Author: thevicritic

Mischief Production’s ‘Good Luck Studio’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi Everyone,

I recently got the chance to see ‘Good Luck Studio’ by Mischief Productions, behind the comedy shows ‘The Show Goes Wrong’ and ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ on the BBC. I wanted to see one of their shows live, and last night I got the chance so was excited! 

Ticket & Venue

I was kindly invited to The Mercury Theatre in Colchester for their press night of this show, and so was gifted the tickets for this show! Tickets range from £15 to £25, it is completely worth the money. A disabled ticket can also include a companion ticket should one be required. 

Seating

For this performance, I was offered seats in row D which are always an excellent view for anyone who is visually impaired as you are very close to the stage and was able to see everything going on from start to finish comfortably, with no eye strain whatsoever. So if you can get this row when booking your seats will have no problem here at all. 

Photo shows seating view of a cartoon setting with a castle, tree, and wall. with a backdrop of clouds and oranges. Surrounded by a tv like studio.

The Show

As I had seen this company’s production of other shows on tv, I went in with hopes being very high and they did not disappoint! The show had a dark theme, but also lots of laughter and comedy and I had a really good balance of both. You felt like you had a connection with each character and the audience felt for each of them as they were going through their struggles. The show had a real professional feel throughout which is something that I had expected coming from the company’s previous reputation. 

I can’t fault any of the cast at all, they really did put everything they had into their own performances and the passion bled from them during the whole show. A truly great performance done by all!  

shows princess pineapple in a yellow and orange pineapple dress. talking to a puppeteer holding a frog puppet.
Photo by Pamela Raith

Accessibility 

I need to start by saying that there is a content warning for this show including gunshots, a bomb threat and mock acts of terrorism. So that is something you need to bear in mind when considering booking tickets. There were multiple gunshots throughout the show, a few of them were in scenes and some were slightly muffled but it is there. For me personally, I think there were maybe too many gunshots, but at the same time some added to the plot, so I would say use your own judgement on this.

There was a great use of colour and lighting in certain scenes which were really helpful. There weren’t any dark moments which was a nice addition. The only dark moment came at the end of the first act, but that is expected. There were a lot of really bright colours as the mock tv show was a show for children so was easy to see who was who. There is a point where two different characters are wearing the same costume so I had to rely on the actors’ voices but that was only a handful of times.

shows 'Andy' (Adam Byron) wearing a bright green with purple dots dragon body custom, holding a yellow script.
Photo by Pamela Raith

There is an Audio Description performance available, if you have limited to no vision I would strongly encourage you to have the AD headset as there are a few visual jokes and tags throughout the show inducing one whole scene that is entirely visual. So take the option if you can. There is also a ‘touch tour’ available should you want that access too. The Audio Description and Touch Tour performance are on the 15th of October at 2.30 pm. 

Overall

In conclusion, I thoroughly recommend this show to adults and older teenagers. A really enjoyable night out, a great laugh with all emotions in one show! I highly recommend it for sure! ‘Good Luck Studio’ is running at The Mercury Theatre from 6th – 16th October 2022. Then running to other theatres in the UK. You can find tickets at The Mercury Theatre by clicking here, or the Good Luck Studio website here! 

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic!

a full shot of the whole set with the dragon dancing and jumping also with princess pineapple with bright lights all around them.
Photo by Pamela Raith

Colchester Operatic Society’s ‘Fame!’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi Everyone,

Back again with another review. This time the show was put on by a local drama society in Colchester! If you would like to know more, and maybe even get involved then you can find their website here. Go and check it out! 

Ticketing & Venue

So I was kindly given the tickets by The Mercury Theatre in Colchester! They were incredibly helpful! There is a wide range of ticket options available. You can choose either: a disabled person ticket, or a visually impaired ticket, or if you have an assistance dog, there is also an assistance dog ticket. There is a companion ticket option at £1.50 that can be added with any of those tickets. 

They are very geared up to helping people with all disabilities, not just blind or visually impaired people! All staff are able to offer sighted guided assistance should you require it! If you also have a Guide Dog then the front-of-house staff, are very accommodating and will happily look after your Guide Dog during the performance. If however, you would like your to be with you during the performance then that is something you can also do easily! 

