The Corn Exchange, Newbury |
Box office
01635 522733
The Corn Exchange, Newbury. Some performances may be at The Base, Communications Road, Greenham Business Park,
Greenham, RG19 6HN. Unless a specific location is given for a performance, it's
at the Corn Exchange.
Next
The Littlest Yak, 2nd February
Gertie is great at being the Littlest Yak, with the curliest, whirliest wool and the grippiest of hooves for clip-clopping up cliffs. Only Gertie doesn’t want to be little, she wants to grow up! Nominated for four OffWestEnd Awards, LAStheatre’s musical adaptation of the award-winning children’s book will delight audiences young and old with beautiful puppets, catchy tunes and an uplifting tale of self-acceptance.
Last Rites, 4th to 5th February
Told through a Deaf man’s unique perspective, this show tells the passionate and poignant story of a complex relationship cut short.
Last Rites combines exciting movement and physical storytelling with dynamic projection and an immersive soundtrack that can be felt and heard. Travelling from the UK to India, Arjun needs to carry out his father’s funeral rites. But how can he perform an ancient Hindu practice that was never passed on? In life, his father wouldn’t learn sign language, but in death, Arjun needs to find a way to say goodbye. He creates his own intimate, final ceremony that brings to life a rich tapestry of shared memories.
Last Rites is a non-verbal piece of theatre with no spoken words, accessible to deaf, Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing audiences. The performance includes some BSL with creative captions and a soundtrack with heavy use of bass so that it can be felt or heard by audience members.
Dracula, 11th to 12th March
The time is 1897. Mankind is on the cusp of vast technological change, scientific mastery and media innovation. But poised between traditional beliefs, the threat of the unknown and the shock of the new world, an altogether darker fear is emerging. As a new shadow looms large over England, a small group of young men and women, led by Professor Van Helsing, are plunged into an epic struggle for survival.
Stretching from London, through provincial England, to the mountainous wastes of Transylvania, Bram Stoker’s timeless gothic thriller embodies the struggle to break taboos, resist temptation and stop the unknown outside becoming the enemy within.
Dracula features a haunting soundscape, powerful performances and innovative design for an exhilarating theatrical experience.
Murder She Didn't Write: Improvised Murder Mystery, 27th March
Don your deerstalker, grab your magnifying glass and get your ‘finger of suspicion’ at the ready!
Edinburgh Fringe favourites, Degrees of Error, are bringing back their multiple sell-out show for your sleuthing pleasure.
They’ll create a classic murder mystery on-the-spot in this ingenious improvised comedy. You, the audience, become the author as the cast act out your very own Agatha Christie-inspired masterpiece live on stage. At each show this extraordinarily talented company use audience suggestions to create a unique, original and extremely comical murder mystery just for you. All you have to do... is solve it!
Ms Gold poisoned at a synchronised swimming gala? Dr Blue exploded by cannon during a hot air balloon race? Professor Violet crushed to death at a Love Island recoupling? You decide!
But will you guess whodunnit before the killer is revealed?
In Other Words, 28th March
They call it ‘the incident’ now. What happened when they first met. He always said it was part of his ‘romantic plan’ but they both know that’s rubbish.
Connected by the music of Frank Sinatra, this intimate, humorous, and deeply moving drama examines the power of music, memory, and the nature of enduring love.
Duck, 30th April
It’s the summer of 2005, England prepare to win the Ashes and Ismail (Smiley to his friends), a British Indian schoolboy, is about to become the youngest-ever player in his elite public school’s First XI cricket team.
He sets his sights on immortality, breaking the school batting record and getting his name into Wisden. But things are about to heat up.
From award-winning playwright maatin, Duck is about adolescence, the pressures of sporting competition and finding your identity in an environment that doesn’t cater for difference.
Reviews of Dick Whittington
29th November 2024 to 5th January 2025
Review from the Newbury Weekly News and the British Theatre Guide.
It’s pun-time!
Full house at the Corn Exchange for pantomime fun with Dick Whittington
The Corn Exchange is bedecked with festive decorations, a beautiful real tree in the foyer and festoons of lights in the auditorium for this year’s Christmas panto Dick Whittington – and it’s an absolute winner.
Once again, the award-winning creative team of Plested. Brown and Wilsher return for their sixth year at the helm, with Adam Brown inventively directing what is a refreshing new interpretation of the traditional story, fizzing with energy and pace.
