White Men with Weapons

Amazing performance by a single man cast. The multi-role element was truly breath-taking! hilariously funny but suprisingly poignant. Thom's star rating *****

Hippolytus: Reframed

A brave choice to perform in promenade, some poignant moments with a real shock factor however it began to drag and I lost interest when the news reports went on. Thoms Star Rating ***

Thom Penfold Radio Show

Urashima Taro Cast and Director Q & A

The Director Paul Piris and the one woman cast Aya Nakamura gave a fantastic talk about the trials and tribulations of Puppetry and the transition from folk lore to stage. Thom's Star Rating ****

Blithe Spirit

A nostalgic show, a toast to yester-year with incredible use of special effects in the finale! Thom's Star Rating ***

Enron

A show that documents the downfall of a Businessman, extrodinary light show and fantastic visual effects made it a very enjoyable show! Thom's Star Rating ****

Cinderella - The Victoria Theatre, Woking

Pantomime at its best, special effects and laughs galore! loved the onstage transformation of Cinderella! REAL shetland ponies pulled the carraige! Thom's Star Rating ***

Hamlet

Of all the productions of Shakespeare’s frivolous work I have ever witnessed, this by far was the most unusual. The performance was two African actors, recreating the story of hamlet using a variety of symbolism and meta-theatre. At first I felt as if I was missing an important piece of information about the production, I felt as though more actors would come or the actors on stage were performing some kind of pre-text, however as I watched on, I slowly began to felt intrigued by the actors, they demanded the attention of the crowd and forced us to see what they had to offer. The style was very symbolic in the way that a single pose or arm gesture symbolised one character, especially with Shakespeare’s hamlet it is well known that there are a large number of characters, all of which were all played very well and with enough contrast as to allow us not to get lost in which character was being portrayed. The actors did perform scenes together however the majority was a soliloquy or simply a motion that allowed us to see what exactly was happening in the play, this was unusually good as for someone who knows Hamlet I was reminded of moment in the play just by watching the actors perform motions repeatedly. The actors played women convincingly, there was plenty of room for the audience to find moments when the male actors struck a female pose yet I feel they held their integrity and the audience were so captured by the two men that the humour was only on a basic level. In hindsight, the play had the potential to be extremely dull and un-entertaining, however I feel with the mix of African Folk lore, song and dance, it gave Hamlet a new lease of life. Thom's Star Rating ***

Lily Through the Dark

Lily through the Dark
If there was a way to ensnare moments of Hollywood film in a stage play, Lily through the Dark has shown the best attempt I have seen yet. Normally going to the theatre, I try to avoid play involving puppetry and dark tales of death and despair however, I felt for the first time that puppetry had an effect on me as an audience member. Lily through the Dark was a humble play with a cast of four and two puppets, it focused on the puppet of Lily ,which was beautifully made, and allowed the audience to be so mesmerised by the puppetry that it was almost as if Lily was real The play was charming and humorous but with several poignant moments in which I felt myself choked up. The play follows a small girl, who after the death of her father commits suicide, she promises to find her father and so begins her search for him however, on hearing that her father did not go all the way to heaven she leaps from the safety of the boat taking her to heaven and beings to look. The play used puppetry to explore Lily’s travels through the underworld yet used the four actors to symbolise other characters and add a twisted dimension to the interaction scenes between human and puppet. One stand out scene for me was when Lily came across two hanging gentlemen and when she asks for directions hilarity ensues, however there were darker scenes to the play, the truth behind the concept of death is explored deeply, which is significant as for quite a majority of the play one could suggests the puppetry is good enough to be a children’s show. After the trials and tribulations of searching for her father the story leaves us with a very important and relevant message. Lily is offered an ultimatum, she is told that even though she has come this far it is dangerous for her to die so young and that she must choose to be given back her life and never see her father again or search the dead lands and hope she may find him. The vivacity and intensity of the play caught me off guard and sent me on an emotional rollercoaster from humour to tragedy all in a short period of time. Overall, a fantastic play. Thom's Star Rating *****

Urashima Taro

A fantastic traditional Japanese tale which focused on puppetry and shadow theatre, absolutely stunning production! Thom's Star rating *****