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Articles by Tim Holford-Smith

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About Tim Holford-Smith

Despite running his architectural practice full-time, Tim is a frequent theatre-goer and occasional am-dram producer. More Posts

Revival of Bill Naughton’s Spring and Port Wine

For personal reasons which I will divulge later I was so delighted to hear that Bill Naughton’s Spring and Port Wine is to be revived at the Octagon Theatre Bolton. Bill Naughton was of poor Irish stock in County Mayo and moved to Bolton where he bagged and delivered coal. His breakthrough as a [...]

February 11, 2023 // 0 Comments

Noises Off/Theatre Royal Brighton

The amazing thing about Michael Frayn’s pastiche of the British bedroom farce – Noises Off – is that it was first staged 40 years ago. Even though the genre of such Whitehall farces hardly exists (remember the long running No Sex Please We’re British) this one is still regularly [...]

October 20, 2022 // 0 Comments

Cabaret at the Kitkat Club/Playhouse Theatre

My connection with this musical goes back a long way. The two Berlin novels by Christopher Isherwood on which they were based (Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin) made a huge impression on me as a kid through their  graphic depiction of the final days of the Weimar Republic and the [...]

October 15, 2022 // 0 Comments

Crazy for You/Chichester Festival Theatre

This exuberant production maintains the high levels of Chichester Festival Theatre which makes an annual trip to their musical an enjoyable event. Crazy for You has an unusual genesis as the musical – whilst reliant on George and Ira Gershwin’s songbook – was not written by them but [...]

August 25, 2022 // 0 Comments

la Boheme/Glyndebourne

When I donned my Glyndebourne klobber of white tuxedo, I felt an immediate resentment towards dress code. It’s okay for the ladies who can wear an airy sleeveless dress but gentlemen’s formal wear is not designed for temperatures in the late 20s. Added to this I arrived so early that [...]

June 16, 2022 // 0 Comments

The Lady Boys of Bangkok

The Lady Boys of Bangkok are a touring troupe of Thai transvestites who dance, sing and do burlesque and bawdy acts. They normally play in Brighton in a pavilion during the Brighton Festival for a month commencing May 6th.  I went to see them yesterday inviting a young companion. Their’s is [...]

June 2, 2022 // 0 Comments

Peter Bowles (1936-2022)

I was much saddened by the passing of Peter Bowles aged 85. As a fan of Rumpole of the Bailey I enjoyed him as the smooth but thick Guthrie Featherstone QC, a typical John Mortimer depiction of a rich Tory. I have a connection to the programme. Jonathan Coy, who played the clerk Henry, is an old [...]

March 21, 2022 // 0 Comments

Life is a Cabaret …

… not if you buy ticket in advance on line. A couple of months ago I bought in advance a ticket for Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre for the princely sum of £200. It starred Eddie Redmayme and the theatre was done up as the Kit Kat Club. My connection to Cabaret goes back to my childhood. The [...]

March 16, 2022 // 0 Comments

West Side Story (2021)

Not many directors would risk remaking such a celebrated musical on stage and screen as West Side Story but Steven Spielberg has the chutzpah so to do. Does he pull it off? Yes and no. Yes, he is brilliant film maker and sensibly sticks to  the original. No, because the original score and [...]

December 15, 2021 // 0 Comments

The Dresser

Half way through this matinee performance of Ronald Harwood’s play at the Theatre Royal I experienced a profound feeling of depression and pessimism for the future of British theatre. The reason? I was bombarded on my mobile by Covid regulations, greeted at the entrance with the words “Next [...]

October 1, 2021 // 0 Comments

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