NEW SEASON MUSIC SCENE
Titchfield Festival Theatre From Januar y 6 titchfieldfestivaltheatre.com
Titchfield Festival Theatre has announced its 2021 programme – packed with shows for everyone. With Titchfield in Fareham borough, which is in tier two, shows can still go ahead. Artistic director Kevin Fraser says: ‘Despite the necessary restrictions we have continued to plan some great new productions – and perform too, with rave reviews for shows such as Sweeney Todd and our panto, Sleeping Beauty.
‘Protecting our patrons is our top priority, so we have reduced the numbers in the auditoria as well as introducing other safety measures;
‘Earlier this year, our live streaming service was launched, with the number of people tuning in to the live shows increasing every month. It is the perfect option for those patrons who prefer to or cannot visit the
PINOCCHIO – REVIEW
It has been months since I’ve sat in a theatre and then along comes Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s annual outing – Pinocchio this year – and theatrical loins are girded to go forth and review. And then the tiers rose and the tears fell and that live theatre experience was reduced to a live streaming.
Not quite the same.
But what is the same is the absolute quality that this company never fails to deliver, even with a wall of technology between us and them.
Anna Ledwich’s new adaptation is played straight through (an hourand-a-half with no interval) which may prove problematic for some of the younger members of the audience, but as an artistic choice, it’s right for the piece.
The stylised dialogue sits easily in the mouths of this young cast and the delivery is never self-conscious. theatre.’
They already have more than 30 productions lined up, including musicals, drama, comedy and more. There are exciting new productions from talented playwrights including An Evening with Rosie, Him &
Me: The Tracy and Hepburn toryy and Lost + Found; laassic comedy with e Lavender Hill Mob; opular favourites ch as An Inspector lls; the heart-warming llyaanna; plus classic sical productionsp of, The Wizard of Oz and Kiss Me, Kate. A TFT season is not complete, however, without their annual Shakespeare summer festival, The Bard at the Barn. The 2021 summer plays at the historic Great Barn are The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, The Comedy of Errors, Winter’s Tale and Shakespeare’s Lost Play by the RSC (Reduced Shakespeare Company).
The Titchfield Youth Theatre (TYT) promises some great shows too, with short plays and specially written productions including a rewriting of the classic story, Frank n Stein.
The music, by Tom Brady, is good and reminds of Sondheim and Stephen Flaherty in its complexity (Sondheim) and its ability to uplift (Flaherty).
The complexity of the vocals and the range – especially for those fragile, newly-broken male voices – holds no fear for the cast whoo both go for it and ucccessfully carry it off. he cast themselves are utstanding. fiefi Ayling, playing ove-oage as Gepetto, nveeys his fragility elyy andd Meg Bewley and Annalise Bradbury as the Fairy and the Cricket bicker, cajole and encourage Pinocchio on his way. Lovely work, too, from Alex Webb as Mercury (a French dog. No. Really) and a beautiful little cameo from Barnaby Scutts.
The show though, on press-night, rightly belonged to CFT veteran Archie Elliot as Pinocchio. His diction is razor-sharp and his singing spot-on and his alien-ness most effective. His is a talent that promises much for the future. Go visit, lockdown-rules allowing and, if not, get online and stream it to your living-room.
Until January 2.