Chris Eldon Lee reviews Martha, Josie and The Chinese Elvis, which is at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under Lyme until Saturday 18th May. A stupendous standing ovation at a preview performance is not the most common experience in theatre … and I suspect most of last night’s generous applause was directed towards one actor […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews Club Tropicana, which is at  Wolverhampton Grand until Saturday 4th of May. I’m not sure if ‘Club Tropicana’ is best described as frothy nonsense, or nonsensical froth. Probably a bit of both. But, actually, it is musically wonderful and disgracefully funny.  Last night’s audience was clapping along within five seconds of […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews Jacqueline Wilson’s “Wave me Goodbye”, which is at Theatr Clywd until Saturday May 4th My mother was a ‘vaccy’… evacuated from central Manchester to charming Cheshire in 1939 to avoid any pre-emptory bombing by the Germans. The theme of evacuees is a popular one in children’s literature – City kids bunged […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Rotterdam’, which is at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre until Saturday 27th April and Theatr Clwyd in June. “Dear Mum and Dad.  There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’m … a Lebanon”. It’s an e-mail Alice doesn’t send, but it doesn’t half set the tone for an exceptional play, which […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Orpheus Descending’, which is at Theatr Clwyd until Saturday 27th April, before transferring to the Menier Chocolate Factory in London from May 9th to July 6th. This is a classic production of as classic Tennessee Williams play. All his dramatic trademarks are there. The unreliable narrator who puts proceedings into a […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘John Peel’s Shed’ and ‘Circled in The Radio Times’, which he saw on tour at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn. John Osborne has a cosily laconic approach to the microphone … shy and diffident … precise and pronounced. He also has the wonderful knack of constructing a riveting evening out of very little […]