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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Summer loving: The Lady With A Dog @TabardTheatreUK

The first flicker of love, marriage and commitment are the subjects of The Lady With a Dog. Chekhov’s summer romance in Yalta is updated to 1920s Britain and France by writer and director Mark Giesser. But the performances and brisk pace capture the fantasy and romance of the story. It’s currently playing at the Tabard Theatre after a successful run at the White Bear Theatre.

It opens with the lady and her (imagined) Pomeranian dog being eyed up by Damian Granville (Richard Lynson). He’s a London-based banker on holiday alone in Scotland. His plan is to get her attention by feeding the dog a few biscuits before working his charm on the lady. He’s also married but it’s a thoroughly modern one where his wife allows him to holiday alone in search of other women. But the lady Anne Dennis (Beth Burrows) is also married and holidaying alone due to her husband’s work.

Jusxtaposed with their aquaintance are unhappy conversations with their real partners. Soon an attraction develops between the two and they find themselves falling in love for the first time. When Anne has to return to Wiltshire they assume at first they’ll never meet again. But their continued feelings make them go looking for each other. 

The cast bring to life this story with their nuanced and tender performances. Duncan Macinnes and Laura Glover are the loveless spouses of the two. They also serve well to explain the characters with their nagging and disinterest. In the end you feel this is a meditation on fantasy and escapism as much as it is about rediscovering life. 

The Art Deco set by Oscar Selfridge keeps the action rooted in the interwar period. It’s too bad the character of Beth wasn’t travelling with a more sedate dog. Working with a real life Pomeranian onstage would be a theatrical disaster. But it was nicely imagined throughout the piece. 

Directed by Mark Giesser, The Lady With A Dog is at the Tabard Theatre until 7 April

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos by Andreas Lambis

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