Welcome back to another review, which will be the last review of the year with the lead-up to Christmas and the new year so imminent. But I get to finish it over with my favourite of the year and that’s always going to be The Mercury Theatre’s Pantomime and as always it did not disappoint.
This year’s Pantomime tells the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ but of course with some twists and more modern adoptions.
First I need to mention the use of colour and lighting as The Mercury really nailed it this year! Even before the show started; there was use of bright multi-colourful on the trees at the sides of the stage, along with these same lights in the glittery title of ‘Sleeping Beauty’. The vibrant and visually captivating nature of the show is immediately evident, with a delightful array of colours splashed across the stage. The atmosphere immediately captures the audience even before the show begins. The use of colour throughout the whole show, and is a visual delight. However, it may be too much for some.
The costumes of the characters stand out prominently, designed with distinctiveness in mind, making it effortless for the audience, regardless of visual ability, to distinguish between each character. This thoughtful consideration contributes significantly to the accessibility of the performance.
Alexandra Barredo The actress portraying Lona steals the spotlight with her remarkable singing prowess. Her voice resonates throughout the theatre, captivating hearts and elevating the emotional depth of the production.
‘Sleeping Beauty’ brings forth a plethora of laughter, cleverly catering to both adults and children. Anthony Stuart-Hicks, with his mixture of fresh and timeless comedic material, ensures that the humour appeals to a diverse audience. As for Dale, his consistent charm and wit remain a constant highlight, much to the delight of the loyal audience. These two together are always a joy to see on stage together and their strong and loving chemistry really shines through. Their consistent ability to connect resonates deeply, becoming the driving force behind audiences’ unwavering return, year after year after year.
‘Polo’ the penguin at the start, I’ll be honest I wasn’t are was going to work at the beginning of the show, but by the end, he really was an audience favourite and had us cheering him on by the end. I feel like more could have been done with the character of ‘Prince Istuna’. This is of course nothing against the actor whatsoever, but it felt like that character was only in the story one, because there needed to be and so there was a love interest to move the plot along. Would loved to have seen more of a character arch.
The Mercury Theatre Pantomime has become very much a Christmas tradition for so many local people, me and my family included. There’s just something about this company and the theatre that welcomes you in year after year and I know for many including myself that it really wouldn’t be the Christmas season without it, and it shows with The Mercury breaking their own record of the highest and fastest sales of tickets for ‘Sleeping Beauty’ this year! If you haven’t got tickets, then I strongly and highly recommend you get to a performance.
In terms of accessibility, as said before there are a lot of colourful and flashing lights, which might be a difficult situation for some, but the use of colours really helps if you have some useful vision as you very easily distinguish one character from another. I sat in row F of the theatre, and I think I would have needed to be a little closer, but this took another away from the joyful experience. I would suggest anyone with low but useful vision try and get seats in row D or closer, but maybe not the front row, unless you want to be picked out on my Anthony Stuart-Hicks!
There are two Audio Described and Touch Tour performances available and I would recommend these if you have no vision. These are Saturday 9th December 2023 at 2 pm (but this performance has a low stock of tickets as of writing) and Saturday 13th January 2024 at 7 pm (as of writing this has a good stock of tickets, but these are subject to change) if you are seriously thinking about going I would book your tickets and not wait, as these will go very quickly! You can find out more information and book tickets on The Mercury Theatre website by clicking here.
‘Sleeping Beauty’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from Sunday 3rd December 2023 until Sunday 14th January 2024!
Until Next Time & A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
So I thought I would try something different and new, and talk about one of my favourite past times which only the people closest to me know and that’s that I enjoy playing video games!
It all seemed from when I was a child and we got a PlayStation 1! I loved it, and I would go on it any chance I got! Before and after school and at the weekends. I would only really play football and wrestling games because I found them the easiest to play. But once I had got older around thirteenth or fourteen I would want to play more story-driven games. I had heard of this game called ‘LA Noire’ a story-driven game where you play a 1930s detective and go around solving crimes and Los Angeles! I loved finding all the clues and interviewing all the suspects, then charging them with the crime!
