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Countdown to Cruella – Behind The Scenes at 101 Dalmatians Pt 1
Every year at Christmas time, the Birmingham Rep offers something a little bit different to the traditional panto fare. This year it is bringing an eagerly awaited production of 101 Dalmatians to Birmingham and last week, on World Theatre Day, I was lucky enough to get behind the scenes at the Rep, to watch a rehearsal, chat to the cast and director Tessa Walker, designer Jamie Vartan and puppet director Jimmy Grimes. It was a fascinating look at what goes into the production of a Christmas classic. In this first post I am going to bring you the chat with director Tessa and puppet director Jimmy, who talked about why…
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The Whip Hand – Powerful Drama At The Birmingham Rep
The Whip Hand is a powerful new play from the Traverse Theatre Company and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre with the National Theatre of Scotland. It tells a family tale of money, greed, guilt and hatred, with all of these issues revealed during a seemingly happy celebration – a family birthday. Played out by a talented ensemble cast of five, The Whip Hand asks the question, are we responsible in some way for the actions of our ancestors. Dougie is 50 and is life is most definitely at a crossroads. Back living with his mother, and sharing a room with his directionless nephew Aaron, his life is a direct contrast to…
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Jane Eyre At The Rep, Birmingham – Delicious Gothic Melodrama
You have to feel for Jane Eyre, one of the most unlucky heroines in classic literature. Her life was one of low after low, orphaned soon after birth, hated by the family who took her in but saw her as a cuckoo in the nest, sent away to a school where she was treated brutally, losing her best friend to consumption and ill treatment, and when she finally breaks out as a governess and falls in love with her boss, the mysterious, and let’s be honest, rather strange Mr Rochester, her plans for true love are thwarted by the maniacal tendencies of the first Mrs Rochester, not so safely locked…
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Treasure Island – Pirates arrive at the Birmingham Rep
Firstly, I’d like to point out that this was not quite what I expected when I arrived at the Birmingham Rep to review this year’s seasonal offering, Treasure Island. I was expecting a rip roaring yarn featuring cartoon pirates, a stage glistening with gold and treasure and ‘x’ marks the spot. In short, I was expecting a panto version of the Robert Louis Stephenson classic. What I actually got was a deliciously dark pirate and treasure story, with a healthy smattering of girl power that the Spice Girls themselves would’ve been proud of. In short, it’s a real festive treat, albeit one with not a hint of Christmas. Photo credit:…
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The Rotters Club – Teen Angst in 70s Birmingham
If you asked me to name my favourite book, I could do it quite easily. ‘The Rotters Club’ by Jonathan Coe is a coming of age novel set in 1970s Birmingham, complete with teenage crushes, ‘prog rock’, meals at the Bernie Inn, and the horror of the Birmingham Pub Bombings. The Rotters Club will make you laugh, make you cry and make you smile, and it has now been bought vividly to life by The Young Rep, the Birmingham Rep’s Youth Theatre. The action starts in 1973 and follows the high school life of Ben Trotter (or Bent Rotter as he is more commonly referred to). Ben is a pupil…
