Tag Archives: Rosemary Branch Theatre

All That Glitters

All That Glitters

★★½

Rosemary Branch Theatre

ALL THAT GLITTERS at the Rosemary Branch Theatre

★★½

All That Glitters

“with some work it could be laugh out loud funny”

 

All That Glitters – a comedy drama set in a popular burlesque club – is the debut show from Made You Look Productions. When seasoned dancer Lexi (Kate Coulson) takes newbie Selene (Rosie Bridges) under her wing, an unlikely friendship forms. Exploring loyalty, female friendship and bodily autonomy, the show combines dance, lip sync and political commentary in its short 45-minute runtime.

Coulson and Bridges have good chemistry between them especially in the dance numbers, but their acting is unfortunately rather awkward. Conversations don’t flow naturally and the pauses for contemplation are never quite the right length of time. The characterisation of Lexi and Selene is good – we know who they are the moment they walk on stage. Selene’s character also has added intrigue as she deals with a possessive partner who doesn’t like her newfound career path.

The show’s biggest weakness however is probably its length. There isn’t quite enough time to get invested in the characters. Lexi’s plotline with the venue’s manager Crystal needs fleshing out in particular. A further 15 or 20 minutes to add more context would go a long way but the general plot is good.

The dance sequences are fine – they are best when also comic. Though a slightly outdated reference, the strongest is when Lexi and Selene dance to ABBA’s Money, Money, Money whilst wearing masks of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt stomping on the EU flag. In addition, at the beginning of some dances, Lexi addresses the theatre audience as if we are the audience for her burlesque show. This is an enjoyable piece of engagement work and more would be welcomed.

“All That Glitters has potential”

The set is simple but used well. Three white boxes containing props and costumes are moved around the stage to make seats, platforms, something to lean on. A set of strip lights are in a square on the back wall and lit up when a dance is taking place. The stage lights are turned off and on again rapidly to signal a change in scene. These are sometimes a bit too fast and make it unclear that we have switched to a different time – especially when the characters do not change positions.

The base of both Lexi and Selene’s outfits are mini leather shorts and a bodice but layers are applied and taken off throughout the show for a variety of different outfits. Changes are done relatively quickly from behind the boxes – something larger to shield the two actors might be good for a better reveal in the future.

All That Glitters has potential. It has a fun storyline and two interesting characters to explore. You will chuckle at the script and with some work it could be laugh out loud funny. I am excited to see what Made You Look Productions do next.

 


ALL THAT GLITTERS at the Rosemary Branch Theatre

Reviewed on 2nd August 2023

by Flora Doble

Photography courtesy Made You Look

 


 

 

 

More shows reviewed by Flora:

 

Cuckoo | ★★½ | Royal Court | July 2023
Peter Smith’s Diana | | Soho Theatre | July 2023
After The Act | ★★★★★ | New Diorama Theatre | March 2023
Gay Witch Sex Cult | ★★★★★ | VAULT Festival 2023 | February 2023
Kings of the Clubs | ★★★ | VAULT Festival 2023 | February 2023
Le Gateau Chocolat: A Night at the Musicals | ★★★★ | Soho Theatre | January 2023
Who’s Holiday! | ★★★ | Southwark Playhouse Borough | December 2022
Diana: The Untold And Untrue Story | ★★★★ | Pleasance Theatre | November 2022

All That Glitters

All That Glitters

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Butterfly Powder: A Very Modern Play
★★★★★

Rosemary Branch Theatre

Butterfly Powder: A Very Modern Play

Butterfly Powder: A Very Modern Play

Rosemary Branch Theatre

Reviewed – 10th April 2019

★★★★

 

“a triumph of silliness”

 

Subtitled ‘A Very Modern Play’, Jack Robertson’s farcical whodunnit is a drawing room comedy with stock characters and familiar devices. A snobbish married couple, a maid with an accent, a posh neighbour with a multi-barrelled name, a murder, a detective, a plot where dramatic chords and power cuts announce repetitive slayings…in theory this is a tired idea for a sketch turned into two hours of torture. In practice, it is a triumph of silliness, starting with casting of the central characters.

Alice Marshall is magnificent as the maliciously haughty Mrs Fox and Jack J Fairley plays the subservient husband with fawning finesse. Together they bicker unhurriedly through surreal arguments such as whether goldfish have teeth and whether ‘letter box’ is an apt description for a rectangular gap in a door. As Rhoda, Grace Hussey-Burd is bright and bird-like as she wrangles feather duster and endless trays of tea. But just as the cliché of the Foxes is elevated by good jokes and timing, the character of Rhoda is elevated by her parodic version of ‘foreigner’ English, with modified words and chaotic grammar delivered deftly as if from a food-blender, effortless and on the edge of recognisability. Hannah Fretwell has limited possibilities as Mrs Pleasingdale-Boshington-Worrell but brought the best out of a neurotic widow who exists only to suffer Mrs Fox’s put downs and Mr Fox’s proper nouns. Eventually, a semblance of plot arrives with Billy Coward (Ken Thomson), a young man purporting to be a reporter, believing Mr Fox to be his father and falling for the maid. These tender storylines are casually swept aside as a murder is announced. The spotlight shifts to Detective Spectrum, who tries to persuade each character in turn that he or she is the killer, only to be wracked by doubts when they either reply in the negative or are themselves dispatched. Ben Lydon’s confidently comic performance as Spectrum is a microcosm of the show in that it is both delightful and inconsequential.

In the main, Butterfly Powder is an unoriginal idea executed supremely well. Director Jacob Lovick has a well-chosen, talented ensemble working smoothly, supported by stylistically spot-on design and sound from Jason Salsbury and Patrick Neil Doyle. However, one scene suggests greater things to come from Jack Robertson, ‘a writer you’ve never heard of’, according to the blurb. In the scene, Clampton, a morbid cameo brilliantly played by Chazz Redhead, has been summoned to the upcoming murder scene, and unloads his misgivings to a silent, soup-eating soul, who turns out to be played by the author himself. Staged in a darkened, purgatorial ante-room with the sound of a lapping shoreline in background it’s a poignant, funny, Stoppard-like theatrical idea, that would be good to see more of.

 

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

 

Rosemary Branch Theatre

Butterfly Powder: A Very Modern Play

Rosemary Branch Theatre until 13th April

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
Graceful | ★★★ | August 2018

 

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