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The theatre-goer off to see Pygmalion when it was first performed in London would probably have been surprised. Until George Bernard Shaw’s play, what an educated person would have known about Pygmalion, if they knew anything at all, was that it was the name of a Greek sculptor-king who fell in love with his statue when it came to life. It was a classical story then best known from translations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and from the poetry of William Morris […]

By Peter Yolland Richard Everett’s bitter-sweet comedy set in a quintessentially English vicarage garden opened in 2006 to sell-out shows at the Chichester Festival. It follows Grace, a recently widowed vicar’s wife coming to terms with his passing, the loss of her family home to the potential new incumbent, the return of her missionary sister and a daughter with her own issues. It thus provides lots of scope for long hidden secrets to be unearthed and relationships examined. The play […]

By Patrick Neylan You’ve got to admire Alan Ayckbourn, even if you belong to the significant cadre of theatregoers who regard his work as hackneyed village-hall fodder. Back in 1979, Peter Hall described him as “one of the most talented … richest dramatists in the world”, but even then his plays were starting to be seen as too comfortable, complacent and predictable and much of his 80s work has dated badly. Yet 2001 saw a move away from the trivial […]

By Laura Ings-Self The talent present in BLT’s youth group is obvious from the appearances several members have made on the main stage and in the bar, but the true scope of the ability apparent in their number – and the high standards set by Jessica-Ann Jenner and Pauline Armour – was overwhelmingly showcased in the triple bill of one-act plays the group performed.  We began with a two-hander featuring Josh Williams-Ward and Victor Poland. Staged as a rehearsed reading, […]