Midsummer now well under way!

Last night was the official opening night for A Midsummer Night's Dream, although the cast performed two dress rehearsals for Year 8 on Monday... back to back! Everything went off without a hitch and we're now looking forward to three more shows. Miss Mazelin, who was in the audience last night, said that she was so impressed with all the students who had managed to learn some difficult lines, and such a lot of them! There was also a group of Year 7 girls watching the show. At the end, one turned to the rest and said: "I hope one day we can act like that!"

Good luck to the cast for the rest of the week. A review will follow shortly, but in the mean time, amuse yourselves with some of our production stills.

(NB. I'm not sure what's up with Flickr at the moment, but it's not connecting for the upload, so the photos are on our Facebook page for now.)

Guest Review: Grimm and Grimmer

This morning I had the pleasure of opening an email from Mrs Duffell, parent to a very talented young man from Lydiard Millicent Primary School called Alex, who was so enamoured by the Gonzo Moose show that he wrote this excellent review:

On Thursday night Mummy took me to see Grimm and Grimmer at the Bradon Forest theatre. The play was performed by a theatre company called Gonzo Moose. Although there were only three actors there were over ten characters in the play.

The story was based on the fairytales written by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. It starts when their sister, Lottie, discovers that they got all their stories from Rumplestiltskin in return for a human heart. They decide whose heart it will be by playing rock, paper, scissors. Wilhelm is the unlucky one so Rumplestiltskin places a clock on his heart. When the clock stops Wilhelm will die. Lottie wants to save her brother and travels to the fairytale kingdom in search of Rumplestiltskin. Along the way she meets some interesting characters including a mime prince and a bourbon eating bear. When she meets Rumplestiltskin he isn’t actually that scary and she kills him in a fight. She returns home with the key to her brother’s heart. Jacob then operates on Wilhelm winding the heart up and removing the clock. Wilhelm lost a lot of blood in the process. After the clock struck midnight he was still alive. Lottie went back to the fairytale kingdom and married the mime prince. They lived in a mime palace with their many mime children.

I really enjoyed it and would recommend Gonzo Moose to anyone. My favourite moment was when the wolf thought Lottie was Little Red Riding Hood and crept up behind her only to say “Sorry I thought you were someone else!” The special effects were fabulous with snow and very realistic blood! This play had it all: it was funny, scary and overall quite Grimm! I would rate this play 9/10!

Alex Duffell

As you can see, this was too good not to publish! Alex, we are so pleased you enjoyed the show and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Bradon Forest Theatre any time!

If you missed it, you missed out!

I've got to the stage where I don't like seeing trailers for shows and films. I love surprises, so turning up to watch something and have events unfurl in front of me without knowing what's coming is a real treat! That said, I'm in two minds whether to give you a full review of Grimm and Grimmer, The Misadventures of the Brothers Grimm, by Gonzo Moose because you really should go and see it!

This is the first show that the Gonzo's have developed specifically for families, and I think it may be my favourite show yet. Who doesn't want to see a bearded hunchback called Debbie, an adorable furry biscuit eating badger, gobbling Goblins and an elf hunting cowboy? If all that doesn't say Christmas then I don't know what does! Some friends of mine brought their 7 and 9 year old children who absolutely loved it. Never missing an opportunity for laughs, parents and children alike chuckled and giggled their way through the performance as the three actors pushed the story to the limit, using physical theatre, wonderful tricks and effects and as many visual gags as you could throw a plastic ear at. And there was even snow!

The climax of the show used a technique called 'psychic surgery', which Seamus assures me is an actual form of medicine practised in the Philippines. Without wanting to ruin the end, I will only say this.... it all looked VERY realistic and my friends son wouldn't let me tickle his belly after watching it!

Intrigued? Then all I can add it this, you need to go and see it. Seriously. If you see anything (outside of the Bradon Forest Theatre) this Christmas, then make sure it's Grimm and Grimmer. They have a nice long run at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford, and as always with Gonzo Moose, I can't recommend them enough!

The Gonzo's return to The Bradon Forest Theatre on Saturday 30 June with 'I'm an Aristocrat, Get me out of here!' Tickets are on sale now.

Sold out you say?

Well that's it then! We've sold out already for Thursday's performance of Grimm and Grimmer, The Misadventures of the Brothers Grimm, by Gonzo Moose. If you're one of the lucky ones to have a ticket reserved, then come and collect it in advance or please arrive no later than 7.10pm on the night of the performance. Don't forget we also have refreshments in the form of mince pies and mulled wine (Christmas is coming!) so bring some change.

Right, see you on Thursday! I'm so excited!