THERE was plenty of anger on the stage but plenty of delight amongst the audience when All and Sundry put on its latest production. John Osborne's Look Back in Anger was one of the first gritty 'realism' plays which broke with tradition and that grittiness certainly came across with this superb staging. Every member of the cast contributed to a fantastic evening which left the audience with a few smiles but, overall, emotionally drained. Anja Parkes played downtrodden wife Alison well, especially with her monologues towards the end of the first act. Tanith Parkes was also excellent as the hard Helena who was mellowed by Jimmy's well-hidden charms. But Rory Dulku stole the show as the 'angry young man' - he made acting look effortless as he dominated the stage with his strong and intimidating performance. There were plenty of stand-alone lines in this production which were delivered impeccably throughout, mostly from Dulku, to give the crowd much-needed breaks from the constant dramatic tension. The chemistry between the characters on the night was as good as you will get and, while the gritty realism ruled, this was also a good advert for naturalism with the amazing acting enabling the audience to suspend its disbelief from the off. The choice of venue and intimacy of it was a master stroke. The set was cluttered with an ironing board and furniture, including a bed, sofa and armchair and that claustrophobia magnified the emotional turmoil conveyed by the characters. As you watched this production, which was beautifully directed by John Edwards-Blick, you had strong feelings about those on the stage, whether you empathised with their characters' predicament or loathed what they were doing. And, as you departed after the final curtain, you were left with a mix of emotions and thoughts of 'what if she had done this' or 'what if he had not have opted for that'. Overall, All and Sundry's Look Back in Anger was all a gritty realism production should be.

Mrs Wilberforce, played by Sheila Proudfoot, with Harry Robinson (Nick Whitehouse), Professor Marcus (Mark Clayton) and Constable Macdonald (Graham Forbes). Picture by Marcus Mingins 1115014MMR A PLAY about a gang who pose as a group of musicians and dupe an old landlady into carrying out a heist is being staged at Redditch's Palace Theatre. The Ladykillers sees the police left stumped but Mrs Wilberforce becomes wise to the ruse and gang leader Marcus deems there only to be one way to keep the old lady quiet. And, with her noisy parrot General Gordon the only one around to help her, Mrs W takes on the five desperate men.

STUDENTS were left captivated last Thursday (October 15) when they were treated to this stunning performance by All and Sundry theatre company. Turned into a play by George S Kaufman, the production came close to winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the novel itself, set during the Great Depression in California, has been on the English teaching curriculum for years. As the curtain went up the audience were greeted with the backs of lead characters Lennie Small and George Milton - played by Mike Richardson and John Aubrey. The set was beautiful in its simplicity and the American accents, particularly John Aubrey's, were spot on. But the star of the show was Mike Richardson, who captured the bumbling uncertainty and childlike wonder of lumbering Lennie perfectly. I was blown away by the way Mike adopted Lennie's idiosyncrasies. He walked the fine line between making the audience laugh but not edging in to ridicule perfectly. Director Vanessa Morgan said: "This is my first main production and, without blowing my own trumpet, I am very pleased and quite proud of myself. I was a bit nervous but I had some wonderful help with the lighting and sound and it was great to see my ideas come to fruition."

ALL and Sundry's latest pantomime Dick Whittington provided a truly magnificent evening of festive entertainment which left the audience buzzing and, surely, voiceless from all the booing and cheering. And with quick-fire one-liners coming thick and fast throughout and more double entendres than you can shake a wand at, this show is just as much for the adults as it it is for the children - maybe even moreso - just as the perfect pantomime should be. It's not often the dame has to tell the crowd to "behave itself" so frequently. A hugely talented cast brought a fantastic script to life and delivered a superb seasonal show just in time for Christmas. The carefully crafted choreographies were a joy to watch, particularly the dance in Fitzwarren's shop using giant candy canes and the pre-Under the Sea scene where Sarah, Jack and the council workers are the most unlikely, but pretty impressive, ballet dancers. There was an abundance of comedy from Emma Hay and David Healing as Spade and Shovel and Mustafa and Leak, Max Ponsonby as the hapless and hilarious Captain Bilgewater and Graham Forbes and Ken Messenger as Floribunda and The Sultan. Mark Clayton has made playing the panto dame his own & he must be the first name on the team sheet when daring director Alison Berrisford is compiling her cast. Dave Berrisford as Idle Jack got the crowd going well and, as they stomped their feet and did countless Mexican Waves, they were putty in his hands. Barbara Treen was the fairy those watching loved to love but the performance of the evening went to Ed Loboda as arguably the best villain of all the pantomimes , King Rat. He had the audience booing, hissing and shouting at him loudly for the duration he was on stage and he earned every single reaction with his performance of evil personified. Of the songs, the duet between Dick (Emma Stevens) and Anja Parkes (Alice Fitzwarren) was very touching and the dazzling rendition of Take That's Shine could not have provided a finer finale. But the most breathtaking scenes of the evening were those "Under the Sea". All and Sundry has been excelling on the UV theatre throughout every one of its pantos and somehow have been improving year on year. This one was the greatest to date. It was magical, mesmerising and was, rightfully, given the loudest cheer and applause of the evening that, not only raised the roof, almost ripped it off. Whether you are three or 103, All and Sundry's Dick Whittington is a must see - but book soon, the tickets are going like hot mince pies.