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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

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

South Pacific

It was good after such a lengthy absence to see live theatre again. My last visit was possibly at the self-same Chichester Theatre to see Fiddler on the Roof. Similarly South Pacific carries a deeper message of racial prejudice. You cannot go wrong with this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic as it [...]

July 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

The Happy Haven/John Arden

Bob Tickler recently received an unusual item by email from an old school friend – namely, the programme of a play The Happy Haven by John Arden which was a school play by his junior school in which he had a non-speaking role as a Lady Mayoress. He forwarded it onto me and asked if I knew [...]

March 4, 2021 // 0 Comments

Blithe Spirit (1945)

It was a mix of incompetence and coincidence that led to me watching this week the DVD of David Lean’s 1945 production of the Noel Coward play Blithe Spirit recently again released as a film. I fancied listening to some of the songs composed and sung by The Master. I recall my parents stack of [...]

January 27, 2021 // 0 Comments

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