THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: Frankland & Sons, Camden People's Theatre

Frankland & Sons was an intriguing production, especially as this was my first review. Written and performed by father and son John and Tom Frankland, the performance tells the very personal story of three generations of the Frankland family, stemming from John’s father’s letters to his wife while fighting in the Middle East during both World Wars. As father and son delve into their shared history, facts taken for granted are laid bare, disproved, and suppositions come crashing down before the audience’s eyes at the climax of the narrative.

Having spent a long evening unearthing previously unknown family truths of my own the previous day, it seemed a fitting theme for a play to address. In an age when family heritage is newly-accessible online, and programmes like Who Do You Think You Are? explore previously lost personal history, I was excited to see what the stage could contribute to this emerging trend.

Unfortunately, Frankland & Sons failed to live up to this potential. The play started, both in the performance and as a starting point for the men’s research, with a suitcase of letters, inherited from John’s sister Barbara, who died in 2006. Once read out to the audience, these were hung from a timeline, overhanging the stage, along with balloons and ribbons marking significant events along the narrative. While this was an interesting use of space and a neat concept, it created some unnecessary fuss, and detracted from the direction of the storyline, although the second half is less involved with hanging letters from string, and meatier in terms of content. At the same time, the mood of the performance lurched somewhat unconvincingly from slapstick humour to deep emotional revelation, in a relatively uncomfortable rhythm, and what momentum was created was broken by an unnecessary interval.

The relationship between the two men is intriguing too, but again falls between two stools in terms of the final result. It was unclear, perhaps to the performers as well, to what extent they were playing themselves, playing a theatrical version of themselves, or simply narrating their family’s history. Their relationship is nevertheless one of the strongest and most appealing aspects of the play, shown perfectly in two mirrored moments in either half, as one scolds the other, and visa versa. Consciously haphazard and endearing, the Franklands are definitely worth watching, even if the play itself doesn’t quite deliver.

Frankland & Sons continues until 28 January, book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, James Bomford.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom, Hens & Chickens Theatre

On the surface, it is a familiar plotline: Dracula wants to take over the world with an army of un-dead. But there is an unexpected bonus: Dracula is also a frustrated guitar-wielding West End wannabe, pining for a role in the new Andrew Lloyd Webber hit show. This is 'Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom', and it is not to be missed.

This one-act show is a barrage of laughs. A clever and fast-moving script, wonderful audience participation, great use of a small and inflexible space, and terrific comic timing make for a great evening in the Hen and Chickens Theatre. The show has been devised by the cast, and they must have had such fun creating the piece. Their on-stage energy and commitment is what gives the play its winning punch.

It is the second show from the theatre company 'Last Chance Saloon', set up by Sam Dunham and Jack Faires, who play Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula respectively. For this show they have added Simon Naylor, who plays Van Helsing, and what a brilliant decision it was to cast him in the role - it is clear from the start how much natural flair he has for comedy.

It is interesting that in the blurb for 'Last Chance Saloon', Charlie Chaplin is listed as one of their key influences. Slapstick comedy is an integral part of the show, and it is clear that the performers/writers rank visual comedy as highly as they do scripted comedy. An actor being slapped in the face, cross-dressing, or waking up in a compromising position is just as funny as some of the verbal gaffs in this show. The timing of these moments is impeccable.

Jack Faires' skilled guitar playing adds a crucial musical dimension, and a half-size electric keyboard serves as a useful and cleverly-utilised prop.

The plot is as ridiculous as you would wish it to be: the action moves across oceans in a matter of seconds, and the actors switch characters at extraordinary speed. The result could have been utter chaos, but instead the action is wonderfully slick.

The laughs keep coming: when Dracula is turned down by Andrew Lloyd Webber for being too camp, he is horrified to discover that John Barrowman has been cast instead.

An amazing line-up of comedians over the coming months is another tremendous reason to visit The Hen and Chickens Theatre in Islington.

Sex, Sucking and Stardom continues until 3 December, book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Alex Knox.

Latitude Festival, Henham Park, Southwold

I was no longer laughing at the poor mud-covered Glastonbury lot, as we made our way to the Latitude Festival with the weather predicted to be of a similarly dreadful nature. We arrived early on the Saturday morning, expecting traffic queues and the usual complications, but were pleasantly surprised to find the ‘get in’ quick and blissfully easy, parking just a two minute walk from the campsite - it was painless finding a space on the grass, and we quickly had our cute £19.99 Sainsbury’s tent up.