But some somethings were very challenging because of my visual impairment. For example, when finding the clues at each crime scene, because they weren’t lit up or glowing, only an audible chime and my controller vibrating, it was always a little hard to find the right item to pick up. There were also more action-packed moments like car chases and shootouts. Now I am awful at driving in video games even today, but now I don’t mind it so much because I just find it fun when I crash into something if I’m not in a car chasing sequence, But If I am in a car chasing sequence when I would find incredibly frustrating that I would keep crashing all the time until the game would pop up with a prompt that said ‘Would you like to skip this section?’ and I would nearly always say yes and lets not even talk about the number of times my character would die because an enemy would shoot me. After all, I couldn’t see them as the area was so dark.
These days of course technology has progressed so much since that game was released. Sadly it’s only in the last couple of years that more and more video games have become more and more accessible to people with a visual impairment, but there was this one game that had started it all, and that is what I am going to talk about…
Back in 2020, when the world had decided it was going to eat itself, a game company ‘Naughty Dog’ were just about to release their newest game that fans of the franchise had been hotly anticipating called ‘The Last Of Us Part 2’. Now I had heard of this gaming franchise before and had heard great things about the first game, but because I was an Xbox gamer for most of my childhood and early adulthood I had never had the chance to play the first game. However, a lot of blind and visually impaired people on Twitter including some big names, were singing this game’s praises for the amount of accessibility they had put into the game not just for blind and visually impaired people but for all people with a disability! So I started following this game online and started watching some videos on YouTube about it. But it wasn’t until ‘Naughty Dog’ released a trailer for the game talking about the accessibility features that they had added to the game, I watched it, and thought to myself, “Oh okay, they mean business then”. So a few months after the game had released I went out and bought a PlayStation 4 bundle that came with the game (as well as some other games I had been wanting to try). Took it home, set it up, and the first game I downloaded onto it was The Last Of Us, and within the first thirty seconds I was blown away! So let’s watch about one this game was so awesome!
To start, even before you get to the main screen, you are greeted with accessibitly options you can turn on a tweak, for example, a screen reader, and options to change things like text colour, and type of text so whether or not you wanted the medium or large text, what colour you wanted the HUD (Heads Up Display) to be! Along with all this you had various combat options available e.g. when you grabbed an enemy could they escape you, or when you go prone you have the option to either be seen by enemies if you go near them, or after a certain time, or not at all! This sort of setting is amazing and something that has never been done in video games before. There were even presets for different disabilities e.g. ‘visual aids’ or ‘motion sickness’ as well as alternative controls for people with physical disabilities! I am going to focus on settings for people with a visual impairment, but if you have other disabilities I will link ‘Can I Play That’, they are an amazing website that reviews video games for people with disabilities by people with disabilities so they are worth checking out!
So when playing ‘The Last Of Us – Part 2’ you have several accessibility options available to you. As the game is semi ‘Open World’ with a lot of places to go and explore, you can get lost quite easily, so the first feature I want to talk about is ‘Navigation Assistant’ which when walk about the game gives an audible tone in the direction the game wants you to go, it is worth saying however that it is best if you wear a set of headphones whilst using this feature as the audio will be in the direction you need to go. There are also audio cues if there is something in your environment that you can pick up, this can be anything from supplies such as a health kit, or some alcohol to a collectable such as a firefly pendant or note.
I talked about changing the HUD earlier on, well it turned out that this ended up being a fundamental feature for me, because I chose the colour yellow (other colours are available) I was able to easily see things like my health bar, how many bullets I had left in my gun, what weapon I was holding at the time, along with button prompts when I could pick things up or had to mash buttons together during a certain cutscene or a ‘Quick Time Event’ where you have to press buttons in a certain order to progress. There is also the ‘HUD Scale’ which allows you to make the icons of the HUD on the screen either bigger or smaller. So if you need to make certain icons bigger if are far away from your TV or even close to your TV you can do so which I found a great help. Inducing the crosshairs. which I found helpful when shooting enemies as I was able to see more easily where or what I was shooting.
One of the accessibility I found I was using the most was ‘High Contrast’. This is where the area or game environment is greyed out, and the only visible thing is the character you are controlling, the enemies you are facing, and any items you can pick up. These proved to be my saving grace during certain areas of the game because there are some areas in ‘The Last Of Us – Part 2’ where you either have to sneak around or fight enemies in almost complete darkness aside from a red flare, fire light or moonlight. Another helpful thing ‘High Contrast’ does is highlight certain things to avoid. Whilst playing the game at some point you have to avoid walking into these wired trip mines, which if you do will explode and kill you. But because they were in long grass, they were in real struggle to see, even some sighted gamers said they struggled with this part of the game. But because I had ‘High Contrast’ on I was easily able to avoid them.
