THERE were plenty of laughs, and almost as many thoughtful silences, as a capacity crowd watched Roger Goddard's new poignant comedy 50 Shades of Beige at the Upstairs Room at Redditch's Palace Theatre. The show is centred around a host of wonderful colourful characters residing in the fictional Autumn Leaves Nursing Home and the interactions between them. But, in what you would expect to be a slowed down setting, there is plenty of fast-paced comedy and quick-witted one-liners and visual gags delivered excellently by a talented cast. The key to good comedy is interesting and well thought-out characters and 50 Shades of Beige has them in abundance. There is the formidable. and somewhat bossy, Joy Peters, played excellently by Vanessa Morgan, and the forgetful Norma Burrows portrayed equally well by Joy Williamson. Kind and considerate nurse Anne Wilson (Anja Parkes) and the clever and relatively sensible Bill Greenwood (Ken Messenger) also held places in the hearts of those watching. But the audience's hearts and the show itself was stolen by charming lovable Lothario Tom Holmes who, played magnificently by David Healing, went on the biggest roller-coaster of a journey. For the majority, Tom was out to have fun and lived for laughter, but it was his small gestures that made the most poignant moments in this thought-provoking comedy. Because of the setting, the intimate and "homely" Room Upstairs was perfect for this show but it would not have been out of place on a bigger stage and, when you watch it, you feel more people should get a chance to see this excellent production.

ALL AND Sundry's stage version of Blackadder - The Tudor Years was a brave move as people will naturally have the TV show in their heads as a benchmark as they take their seats. But this talented cast rose to the challenge and put on a fantastic production. It featured three episodes from the popular programme - Money, Bells and Beer. There were some great performances on the night; Alan Feeney was strong as Blackadder, he did well as the main character and focal point, delivering some great one-liners along the way. Comedy is all about timing and sitcoms are all about the characters and the way they interact. Feeney's partnerships with John Aubrey as Baldrick and Matthew Fearnley as Lord Percy were faultless throughout. Graham Forbes impressed as the stern and self-righteous Bishop of Bath and Wells and Edward Timpson delighted the crowd with his brief and brilliant appearance as Flasheart. The problem with that role is it was played in the TV show by the late Rik Mayall - you couldn't ask for bigger shoes to fill and he did just that, providing plenty of real laugh out loud moments during the brash character's short time on the stage. The Blackadder cast was just 13 people and there were plenty of titters when some of the actors such as Bob Wilkes and Sheila Proudfoot came on in different roles. But the performances of the evening went to Tanith Garcia as Queenie and Mandy Hawkes as Nursie. There was so much comedy generated between the two, simply through their interaction on the stage. In fact, there were giggles as they appeared, even before they had said anything. Tanith's body language, facial expressions and all-round portrayal of this fiery, colourful and exciting character was second to none and stole the show. Her sidekick complemented her greatly and a lot of the time it was her laughter that led to hysterics from the audience. The set was clever and simple with scenes punctuated with instrumental music. it enabled the show to maintain a fast pace, similar to how it was in the TV show. This was particularly so in the final episode where Blackadder is entertaining two different parties; one a purist and the other a drunken rabble's get-together. The finale, however, was a master stroke from producer and director Andrew Corcoran and associate director Emma Hay. To create a bawdy and comedic song based on Master of the House from Les Miserables which, as well as getting a few laughs, also got all the actors on the stage at the same time for the final bow was genius and made that part of the show seamless.

Written by Tristan Harris THE ARTRIX studio could not have been a better setting for All and Sundry's latest offering, a stage version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This intense drama centres around the bitter and frustrated relationship of George and Martha who, after a university faculty party, embroil younger couple Nick and Honey into a night of deadly game playing. It features just four characters and explores middle-age marriage breakdown, psychological relationships, human feelings and more. The smaller venue chosen provided an unbelievably claustrophobic feeling and, with the actors almost toe-to-toe with the front row during some argumentative confrontations and other explosive moments, it was exactly what was needed. You felt like you had literally sneaked into someone's living room to get a "fly on the wall" insight into how they lived their lives. The other important aspect about this play is the casting has to be spot on, and it was. You could see director Vanessa Morgan had chosen four very talented actors and put them in exactly the right roles. Barbara Treen was excellent as Martha who, full of venom for the most part and full of sadness for others, made you loathe her sometimes and occasionally pity her and her life. Andrew Corcoran made the role of supposedly brow-beaten husband, but often equally as feisty, George his own and dominated the stage when he needed to. Ed Butler was wonderful as "new-boy" Nick who was full of motivation and hope for the job he was due to start and Sarah Feltham brought the "fragile" Honey's character to life. There were times when you really felt for her and the situation she had unwittingly been caught up in. This play flits erratically from moments of laughter to deep intensity and shocking aggressive and abusive scenes and likewise, as you watched, your empathy flitted from one character to another. That was a true testament to the high quality of the acting on show. Overall this performance was intense psychological theatre at its best and is well worth seeing when it moves to the Palace Theatre in Redditch this week. It was also made all the more poignant with the news that the show's writer Edward Albee, who had a superb story to tell and told it so well, passed away yesterday morning (Saturday) at the age of 88.