Out & About September 2017

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Full-on feelgood
Flashdance the Musical
New Theatre Oxford
September 18 to 23
Bookings: 0844 871 3020
Leg-warmers at the ready, you fans of the 80s movie
Flashdance who hold it in a special place in your
nostalgic hearts.You’re gonna love Flashdance the
Musical, on a UK tour with Strictly Come Dancing’s
Joanna Clifton in the starring role, and 90s boy band
A1’s Ben Adams (known back in the day for his iconic curtains).
A welder by day and ‘flashdancer’ by night, this rock musical tells
the inspiring story of 18-year-old Alex, who dreams of going to the
prestigious Shipley Dance Academy and becoming a professional
dancer. When a romance complicates her ambitions, she
harnesses it to drive her dream. Prepare to be blown away with an
astonishing musical spectacle and phenomenal choreography to
this iconic score including the smash hits Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria,
I Love Rock & Roll and the sensational title track Flashdance –
What a Feeling .
Age guide 11+
Thinking person’s farce
Loot by Joe Orton
The Watermill, Bagnor
September 28 to October 21
Bookings: 01635 46044
It’s great to see the subversive genius
Joe Orton on the Watermill’s 50th
anniversary bill. It was also 50 years ago
that the playwright was bludgeoned to
death by his boyfriend Kenneth Halliwell,
who feared Orton was going to leave him,
and then took a fatal overdose. At 34, Orton was at the peak of his
career and he was riding high on the success of his latest play, Loot,
a dark comic masterpiece that shocked and delighted audiences
in equal measure when it premiered, winning the Evening Standard
Best Play award. Loot was made into a film of the same name in
1970, directed by Silvio Narizzano and starring a young Richard
Attenborough, Lee Remick, Hywel Bennett and comedian Dick
Emery. In this production, uproarious slapstick meets dubious morals
as two young friends stash the proceeds of a bank robbery in an
occupied coffin, attempting to hide their spoils from the attentions of a
psychopathic policeman, a gold-digging nurse and a grieving widower
– it’s funny, but bleakly funny. Loot starts at Park Theatre, London
before its run at The Watermill and is directed by Michael Fentiman,
whose credits include acclaimed productions of Titus Andronicus and
The Taming of The Shrew for the RSC. It should be a cracker.
Conversing
with Culshaw
Jon Culshaw Does
The Great British Take Off
The Corn Exchange, Newbury
September 9
Bookings: 0845 5218 218
Who’s ready for a bit of topical satire then? It’s been
a busy year for impressionist and comedian Jon
Culshaw with the return of a new series of ITV’s
impressionist show Newzoids, as well as the hugely
successful BBC Radio 4 comedy Dead Ringers,
which is now into its 17th series. And now he comes
to Newbury with the legendary comedy producer Bill
Dare for the first time following their sell-out tour earlier
in the year. The Great British Take Off is an evening of
unscripted, unrehearsed, spontaneous comedy and
conversation as politicians, sports personalities and
celebrities old and new are all up for a roasting.You,
the audience, help choose which characters appear
and what direction the show takes. Jon reveals the
secrets of mimicry and together with Bill reveals some
of the mishaps and mayhem of life behind the scenes
in television and on the celebrity circuit.
New contemporaries
Modern Artists Gallery, Whitchurch on Thames
Throughout September
Ring to check opening times: 0118 984 5893
If you’ve never visited this lovely little gallery, September is a good
time to do it – you could combine it with one of the walks, long or
short, that take in the river, woods and hills surrounding the village.
Director Peggy Brodie, with her eye for quality contemporary,
innovative work is showing a selection of the gallery’s featured
artists in a group exhibition, including Angela Smith’s abstracted
figurative paintings; Marcia Hester Keeling Scott’s mesmerizing
work that expands the possibilities of enamel paint; Ashley
Hansen’s paintings inspired by Paul Auster’s novel City of Glass
from The NewYork Trilogy combining images sourced from
narrative and text, plus favourites Alice Cescatti, who works with
gold leaf, Kate and Paul Kessling from West Hendred and stunning
new monotypes by Paul Wright. Go see.
The new season may only just be getting into swing after the August lull, but there’s still a variety of entertainment
on offer within an hour’s drive of Newbury. Here’s the September pick from Arts Editor TRISH LEE.
For arts news and reviews see N2 in the Newbury Weekly News each week
September dates for your diary
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OA what’s on