The game has a ‘Text-To-Speech’ option available both in the menus and their HUD. Along with the audio prompts and the audio navigational directions you can play this game even if you are completely blind! Unfortunately, there are no Audio Descriptions within the cutscenes of this game, but a remake has recently come out of the first game made completely from the ground up including all the accessibility features of the second game along with Audio Descriptions for cutscenes! Which I found so amazing when I played it recently, and it made the story that much more real and heart-wrenching! But sadly that game is only for PlayStation 5, but to my delight a Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered has just been announcedset to be released in January 2024!
One thing I wanted to mention, isn’t necessarily an accessibility feature within the game but a feature when you decide to pay for PlayStation Plus, Sony’s subscription online service which allows you to play online with friends as well as some other benefits. Within that subscription is a feature called ‘SharePlay’ which allows a sighted friend to see your screen, and even control the game should you wish them to. Whilst playing ‘The Last Of Us Part 2’ I had a close friend in my headset telling me important information I needed to know, for example, if I had missed an important health kit I needed because I was about to die, or if in a combat situation where all the enemies were, and where they were walking so I knew where to go to able to avoid them. Although, sometimes I did want to just have an old-fashioned shootout just for fun, die, and then try and do the encounter again all stealth-like! Not only was this extremely helpful but also a lot of fun, as we got to go through and experience the game and story together. Which we continue to do with other games to this day!
Because of ‘Naughty Dog’ and the amount of time and dedication they put into making sure that anyone can play their game no matter who they are or what difficulties they face, many people including myself have fallen in love with a hobby that I loved when I was a child again. The sense of achievement.when I completed the ‘The Last Of Us – Part 2’ and now ‘The Last Of Us’ remake. I can play something which I thought I would never be able to do again. Now, the amount of love I have for this franchise and that studio, words can not describe it!
If after reading this post, (and if you have well done) it has made you think ‘You know what I might give this a go?’ then honestly go for it, you won’t regret your decision at all!
I know I normally give a rating in terms of accessibility so here it is, if you are blind or visually impaired, can you play this game? YES! Yes, you can! I hope you have as much fun as I did!
Hi everyone and welcome back to another review! I was kindly invited to see ‘Metamorphosis’ which is adapted by Lemn Sissay.
It tells the story of Gregor who works hard as a salesman to try and help to provide for his family. But one day he finds himself turning into an insect. The story tells of Gregor’s transformation and how it affects his family and those around him.
As this is a show that I had never heard of before I found the whole show interesting from both a story and staging perspective.
Most of the show is quite dark and grey at least that’s how I found it from the start. But there are some brighter moments which helped me see the show and understand the characters. At the start of the show, there was an amazing use of atmosphere, music and sound. It made the show more mysterious, interesting, and intriguing and made me want to watch the show more and to find out what it was all about.
The main set of Gregor’s bedroom had the use of false perspective which at times made it difficult to see when the cast or set was at the very back of the set itself. But most of the show was further forward on the set and that made it more easier to see.
I wasn’t sure if the cast had microphones on at all or whether or not there was a tech issue, but there were times within the show when I struggled to fully understand the lines the cast was delivering so as a result I probably missed some parts of the story. So I think me and other people would have benefited from a touch tour before the show to get a better understanding of both the sets and the story. Also, Audio Description would be a huge benefit to people with limited to no useful vision, as there is a lot of physical staging and drama throughout the whole which was a very welcome change and something that I don’t see very often so would be nice to see more shows doing that, but then if that is the case, please made sure you have at least performance that is an audio described performance.
I was in row E for this performance which for people with some useful vision I would say is the minimum I would say you would need to comfortably watch the show, but if I were to see this show again I would pick a closer seat so I can fully experience the show even more than I did.
The overall show was really enjoyable and the whole cast did an amazing job! Felipe Pacheco stood out thanks to his physical performance as Gregor. But also Troy Glasgow for his performance as the father. He had this very authoritative and commanding presence about his charter and his lines were beautifully delivered throughout.
I thoroughly enjoyed this show from start to finish, yes some of the show was difficult but I enjoyed it. If you want to see something different and new, then go give this a watch. Unfortunately, the is no Touch Tour or Audio Description for this show as it’s only running for a few days, but I think it should come back for the longer run so more people can come and experience this awesome show.
‘Metamorphosis’ is currently running at The Mercury Theatre from 8th – 11th November 2023, go and pick up your tickets now at the link by clicking here.
