Reviews by N. Watkins
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
N. Watkins
My, oh my, this show is a full on, eighty minutes, no interval, celebration of women. Based on a picture book by Kate Pankhurst, it tells the story of Jade, played by Elise Zavou, an eleven-year-old ...
2 years ago
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
Pygmalion
N. Watkins
This contemporary take on an old story left me feeling vaguely unsettled. The original story set in the Victorian era sits much more comfortably in that period, but this new version lost some of ...
8 years ago
Pygmalion
Lord Of The Dance - Dangerous Games
N. Watkins
There is something stunning about the clatter of feet in perfect synchronisation. The surprise is in how incredibly moving it can be. Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance Dangerous Games is a piece of ...
8 years ago
Lord Of The Dance - Dangerous Games
Goodnight Mister Tom
N. Watkins
Goodnight Mister Tom, brought to life by David Wood's play, is based on the children's novel by Michelle Magorian. It tells the story of a young boy, William Beech, who is evacuated from London ...
9 years ago
Goodnight Mister Tom
Sense and Sensibility
N. Watkins
Now I'm the first to admit that I'm not a huge Jane Austen fan, but I have to say I was converted by the performance of Sense and Sensibility performed by the Oxford Theatre Guild. They had a very ...
9 years ago
Sense and Sensibility
Blood Brothers
N. Watkins
Willy Russell created a masterpiece in Blood Brothers: a deceptively simple tale of two brothers separated at birth. Lyn Paul was superb as Mrs Johnstone, the boys' mother. By the end of the first ...
9 years ago
Blood Brothers
Chicago The Musical
N. Watkins
Who would have thought an evening spent with a couple of conniving murderesses could be so entertaining? Having a great score definitely helped. The orchestra was set up centre stage, and at first I ...
9 years ago
Chicago The Musical
The Big Sing
N. Watkins
For the eighth year running, the Oxford County Music Service put on a show to raise money for Christian Aid. They had to whittle 34 Oxfordshire primary school choirs down to 20. The choices were made ...
9 years ago
The Big Sing
The Prince & The Pauper
N. Watkins
The concert's title, The Prince and the Pauper, was so named by director Kah-Ming Ng because the two instruments used, the viol and the violin, were seen to have different positions in the social ...
9 years ago
The Prince & The Pauper
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
N. Watkins
A night on the French Riviera, via Oxford, in the company of some loveable rogues, who could ask for more? Beaumont-sur-Mer was the place to be if you wanted to fleece the wealthy. And that was ...
9 years ago
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
It's A Wonderful Life
N. Watkins
Every year at Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life is compulsive viewing at our house. So I was curious to see how it would translate to the stage. Also more than a little worried, I mean, were they ...
9 years ago
It's A Wonderful Life
Sculpture in the Vineyard
N. Watkins
Sculptor Lendon Scantlebury is a man with a mission: to make art accessible to all. And, boy, does he do it in style. Sculpture in the Vineyard, set in the beautiful Bothy Vineyard, some seven acres ...
9 years ago
Sculpture in the Vineyard
Short Stories Aloud
N. Watkins
So what makes for a good story? A beginning, middle and end? A snapshot in time? Is it the words themselves, or is it in the telling? I think I may have the answer. It’s the fourth Tuesday of the ...
10 years ago
Short Stories Aloud
