Reviews by Steve Woodward
Rapunzel
Steve Woodward
The charming Chipping Norton Theatre has always had an intimacy and warmth that I associate with music halls of old, and for this sold-out Friday night performance of this year’s pantomime the ...
3 years ago
Rapunzel
Twelfth Night
Steve Woodward
This play, performed so often by amateur and professional companies, needed a new angle to draw me in, and it had more than one. It begins with a home movie that takes us through the childhood and ...
11 years ago
Twelfth Night
Wuthering Heights
Steve Woodward
Banbury Cross Players’ most ambitious production for some years was unable to sell many tickets for its final performance on Saturday, which is a great pity, because it has style, precise ...
12 years ago
Wuthering Heights
Unexpected Guest
Steve Woodward
With a writer like this, you know that, whatever else, you are in for a thrilling, complex story full of intrigue, red herrings, nice people who turn out to be liars, and an unforeseen twist in the ...
13 years ago
Unexpected Guest
Mother Goose
Steve Woodward
A packed theatre, hundreds of excited children (of all ages), a glittering, slick, fast-moving show, and a strong, ensemble company all enjoying themselves: this is the recipe for a very good, ...
13 years ago
Mother Goose
James And The Giant Peach
Steve Woodward
There’s an enchanting evening waiting for you at The Mill in this group’s bold departure from traditional pantomime. Dahl’s beautifully imaginative story has been expertly adapted by ...
13 years ago
James And The Giant Peach
The Garden Party
Steve Woodward
We’re in the Isle of Wight on a sunny summer weekend; it’s Dad’s 70th birthday, and the three grown up children have come back home to celebrate with him and their mother. Father’s grumpy and ...
13 years ago
The Garden Party
Wyrd Sisters - Directors Cut
Steve Woodward
As usual with this company, a warm welcome, a busy front of house, and a slick production that fills a lovely theatre space. However, I walked away feeling somewhat bemused and unfulfilled by ...
14 years ago
Wyrd Sisters - Directors Cut
Amadeus
Steve Woodward
Mozart’s greatest rival and dearest friend, Antonio Salieri, greets us, after we hear rumours that he is a murderer. He tells us that we are to witness the last hour of his life, as he relives the ...
14 years ago
Amadeus
Neville's Island
Steve Woodward
Neville and his three business colleagues, all middle-aged, middle-class, Manchester men, who all work for Pennine Spring Water, are on a bonding weekend for their company, getting a boat across a ...
14 years ago
Neville's Island
Babes In The Wood
Steve Woodward
Christmas has arrived early in Banbury, and I’m grateful to the Banbury Cross Players for making me relax and smile six weeks before I usually do. Over two hours of mayhem and mirth can be yours ...
15 years ago
Babes In The Wood
Victim
Steve Woodward
A sizeable, supportive audience enjoyed the gradual unfolding of what started as a baffling situation, and turned into a gripping murder story, on stage in Banbury last night. Don West’s rather ...
15 years ago
Victim
'Tis Pity She's A Whore
Steve Woodward
As we walk into the auditorium we see a man (the Friar) kneeling and praying, with his back to us, at a long, dominant altar, which stands in front of a huge gold cross. Religion and repression, two ...
15 years ago
'Tis Pity She's A Whore
Breaking The Code
Steve Woodward
I (and thousands of others) owe a great debt to Alan Turing. It can be strongly argued that he, with help, shortened World War II by two years because his amazing mind led the team of people who ...
17 years ago
Breaking The Code
Plaza Suite
Steve Woodward
By UK standards, the U.S. has a brash, in-your-face culture, and New Yorkers’ lifestyle is even more extreme. Fittingly then, we are greeted by a huge photograph of the sumptuous Plaza Hotel ...
17 years ago
Plaza Suite
War And Peace
Steve Woodward
This truly was a shared experience; the actors took me on an epic journey over two long but glorious nights, always assuring me that they knew what they were doing, and asking me to trust their safe ...
17 years ago
War And Peace
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
Steve Woodward
It’s 1895 in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, and isn’t life wonderful for Lord Arthur Savile? He has an easy life and a gorgeous, good woman about to marry him in four days’ time. But lovely Sybil ...
17 years ago
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates
Steve Woodward
ROBINSON CRUSOE and THE PIRATES by Paul ReakesThe Mill Arts Centre, Banbury, until December 1 Banbury Cross Players are celebrating Christmas already with a gorgeous, garish, and hilarious ...
17 years ago
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates
Steve Woodward
Preview: Banbury Cross Players 2007/08 season – it could include you! On Tuesday October 9th, at their gorgeous home, The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury (which has recovered from extensive flooding in ...
17 years ago
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates
The Dresser
Steve Woodward
Oh dear. Most people reading this live in Oxford. What a shame. If you can take the 20-minute train ride to Banbury – by Saturday night – you will see something special. There are still some ...
17 years ago
The Dresser
Lies Have Been Told
Steve Woodward
There’s a big desk, with wads of paper on it, and three telephones, which all start to ring simultaneously. A coffee table with newspapers on it, a big leather armchair, and another table, ...
17 years ago
Lies Have Been Told
The Pocket Dream
Steve Woodward
This is an admirable production. First, the subversive and irreverent writing attempts – and succeeds – to make Shakespeare accessible and relevant to all. Second, a strong ensemble company of ...
18 years ago
The Pocket Dream
Orestes
Steve Woodward
Helen Edmundsen’s fast and loose adaptation of Euripides’ Greek classic tragedy tries, among other things, to make us think about the invasion of Iraq, religious extremists, government, law, the ...
18 years ago
Orestes
Charley's Aunt
Steve Woodward
The storyline of Thomas’s enduring farce, like most farces, is easy to follow. Two Oxford student friends are smitten by two young ladies, but can’t spend time alone with the girls unless there ...
18 years ago
Charley's Aunt
