|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Too True To Be Good & Major Barbara "Stephen Chance's Tallboys and Paul Thomas's Meek were drawn with clarity and elegance, underlining the stupidity of the former and the authority of the latter. One Festival: Bollocks! "Although Bollocks! also touches on grief, it is more an exploration of identity than it is an unhappy piece. Danny (Paul Thomas) revisits the past in a rambling, drunken conversation with a friend who isn't there anymore, finally making good on an old promise. Thomas bounds about the stage, pausing every so often as a memory catches up with his character and his eyes threaten to mist over. As you would expect from Mike Carter, the dialogue is well written and very natural. Director Saffron Myers captures both the comedy and the tragedy of Carter's script."
The Collective Project: Genres "Jayne Edwards' cool delivery and Paul Thomas's pathetic whining are especially polished and humorous."
"the Pensive Federation have produced a consistently high standard to their body of work in a short period of time"
The Complete History of the BBC (Abridged) "she is ably partnered by a new actor who (in the best Doctor Who tradition) is regenerated into the bouncing and eager form of Paul Thomas."
"When we were greeted as we went in by Terence [Paul Thomas], looking very dapper in his dinner suit and ad-libbing about his Dr Who lunch box in perfect Received Pronunciation, I knew we were going to be in for a comedic treat." "He has an unconventional charisma, being so weird that even his bad jokes ... become hilarious, if only for the way he tells them."
"The snivelling Terrance's obsession with the BBC is hilarious to watch and the idea of the whole show taking place in his garden shed makes the show even more amusing as if he is holding a dark secret from the world outside. His eccentricity is certain balanced out by Cavanagh's constant reality checks, bringing the cute old man back to his senses when he suddenly begins waffling over subjects such as Blue Peter or The Shipping Forecast." **** (4 Stars)
"While Terence is constant in his desperate enthusiasm for the Grand History of the BBC, Ingrid has more the tone of a school teacher and provides a more down-to-earth version of events, cracking jokes which elicit a scowl from Terence and a giggle from the audience."
Twelfth Night, The Festival Players "This was Shakespeare staged with a vital spark - keeping a reverence for the language, while performing the comedy with a real sense of freedom." "The ease with which Portacio and Thomas worked together as drunken rogues could not fail to amuse. The scene where Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Feste bait Malvolio with a letter supposedly declaring Olivia's love for him, was particularly well-executed with superb comic timing."
"Paul Thomas as a delightfully foppish and cowardly Sir Andrew Aguecheek. This was a superb open-air production"
Winter Tales: Basement "Basement is the most gripping performance of the evening, set in total darkness in, you guessed it, the basement, it instils fear from the moment you're led behind the bar and into the working cellar of the premises. As the robbers creep in, the tension mounts, and I crept further and further up my bench, away from the ominous, black-sheeted doorway hovering over me... and oh, what a wise move it turned out to be." "I must also congratulate the company on the ghost story 'Basement', which was wonderfully immersive and had us all on a knife edge. At one point I was so terrified that I accidentally leapt onto a stranger's lap (being pitch dark I don't know whose lap it was I ended up on... possibly Darren's)"
"Special mention to the piece 'Basement' as it literally caused me to almost jump into my fellow patrons lap with fright at one point. The on hand guides, are quick to point out each time a group is about to go down to the basement that if anyone doesn't like small cramped dark places then they can sit that show out and have a drink at the bar instead. I laughed at my partner's paltry determination to stay upstairs at the bar, but by the time I came out of the basement I had to acknowledge that he would probably have jumped and run for the stairs before we'd even reached half way through the story." The Merchant of Venice "Paul Thomas finding more infectious humour in Portia's lady in waiting Nerissa" "The relationship between an impressive Portia and mischievous Nerissa - Matthew Barksby and Paul Thomas - was delightful." "played by five young and extremely talented actors who cleverly adapted to whichever role they were playing." "Outdoor Shakespeare at its best" "Crackerjack rating: 9 / 10." As You Like It "Paul Thomas managed to leap from the most arch of French courtiers bristling with hauteur to the engaging junior shepherd Silvius whose almost hopeless love for the Ganymede-obsessed Phebe (Trudi Jackson) was the most touching part of the production."
"Michael Sergeant's production at The Courtyard benefits from a strong cast that sees the lesser roles often outshine the main characters."
"a cast that is exceptionally good at reading Shakespeare's verse with conviction" **** (4 Stars)
Much Ado About Nothing "a strong supporting cast"
DSL Showcase (The Dice House) "Paul Thomas as Matthew added another enjoyable off-kilter personality"
|