Saturday’s capacity enthusiastic audience was out for a fun evening and they were certainly not disappointed… it was absolute joy.
Grace Kelly Miller was our Detective Fairy Bowbells, determined to keep law and order in Newburyshire, adding a bit of magic to help out.
Our hero Dick, impressively played by the charismatic Kai Harris dressed in his Scout uniform with proficiency badges along the sleeve, quickly wins the audience over as together with his cat Cosmo (Jade Johnson) he sets off to seek fortune in old London town.
They meet Alderman Fitzwarren (Chris Rankin) and his daughter Alice (Shannon Bourne), down on their luck as their emporium is losing money because the city is overrun by rats.
Alex Crandon played the true villain as evil Percy Rat, relishing the audience’s loud enthusiastic boos.
Every panto needs their Dame and Scott Riney, making his debut, filled the role in abundance, carrying off the most outlandish costumes.
Look out for Captain Bird’s Eye fish fingers sequence – a hilarious take on the traditional ghost scene.
The hardworking ensemble Adam Craig, Finna Hardy and Jake Poolman were superb, adding so much to this sparkling production.
Miranda Wilford’s imaginative choreography was breathtakingly dynamic and the cast energetically performed with flair and brio everything from tap to breakdancing. It was exhausting to watch.
Musical director Ben Barrow, assisted by Luke Hinchliffe, provided a spirited score that was spot-on.
With puns galore, local references and oodles of audience participation, including everyone joining in the Time Warp, this vibrant production is purrrrrrfect entertainment for all the family.
Not to be missed.
ROBIN STRAPP
Review from the Newbury Weekly News.
Purr-fectly pitched for grown-ups
Dick Whittington Adult Night
With its roots stretching back over 500 years, to the bawdy theatre of Commedia dell’Arte, what is now the traditional Christmas pantomime has always sailed close to the wind when it comes to double entendres and lightly risqué scenarios. So, the idea of taking the format and performing it to an audience of adults seems only natural.
Since the early 1990s a handful of producers have dabbled with creating ‘blue’ pantomimes, laden with bad language and seafront postcard gaggery. However, as far as I’m aware, the Corn Exchange was among a pioneering (and evidently enterprising) group of civic venues who, around 20 years ago, started to set aside one evening of their annual family panto run, which was just for grown-ups. What they have done brilliantly over the years is to maintain that these performances are broadly the same show they would do for a family audience, so there is nothing additionally smutty or off-colour about them.
Staying true to this objective, the Plested, Brown and Wilsher team have written and directed a perfectly pitched panto that, on adult night, can lean a little more into the gags that would otherwise fly over the heads of a family crowd, and the audience can let their hair down a bit.
This year, with lead roles that include Dick and his Pussycat, there is some potential low hanging fruit, which is plundered to good effect, by the whole company. With the Dame traditionally given the lion’s share of near-the-knuckle material, Scott Riney’s Jolene Malone resists the urge to go off the rails. But then, their most edgy puns and plays on words are in the original script for all audiences.
Alex Crandon is a buoyantly villainous Percy (King) Rat. His playful moments with Detective Fairy Bowbells (Grace Kelly Miller) are among the funniest in the show
(both adult and family versions). Jade Johnson as Cosmo the Cat and Chris Rankin as Alderman Fitzwarren run a good line in breaking character, pulling solid laughs by exposing the hardships of a pantomime actor.
Shannon Bourne (Alice) and Kai Harris (Dick) play the whole thing straight, while trying also to hold it together. And speaking of holding it together, Adam Craig, Finna Hardy and Jake Poolman seem to be having an absolute blast as the small ensemble team; they are camper than a Strictly Christmas special.
The strongest moments were those that were authentically playful, either because the actors were caught off guard, or were genuinely having the best time! This meant that, on the odd occasion that someone tried something overtly ‘adult’, it actually felt somewhat out of place, falling flatter than more innocently hilarious moments.
This may in part be because the script itself is a fast paced, whip smart and completely bonkers reinterpretation of a classic pantomime which retains many traditional set pieces, while proving contemporary and engaging. Such is the success of the Corn Exchange’s ‘adult’ shows, there are four this year (the last one being Saturday, January 3). However, to be honest you can enjoy this festive treat at any time, with or without the kids.
TONY TRIGWELL JONES