Seating 

So in terms of seating, you are able to book any seat within the auditorium that you require. At this particular performance, I was given seats H 21 and H22. For me, this proved to be a little tricky when it came to certain darker scenes as I was unable to fully make out who was who. I was somehow able to do this due to do this as these scenes being in the second half of the show I knew which character was speaking as I had worked out which character was who due to their voice! If I had to recommend a certain row I would recommend row D if you have Low Vision, as this is close enough where you are still able at least I am able to see the performers’ facial expressions. Which is something I like to do, but you might be different. But if you have No Vision then anywhere in the auditorium you will have the same experience. 

The Show

Overall, the show was very good, You have to consider that all the actors in the show are not professional. But considering this, some of the cast had amazing singing voices! Sadly I am unable to mention certain cast members by name as on my particular evening the programmes were sadly not delivered in time, and at the time of writing this review, there is no cast list on the Mercury website. But you all really were amazing and you all should be really proud of yourselves! 

Throughout the show, there were some technical difficulties with microphones and such so was a little difficult to hear what some of the cast were saying at times, but this was opening night so I think we can forgive them for the odd teething problems! 

Accessibility 

In terms of accessibility for blind and visually impaired people sadly, it is very limited. Unfortunately, there is no Audio Description which I feel these days is a must and should be at least one per show that comes in. But looking at the website there doesn’t seem to be an Audio Described performance, hopefully, this is something that the Colchester Operatic Society can look to change for future performances, as this is disappointing to see. However, there are two captioned performances available. So check out The Mercury Theatre’s website for more details, click here to find out more!

Overall

This was a really fun show to watch, you called tell that all the company thoroughly enjoyed their time on stage and you could really feel the passion they all had for performing, I think some could really go far if they kept at it! The show is running from 10th – 18th September multiple shows a day so this is definitely a watch if you would like to see some up-and-coming talented and you could say you saw them first! 

Until Next Time!

The VI Critic

Mercury Theatre’s ‘Alice In Wonderland’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi all and welcome to another review! This time it’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester!

Adapted by Mike Kenny from the classic book by Lewis Carroll comes the classic children’s take, but with a slight twist! Alice is a modern school girl about to her final exams, but something goes wrong and she ends up in Wonderland, with all the characters that you come to expect!

There was a mixture of live music, comedy, dancing and laughter! The show had a nice modern spin on the tale which is brilliant for today’s audiences, but it also catered for older audiences too who are very familiar with the classic story. There was a great use of both costume and props throughout. Alice was in the same outfit throughout the show, so was easy to distinguish her from the other characters. There was also a great contrast between what was going on stage compared with the background, so was very clear and easy to follow. I loved the interactions with the audience, and the characters going through the auidence are various points and talking and talking to them. It gave an up close and personal look at the individual costumes of almost all the cast, which is something I always love and enjoy! 

All the characters had bright and colourful costumes so was easy to pick out who was who from a crowd scene. All of the cast were amazing and you could tell they thoroughly enjoyed their roles and acting with the rest of the cast! Sadly the original Alice came out with Covid before the show was due to open. So Beth Mabin stepped into the role with as little as three days’ notice, and what an amazing job she did! Even though the audience was told this before the show started, you would not think that this was the case at all. Beth did an outstanding job, as well as did the rest of the cast. 

Having been to a number of shows at The Mercury now where the cast has also played live music to the songs of the show, and once again this did not disappoint! This made the show more fun and enjoyable to watch! The use of set design was as usual at The Mercury on point. I have Low Vision and everything was clear and recognisable with great use of colour and contrast. The songs were easy to sing along to, proof of this came when at the interval, a number of the audience were still singing the song of the final number for act one. 

I felt like the final act was a little short, and would have been nice if they added on an extra ten or twenty minutes, but I also understand that this is also aimed at children as well as adults too. So for that reason was the right amount of length. 

Overall, I would highly recommend this show for all the family this summer! There is an Audio Description performance on Thursday 11th August at 2.30 pm with a Touch Tour available also at 1 pm on the same day. Although tickets are selling very quickly for all performances of the whole run, so get in quick! 

‘Alice In Wonderland’s running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from Thursday 4th August until Thursday 14th August 2022. You can find the Mercury’s website. there to find tickets and all about their accessibility options and performances by clicking here.

People With Low Vision: I think you will have a great time here, there’s not a lot you won’t miss! There is the odd visual jag here and there that you may miss, but you are not at all missing out on the story or the plot.