Hi everyone and welcome back another theatre review! I know theatre reviews have been few and far between this year, but it’s exciting times ahead with Christmas and Pantomime season around the corner!
I recently got the chance to go and see ‘Ghost Stories – By Candlelight’ from the theatre company ‘High Tide’. When I got this invite, I wasn’t sure what to make of this, but I found out.
‘Ghost Stories’ stars Katie Cherry, Elizabeth Crarer and Loren O’Dair. Play various different characters with three different spooky and ghostly stories. Using lighting, puppetry, and emotion to tell a story. Each of the stories were gripping, and had some ‘on the edge of your seat’ moments, with some twists along the way. All of the cast did an amazing job telling each of the three stories along with using lighting to create the right atmosphere for each of the stories.
Each of the stories are completely different from one another but also has little similarities.
In terms of accessibility, the show is very much in dim light from start to finish, with some bright and in some cases flashing lights throughout. When the cast was using the puppets I personally struggled to see what the puppets actually were, as they were used in front of coloured tinted lights so this made it quite different to distinguish what they were. Due to the limited light, it was different to see the cast’s faces at times, but this by no means takes anything away from the stories they were trying to tell, or the characters they were portraying. All the cast wore all-white costumes, so was very easy to identify them all.
As the style of the show is very much vocal and emotional, with very little physical involvement, I feel like this can cater to all people regardless of their level of sight loss. You could really feel the emotions of all the characters and really feel their pain or distress. This show really caters for everyone, and you never once feel you are missing out on any of the show, but I came away feeling that even though all the cast and crew did an amazing job, this show won’t be for everyone, but at the same time it really gives people the chance to try something new and experience something completely different to what they normally see.
I think a lot of people will get a lot out of this show, especially if you like your spooky ghost stories! The building really added to the atmosphere too.
‘Ghost Stories = By Candlelight’ is running on tour around the country, you can find out more on their website by clicking on the link here.
This time we are actually at a new theatre! I got kindly invited to The Chelmsford Theatre in Chelmsford, Essex! First then, about the show! I went to go see ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ performed by a local drama society ‘The Trinity Music and Drama’ society located in Chelmsford.
The show is based on the well-known classic film of the same name and starts with Caractacus Potts an inventor trying to make a better life for his two children Jeremy and Jemima with their grandpa lending a helping hand where he can. But then one day the Potts family come across Truly Scrumptious the daughter of a well-off sweet factory owner and they instantly have a strong connection as a family. But then things start to go wrong for them and they end up travelling to this strange country with an evil king and queen.
From start to finish you could instantly tell that all the members of the cast were all having immense fun, especially the two children playing the Potts children! Could you tell it was an amateur production, yes. But didn’t it matter not at all! I have always believed that it’s so important to support local groups and societies like this for two reasons. One because this is. where the love for theatre comes from, and it will inspire the next generation of actors/actresses. But also secondly it allows actors who maybe couldn’t have turned professional for whatever reason, or professional actors to take more of a back seat to still continue the one thing they enjoy the most and that’s entertaining audiences.
On to the accessibility of the show, The show constantly has bright colours and lights, so if you have some useful vision then you will able to see everything that is going on. If you have limited vision or you struggle with bright lights or light bouncing off of objects then you might struggle a little but then the show makes up for it in the fun and laughter it provides the audience. There a two loud pyrotechnics during one scene of the show but that’s all there is. There are slight sounds of cannon fire and one quite gunshot, but the sound effects were not very loud. But something you might to prepare yourself for if you struggle with loud noises. Sadly there is no Audio Description or Touch Tour available, but this was to be expected the show being performed by a local drama group. However, maybe this is something they could possibly look into for future productions? I am of course happy to assist in this, so please do get in touch if this is something you wish to pursue.
As this is a new venue I have been to, I wanted to touch briefly on the accessibility of the theatre itself. Before arriving at the venue, I notified the venue that I would be bringing my Guide Dog with me, and could they accommodate her whilst I was watching the show with my dog in the box office with staff. They then sent back some questions they wanted me to answer which of course I was more than happy to answer. To which they said they would look after her. On the night, the staff were really welcoming and friendly and loved looking after my dog. I did notice however that the box office was smaller than some other venues I have previously been to so if you are going with a group of more than one Guide Dog, do contact the theatre in advance, and they still might be able to assist, but bare this in mind. Also, there are very little to no patches of grass for your dog to ‘spend’ so if like me you have a dog that prefers grass, then make sure they go before your trip, but the staff are more than happy to take them out for you if you ask.
