Showboat, Sheffield Crucible 19/12/15

It's Christmas and that only means one thing in my theatre obsessed mind, no not panto , but a festive trip over to Sheffield to see what Christmas musical delights are on offer. This year the Crucible are staging Showboat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, a show first staged in 1927 and quite controversial at the time, combining the more traditional romantic stories with darker themes including racial identity and injustice.

This production doesn't shy away from the tougher themes, in fact it highlights the racial divisions through a powerful piece of staging in the very opening of the performance and its treatment of the more serious elements of this epic tale remain impactful and relevant throughout. It is maybe more of a considered, serious musical than many of the Crucible's recent festive offerings, as the tale unfolds it is tender, heart wrenching at times and full of impact, but there are a few out and out foot stompers that allow the cast to make full use of the crucible's generous stage.

As always an incredibly talented cast has been assembled for the show who work together with such fluidity that even scene changes are a thing of beauty. With such immense talent on display it seems churlish to pick favourites but I will! Emmanuel Kojo and Jason Denton as Joe and Stevedore were fantastic and their rendition of Old Man River will stay with me for a very long time. Michael Xavier portrayed the complexities of Gaylord Ravenal's journey finely and has a powerful but unforced voice and Sandra Marvin as Queenie has a beautiful voice and gave an incredibly engaging performance.

The design is first class,from the sumptuous costumes, gorgeous lighting to amazing set design, it's what we have come to expect from the Crucible but no less delightful for that. The initial set reveal is simply breathtaking, plain wooden panels line the rear of the stage when we arrive which seem to magically disappear as the show gets under way to reveal the most gorgeously detailed steamboat deck with action able to play across three levels vertically as well as over the large thrust stage of the space. When the boat is not present in the Chicago scenes the wooden backdrop allows for extremely effective use of back projection, which as well as providing set detail, is used to great effect in transition scenes and is especially effective in detailing the passage of time and some of the major headlines associated with it, giving a nice historical context to the events portrayed. 

Director Daniel Evans is moving on from the Artistic Director role at Sheffield in mid 2016 to the celebrated Chichester Festival Theatre so this will be his last Christmas production for them, he has left quite a legacy in his five years with them, and what a musical to end his Sheffield Christmas career on. Although I did see in the programme that he will be directing a brand new musical there before he leaves so I will have to see about getting over for that. The bar has been set high for next year's Christmas delight! 

The Snow Child, Lowry Studio 30/12/15

The Lowry can usually be relied upon to provide a good mix of family festive entertainment to suit every age, budget and attention span. In particular, the Studio often has a lovely festive offering for the smallest members of the family, and now I have a niece and nephew I have a good excuse to go and check it out.

This year they have brought Tutti Frutti's production The Snow Child to us for our Christmas treat. Based on the traditional Russian folk tale where a couple's wish for a child comes true when the child they build of snow magically comes to life, this show looks at it from the point of view of the Snow Child having to adapt to the unfamiliar human world and the challenges that she and her new parents face in becoming a family.

This is a lovely production, full of music, movement and snowy sparkly magic that keeps young and 'not so young' engaged throughout. There are jolly songs (I particularly liked the one about 'other people's children') , clever but simple set design and scene transitions and a genuine tenderness to the work.

The cast of three wonderfully bring alive the characters, Paula James and Mark Pearce are great as the parents and various other parts, and Mei Mac as the Snow Child is simply delightful, so engaging with a real air of innocence, magic and energy as she whirls around the stage. 

The show kept the audience transfixed throughout, at just under an hour the running time was just right for the primary target age group ( although the 'not so young' were equally enthralled) My two youngest guests who are four and a half really enjoyed it and it had their full attention at all times. Their favourite bit was when the Snow Child made it snow, and they were a bit star struck to actually meet her as they left the auditorium.

All in all an excellent way to round off the festive season and a very good value piece of magical and touching entertainment.

Whose Sari Now, Lowry Studio 19/11/15

This latest creation from Rasa Theatre weaves together the tales of a diverse group of women, with the theme of saris , and what that garments represents to them being the silken thread that connects  all the tales together.

Topping and tailing the piece is the engaging and funny grandma whose collection of saris represents key moments in her life, we also meet an edgy transgender poet, a mother fleeing conflict with her newborn twins, a village woman working for a pittance to create western goods and remembering the beauty and craftsmanship of the old sari weaving industry and an educated Malaysian curator held back by her faith and gender by a prejudiced system.

Saris can represent many things to these varied voices, shame, power, family and protection, pride and repression. It is fascinating to see the variety and sheer diversity of life represented by the action on stage.

Rani Moorthy as ever gives an absolute powerhouse of a performance, nailing each diverse character, and bringing such life, energy and warmth to the stage. She seamlessly transitions between the contrasting roles and you really care about the lives that you are seeing unfold.

Like any diverse group of characters, there are some that you would like to see more of, and some who you don't warm to as much. The Grandma who frames the tale was my favourite, engaging, tender, mischievous and as we see, ready to move on. I could have taken a whole show of her. The poet was an interesting character and a good contrast but I think for me maybe slightly outstayed her welcome.

Unlike the last show I saw of Rani's, Looking for Kool, which taught me a lot about a culture and a history I knew nothing about, with this show, whilst I enjoyed it immensely, I did feel that feel that a little background knowledge might have made it more immediately accessible for me, especially for the story of the curator. Unfortunately as it overran I was not able to stay for the post show q and a that might have filled in a few of the gaps for me and deepened my knowledge of the background to the characters portrayed.

But overall I was really glad to share in this performance that clearly meant so much to performer and a lot of the audience. Tender, touching, funny and brave, and performed by a fantastically talented writer and actress. A privilege to be part of.