People With No Vision: Story-wise you will not miss out, as there are little to no visual story elements. However, there is the odd visual representation of the story and plot you will miss if you do not have Audio Description or a sighted companion going with you. So either one of these things is a must. But if you know the story well beforehand then you should be fine. but this being an adoption there is the odd change to the story, that you might be familiar with. 

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic

photo shows a green garden with a hedge, with two legs in blue and white stripped socking in converse shoes with a pocket watch, and a bottle which asa label that says 'drink me' on it. With big words in red that say; Alice In Wonderland'
Photo By: Pamela Raith

Jim Cartwright’s ‘The Rise & Fall Of Little Voice!’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi Everyone,

I’m back with another theatre review! I recently got to go and see ‘The Rise & Fall Of Little Voice!’ A play that is currently touring the UK this year, but I got the chance to see it at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester!

The show by Jim Cartwright tells the story of a shy young girl who, after her father’s sudden death. Does nothing but stay in her family home, looking after her drunken, men-obsessed mother, as well as keeping the home into some sort of order by listening to her old father’s recorders that he had left to her after he died. 

After her mother starts seeing this talent agent Ray Say, it is discovered that Little Voice or ‘LV’ as she’s known to everyone has a talent for doing impressions of famous signers and divas of the past, along with being a really good singer. After LV is pushed into performing at a local club night after night, her mental health starts to decline and the deserter starts to rear its ugly head. 

Little Voice (Christina Bianco) is on stage in a while sparkly dress holding a microphone singing at full volume.

The acting by Shobna Gulati (Mari) and Ian Kelsey (Ray Say) was outstanding, you could tell that their relationship was starting to turn and things like money, power and social status becoming more important to them than their feelings for each other. Christina Bianco has a real talent for singing and doing impressions of other singers, to do both at the same time was an absolute joy to watch and listen to. I could easily go to and watch an evening with her alone! Brilliant performances! Her acting was great too. To be able to switch from a singing and joyous performance to a quiet and very recluse character, then gradually sink into deep and dark despair was sad but amazing to watch. I could not help to feel for the LV character and what she had become. 

There was a great side plot between LV and Billy (Askhay Gulati) a phone line installer and repair man throughout the main plot of the show. How Billy managed to get LV out of her shell and by the end of the show have a relationship of her own with him after all this character had been through was brilliant to see. 

With the house in the foreground everyone is standing outside listening is standing outside listening to little voice who is still in her bedroom singing to a record.

The show deals with a lot of dark tones, including grief, mental health and depression. It handles all of these delicately and gracefully, but also with the respect it deserves. You had a sense of how each character was feeling. and what they were going through down to the brilliant acting by all the cast. But I had a real connection with the LV character and what she must have been going through, and that for me is a sure sign of unbelievable acting!  

People With Low Vision: The set is large, with plenty to look at, my recommendation is to see as close as you feel comfortable to be able to see everything and all the little details, there is little use of brightly colour lights within the show, apart from the club scenes which as a glittering curtain, spotlights and show light bulbs around it.

People With No Vision: Overall the show is very easy to follow, with the odd scene here and there that does have some visual jags and jokes, that you may need to ask a companion for details. But overall easy to follow. Sadly there is no Audio Description performance, but on this occasion, you might be okay with not having one. 

‘The Rise & Fall Of Little Voice’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from 21st – 25th June 2022 but is on tour through the UK, If you can manage to get tickets at The Mercury (for which you can find by clicking/tapping here. I’m sure you can find another theatre near you where this show will be playing. Details you can find on the show’s main site by clicking/tapping here! I thoroughly recommend you go and see this show! This is one not to be missed! 

Until Next Time!

The VI Critic  

The advertising poster for the show, a pink background all the main cast (Christina Bianco, Ian Kelsey & Shobna Gulati) With a shot of Little Voice sitting on the floor holding her records in a sweatshirt, jeans and trainers. With the title of "The Rise & Fall Of Little Voice By Jim Cartwright UK Tour 2022' in gold writing. with the o in voice as a music record.

William Shakespeare’s ‘A Comedy Of Errors’

/ thevicritic / 1 Comment

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another review!