In terms of the building itself, as you go into the building, there is a very wide open space, with very few walls to help guide you along. I found the staff to be very helpful and will happily help if they can. There are also unisex toilets available, I wasn’t told of any disabled toilets available so something to ask the staff if you require that. All of the building is well lit by lights and I was able to easily get around before the show, but after the show had finished getting out of the theatre was a little tricky because of the mass exit from the audience so maybe hang back a little until the crowd clears.
Overall I found the venue to be easy to navigate but if you are someone with little to no vision then you will struggle due to the amount of wide space so I would strongly suggest going with a friend or family member on your first visit to then be able to understand your bearings better.
Overall, I definitely recommend this show and this theatre! ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ is running at The Chelmsford Theatre from Wednesday 24th until Saturday, the 27th of May 2023, if you are looking for a relaxing, enjoyable and fun night out I cannot recommend this enough, and I can’t wait to see what this theatre has in store in the future! Tickets for the show can be found on The Chelmsford Theatre’s website by clicking here.
After the fun and laughter of ‘They Don’t Pay, We Won’t Pay’ comes another classic story by Charles Dickens. The Mercury Theatre in Colchester kindly invited me to their press night of ‘Great Expectations’. I haven’t very read or watched this in films so I had no idea what it was about, but `I had heard of the story of course.
‘Great Expectations’ tells the story of Pipe a country boy orphan who was adopted by his sister and her husband Joe. Joe is a blacksmith so he and Pipe have a close relationship. One day Pipe is called to go and see Miss Havisham and to play with Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter Estella. Years later Pipe comes into a wealth of money and becomes a gentlemen of London. Once there Pipe’s life starts to unravel and things don’t seem to end right for him.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show! I went into this show knowing nothing about the story so I really enjoyed it! There was so much drama and scandal that you could help but be focused on the story. The cast was amazing and they all told the story brilliantly. Some had more than one character to play others only had one. In some scenes you would feel the tension, fear or worry that that particular character was feeling, everyone did a fantastic job! I feel like however I need to mention both Stanton Wright (Pip) and Emily Pollet (Miss Havisham). When had scenes together you could feel a sense of bond and friendly affection between them particularly when had scenes which just the two of them. Brilliantly played by the cast!
Photo By: Pamela Raith
I found various points of the show to be quite dark. Even when I walked into the auditorium I found it to be darker than usual so was a struggle to find the right seat. Luckily my mum had come along to this show so she was able to help me out. But I would have either struggled but found the seat eventually, asked a member of the public or asked a staff member to get around this situation otherwise. I can defiantly understand why the theatre might have wanted it a little darker to keep with the atmosphere on stage. But I found this to be a little difficult. On the subject of lighting, Quite a fair few number of the scenes within the show, are in quite a dark/gloomy setting. I guess this is to be keep in with the setting of a smoggy London, But there were times when I struggled to see some of the scenes or the characters. But there were also times when the characters were lit up by light, either by a spotlight or an orange light coming from the floor of the stage to imitate fire, which I thought was a lovely idea and a great touch. But keep in mind that ninety per cent of the show is in very low lighting, and most of the characters’ costumes are in very dull colours to keep in with the period. So have this in mind if you would like to come and see this show.
Each character was very distinguishable either through their change in costume or mostly through their change in voice. I was very impressed with the way nearly all of the cast could their voices to sound like they were in different parts of the country.
I would also recommend you get a decent seat, as there is very little set design with some costumes being similar colours to the background, if you had low vision you will want to be able to see as much as you can. There are a few physical scenes but only one very dramatic scene, but this is helped by a light and crowd of people but still quite a dark scene, so if you want to see the show comfortably I would suggest getting a seat in Row E or near if possible.
Photo By: Pamela Raith
There is an accessible tour touch performance on the last date of the show’s run at 2.30 pm. The Mercury Theatre are excellent. They are very in-depth, they have some of the props and costumes you can feel and touch along with the set. If possible some of the cast will come and talk to you about their character and what is in store without spoiling the show. Would highly recommend going to the touch tour if you can.
