The Plant, by Kit Brookman, is the winner of the Ensemble Theatre’s 2016 New Writing Commission. Sue (Sandy Gore) and her three children, Erin (Helen Dallimore), Daniel (Garth Holcombe) and Naomi (Briallen Clarke) are packing up the family home not long after the death of the husband/father from, what one of them describe as: ‘in-built…
It’s one of those vagaries of film distribution that we sometimes get two films released at the same time with similar plots and ideas. Within the space of a couple of weeks we get two road trip movies. Both feature two people on a journey through some of Europe’s most picturesque areas. They sample the history, culture…
Noises Off has been around for a few decades – it was written by British playwright Michael Frayn in 1982. And unlike The Play That Goes Wrong or Fawlty Towers, it feels like it. The farce appeared dated to me and it was inclined to push the envelope too far at every turn. The first act…
One of the truisms of gambling says the house always wins. However, with The House – a supposed comedy about an ordinary family that set up an illegal underground casino in the leafy streets of suburbia – it’s the audience who are the losers. Let’s face it – when was the last time Will Ferrell made…
With the successful Despicable Me franchise, new kids on the block, Illumination Studios, have rivalled animation giants Pixar and Dreamworks who once set the bar. The success of the Despicable Me franchise is largely due to the scene-stealing antics of the mischievous, diminutive and simple minded yellow creatures known as the minions, who talk in gibberish. The…
Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is not a rookie anymore. Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers and one in particular – the cocky and arrogant Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) – the legendary Piston-Cup champion finds himself suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. While Lightning is still the same self-assured car audiences fell in love…
In large measure decidedly unfunny, Rough Night is a lame version of Weekend At Bernie’s crossed with The Hangover and Bridesmaids. Sorry to say, but its attempt to be edgy largely fails. Ten years ago five young women were college buddies, but a decade later they have all gone their separate ways. Scarlett Johansson plays Jess Thayer,…
This is quite an amazing play; I certainly place it among the funniest plays ever written. It was first produced in 1982 and in various forms and rewrites has been performed regularly ever since on stages around the world. It is the classic farce that has dateless characters, hilarious dialogue, and a sequence of slapstick…
The comedies of the late John Hughes were the gilt edge standard for coming of age films in the 80s, but more recently the genre seems to have been given over to more raunchy fare full of crude humour, jokes about sex and genitalia. A dark comedy about adolescent angst, rebellion and the uncertainties of…
After the failure of movies like Snatched and CHiPs, good humour, hijinx, pecs and genetalia abound in this welcome return to form for lighthearted comedy. Baywatch follows devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – The Fate of the Furious) as he butts heads with a brash new recruit (Zac Efron – Bad Neighbors). Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) directs…