The weather cannot help but affect your festival experience, and after three hours of constant rain on Saturday, I began to wonder if it would ever cease. Nevertheless if any festival is going to break the downpour blues, it’s Latitude with the multicoloured sheep and cheery attitude. Proving itself to be an event that is ‘much more than just a music festival,’ Latitude provided well for its soggy visitors, putting on an impressive spread of events covering every area of the arts, catering to all interests and ages. Now in its sixth year, the variety was more varied than ever - I was overwhelmed by the choice.

The advantage of the persistent, diabolical rain was that many of the more specialist ( and covered) arenas really benefitted... in the Theatre Arena the ‘Matador’ performer even asked us “honestly how many of you are just here to get out of the rain?” (A few sheepish men raised their hands). The second stage, the Word Arena, was often full too, supporting those less high profile bands that often have a great deal more to offer than the big names on the main stage - headliners The National, Paolo Nutini and Suede, I felt were underwhelming this weekend.

With the help of a very picturesque “faraway” forest, the theatre area is dreamily atmospheric. The leafy Outdoor theatre showcased work from some inspiring artists, Luci Briginshaw was widely appreciated, singing some familiar opera classics and delighting the audience with her piercing top notes. The Gate Theatre also did well on this makeshift stage presenting their haunting production of Electra.

The work seen in the Theatre Arena was of an amazingly high standard: low budget productions with high impact. Two pieces were especially memorable for me; both were about the power and influence of money. ‘Crunch’ is a solo performance by writer/performer/director Gary McNair. He sets out five sets and encourages us to follow these to let ourselves be liberated from the tyranny of money. After 45 minutes of hugely engaging and witty theatre, we are invited up on stage to shred money from our own pockets, it is credit to McNair that three audience members actually did go up to destroy their own hard-earned cash, including one mad girl who freed herself of a lovely crisp £20 note and left the platform with a handful of shredded paper and a satisfied smile.

Then across the park on the Waterfront Stage, a few lucky acts managed to perform in the moments of dry weather. The FELA! Cast gave a particularly uplifting performance from the musical which returns to the stage at Sadler’s Wells on 20 July.

Those in need of a laugh were in luck as the Comedy Arena had a star studded line –up. I crouched at the back on Sunday to watch the final two sets from funny boy Nathan Caton and high pitched drama queen Alan Carr. Despite being a self-confessed comedyphobe, I thoroughly enjoyed the efforts of both men - Carr’s ridiculous anecdotes had me in stitches.

The Literary Tent didn’t disappoint with an endless stream of fascinating guests stepping up to share their experiences and knowledge. I listened to an amusing interview on Saturday night with ‘The Sex Diaries Project’ author Arianne Cohen - she reassured the audience with her results and bizarre relationship stories. Then on Sunday I got a dose of Girl Power from a lovely and frank interview with Louise Wener (lead singer of 90s pop band Sleeper) conducted by Mark Ellen. She read excerpts from her enlightening new book ‘Just for One Day’ – a memoir that details her real life dream transition from geeky teen to musical goddess and sex icon.

There was a real buzz around the Word Lounge. Despite being rather out of the way, this little tent hosted a programme of engaging podcasts and interviews with various musicians and music geeks... the history of Britpop chat on Sunday afternoon with Stuart Maconie was particularly interesting.

Then of course there was the music... the main Obelisk field was rarely full with music lovers seeking their entertainment somewhere dry, where you could dance without poking someone’s eye out with your umbrella. Gorgeously costumed bands looked unfairly dry and glam on stage whilst their adoring plastic poncho-clad fans stared up from behind protective hoods. They Might be Giants did a marvellous job motivating the fans during the wettest lunchtime period on Saturday. Like most, I was captivated and stayed for the whole show delighting in their ridiculous antics and singing along to their catchy songs - it was incredible to see ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’ performed live, a song that has worn my iPod out. Seasick Steve was characterful as ever on the main stage, cooing at the girls in the crowd and inviting one up to be the recipient of a love song – a routine I have watched him conduct several times before!

