Tag: drama

by Tricia Beddow

Trench – An Original World War I Musical

Six years ago, in November 2018, I walked through the door at NTWAC (North West Theatre Arts Company) for the first time. The theatre is situated on Lightbowne Rd, Moston and I’ve been through that same door many times since.

I was there that evening to watch a musical called ‘Trench’. I had no idea what to expect but the performance moved me so much I wrote my first ever review at 5am the following morning.

This week, to coincide with remembrance, NTWAC performed Trench for a second time and I jumped at a chance to see it again. Would it, could it be as good?

It might be worth at this point explaining who NWTAC are and what they do. So, in their own words…

About NWTAC: Formed in 2009, in north Manchester, to continue to encourage young people in the performing arts, the North West Theatre Arts Company CIC (NWTAC) delivers a full and varied programme of productions throughout the year. 

Based at NWTAC Theatre in Moston, NWTAC runs the North West Stage School (NWSS), training young people from the ages of 7 to 24 in the performing arts; in preparation for academic drama courses, a career in the industry, or simply as a hobby. 

Since the company was formed, it has staged a considerable number of well-received productions, gaining a reputation for a unique style and professional experience from beginning to end. 

NWTAC aims to create a creative arts ‘hub’ for the north providing affordable working space, productions, classes, and sessions for all within the community.

The Managing Director, Prab Singh, wrote the story himself following conversations his wife’s grandmother, Peggy. It’s not about war but rather a love story. The words, lyrics, thoughts and feelings are taken from true accounts from letters, journals and factual recollections.

Trench is in honour of Peggy, her friends, their boyfriends and husbands whose lives were changed forever fighting for a cause that wasn’t theirs. It was written so that we would never forget what they went through and what they sacrificed.

Was the performance as good this time around? Of course it was. This is NWTAC! It’s what they do, train young people to act, sing, move, perform and they’re brilliant at it.

Tempany Windsor and Melissa Grimes took the lead female roles while Anthony Horricks and Billy Morrison played the leading male roles. They’re all strong vocalists with plenty of experience under their belts and they excelled themselves. Tempany and Melissa sounded like nightingales when they came together for the duets. Anthony and Billy, likewise, sang their hearts out, whilst breaking ours. A love story played out with genuine sensitivity from the whole cast.

One or two cheeky moments lighten the mood a little and make you smile but the backdrop is a horrible war and the final scene is as shocking as it should be. When they cried, we cried.

The lyrics (by Prab Singh) and music (by Ross Johnson) are inspired.

The supporting cast, the set and lighting design (Mark Beaumont), choreography (Tempany Windsor) with Bethany Singh as the Choir Mistress all bring their amazing talent to produce a wonderful musical that deserves a place in the West End. Wardrobe, sound, make-up and stage staff play their part too and it wouldn’t work without them.

Trench runs until 16th November. Remaining tickets can be purchased via NWTAC’s website here where you can find details of upcoming shows. They can also be found on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: North West Theatre Arts Company

Instagram: @NWTAC

Tiktok: @NWTAC

In 2018 Trench was my first attempt at a review, this review will probably be my last. I’m not going anywhere but like to think I’ve come full circle since joining Another Music in 2017.

Well, when I say ‘I’m not going anywhere’ I will be going to NWTAC. I’ve got eyes on tickets to next months panto and later this month there’s a two night tribute especially for Taylor Swift fans.

by Tricia Beddow

North West Theatre Art Company – The Addams Family

They’ve only gone and done it again! Last month’s performance of ‘The Addams Family’ at NWTAC’s theatre on Lightbowne Road, Moston was yet another sell-out.

I went to the opening night with my family, we had a fantastic evening and were still laughing the next day.

Some of you may remember the original 1960’s TV series. Or, like my daughter and son-in-law, you’ve seen later movie or Netflix versions. If you are not familiar with the creepy, spooky and mysterious Addams family then you’re missing out and need to get a grip.

NWTAC’s cast were up there with the best of them and put on a hilarious version of the Broadway Musical.

The story-line centres on Wednesday Addams’ invitation to her boyfriend’s ‘normal’ American family to meet her distinctly ‘abnormal’ family for dinner. The Addams home is located deep in Central Park woods. It has a great banqueting hall, torture chamber and its own spooky graveyard full of Addams’ ancestors who have a knack of turning up all over the place.

Wednesday and her boyfriend, Lucas Beineke, are in love but she begs her father Gomez to keep it a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia, to ensure the evening goes smoothly. That’s quite a challenge for this household!

Poor, poor Gomez. He connects with the audience immediately, gains their sympathy for his situation and our toes curl when his wife Morticia gets suspicious. Plenty more secrets are thrown into the pot to be winkled out as the fateful evening unfolds.

It’s fair to say the Addams Family characters are iconic. This must have inspired the casting at NWTAC as each part was perfectly matched. Gomez and Morticia, played respectively by Anthony Horricks and Evie Lucas, were simply delicious and brilliant.

