'Two Loves' - 'Dream On' Reviews

Dream On review

A Laugh Out Loud Production
Writer / Director Bill Cronshaw brought his one-act play, “Dream On” to Malvern’s intimate Coach House Theatre for a four night run.
The opening scene, a demented young woman dancing around the stage, clutching her CD player, set the pattern for a rollicking hour’s entertainment. When Sherry opened her mouth, the evening got even better.
The three-strong female cast introduced us to the world of the TV talent show; in fact, more of a reality TV show.
Sherry Marie Louse Nuttall played by Charlotte Owen and her mother, Irene played by Kaz Luckins, both have dreams. From her earliest moments Sherry has been told to aim high. The reality is that both mother and daughter have failed to achieve much to shout about. Sherry is a pole dancer and Irene works in a newsagent / convenience store.
Spurred on by mother, who has always told her to “have a dream”, Sherry applies to a talent show with no real expectation of success. Much to her and her mother’s surprise, nay disbelief, Lavinia Fairfax-Forester, played by Laura Whittard; the owner of a TV production company gets in touch to offer Sherry a place in her show.
We shared in Sherry’s hopes, yet knew in our hearts they were ill-founded. We squirmed at her mother’s “put downs”, even more hurtful because she had always said that having a dream was part of being alive.
Much to mother’s delight both she and her daughter are sucked into Lavinia’s cynical plot.
Sherry’s absentee boyfriend and would-be manager becomes as real as Irene’s boss, as does the man who ogles Sherry when she performs for him at her pole-dance club. He buys his dirty magazines from Irene’s shop. We never meet them. We don’t need to. They are real nevertheless.
The real surprise was the degree to which we were pole-axed by the pathos of Sherry’s memory of the minutes before her first sexual encounter. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But when Lavinia, manipulatively encouraged both mother and daughter to talk to camera about both their “first times” – we wept.
Direction by Bill Croshaw and his selection of music was perfect. I have seldom had a better night at the theatre.
This performance deserved a much bigger audience than it received on opening-night., however enthusiastic they were. It is a great pity that this and the other offering of the evening, “Two Loves” currently only have plans for a four night run. Let’s hope both plays reach a wider audience in the future. If you get the chance, go and see them !
Dreamshed Theatre is a Cheltenham based company committed to the promotion of new writing, providing opportunities to professional & amateur actors and staging live theatre in as wide a variety of locations as possible. Long may they prosper.

Two Loves review

A Masterclass in Verbal Gymnastics
From the minute “The Poet”, played by John Martin Stevens (also the play’s author) delivered his opening lines, the audience were enthralled and amused by the mixture of snatches of Shakespeare, the character’s own poetic offerings and his spoken prose.
We were introduced to “The Woman” we assumed to be his wife, played by Jilly Breeze, and to the apparent bliss of a relaxed relationship. The soundtrack, selected from Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Holliday’s renditions of the Great American Song Book, combined with the simple but effective set to lull us into a false sense of security.
But before the audience had time to relax, “The Youth”, played by Sam Marriot, arrived to set the cat among the pigeons. He had been sent to be educated.
We knew not what to expect from this encounter save for the feeling that it might end in tears. The author led us up the garden path and down again. The wit and repartee were startling. The speed and clarity of prose and poetry sparkled. The dialogue moved from apparently relaxed informality to conversations loaded with hidden meaning we discovered only later.
We were drawn into the game being played out before us. We cared what happened next; who got hurt; who would be the winners and losers.
It was remarkable how in only one act the mood could move from apparent serenity to highly charged antagonism.
Direction by Bill Cronshaw was successfully and suitably unobtrusive.
The three-strong cast were individually and collectively excellent. The chemistry between them was real.
This performance deserved a much bigger audience than it received on opening-night., however enthusiastic they were. It is a great pity that this and the other offering of the evening, “Dream On” currently only have plans for a four night run. Let’s hope both plays reach a wider audience in the future. If you get the chance, go and see them !
Dreamshed Theatre is a Cheltenham based company committed to the promotion of new writing, providing opportunities to professional & amateur actors and staging live theatre in as wide a variety of locations as possible. Long may they prosper.