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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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Weā€™re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. Itā€™s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, theyā€™re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesnā€™t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Quintuple threats: Daisy Pulls It Off @charingcrossthr

Itā€™s a sign of the growing complexity of the world. Tomorrowā€™s performers donā€™t just need to be able to act, sing, dance and play a musical instrument. They also need to play hockey. Well at least they do in the graduating group of actor-musicians from the Guildford School of Acting. Theyā€™re currently performing Daisy Pulls It Off at the Charing Cross Theatre. The performances are fascinating and at times exhausting to watch. Particularly in the hockey match final. Cast members have musical instruments, tell a story, dance and while playing hockey. Clever buggers.

The showā€™s about Daisy who is a schoolgirl who has won a scholarship to a girls schools. Being England she has to overcome prejudice and snobbishness of the other school girls. But of course a show with a title suggesting she ā€œpulls it offā€ you know whatā€™s going to happen.

The show by Denise Deegan dates from the early 1980s. It ran for over 1000 performances in the West End and won an Olivier Award. Itā€™s the type of provincial story (like plays about the Second World War or Winston Churchill) that this country produces. Endlessly. Pluckish young girl overcomes obstacles and wins over all who doubt her. But the endless enthusiasm of the cast keeps things bubbling along.

Marina Papadopoulos is an enthusiastic Daisy. Her best friend Trixie is hilariously played by Katy Ellis. And Persia Babayan-Taylor is a suitable pantomime villain as Sybil Burlington.

The piece is more of a play with music than a musical. The songs ā€œAll Through the Nightā€ and ā€œIn the Bleak Midwinterā€ feature. But itā€™s a showcase for a cast where everyone can play at least two musical instruments. And an opportunity to see graduates who may go on to bigger and better things. You can be smug in knowing you saw them here first. And thatā€™s awfully smashing too.

Directed by Nicholas Scrivens, Daisy Pulls It Off is at the Charing Cross Theatre until 30 June.

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