Having gone into this show not knowing anything about the plot or story, I can say I thoroughly enjoy the show immensely! I would recommend anyone go and see this show. As I said above, if you have low vision, there might be times when you will struggle in certain scenes, but most of the show is dialogue, so you miss very little of the show. If you can blind or have little to no useful vision, then I would say of course try and get the touch tour and Audio Described performance on the last day of the show if you can. But if for some reason you can’t, then I honestly feel you will miss out on very little and will still enjoy the show anyway because of the amazing cast!
‘Great Expectations’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from 18th – 27th May 2023! If you wish to get tickets for this show, you can find the link to the show’s information page on the theatre’s website by clicking here.
Hi everyone, back once again with another review! It’s another Shakespeare play. But this one is well known, I got invited by The Mercury Theatre to go and see a slight adaption of ‘Macbeth’ by Imitating The Dog (ITD).
Some of you might have read my ‘Comedy Of Errors’ review. This is one of William Shakespeare’s earlier plays, so you will know that I do sometimes struggle to understand what is going on. But I did Macbeth in English so I knew the rough outline of the story. The basic outline is Macbeth an Army general is promoted by the king, as this happens three witches appear to Macbeth and say to him that he will become king. Macbeth along with Lady Macbeth plots to murder the king and then take the thrown. Macbeth does, then goes mad with power killing more people until he is eventually killed himself.
This adaption follows that basic outline, but there are some slight changes. For example, instead of the king of Scotland, he’s a mob boss, instead of the three witches, there are three clowns. Instead of it being set in Scotland it’s set in a fictional city. These are all welcome change, as it brings the story up to date with the modern day, and are more than likely to appeal to younger audiences.
I like the fact that not all of the show was in Shakespearean language. Of course, the main characters like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would talk in this way, but the three clowns did not so the story was much easier to follow than the traditional play, which was a very welcome change. On just the show alone I enjoyed the whole performance. If you are taking someone to see their first Shakespeare play, then this one would be great for anybody going to see Shakespeare for the first time.
In terms of accessibility, I was impressed with what was available. The main thing that stood out was the fact that all the sets and scenes were projected on a giant screen behind the actors, and depending on where the characters were going or where they were supposed to be, they what be in that part of the stage in front of the part of the screen that showed the setting, so for most of the show all the cast were actually on stage. Another big plus I want to give is the fact that there were two smaller screens one on the right and one on the left, with two cameras on stage. Throughout the show, members of the cast mainly the clowns would move the cameras around, this way you were able to see the actors’ facial expressions and emotions. Which was very much a welcomed edition, and one which I would advocate for other shows to do. As this helps visually, and allows you to get more engrossed in a story, as you were able to see the actors’ emotions, and as an audience member, you felt them too. As someone with Sight Loss, this has a huge benefit, as depending on your level of vision you would be able to sit anywhere and still comfortably enjoy the show.
This show is a brilliant example of how using technology can benefit everyone including disabled people, and this is something I can nothing but endorse. If you are new to Shakespeare but know this story, then this is worth a go! Whether you are young or old everyone can get something from this show, including if you have sight loss. It is worth pointing out, that there is a lot of lighting, shadow and darkness throughout the show, which people may struggle with, but again where the screens help with this. So use the screens as much as you can. If you have little to no vision, the three clowns/witches describe most of if not all of the action scenes which is a nice addition. There is a list of trigger warnings for this show which is listed as follows: flashing imagery and lighting effects loud noises, including recorded gunshots, strong language throughout, scenes featuring moments, descriptions and images of violence and use of firearms, simulated smoking, simulated sex scene, some drug use, reference to child abuse.
All of the acting in this show was absolutely for-nominal! You could really feel the emotion from all the cast, there were a few times throughout the show where I was so engrossed in the show I forgot where I was, and I never thought I would say that about a Shakespeare play! The little added modern touches helped the understanding of the story.
Unfortunately, there was no Audio Description or Touch Tour performances. whilst at The Mercury, but hopefully it will be available at the other theatres as it is currently on tour so hopefully it will be available elsewhere! Macbeth is going on tour at the following venues on the following dates:
The Liverpool Playhouse: 25th – 29th April 2023 Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield: 3rd – 6th May 2023
I thoroughly recommend you go and see this show! As of writing, there is one more performance at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester as of writing so get your tickets now!
This show, that I am going to talk about was on my radar even before I got invited by The Mercury Theatre to go and see this. I am also hoping to go and watch this again soon, so that should give you a smaller insight into what I think of the show but please do read the rest of what I think! As hopefully some of it will be helpful if you wanted to see this yourself. I also need to say as always a huge thank you to The Mercury Theatre for their kind invitation and for giving me the opportunity.
