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The Olympus Theatre- Bristol
5th-9th February 2019
Directed by Steve Blackmore
Musical Director Brendan Casey
Choreography Lizzy Westney
Assistant Director Emma Griffiths
Tech by Spirolux
CAST
CRAIG BROADBEAR
EMMA GRIFFITHS
DANI COPPERSTONE
MICHAEL GRIFFITHS
SIMON GREGORY
LYNDEN O’NEILL
SAMANTHA STEADMAN
MATT WELLS
LYDIA COOK
LEAH FARMER
VIKKI WILSHIRE
RACHEL MOSELEY
JENNY BRYANT
HOLLY WARD
JESSICA FLETT
JODIE GIBSON
JAKE CHEW
CONNER VICKERY
JACK BLACKMORE
ALEX MILNER
ANDY SAGE-BELL
DAVID EVANS
CHRIS STERRY
JAMES MILLWARD
This is a great character driven show with a fabulous performance by the whole cast. If you have a chance to go see it this week, do it!
Congrats to the whole cast and team on The Life! This show is hot - In more ways than one!! Hard hitting and powerful story. Amazing performances, wonderful vocals, superb dancing - it’s got the lot!
Fantastic job tonight!! We really enjoyed it! Everyone looked and sounded amazing!
Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Life, bloody awesome job! Loved it, the score is incredible, the girls are fierce and the guys are suitably creepy, what more could you want. Brilliant job guys
Oh I do love a musical about Hookers and Pimps ❤ Well done to everyone involved in The Life!
The show last night was utterly brilliant. Unbelievable vocals, slick routines, dear old friends, crazy talented peeps whom I’d never seen before. And was amazing to see a show I’d loved for 20yrs and still had never seen.
Sorry I couldn’t stay for hugs and smooches, but it’s Cy Coleman’s fault for making act 1 only marginally shorter than the entirety of Lent. 😂
Seriously superb, tips hat. Xxxxxxx
What a show! 😍Gritty, edgy, creepy, intense but also sassy and upbeat! Congrats to the whole cast! You were all fantastic. Especially Dani 😘 you blew us all away! If you didn't get a chance to go see, you missed out on a fab show!
The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown
performed at The Station, Bristol 21-23 November 2018
CAST
CATHY EMMA GRIFFITH
JAMIE MICHAEL GRIFFITHS
DIRECTED BY PETE COTTELL
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY HARRY HADEN-BROWN
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
'Utterly engrossing'...'I laughed and cried, and was totally captivated'...WOW! What an experience. Intense. Dramatic. Beautiful 'Impeccably performed, directed and played'...'Heartbreaking, hopeful and gorgeously delivered'...'Beautiful, moving theatre
Backstage Bristol Review
We are so spoilt with big budget West End musicals in Bristol, that it becomes easy to lose appreciation for the art form. Stories, often quite moving or life-affirming, set to music with varying degrees of success, are an industry that at times loses the heart of what it actually is. That’s why it’s brilliant to see small scale productions in intimate venues that can pull it off better than some of the big-name producers.
Instantly, from the moment I walked into The Station, it felt exciting. Exciting to see musical theatre stripped back to basics. But, that doesn’t mean this was a budget production. This was musical storytelling at its most intelligent with no distractions. I wasn’t an overall fan of Jason Robert Brown’s music. They’re not show tunes you go away humming. But, a blend of well observed relationship foibles, insecurity and witty lyrics make this an entertaining piece.
I think David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor sums the plot up perfectly in his Don’t Blink speech. ‘People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint – it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.’
There are just two performers in The Last 5 Years: Cathy and Jamie. They meet, fall in love, move in together, get married, struggle with their relationship and split up. But Cathy starts at the end of the timeline and moves to the beginning with Jamie starting at the beginning and finishing with the break-up. It sounds confusing on paper, but after you’ve watched the first musical number, it makes complete sense.
It’s a big ask to sustain a show with nothing but two actors and group of musicians at the centre of the stage. Emma Griffiths as Cathy and Michael Griffiths as Jamie do this brilliantly. The pace throughout is perfect because it’s not weighed down by clunky scene changes and the action blends seamlessly from one moment to the next.
Michael Griffiths knows how to work an audience with a monkey puppet and a clock. The Schmuel Song and A Miracle Would Happen were two comic highlights. Emma’s funny When You Come Home To Me was another one, with her fabulous vocals moving from angst, comic timing and heartbreak throughout the show with ease.
I think what The Worx Productions have managed to do so successfully, is physically bring the audience into musical theatre much closer than what we are used to. This is in part due to a clever choice of venue which provides the right amount of space to stage the show yet keep us close to the action on stage. Along with good casting, it created a unique performance.
