The Derby Evening Telegraph

Let's raise a glass
to Pub Theatre
BY ASHLEY FRANKLIN

Let's raise a glass to pub theatre. No More Last Orders is a vibrant show of seven short plays produced by Sustained Magic, an Ilkeston- based professional company whose pub-crawl production, all featuring Derbyshire writers, went down as well as my pint of Pedigree and proved even more intoxicating.

It's exacting to distil lives in only 15 minutes, yet each of these pocket dramas, based on the theme of shared space, succinctly and satisfyingly impinges on intimate realities, with uniformly impressive performances from regionally-based actors Nic Adams, Janet Young, Laura Freeman and Nick Kennedy, the latter two proving shining examples of Pete Meakin's inspired guidance at Derby Playhouse Youth Theatre.

In Losing the Plot, by Graham Sellors, Nic brings lonely gardener and grump Derek expressively alive in his amusing, touching tale of anarchy down at the allotments.

Graham's sexual simile for sprouts makes me glad I never eat the things.

The Sleepers, by Annie Wake, is an acutely observed wake-up call for any couple whose love life drifts into sleepy sterility, with an ironic twist when the alarm goes off.

Laura and the Pig, by Chrissie Hall, has telling power and poignancy, with Janet as a hemmed-in housewife and Laura as the energised spirit of her younger self, superbly conveying the plight of living with a pig of a husband.

Janet gives a similarly pained and affecting portrayal of domestic angst in Auld Lang Syne, by Tina Hook, as a mother during the Second World War distressed by her Army son's absence.

Heartrending drama gives way to savage amusement in Paddling by Richard Layton, which reminds us that call centre staff are all too human and, in Angela Truby's delightfully idiosyncratic Then They Came for Me, impassioned socialist Barbara Castle may be dead but she haunts single mum Shona with terrifying vigour.

Finally, Nic and Nick show supreme comic timing in Tim Elgood's University Challenge, where that troubling first term away from home is hilariously turned on its head.

Sustained Magic, indeed. Crawl to your nearest pub for this show and see the world through a pint glass.

No More Last Orders can be seen at the following venues: Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield, tonight at 8pm; George Hotel, Tideswell, tomorrow; The Blue Bell Inn, Tissington, Wednesday; Fishpond, Matlock Bath, Thursday; and the Medway Centre, Bakewell, Friday.

For more details and tickets, call 07785 560222.

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The Ilkeston and Long Eaton Trader

Raise your glasses to
No More Last Orders
BY EMMA HALFORD

NO MORE Last Orders, a production of seven short plays by local writers designed to
make theatre more accessible to local audiences, is touring pubs around Nottingham and Derby.

Produced by Ilkeston-based company Sustained Magic as a follow-up to their Pub Crawl Tour in 2005,
No More Last Orders is a real local affair with local actors and plays by members of the Derbyshire Scriptwriters.

The short plays I saw at Ilkeston's Royal Regency Rooms, are performed by the four cast members –Janet Young, Laura Freeman, Nic Adams and Nick Kennedy.

With the fast pace of the production, the cast perform brilliantly as the plays jump from comedy pieces to the more sombre within minutes.

Despite the brevity of the plays, the writers have done a fantastic job in creating pieces, based around the idea of 'shared space' which resonate with the audience.

The Sleepers, a comedy from writer Annie Wake, focuses on how the notion of 'sleeping together' for couples changes with time. After one particularly loud snore from David (Nic Adams), one audience member could be heard to remark 'sounds familiar!'.

The charm of No More Last Orders is that every audience member will relate to one or more of the situations played out on stage, whether it be life in a call centre in Richard Layton's 'Paddling', anti­ social behaviour and political apathy in 'Then They Came For Me' by Angela Truby, an unhappy marriage in Chrissie Hall's 'Laura And The Pig' or in the case of Tina Hook's emotional 'Auld Lang Syne', the loss of a loved one.

There may have been a few first night jitters but the spirit of the production, the desire to showcase local talent still remained and the plays are sure to entertain throughout over the next three weeks as you enjoy a pint in your local.