‘They Don’t Pay, We Don’t Pay’ is Produced by Tracey Childs, and directed by Ryan McBryde. Both have bought us amazing shows in the past so I am always hopeful when I see these names in the programme! The show tells to story of local people who have had enough of the ‘Cost Of Living Crisis’ currently happening in the UK and tells the story of local people just paying what they can for the food they take, or not paying at all. The storyline follows the couple Anthea played by Laura Doddington and Jack played by Joseph Alessi as they try to figure out what they doing to do about all the food and energy bills going up, but when Anthea comes home with all this shipping, and she starts telling these web of stories to try and get them out of the current situation that she has landed them in. That night turns into the most action-packed they have ever had!
The show was very current to the time and conveyed well what it can be like for people living below the breadline and just about making ends meet. But at the same time, there are heaps and heaps of comedy throughout the whole show. Sometimes I could tell whether or not something was meant to happen or not, or if something went wrong! All of the sets were bright and colourful, along with the characters’ costumes. This was a massive help, as Anthea wore a pick hoodie/jumper, Jack wore overalls for his work, and Maggie played by Tesni Kujore Anthea’s close friend wore a flowery dress. It was really easy to tell who was who at the right time. Even though all the cast did such an amazing job, I have to shout out Marc Pickering who played several supporting characters, all very similar and this was an amazing use of comedy as the other characters would reference this at times which only added to the hilarious comedy.
This show has to be the most accessible show I have seen so far this year! I mentioned the use of colour and costumes above, but all the comedy was verbal with little sprinkles of physical comedy but they were described by the actors! When going to shows, I have sometimes felt a little left out because of a certain scene, but this is rare. But I have to say, this is the first show in quite some time that not once did I ever feel this! Everything was clear and easy to follow, even though there was one darkness scene it was described to the audience from start to finish! I have to say a big thank you to the writing and production teams! As it was you that make this show accessible, and it is clear to see that you thought about your audiences, including those with Sight Loss!
I cannot think of higher praise than this. I plan on coming back to watch this show again. I just need to find a date that works!
Talking of Accessible performances, there are available: A Audio Description performance is available with a Touch Tour before the show on Thursday 30th March at 2.30 pm. Prices range from £15 – £30, but also accessible and carer tickets are available.
‘They Don’t Pay, We Don’t Pay’ is at The Mercury Theatre from 17th – 31st March 2023! Tickets can be found on The Mercury Theatre website! Get your tickets whilst you can! You don’t want to miss out on this!
Yesterday I was kindly invited by The Mercury Theatre in Colchester to see Run Rebel.
I opted to go to the matinee performance which I felt turned out to be a good decision as the atmosphere seemed more relaxed and informal. There were two schools in the auditorium which was a little distracting for me but in some scenes really added to the emotion of the performance with all of their reactions. This was highly welcomed and I felt was a nice change.
Run Rebel is produced by the same company that also put on the show Noughts & Crosses, which has seen numerous awards since. I was somewhat excited to see this after enjoying their previous show, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The show tells the story of Amber, a teenager who feels trapped on one side by her family and the expectations of her father and on the other by her love for running and her dream of one day representing her country. There is tension as her father feels she should give up on her dream and follow the traditions of the household but the love of running and the will to follow her dreams is too strong a siren’s call for Amber to resist. Within this show is a strong use of Amber’s mental health and also of her family life, with everyone scared of her father due to domestic violence.
But once Amber learns about the French Revolution in her history lesson, she encourages her family to revolt against her drunken father.
This is very much a welcome change for me, as these are subjects aren’t spoken about enough in todays modern world, especially by teenagers. It was great to see school children at this show, and I really hope they took something from it.
The cast were brilliant, I could really feel the emotions from all of them incredibly well. Jessica Kaur did a fantastic job playing the character of Amber, along with narrating the story to the audience. The chemistry behind all the cast was palpable, especially between Pushpinder Chani who played Amber’s father and Jessica Kaur as Amber. During their scenes together, I truly felt like they were indeed father and daughter. This really made me feel I was watching professionals at work!
On to the accessibility; the main issue was a strong use of harsh or minimal lighting. Most of the performance it was either one or the other, which on occasion made it very difficult to fully see what was happening. At times when Amber was talking to the audience she was lit by a spot light so she was easy to see but there were other scenes where the characters were washed out by the lights, so it was a little difficult to see. Also in a number of scenes especially when Amber was at home with her family, the stage would be very dark so I found it difficult to see what was happening.