I went to this show pretty sure in the knowledge that I knew what the show was going to be about. But boy! I was wrong, let me explain why:

So it has to be said that my knowledge of Shakespeare is very little. I did get the chance to go and see ‘Anthony & Cleopatra’ several years ago performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. But honestly, apart from the plays I did in GCSE English; I have had very little experience of his work. So I didn’t even know that ‘A comedy Of Errors’ was one of his. So I was pleasantly surprised when the show started. 

A short synopsis of the play is as follows: A couple has two sets of twins, they are both quite well off in the world. Meanwhile, a lesser well of the couple has their own set of twin boys. They agree to sell their twin boys to the better couple as slaves. Whilst travelling both parents get separated from each other taking one of each twin with them. Unknown to each other they both end up in the same country not knowing they are related to each other. The whole show is set around the confusion of a Diamond necklace, that one of the twins had bought for his wife.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and some really good and funny comedy situations were added into the show to make it more enticing to a younger audience. must admit that I did struggle to follow along with the story of the show, this is because I can never understand Shakespearean language. However, I do not want to that anything away from the show at all I did have a very enjoyable night. 

Following along with the show access-wise: If you can understand the language that is used you will be fine, there are very few physical and visual gags, but if like me you don’t understand the language. Then you will have to heavily rely on the physical and visual elements of the show. 

In between each scene of the show, there were modern songs sung and played, by the band above the main stage which made the show a lot more enjoyable, because though I struggled I was still able to enjoy the amazing songs sung which I thoroughly enjoyed!

You could tell that all of the cast had so much fun performing this show from start to finish. It was easy the see the amount of strong passion they all had for each other their characters as well as the show as a whole. If you are strongly into your Shakespeare, this is for sure a must-see this year! 

There is both Audio Description and captioned performances available at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester! The show is running from Thursday 19th May 2022 until Saturday 28th May 2022! 

The only thing left for me to say is a Happy Birthday to The Mercury Theatre which is celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year!! Here’s to 50 more marvellous and exciting years!

Until Next Time!

The VI Critic!

A hotel lobby, with an upper balcony. Underneath, is a reception desk with sets of keys behind it. On both sides of the desk are two big sets of doors. Near the front of the stage are two small staircases, going on and off stage, all of the set. is coloured in gold and blue.

Mercury Theatre’s ‘Blackmail’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi all,

Here we are with the first theatre review for 2022! To kick things off with a bang, we have a murder!

Okay, not a real murder, I recently went to go and see ‘Blackmail’ at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester! This version is an adaption of the original play written in 1928 by Charles Bennett. Retold by acclaimed playwright Mark Ravenhill tells the story of Alice (Jessie Hills) a little shop girl and her not to be messed with Mother (Lucy Speed), who run a popular shop in Chelsea. Along with Alice’s fiance Harold a Metropolitan Policeman. One night something goes wrong and all their lives are turned upside down in the space of one night.

I have to say first that I thoroughly enjoyed this play! I am a real sucker for crime documentaries and shows so after reading up on the show when I got the invite I knew I was going to enjoy this show. But there are a few things that I would like to touch on here in this post that I thought made it an, even more, enjoyable experience. 

First was how realistic everything was. Thought the show the character would always like cigarettes with matches, pour cups of tea or glasses of water, cut slices of bread amount other things and this was done right. When they pour they poured the tea out of the teapot actual tea would pour out, when they turned on the tap you could hear and see water splashing into the sink! This is something I feel that shows just don’t do enough of. By performing shows in this way it makes them as accessible to the audience as possible. 

photo shows the huge two story set on stage with Alice's mother Ada (Lucy Speed) looking out the side door whilst Harold is standing in this police uniform contemplating in the small kitchen at the back of the shop.
Photo By: Pamela Raith

The use of lighting was excellent, you could see everything that was going on stage very clearly, there was some during the night scenes which were a little tricky to see, but that’s okay, as there were no major actions scenes so I didn’t feel like I was missing much. Even if you have no vision you wouldn’t miss out either as the show is mostly dialogue. My only suggestion would be is to have better contrast with the characters’ costumes between each other and the light, there were times when I struggled to pick out Alice because of the colour of her dress colour in some of the night scenes. But all of the actors’ voices are all different and unique to the character, so if you have no vision you will be able to remember who is who very easily, plus every character’s name is mentioned a good three or four times at least throughout the show, I can’t imagine it would be too much of a problem to keep track of what is going on if you have limited vision.

