Sitting In The Cheap Seats

Brighton. 1963. An engagement party, a mobster back from the dead, a lover on the run from the law, a girl in man’s clothes, a geriatric waiter and trapped in the middle of it all Francis Henshall a washboard player with two bosses and a desperate need for some chips!

The Aids epidemic that devastated New York’s gay community in the 80s has been a fertile ground for the arts, inspiring movies, music and notably the theatre. Big hitters like RENT and Angels In America, but long before it became a mainstream subject Larry Kramer ’s visceral, semi-autobiographical account of life within the community’s burgeoning activist organisations shed a light on the plight affecting so many.

The BFG is perhaps the most beloved of Roald Dahl’s brilliantly twisted stories for children (though theatre fans may have fallen for Matilda in recent years). It’s certainly one that people keep coming back to as the forthcoming movie adaptation (starring Mark Rylance – which excites us a great deal) will attest. I’m fascinated to see how Humdrum bring such a big story into the confines of The Spring’s cosy studio theatre.

Cider with Rosie is one of those plays… you know, the ones you’ve definitely heard of and you think you know a bit about but that you’ve somehow never seen. Determined to rectify that I was in buoyant mood as I arrived at the Spring Arts & Heritage Centre for Humdrum’s take on Laurie Lee ’s life story.