Director Pete Cottell writes in the programme that audiences watching The Last 5 Years ‘tend to fall into two camps: they’ve either never heard of it, or they’re obsessive fans.’ I had never heard of The Last 5 Years until news of this production. I was interested to read on the internet afterwards that who is to blame for the breakup is the subject of heated debate. Sorry Jamie, you cheated. No excuses
Headteacher- Steve Blackmore
Mr Hector- Chris Parslow
Mr Irwin- Dan Masters
Mrs Lintott- Nicky Shipton
Atkins- Harry Allen
Crowther- Ed Hill
Dakin- Tom Burge
Lockwood- Joe Derrick
Posner- Morgan Perry
Rudge- Ross Arnott
Scripps- Rob Cottrell
Timms- Adam Peters
Directed by Graeme Savage
CAST
HILARY EMMA SMART
TILLY CHLOE SMART
FRANCES JACQS GRAHAM
MARK ANDY SAGE-BELL
ROLAND STEVE BLACKMORE
BEA NICOLA WILLIAMS
LYNDSEY RACHEL MOSLEY
CAM DAN MASTERS
JOSH JOEL ROTHWELL
DIRECTED BY STEVE WOOLLEY
DELIVERY WAS MATCHED BY EXCELLENT PHYSICALITY. MOVEMENT SEEMED SO EFFORTLESS BUT UNDERLINED THE TEXT AT ALL TIMES. JOB WELL DONE- ROSE BOWL AWARDS
We thought the acting brilliant, such a good evening out, thank you- audience member
Great Show, Very Funny
Outstanding performances
Brilliant play
Full of magic moments and lines
Rose Bowl Nomination Best Play 2018
Rose Bowl Nomination Best Actress- Emma Smart
CAST
MAN 1 ANDY SAGE-BELL
MAN 2 LYNDEN O’NEILL
MAN 3 CONNER VICKERY
BOY IWAN MCCLURE THOMAS
WOMAN 1 CAROL DAVIES
WOMAN 2 EMMA SMART
WOMAN 3 CHLOE SMART
GIRL AMELIA HARTLAND
WAITRESS HOLLY WARD
DIRECTOR STEVE BLACKMORE
COMMENTS from our audience
- It was absolutely brilliant an excellent show ,well done to the brilliant cast.
- Wonderful writing and a top-notch cast
- Loved it, absolutely loved it, you well and truly broke legs!
- Just got back from a wonderful evening of theatre! The Big Meal is comical, dark and an emotional rollercoaster showcasing true family life! Congrats to the full cast and crew, I loved the multi-roling! Massive well done
- What a bloody good night at the theatre. Interesting staging, engaging story, brilliantly played
- It really was a fantastic piece of theatre and especially when it's something as simple as just 'life'. Very well done by all concerned.
- Huge well done to the cast and crew of the Big Meal - engaging story, brilliantly told. Mascara was a bit smudged by the end
- Just wanted to say that my friend and I have just returned from our first visit to the Alma Theatre to see The Big Meal. We wanted to say that we had a great evening, and thought the company were really talented. A better production than two we have recently seen at the National Theatre!
- It really was an incredible play. A brilliant emotional journey for the audience. I really enjoyed it.
TUESDAY 16 - SATURDAY 20TH MAY 2017
After a playground altercation between
two eleven year old boys, their
respective parents get together to try
and resolve the matter in a calm and
diplomatic way.
At first, niceties are observed, but as
the meeting progresses and the alcohol
flows, tensions emerge. Any attempt at
having a civilized discussion about whose
child is responsible for such destructive
behaviour quickly dissolves into chaos.
Finally leaving both couples with more
than just their liberal principals in
tatters...
Directed by Steve Woolley,
Light & Sound - Darren Williams,
Assistant and props - Anne Holloway,
Set Design and Tech - Steve Woolley and Geoff Rennie
“This was a well-cast, well-rehearsed, slick production. At all times we felt as if we were in safe hands. This is crucial for a play of this intensity and with so few performing actors. The Direction was strong and the result was powerful” Rose Bowl Awards
Audience Reactions
“This was a great piece of theatre, big pat on the back for all 4 actors who entertained us”
“ great acting and very funny” “brilliant, very funny and clever” “cant remember the last time I laughed so much in the theatre” “a viciously funny and sharply directed production”
Rose Bowl Nomination Coup de Theatre
Ruth Harries as Annette
Scott Williams as Alan
Emma Smart as Veronica
Steve Blackmore as Michael