Photo shows Alice (Jessie Hills) and Ian Tracey (Patrick Walshe McBride) in the back kitchen having a heated confrontation, with Ian Tracey holding a bread knife in a threatening way, whilst keeping th door to the upstairs rooms shut.
Photo By: Pamela Raith

All of the cast were excellent, you could feel the emotion, stress and anxiety of all of them at various points, and you could tell that they all knew their charters very well and connected with them. It is a small cast of only four so trying to remember visually who’s who isn’t too difficult. Each character’s costume is unique to them so that will also help. 

As I said at the beginning, I thoroughly enjoy this show and would happily go and see this again, and a highly recommend you could and seat whilst you can. It has a very limited run at The Mercury Theatre from Thursday 10th March until 19th March 2022. Tickets for the show can be found by ticketing the link here. Hurry up and buy your tickets, you won’t want to miss out on this!

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic 

‘Be Unapologetically You’ Blogging Tag

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment
The words "be unapologetically you" are written in green across a lilac background. The "be" and "you" look like they have been typed whereas "unapologetically" looks as though it has been written with a paintbrush

Hi all!

I was nominated by the lovely Emma from InvincibleWomanOnWheels! Find her post on this blogging tag here! This tag is based on being on honesty and being as honest as you can, so lets see how this goes, but first here are the rules: 

The Be Unapologetically You Tag rules:

Use the Be Unapologetically Tag banner in your post (see above) It can be the featured image or not its up to you.

Include the link to this blogging tag in your post.

Answer the 7 question in this tag.

Nominate 5 to 10 bloggers, link their blogs and tag them on social media to notify them.

But most of all have fun!!

So on the questions!!

Question 1 – Introduce yourself and your blog and while sharing one trivia about you that not many people know?

I’m Alex, I’m 28 and I’m a visually impaired person, I run this site and talk about shows and other experiences and what’s it is like to experiences these things as a visually impaired person! I guess the one thing that people don’t necessarily know about me is that I am a anglican Christian and have been from a number of years.

Question 2 – What topics do you geek out about that you would say are topics that give you bliss?

I have a number of interests, some stay with me all the time, some others come and go, but the two things that stay with me and have done for a number of years, are both theatre/musical theatre and Disney! Both of these interests I’ve had since I was a child and continue to this day! There is something about both these things that just gives me pure joy when I interact with them in various ways!

Question 3 – Do you blog about them? Why or why not? If not, would you like to blog about them sometime?

I blog about my experiences of going to see local theatre when I can and I love to do so, and have done for a number of years! Would I love to do more absolutely! So can’t wait for what’s to come this year of shows! I’ve never told about my love to love for Disney, but if that’s something you would like to hear about then sure of course.

Question 4 – Would you say that you are living life by being unapologetically you? Why or why not? If not, what would your life look like if you were unafraid to share more about the things that make you happy?

I guess it really depends on who I am talking to. If it’s a close friend then of course I will talk about both these topics and others. If I am meeting someone for the first time then I might not, especially if there’s a chance I could work with them in the future. But if people would like to know then sure I will talk about it with them no problem. I guess in the past i’ve been afraid of what people will think of me because of it, but this is something i’m working on to change!

Question 5 – Permission to geek out and be unapologetically you: share with us one thing you fangirl or fanboy over and how you became a fan of it. It can be anything. Your love for soy candles, your favourite food, a boy band, or an underrated film.

So this question was a little tough to answer, because do keep it on topic and stay with the topics I’ve already talked about above or pick something different. Well I thought I’d keep with the theme and talk about my favourite show of all time!

So I number of years ago, I say this because I honestly can’t remember now when I saw this show for the first time because I’ve seen it almost every year since sometimes twice a year! But I went to London to go and see a show called ‘Wicked – The Musical’ I had no clue what this show was about all I knew is that it had something to do with The Wizard Of Oz and that’s all I know. I didn’t even see the poster of the two witches it was just written down so it wasn’t really until I got the theatre which is when I knew more. But I went to go and see this show and feel in love with everything, the characters, the musical, the strong message of its okay to be different and the importance of friendship is something that a absolutely adored, and so now I go and see it every year and its always just as good as the first time I ever went to go and see it all those years ago!

Question 6 – What do you like most about being a fan?

