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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’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. It’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, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Cinders and beer: Cinderella: A Wicked Mother of a Night Out #PubCinderella

“Aren’t you worried you’re going to get picked on by the cast since you’re here on your own?” Asked a lady at the bar before catching Not Too Tame’s Cinderella: A Wicked Mother of a Night Out! No fear I thought... It’s all part of my quest to continue to seek out strange and unusual theatre. I wasn’t disappointed.

This is a site specific production set in a pub near you for the Christmas holidays. It’s unique and worth checking out for people looking for something different to do this Christmas.

Just like Hot Gay Time Machine at Trafalgar Studios, it’s best to go in a group. And don’t look too unique, fabulous or like a hipster as the cast are likely to single you out.

Written by Luke Barnes, the show combines karaoke standards with some panto traditions and beer. The end result is a pretty funny and original interpretation of the Cinderella story.

Cinderalla’s dad has died and she’s left working in his pub with her stepmother and two step sisters. A geezer called Prince comes by looking for the girl who took his grandmother’s slippers.

Along the way there’s a man in a dirty dog suit who barks “SEX!”, a bloke in dress and lot of karaoke.

What it lacks in production values it makes up with enthusiasm, originality and humour. And for those interested in that sort of thing, the karaoke continues after the show.

Production Company Not Too Tame aim to create works that target first time theatre goers. But they’ve also come up with a winning formula here for pop-up theatre.

Directed by Jimmy Fairhurst, Cinderella: A Wicked Mother of a Night Out! continues at Yates Reading on 16 December and the Welcome Inn, Ordsall on 18-22 December.

⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos by Chris Webb

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