naked guys singing and dancing is shocking for you, this musical revue should probably be avoided, but you'd be missing a lot of good clean fun. There is plenty of talent on display and the six guys perform splendidly; perhaps, one or two of the voices would be helped by microphones but the lack of costumes would make that difficult. So sing up boys! We're not watching 'great art' here, but several of the numbers stand out including "The Entertainer", "Robert Mitchum" and especially "Perky Little Porn Star." One hilarious song reminds a lonely man that the solution to his problem is in his own hands. There is also a beautifully sung chorale using the multifarious names for the male member! It would be invidious to single out individual cast members as all have plenty of opport
Full Details »

Titian: Love Desire Death, The National Gallery - ★★★★★ - Until June 14, 2020

Image
Known as the poesie , Titian's epic series of paintings has not been together since the sixteenth century. This ground-breaking exhibition brings them together and adds a seventh, The Death of Actaeon, which was conceived as part of the series but executed later and never delivered to Titian's patron, King Philip II of Spain. The works all treat stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses but the emphasis is on the female nude in a series of beguiling poses. They are testaments to Titian's skills as a painter and as a storyteller. Behind their obvious erotic component, however, there is often a darker point. The Renaissance was a period that celebrated rationality but Titian's works here focus on the irrational nature of desire and the often cruel and capricious reality the humans are faced with. Zeus, the king of the gods, follows his desires where they lead him regardless of consequences, whether that is the rape of Europa or the assault on Danaë. They have no say in their
Full Details »

Fanny & Stella, The Garden Theatre at The Eagle - ★★★★ - Until August 28, 2020

Image
Live theatre is back in all its glory! Playing outdoors and socially distanced, this is a little gem of a show. Juxtaposing high drama with low comedy frequently succeeds as a theatrical device and this musical is no exception. Revolving around a notorious Victorian court case where two young, cross-dressing men were charged with sodomy, the show uses elements of Music Hall to get its points across. David Shields' simple design cleverly compliments the unusually florid accessories to the gentlemen's dress suits. Fanny and Stella, our drag queen leading 'men', are played with great aplomb by Kane Verrall and Jed Berry. They create believably lovable characters and bring joyous humour balanced with heart-rending pathos. The company of six perform Nick Winston's delightfully slick routines immaculately. Mark Pearce stands out in a myriad of cameo roles; it is a tribute to Pearce and director, Steven Dexter, that he never outstays his welcome. Alex Lodge's han
Full Details »

Sir John Soane's Museum Guided Tour - FREE - ★★★★★

Image
This is one of our favourite museums in London. The quirky and crammed home of John Soane, architect of the Bank of England. It has some wonderful treasures, including Hogarth's "The Election" and "The Rake's Progress." The sarcophagus of Seti I is in the basement along with the parlour of his imaginary friend, Brother John. Don't miss the opening of the display walls in the gallery now done on the hour and half hour. Also, try to be there for the free Private Apartments tour, limited to 8 people and requiring  sign up on site. Reviewed by J.C.  Our Score:    ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Wed - Sun: 10 am - 5 pm (l ast entry at 4:30 pm) Closed: Dec 24, 25, 26, 31 & Jan 1 Private Apartments Tours: 1:15 pm & 2:00 pm Sir John Soane's museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields Nearest tube: Holborn https://www.soane.org
Full Details »

The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington, Sleeping Trees (online) - ★★★★★ - Until January 5, 2021

Image
This Christmas, perhaps more than any other, we may well need big helpings of silliness to get us through, and The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington provides endless absurdity and nonsense. Kerry Frampton directs with anarchic aplomb and brings us a mashup of characters focussing on Dick Whittington, his cat and the rats who bump into Moby Dick and 'Doctor' Ahab – now a marine biologist. John Woodburn, James Dunnell-Smith and Joshua George Smith perform tremendously well as a team. Their jokes and clowning will certainly entertain small children who are encouraged to join in the songs and dances, and even build their own whale! There is, however, most definitely enough wit to keep accompanying adults constantly smiling; clever wordplay naturally abounds such as naming their vessel "The Companion Ship." We particularly enjoyed Pinocchio being "puppetually annoying". The joke involving the naming of a certain coffee shop chain after a Moby Dick character provid
Full Details »

Next Thing You Know, The Garden Theatre at The Eagle - ★★★★ - Until October 31, 2020

Image
Terrific talent really takes Joshua Salzman and Ryan Cunningham's charming musical, Next Thing You Know , to a higher level. The show is well directed by Robert McWhir, and David Shields makes very stylish use of the theatre's space. There's nothing too heavy here; we simply have four twenty-something New Yorkers telling us about their relationships and contemplating their futures. However, the piece gives its young performers a real opportunity to showcase their talents. The cast are all straight out of drama school, but based on this offering we predict a stellar career for all of them. Throughout the evening, their ensemble work is spot on and individually they each shine brightly. Bessy Ewa, who has a delightful presence and singing voice, brings a sassy, brassy style to Waverley, the part-time barista. Her soon to be ex-boyfriend, the pleasantly geeky writer, Darren, is extremely well played by Nathan Shaw. Kudos go to Callum Henderson who exudes charismatic energy as
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings