★★★★★

“a clever show, entertaining, educational, surprisingly tender and a whole lot of fun!”

I have to say that I wasn’t looking forward to going to see this. My plan to take an eight year old fell through, so I was going to be sitting in a theatre full of screaming children for over an hour, like a strange adult island. However, I loved it! It’s a clever show, entertaining, educational, surprisingly tender and a whole lot of fun! I learned some things I didn’t know about the brain and the eye, and saw videos of things I never want to see again, like maggots on an open wound – which the kids all loved. There was earwax, a live close up of a larynx and some inflatable pig’s lungs. Not to mention giant bouncy viruses that filled the auditorium, and an exploding balloon.

Operation Ouch! is a TV show on CBBC, presented by twin brother doctors, Chris and Xand, and in this live show you can feel their love for each other. Chris is the straight man and Xand is the hapless one, who didn’t do well at school. Without being at all preachy, they used Xand’s old school reports, and his memories of being thought stupid and naughty, to let the kids know that finding a passion can be a great route to sorting your life out and moving on. The fact that Xand became a doctor is proof that it worked for him. There was also a beautiful piece, near the end of the show, about how to deal with anxiety, building on one of the earlier, hilarious, pieces about how the brain responds to threat.

There was just enough panto in it to be brilliantly funny, including a few ‘oh yes he did, oh no he didn’t’ moments, and a sing along near the end.

If you have child, go and see this. If you don’t have a chid, maybe borrow one. You’ll both have a great time!

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Prudence Upton

Brexit

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 1st November 2018

★★★★★

“a true ‘play for today,’ rooted in current political reality, spiced with delicious humour, razor sharp with insight and sparkling wit”

This satirical and hilarious look at the Brexit dilemma, two years on, is superb. It’s 2020 and a newly elected Prime Minister is taking the helm, attempting to steer the country through the convoluted Brexit morass. Nothing has happened since 2018, how will he manage to keep everyone, or even anyone, happy? It’s like a sitcom for the stage, with echos of ‘2012’, and ‘Yes Minister’, but far more biting and to the point. The Prime Minister, Adam Masters, is brilliantly played by Timothy Bentinck, better known for his many tv roles, and for being the voice of David Archer in ‘The Archers.’ His self-important, doubt ridden PM is a fantastic study of a Tory in trouble, trying to balance the different factions of his fractured party, and deliver something. Anything really. And to stay in office for longer than Andrew Bonar Law’s two hundred and eleven days.

There are some brilliant one liners, ‘You may have a triple first in sycophancy and beef wellington but that doesn’t give you the right….’ says Pippa Evans’ Diana Purdy, a ‘soft Brexit Tory,’ to Thom Tuck’s horribly oily, Rees Mogg like Simon Cavendish. Diana again, this time to the PM, ‘You can’t continue to govern over Schrodinger’s Brexit.’ Evans and Tuck are on opposing sides of the hard/soft Brexit divide, could they work together? Ultimately it’s all about power. And the man behind the power of the Prime Minister, and his election, is Campaign Manager and Chief Political Advisor, Paul Connell. Adam Astill plays him beautifully as a put upon, hard working power broker, who would prefer to stay on the sidelines. The Machiavellian power behind the throne. The final character is Lucy Montgomery’s, effortlessly in control, Helena Brandt, the chief EU negotiator. She is the epitome of elegance and understated power, that word again. The cast don’t put a foot wrong.

This play is much more than the one liners. The writing is pitch perfect. The creative team of Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky have given us a true ‘play for today,’ rooted in current political reality, spiced with delicious humour, razor sharp with insight and sparkling wit. Salinsky also directs, using the simple set with an economy that works really well. Credit must also go to Nicholas Holdridge and Jamie Robertson for the lighting, music and sound design.

If you can get a ticket do go and see this. It’s well worth it, and it’s a relief to actually be able to laugh when Brexit is mentioned, rather than sigh with despair!

Tag Archives: Katre

Operation Ouch! Live on Stage
★★★★★

Apollo Theatre

Apollo Theatre

Reviewed – 9th December 2018

★★★★★

“a clever show, entertaining, educational, surprisingly tender and a whole lot of fun!”

There was just enough panto in it to be brilliantly funny, including a few ‘oh yes he did, oh no he didn’t’ moments, and a sing along near the end.

If you have child, go and see this. If you don’t have a chid, maybe borrow one. You’ll both have a great time!

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Prudence Upton

Operation Ouch! Live on Stage

Apollo Theatre until 6th January

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com

Brexit – 5 Stars

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 1st November 2018

★★★★★

“a true ‘play for today,’ rooted in current political reality, spiced with delicious humour, razor sharp with insight and sparkling wit”

If you can get a ticket do go and see this. It’s well worth it, and it’s a relief to actually be able to laugh when Brexit is mentioned, rather than sigh with despair!

Reviewed by Katre

Photography by Steve Ullathorne

Brexit

King’s Head Theatre until 17th November

Click here to see more of our latest reviews on thespyinthestalls.com