For me, it’s all about the love the fans have for this show, and how we’ve all come together to share our love for the same thing. To be honest that can be said for all the other things I love, like Disney, or the Harry Potter series. The fandoms of all these franchises are that the fans that love them are loving and welcome and that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you love that one thing who cares, I’ve gone to theatre shows over the years where I’ve sat next to someone in the theatre and talked about different theatre shows that love the whole time before the show starts, I never see these people again, but they really are the loveliest people. But that can be said for all the things I am a fan of. 

Question 7 – Share a fun or unforgettable fan experience.

Wow, this is hard, but I guess it would have to be that one time I went to Disneyland Paris for my birthday one year. So one December my mum surprised me with a weeks trip to Disneyland Paris for my birthday, I was so excited as because even though I was sixteen I had never gone to Disneyland a Christmas before! So I was actually at Disney for on my birthday and I was so excited! After a full day in the parks we went to a character dinner restaurant. This is where a number of Disney characters come to your table and interact with you and take pictures. I have always found this to be the most accessible way of getting to meet characters so we have always done it! Anyway, we were finishing dinner and all of a sudden this loud happy birthday music played, and I’m thinking ‘nah this isn’t for me, there’s probably a young child somewhere here experiencing their own birthday’. when all of a sudden a cast member came and put a Disneyland Paris cake on the table, ever single character came over including Mickey and Minnie and everyone sang happy birthday! I was so lovely, each character came and gave me a hug, then once everything had settled down we finally started eating some of the cake. 

So with all that nostalgia out if way! I tag the following people:

Nicola from ViewFromAWalkingFrame.co.uk

Helen from crispy confessions.com

Emily from fashioneyesta.com

Holly from lifeofablindgirl.com

Glen from welleyenever.com

I hope you have all had fun, learning a little more about me! A a huge thank you for Emma from Invinceablewheels again, check out her post here.

Until Next Time!
The VI Critic  

Andrew Pollard’s ‘Aladdin!’ at The Mercury Theatre

/ thevicritic / 2 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome! 

I know this post has been a little time coming as I’ve not been to as many shows this year (as you can imagine with the world the way it is).  But hopefully I will be able to attend and review more shows in the coming year.
Watching a pantomime at Christmas as a theatre-goer is my favourite thing to do and this year was no exception.

Widow Twankey, Humphrey the Camel & The Emperor of Colchestaria are all sicking on a bench looking all worried and scared.
Antony Staurt-Hicks – Dale Superville – Minal Patel
Photo By: Marc Brenner

A brief overview of the show:
A young Aladdin desperately wants to become a famous rock star. 
He meets Jasmine the Emperor’s daughter, falls in love with her and resolves to find a way to become so rich that he can marry her.  Meanwhile, our antagonist the evil ‘Fabra Cadabra’ believes that she deserves all the power in the world.  Jasmine is then kidnapped.  Hoping that the ‘power of rock’ will protect him, Aladdin goes on a quest with Genie and his friends to save Jasmine from Fabra Cadabra in the “Land of the Mummies”.

Now the review!

I have been in the audience of every Mercury Theatre pantomime since 2016 but for me, this has to be the best pantomime I have seen.  So much fun, frolics and fantastic acting! This is not one to miss!
It has everything a great panto needs: sing along songs, dancing, comedy and so much laughter from start to finish.
James Hameed who plays Aladdin is a super star with a truly amazing singing voice. 
There is great chemistry between Aladdin and Jasmine (Danielle Kassaraté), as with all the cast as a whole.
I am certain that the players had a blast performing the show and this really translated well to the audience.
It was so easy to be swept up in the performance. 

Aladdin, wearing a golden and white hasten clothing, smiling holding Jasmine, who is wearing a green hasten costume.
Danielle Kassarate & James Hameed
Photo By: Marc Brenner

Once again the comedy duo that is Antony Stuart-Hicks and Dale Supervillie were on fire. 
Not being on stage for two years has not stopped them at all!  They had the whole audience in stitches.
I am so happy to see them both together again. They are an absolute joy to watch, making the night even more special!  I personally can’t wait to see the duo again, maybe in next year’s panto? (Hint hint!)

There was a great use of light and colour throughout the whole show.  Each character had their own unique colour and style, so even if with limited vision I was still able to make each character out. 

Despite my limited vision, I could not miss Widow Twankey with her over the top yet fun costumes and hairstyles.
I also found each song in the show recognisable and very easy to sing along with. 