As I was in row E this time, if I were to go and see the show again I would pick either row D or ideally C, as they are much closer so I would be able to see much more.
On the plus side however, the use of action scenes was low. Most were just some of the actors running up and down the stage or running on the spot, but with the spoken dialogue filling in the exposition. This is a great addition as then you really aren’t missing out on anything for about ninety percent of the show. The only scene you do miss out on is the more physical/fight scene towards the end as that isn’t really described in detail, but I feel like I can forgive them for that.
As a result, the story flowed really nicely and I was able to understand what was going on really well, and missed very little. My own tiny gripe is that I don’t think microphones were used during this performance? This would have been helpful in certain places, as I found that in some of the scenes I struggled to fully understand what some of the cast were saying. So maybe in future shows this is something that could be added?
There are no access shows unfortunately according the Mercury’s website. I would assume this is due to Run Rebel having a short run at The Mercury. However as this show is going on tour around the UK, hopefully if they have longer runs at other theatres this is something that can be added in the future.
Finally then overall, I feel it really doesn’t matter if you are a blind or visually impaired theatre-goer as I think you are going to get something out of this show, whether you are young or old. As I said, Run Rebel is touring so go grab yourselves a ticket!
I think this is an important production as there is so much merit in the huge amounts of discussion on mental health, as well as the scenes of domestic abuse and violence.
A ‘Content To Consider’ document has been created should you feel that the show may possibly be triggering for you so if you are interested and would like to know more, I will link it for you below.
Visit The Mercury Theatre’s website to find information on tickets and more!
Run Rebel is running at The Mercury Theatre from Thursday 2nd March until Saturday 4th March 2023, but is on tour at the follow dates and venues:
So here we are with the first theatre review of the year! As always I was kindly invited to this performance of ‘Charlie & Stan’ by The Mercury Theatre in Colchester!
So I will be honest and say that when i got the invite for this performance, I was a little worried when the email said that the story was told using physical comedy and no words, but since seeing the show, I’m not as worried now writing this as certain things have been put in place to help blind and visually impaired people which I will go into a little later on, but first the show itself.
The show tells the story of Charlie Chaplin and Stanley Laurel and their trip towards America. Charlie Chaplin rose to fame in 1888 in which the medium of ‘silent film’ was a the height of is popularity, to which there would be little sound only music, with the odd title card here and there that would appear on screen, describing a scene or telling the audience what the characters were saying. During these films Charlie Chaplin would make audiences laugh with his large array of physical comedy.
Stanley Laurel or Jefferson when he was called by his real name was well known to generations he was part of the ‘Laurel & Hardy’ double act. Even I watched them a little when I was a kid.
The show tells the story of how they both become known and started to get a name for themselves and how they almost worked together. The show was very much entertaining and good and fun night out! With a few elements of audience participation. As I was sat on row D I was able to see the show quite well, due to the amount lights on stage, with one darker scene but it didn’t last very long. The show itself was really fun and enjoyable to watch, the over expression of all the actors especially Nick Haverson and Jerone Marsh-Reid really made the whole performance and the format of silent film come to life!
Coming out of the show, I was a little concerned about writing this review, as at the time, I felt like I would be unable to recommend to show to anyone with a visual disability. However that has since changed! I have since discovered that on the shows webpage of the Mercury website, there is an audio recording that is nine minutes long, and describes the show in great detail! This is something that I can but only applaud! It would be great if all future shows had this feature as it will only add the accessibility of all Mercury Theatre future shows! The audio recording goes into deep detail about the show: how many actors there are, describing each actors costumes, what the characters look like, how tall they are etcetera. This is a very much welcome change to the website. I wish I only had access to it before the performance!
There is also a Audio Description performance for this show, as well as a touch tour, which the audio recording tells you about and the details, I will link it here: if you are using a screen reader is under the heading ‘accessibility’ which is roughly half way down the webpage.
In terms of accessibility this is the best I have seen to date, and I really hope this format continues in the future. In light of all this, I can do nothing but thoroughly recommend this whole heartedly. It’s a really good and fun night out, that will have you in balls of laughter from beginning to end!
‘Stan & Charlie’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from 8th – 11th February 2023! Full details you can find by clicking the link here!
The VI Critic 