Freewheelers Easter Showcase

Freewheelers Easter Showcase

Wednesday 21st March @ 7.30pm

Tickets: £12
Concessions: £6
Carers go free – please contact the box office
Limited Wheelchair spaces available – please contact the box office

 

Join Freewheelers at our Easter Showcase for an evening of Dance, Drama, Film and Music, presented by our weekly workshop groups. From incredible improvised dances to hilarious Roman radio plays and live musical medleys, our creative programme promises to entertain!

Freewheelers work with disabled and non-disabled artists using theatre, dance, film, music and animation. We achieve high production standards, alongside a person-centred approach. We entertain, innovate, collaborate and challenge perceptions. We surprise people.

Box office: 01483 284747

Our box office is open on Saturday’s 10.30am – 12 noon. At all other times, please leave a voicemail with your name and telephone number, clearly stating your requirements and we will call you back.

Online box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/nomadtheatre

 

Review: Shakers (by AmDramFan)

Shakers

By John Godber and Jane Thornton

14-17 February 2018

Directed by Michael Ayres

“This companion piece to John Godber’s ‘Bouncers’ (written by him and his wife Jane Thornton), was set in a cocktail bar somewhere in the north of England during the Thatcher years, but could easily have been a comment on austerity Britain and the #metoo movement.

shakers review surrey theatre
The cast was made up of four actresses, who each spend almost the entire 90 minutes on stage and between them play a wide variety of parts related to the cocktail bar. Each has a core role as one of the waitresses in the bar and then also had several cameo roles – male and female – ranging from the girls celebrating a 21st birthday party, young couples on a big night out through to the TV executives taking advantage of “happy hour”.

Each character gave a monologue during the action which illustrated the living, breathing aspects of their lived lives as human beings, in contrast to the sneering, condescending customers who called them ‘lovey’, made tiresome innuendoes and saw in them distortions of their own tawdry fantasies.


The director, Michael Ayres, had gathered a strong cast to represent the waitresses. Carol (played with an affecting world weariness by Nikki Kirkup), has a degree and urges the other girls to make something of themselves and not waste their lives on men. Nicky, admirably played by Laura Spalding, yearning to be an actress showed confidence, – until faced with an audition. Adele (Hayley Clines with an impressive reprtoire of facial expressions told us of her first sexual encounter, – at age 16, with her teacher which led to an abortion. Mel, young, sarcastic and embittered by life, was wonderfully played by Lucy Hamilton.

As an ensemble the actresses showed us how the friends supported each other and clung on to their self respect and belief in something, maybe, a little better than they had in the bar.

The Nomads’ decision to stage the play in the cramped (Ed: some might say “intimate”!) Studio was an excellent one. The audience being in the midst of the smoky atmosphere. Sound, and choice of music was spot on, and brought new romantic (was it?), nostalgia to the play. The minimal set was well wrought too, showing enough of a, slightly seedy, cocktail bar but allowing us to concentrate on the people who populated the space. A nice touch was the velvet roped entrance to the club in the Nomads (real), bar with a DJ’d doorman to lead us through the light festooned (very ’80’s!), corridor into ‘Shakers’. And can I have been the only audience member to have got in to the spirit of the play with a pre-show ‘Greenroom Gloomraiser’ cocktail?

Thank you Nomads!”

As seen by Amdramfan

 

NODA review: Dick Whittington & his cat

NODA representative, Mark Allen, reviews the recent production of  Dick Whittingon and his cat by The Nomads at The Nomad Theatre in Surrey (find us).

The NOMADS – “Dick Whittington and his cat”

Nomad Theatre – 13th December, 2017

Author – Peter Denyer
Director – Andrew Hamel-Cooke
Choreography – Samantha Potten
Musical Director – Gareth Alber

Warmly welcomed by the front of house I was ushered into the bar and awaited meeting with Andrew, the director who extended his good wishes and requested we remain to meet the cast later. A refurbished and (purpose) rebuilt theatre, it was gratifying to see it almost full.

dick whittington review pantomime
Greeted with a relatively simple set which worked very well, the changes as they were, were slick and without much fuss. Well lit and with good sound too, the diction was clear and could be heard well above the three-piece band offset stage left.

dick whittington review pantomime surrey fairy

In true fashion the pantomime started and we were introduced to a motley cast of characters ably led by Sophie Johnstone as Dick, Daniel Shepherd, very boo worthy as
King Rat and the sweet and innocent Hayley Clines as [Fairy] Bow Bells, all three confident and audible.

dick whittington pantomime review dame
Michael Ayres played the dame Sarah the Cook, and seemed to be enjoying the role too, as was fairly evident. I liked the enthusiasm, it rubs off well!

dick whittington pantomime review
The cast and chorus were well drilled by Andrew Hamel-Cooke and the choreography (Samantha Potten) was well performed, and in the main all in time too! Again like Sarah the Cook, the chorus and associated cast (too many to mention) (Ed: see below for our comments!) were really enthusiastic and this came across well, helping the audience to a very good evenings entertainment.

dick whittington review pantomime surrey
Overall a really enjoyable evening, and well worth the drive to see it. Well done Andrew and well done Nomads.

Mark Allen
December 2017

The Nomads are members of NODA, which has a membership of 2500 amateur theatre groups and 3000 individual enthusiasts throughout the UK, staging musicals, operas, plays, concerts and pantomimes in a wide variety of performing venues, ranging from the country’s leading professional theatres to tiny village halls.

 

Editors comments

Unfortunately, the large cast meant that not everyone got a mention by name, but we wanted to add a few notes on their amazing performance!

Millie Jane Franks as Idle Jack was punchy, energetic and had fabulous stage presence!

Iain Watson (Alderman Fitzwarren) and Jeff Wightwick (Captain Cuttle) both embodied their characters with sincerity and humour.

As The Sultan of Morocco, Richard Peachey‘s accent work and nimble movement made for very lively scenes!

Sasha Plaché brought grace and wonderful singing to the part of Alice Fitzwarren.

King Neptune and his mermaid (Ricky Powell and Tilly Winford – not to be mixed up) were ethereal and deserving of the audience “oohs” and “aahs” under the sea.

Our not-very-dynamic duo of baddies, Gnashfang (Lisa Arnold) and Gnawbone (Johnny Diamond) were suitably nasty, horrible and comedic in equal measures.

Tommy The Cat played by Karolina Sepiak presented an amazing solo self-choreographed dance piece as well as plenty of laughs and cheers!

All the adults and children in the ensemble clearly worked very hard to present coordinated and energetic group songs and dances which the audience loved.

All of the production team should have a huge pat on the back too – costumes were fantastic as always,… make-up was striking and a great display of what Guildford College students can do,… props convincing and consistently well placed,… lighting enhanced the audience understanding of the story locations and sentiment,… sound kept the pace and humour of the scenes,… staging, flying and scene changes were slick,… and the chaperones kept all of us in check… not just the children!

dick whittington pantomime review surrey millie jane franks idle jack

Millie Jane Franks as Idle Jack

Sophie Johnstone and Karolina Sepiak as Dick and Tommy

dick whittington pantomime review baddies king rat

Daniel Shepherd, Lisa Arnold and Johnny Diamond as the baddie rat pack

dick whittington pantomime review band gareth alber

The band (L-R) – Vito, Ryszard and Gareth

dick whittington review pantomime

Richard Peachey as The Sultan of Morocco

Ricky Powell and Tilly Winford under the sea