Fabra Cadabra wearing a red glittering costume, is holding a glass ring looking all amazed.
Leonie Spilsbury
Photo By: Marc Brenner

Accessibility

Even if, (like myself) you are someone with very limited vision, I think you will have a wonderful time! 
There are some parts of the panto which rely upon visual gags but I think the show tries to make sure that you hardly miss anything, including jokes and the storyline. 

I am not sure about a touch tour this year due to health and safety regulations but I did not contact the theatre to ask.
I would like to see more audio described performances. The show is running for a few months and I feel that one is just not enough.

As I said at the beginning of the review, I have seen so many pantomimes performed at The Mercury and this is the best I have ever seen!
Tickets are selling fast, so get yours soon from The Mercury Theatre’s website: here


Aladdin is running from 27th November until 16th January 2022. 

Trust me when I say, go get your tickets now!

Until Next Time

The VI Critic

Ken Ludwig’s ‘Baskerville’

/ thevicritic / Leave a comment

Hi everyone!

I am so happy to be back in the theatre again after so long out of one! As well as be able to review shows for you again!


The Sherlock Holmes stories are a collection of stories I have been a huge fan of since I was a child. I have watched and read most of the main stories and I do have my personal favourites. There is just something about Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson that just attracts them to you as any long life fan of the duo would know. can be anything from the action and suspense, to be in awe of Holmes’ genius and brilliant mind!

So When I got the option to go and review at Sherlock Holmes show I was shall we say a little excited…? Okay, I was very much excited! The story that Ken Wen Ludwig went with was the iconic Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Hound Of Baskerville’. If you talked to any Sherlock Holmes fan and ask them to name their top five stories I can guarantee this would be one of them!


‘Baskerville’ has tried to keep too original sorry as possible, however, it is slightly adapted as this show is a comedy version. Now hold your horses Holmes’ fans, I had the same thought as you originally of ‘oh dear, what have they done.’ But actually, I was pleasantly surprised!

Imagine of Holmes in a purple blazer holding a black and silver cane, looking concerned, with Waston just behind him looking at Holmes expectantly.
Photo Credit: Pamela Rath

A quick review would be, from beginning to end I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The show is very light-hearted and caters for everyone and anyone including families and children, being the story that it is, there are some scary bits here and there and there is a lot of talk of crime, murder and death as you would come to expect, but being a comedy it tackles these subjects very well even for young children and makes enormous fun of them, but there are some serious moments in there too.


Before beginning to end the show will have you in stitches both children and adults alike! The acting from all the cast was amazing and keep in with the style and mood of the show they were going for, Richard Ede played an excellent Sherlock Holmes’ he made the character his own, not as serious and in some cases cold as I believe Sherlock Holmes to be but light-hearted and welcoming which was brilliant as it set with the rest of the show brilliantly.


Dr Waston played by Eric Stroud kept the audience well informed with the story and what was going on as Dr Waston should! He came across as more down to earth and open than Holmes, but that is as it should be. Both Eric and Richard looked great together as the famous duo and bounced well off each other! You could tell that all the cast had a close bond which is always so nice to see!

Imagine shows Holmes and Waston on the Baskerville moor at night with lanterns walking through the fog of the moors looking very alert!
Photo Credit: Pamela Rath

The use of sound was expertly done, in particular scenes which involve the hound, there were times where it felt like the hound was either behind or the side of you! That’s something I haven’t seen in a long time so well done! There was a great use of costume, during the show Dr Waston has to walk in some very strong wind so his customer was very dramatic and over the top, both for the scene and comic effect which was a great laugh. Other small comic moments make the show I real pleasure to watch and is a great night out for all the family!

People Who Are Visually Impaired: I think this is a great show for you to go and see. The use of light and colour is expertly done and I don’t think you will have any problems here. If you have very limped but some vision you might miss some of the small comic moments during the show, but these don’t take anything from the story so you wouldn’t miss anything. I would recommend either sitting in rows D or E for the best view. But if you need to sit closer to see then by all means do.

People Who Are Blind Or Have No Vision: I think you will have little problems with this show story-wise, as all the important parts of the story are narrated by Dr Waston, and most of the show has very little action. But if you would like the full effect and no to miss any of the comedy be it big or small I could recommend you book an Audio Described performance, these will include a touch tour before the show as well so you will get the full experience. Details of this can be found on The Mercury Theatre’s website under the ‘Access For All’ section. 

