The perfect pre Christmas treat.

Once in a while, along comes the perfect picture book, bearing the hallmarks of a true classic. Lisa Stubbs’ Lily and Bear is one such book, now adapted for the stage with songs with animation and puppets tells a truly magical tale about the give and take of friendship. Lily likes nothing better than to imagine and draw the things she loves. She draws cats and birds, boats and houses, and one day she draws a bear who comes to life. Lily and Bear play pirates, sing, and partake in all manner of bear activities, discovering the joys of sharing along the way.

‘The magical power of invention is at the centre of this warm-hearted story celebrating friendship and sharing’ - Guardian Book Review

CAST
Lily - Catrin Lewis/ Emily Yarrow
Bear - Alejandro Lopez-Montoya / Ross Hobson
Puppet operation and narration - Katy Bingham-Best

Based on the book by Lisa Stubbs
Published by Boxer Books
Adapted for the stage by Paula Chitty
Direction and production design by Paula Chitty
Music by Jill Priest
Arranged by David Forbes
Animation by Matt Sandbrook
Audiovisual operation by John Anderson
Produced by Lily and Bear Productions

Leoncavallo's Pagliacci

**** 4 Stars Broadwayworld

Directed /designed by Paula Chitty

Previously performed at The Arcola Grimeborn Festival, London 30th August - 3rd September 2016

PAGLIACCI, Arcola Theatre, 31 August 2016 by Gary Naylor Sep. 1, 2016 Broadway and West End:

BWW Review: The second opera in Irrational Theatre's double bill is the love triangle (plus one) of Pagliacci, the tale of the clown whose sexpot wife, Nedda, has turned too many heads in the travelling troupe. With echoes of Hamlet's play within a play, the evening's Commedia dell'arte show veers so close to real life, that Pagliaccio/Canio takes off his mask, takes matters into his own hands and tragedy on stage becomes tragedy in real life. Again, there's just David Podd on piano for the music, but he has a chorus to work with this time and singers who appear more relaxed in letting their voices dip and soar, filling the air, thrilling us in a way unique to boutique operas, so close are we to the performers. I've seen upwards of 25 such productions now and the impact of classically trained singers working (at times) within touching distance remains undiminished. Samantha Green's Nedda appears oblivious to her fate, transfixed by her lover, Silvio (a dashing Herbie Hill-Reid), and blind to the scheming of Tonia (Katy Bingham-Best in a gender flipped role), whose infatuation is met with a fatal disdain. A menacing, muscular Randy Nichol delivers his setpiece "Vesti la giubba", as he prepares to play his part in events anchored in both fiction and reality, with some skill, but I missed the strings and this most powerful of arias felt undercooked as a result. …in Italian (supported by very clear surtitles) this is about as accessible as the art form gets and, it has to be said, only opera's reputation for being dicult, demanding or posh stands in the way of anyone wishing to dip a toe in and try the temperature. At £20, it's fantastic value and an introduction to a world that can give anyone who enjoys theatre many years of entertainment. Pop along and see if you don't agree.

Original Cast for Grimeborn 2016/Cast for Kings Head 2018

Randy Nichol / Randy Nichol - Canio

Katy Bingham Best - Katy Bingham Best - Tonia

Pete Martin /Joao Valido Vaz- Peppe

Herbie Hill Reid/Alejandro Montanya Lopez - Silvio

Samantha Green/Samantha Green- Nedda

MD Peter Jones.

Pianists David Podd/ Nia Williams/ Gergely Kaposi

Lighting Bob Grover

Production/Stage Manager Kate Reynolds