Rehearsals with Anthony Horricks and Evie Lucas in the centre

I couldn’t keep my eyes off ‘the eyes’ of Uncle Fester played by Olivia Hollamby. The expression on his, or rather her face, was astonishing and her comic timing gifted. I think I gasped when she first entered the stage. She looked amazing and I had to check my programme to make sure I’d read it right.

Poppy Evans, who took the part of Wednesday, delivered wile and sass in equal measure and was wonderfully wicked. She wrapped her parents around her little finger and oozed confidence. However, when the prim mother of Lucas, Alice Beineke (aka Paige Garth), went wild and passionate on the night of the dinner, on the table no less, Wednesday’s hopes for ‘normal’ flew out the door.

Entwined throughout the story are the Addams Ancestors. They complement the production with their own comedy input, sweeping dance moves and choral contributions. It was a brilliant show with a happy ending. Relationships get their ‘zing’ back while Gomez and Morticia celebrate success with a romantic weekend at the worst hotel in France. Perfection!

Gomez and Morticia (original 1960’s TV series)

Too many to mention individually, every single member of the cast gave it their all and shone.

The script was hilarious, the vocals and dance routines swept the audience along. Sitting quietly at their stations either backstage or in the tech area of the theatre are the production crew. They work their magic to create an experience and atmosphere that’s quite special. Do not under-estimate their skill. The sound, lighting, sets, costumes and make-up play an essential part while Front of House staff complete the package.

My utmost respect to the management team and directors, this has to be one of the best musical comedies I’ve ever seen.

NWTAC are committed to entertain you with a range of performances throughout the season and they’re working on 2023/2024 right now. Tickets are all reasonably priced so keep an eye on their website and social media so you don’t miss out.

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by Carole Gausden

Street Life: Oh no it isn’t!

Pantomime has proved to be one of the most enduring forms of entertainment for all classes and every age group. There must be something innate about it, because within minutes of the curtain rising on their first theatre visit, the tiniest tot will be calling out “it’s behind you”, like a veteran.

Over the years, small innovations may have crept in, but woe betide companies who ignore sacred panto traditions. One is that the (good) fairy comes on stage from the right, while the (evil) villain always enters from the left. Other conventions are that cross-dressing is mandatory, the dame’s voluminous union jack bloomers must be exhibited at every possible opportunity, and topical or local jokes get the biggest laughs.

Even the wardrobe department has traditions to maintain. Costumes for the finale must be so outrageously fabulous they command rapturous applause when, two by two, the cast enters. Goodies take their bows, hand in hand with baddies, to show that all ill will has been put aside for another year.

Oldham Coliseum pantomime Cinderella 2018.

Panto has proved to be a money spinner, so companies are prepared to push the boat out with costumes, scenery and special effects.

Live animals and local dance troupes go down well, but perhaps the real favourite are the ‘skin roles’ which don’t really exist outside pantomime. An actor named George Conquest built a career around playing animals in panto. The most ambitious of his costumes was an octopus 28 foot wide. Skin roles didn’t seem to do an actor’s career any harm either. Henry Irving once played the wolf in Red Riding Hood, while Charlie Chaplin was the front of a pantomime horse in Stockport.

Panto has enriched the language with words and phrases everyone recognises. Cinderella is shorthand for a drudge, or something unvalued. And we are warned not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The name of an inferior brand of green tea called Widow Twankey would no doubt have disappeared unremarked if it hadn’t been immortalised by Pantomime.

I never went to a lavishly produced extravaganza at a large theatre. I regret not seeing Norman Evans, the ultimate dame in my opinion, when he appeared at the Palace theatre, Manchester in 1952. But that year, without being aware of it, I was taking a tiny part in local panto history.

Queen’s Park Hippodrome on Turkey Lane was our nearest theatre. By the time I was old enough to go, saucy French variety acts had become its normal bill of fare. However, in 1952, there was one last pantomime before the theatre closed altogether, and I was there.

Buttons had us singing along to ‘you push the damper in and pull the damper out and the smoke goes up the chimney just the same’, so I guess it was Cinderella. I was only 5, and my clearest memory is of the long, cold walk home up Church Lane afterwards.

With the exception of that one visit to the Hippodrome, all my childhood pantomime recollections are of amateur productions at St. John’s church hall. What we really loved about it was that, with the exception of the name, nothing ever seemed to change.

Year after year, the pianist’s ‘victory roll’ hair style stayed the same, the Sunday school superintendent played the dame, and the kids you went to school with, were the ‘village folk’.

Sunday school benches formed the front three rows, and they were exclusively for children. Adults were accommodated on chairs behind them.

Our move to New Moston meant I left St. John’s Sunday school when I was nine. That was the minimum age to audition, so 1956’s panto would have been my first.

As a painfully shy, ungainly child, any part I got would have been entirely due to regular Sunday attendance rather than talent.

Despite being devastated at missing my chance to participate, I still looked forward to going to the pantomime as usual. When the curtains opened on the ‘village square’, I was horrified to see that amongst the ‘villagers’, there was a girl from my class at Lily Lane.

She didn’t go to Sunday school in my time, so must have joined just before the audition. How was it that a part, that should rightfully have been mine, went to this interloper?

It might be over sixty years, VH, but don’t think I’ve forgiven you yet…

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