‘Baskerville’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester, from Friday 6th until Sunday 22nd August 2021! Book your tickets now, you won’t be disappointed! 

Why ‘Alt Text’ Is Awesome! – #DescribeThePic

/ thevicritic / 4 Comments

Hi all,

Today we all take looking at photos on websites and social media is something we take for granted. But for people who are Blind or Low Vision can be really difficult if someone doesn’t take the time to describe that photos.

Screen Readers

But how exactly do Blind or Low Vision people look at these photos? Well people with Low Vision might choose to use Zoom features to be able to look at a photo or read some text, but it’s a little different for people you have no vision at all. People with no vision use something called a ‘Screen Reader’. A ‘Screen Reader’ is a piece of software, that can either be built into a device like all Apple iOS or Mac products, or in some cases android too. This little of software reads all things on the screen to a Blind person, whether that be text messages, the weather, or even ebooks. But it will always read ‘Alt Text’ on websites to describe photos. 

Alt Text

‘Alt Text’ is a simple piece of code on a website that allows people to add descriptions to photos which Screen Readers can read if the person has ‘Voice Over’ on, but it embedded into the photos, so it is hidden by sight users to your website (social media alt text will be covered below). Websites like ‘Wordpress’ make it very easy to allow owners of a website to add descriptions to photos. For more information on adding alt text to your wordpress website you can click here!

Here are two examples, the first image doesn’t have Alt Text, but the image underneath does:

Photo shows a photo of me and Guide Dog Blossom sitting in a house garden posing for a photo. Blossom is wear her Guide Dog harness.

Social Media

So adding ‘Alt Text to photos to tweets on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook is so, so easy, and even more important now more and more people are now using social media even more! So below I am going to give you some instructions on how to add Alt Text for each of these websites:

Twitter

So adding Alt Text to your photos along with your tweets is as follows:

  1. Firstly, click or tap on the compose tweet button, type out your tweet, then at the bottom, tap or click on the add photos button.
  2. Once you have selected the image, at the bottom right of the thumbnail of the image, there is an alt text button, once tap or clicked another window will appear where you can typed on the description of the photos. 
  3. Once you have typed on the description, then just tap or click then done button, then just tap or click the tweet button.

Instagram

Adding descriptions to your instagram photos goes like this:

  1. Tap on the ‘add photo’ cross at the top right of the app, the dice on the photo.
  2. Once you have added a filter if you chose to, then once the ‘New Post’ window appears click or tap the ‘advanced settings’ option that the very bottom of all the options on the page.
  3. Once there, scroll all the way down the ‘accessibility’ section, under that is the ‘write alt text’ button, tap on that. once there it gives you a huge section for you to be as descriptive as you like! The more descriptive the better!

Facebook

Unfortunately, Facebook does not have a way for you to embed the description into the photo. So the only way around this is to add a photo description underneath your post along with the photo, with the words ‘photo description’ along with the description of the photo.

Adding Alt Text, to photos to some might be an extra thing you have to when you ‘just want to post an image to your friends’. But just taking this little extra step before pressing share. Means that everyone can enjoy your photos including people with vision loss!

I have had the massive honour and privilege, on not doing this post alone! This post has been part of a campaign called #DescribeThePic along with the brilliant Siobhan Meade creator of the YouTube channel ‘Blind Girl Vlogs’ an channel of which you can find here or her twitter here. But also the wonderful Emily Davison who creates fashion and all things Visually Impaired blog posts and videos on her website, YouTube channel, and twitter whom I have follow for a while and it has been a joy to work with!

Thank you Siobhan and Emily for having me! I’ve enjoyed it so much!

I know this is complexly different to what normally post about, but this a topic which is near and dear to me, so I was something that when asked I really wanted to get involved with. So I hope you have got something out of this, and hopefully next time you post an image to social media or website.

If you decided to post a photo in the near future, or decide to make video or blog post also on this same subject, then please do so. I’d would love to hear what you guys think about this! But then you do, please use the hashtag #DescribeThePic on social media, that way people can also see your creations and your opinions too!

Due to world pandemic as many have seen, the theatre industry is none existent! So I am not sure when my next post is going to be, as there will be no Pantomime post this year. But I want to take this time to wish all a Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!

Until Next Time!

The VI Critic