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The Theatre on Chester is celebrating their 70th anniversary by revisiting plays from their past. First up is Michael Gow ’s Away , an Australian classic that is, at its heart, an exploration of grief.  Away  is an ambitious play that can be difficult to stage due to its scale. Tonally, it shifts between comedy and tragedy. (But never both at the same time.) The director must also figure out how to work in Shakespeare, clowning, supernatural elements, a play within a play and

Horror and comedy require the same skill, which is why great horror directors are usually pretty funny people. Both essentially ask you to build tension for the audience and release it at just the right moment. No play is a greater example of this than the classic Arsenic and Old Lace . Without context, the story of two old women luring men into their home in order to murder them is a tragedy; in this show, it is simply a delightful premise. The dark comedy works when all of

In times of financial hardship, when the “cost of living crisis” seems to have become the new normal rather than a short period of difficulty through which we must prevail, it is understandable that we may indulge in daydreams of get-rich-quick schemes, or even less socially acceptable ways of making a buck on the side — would anyone even know they were my feet in the pictures? Fantasising is one thing, but the tangled web of deception woven in Cash on Delivery pushes the bo

Once again the Glenbrook Players have proven their flair for community theatre with their delightful and wickedly funny production of Joseph Kesselring’s 1939 play Arsenic and Old Lace . The direction of Robyn and Alan Pope was confident and imaginative, allowing the cast to shine while maintaining a brisk pace, bringing this classic dark comedy to life with warmth, wit, and a perfect balance of charm and chaos. Margaret Bell (Aunt Abby) brought a lovely warmth and twinkle to