Sunday saw sultry but shy Anna Calvi wow on the Obelisk stage with her seductive and intense voice. I had heard magical rumours about this girl and was expecting a bit more of a show, but no-one can deny her talent as she wailed into the microphone enticingly. She sang memorable covers of Elvis and Edith Piaf songs, and completely made them her own. My musical highlight from the weekend was the spectacular Everything Everything who put on quite a show for the Word Arena on Sunday afternoon. Even those happy to splash in the rain joined the dancing throng for this awesome set. The four Manchester boys all dressed in matching jumpsuits powered through their current hits and gave us a taste of what’s to come with a sparkly new number. Everything Everything combine fast paced eccentric lyrics, heartbreaking falsetto vocals from Jonathan Higgs, constant tempo changes and powerful chord progressions and harmonies that give the music a futuristic vibe; their songs are truly innovative, unlike anything I have heard before. The crowd went absolutely mad for this band - a group of middle aged groupies dancing next to me seemed to know all the words, I enquired afterwards to discover they were in fact parents of the band members.

As a music festival, Latitude didn’t quite produce the goods this year, despite being a smaller budget event than say Glastonbury, recycling the same bands from the previous year (The National headlined on the Word stage in 2010) is not going to impress punters when even smaller festivals like Hop Farm managed to get the Eagles and Prince! Latitude insists it is more than ‘just a music festival’ and I believe in this ambition, it succeeds triumphantly. It is the wonderful, diverse, extra-curricular events that make it worthwhile spending a weekend enduring pouring rain.

Snake in the Grass at The Print Room

The Print Room continues on its quest to present obscure, controversial and exciting theatre to audiences in the capital with their production of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Snake in the Grass’. At their dinky little premises in Notting Hill the company hopes to shed light on this dark forgotten gem. If their version of ‘Fabrication’ didn’t prove their worth then this run of ‘Snake in the Grass’ certainly will.

Alan Ayckbourn is a much celebrated playwright, though this work is little known, and rarely performed - indeed it is the London premiere. The play introduces us to two sisters, Annabel and Miriam who have recently lost their father. It soon transpires that Miriam was in fact responsible for his sudden death, and consequently spends the duration trying to escape prison while being blackmailed by her father’s former nurse, Alice Moody. Her big sister, Annie is preoccupied with fears of her own and is reluctantly dragged into the mess, weighed down with guilt for leaving her family so many years earlier. This macabre ghost story takes many terrible twists, resulting in an unexpected and chilling conclusion.

The play is thrilling, and for those less hardy, quite terrifying. The theatre space has little air and is quite claustrophobic; the seating arrangement allows the performers to be very close to the audience - it is an intimate affair.

The all-female cast of three are brave, brassy and beastly, each of them vile in their own way. I was most impressed by Sarah Woodward as the delusional and calculating Miriam, she is scarily convincing and seems fully absorbed in the character throughout, never losing concentration. I realised, after reading the programme, that many years back I acted alongside her in Stephen Fry’s ‘Bright Young Things’, a surprising if quite cool coincidence. Susan Wooldridge acts as the lonely older sister Annabel, she genuinely seems battered and worn out, bitter and resigned to her failures. Wooldridge acts with real bite, though occasionally stumbled over her lines. The bullying nurse Alice is played by Mossie Smith. Looking at her sweet photo in the programme it is hard to believe she is the horrible girl who stomps onto the stage. In her tacky attire, she spits and grimaces and comes across as a truly awful human being, I soon detested her. Brilliant direction comes from the talented Lucy Bailey. She obviously had a very clear vision for this production, and luckily with such an experienced cast it is well realised, her passion for the job is evident just from watching her actresses perform. Eerie lighting and music made the play even more affecting.

The Print Room have William Dudley to thank for the phenomenal set. Dudley, who has picked up seven Olivier awards for his designs, transforms the plain space into a decrepit old tennis court complete with attendant detritus: it is hauntingly atmospheric and mysterious. The floor is covered in real green moss, the walls are made of wire fencing, and scrub and bushes crowd the entrances and exits. The remains of a tennis court are clear to see in every little detail.

The Print Room is evidence that theatre does not have to have money thrown at it to thrive and produce dynamic drama. I look forward to its next offering - perhaps something a little more cheery?

Snake in the Grass continues until 5 March, book here.