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The Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Newbury, RG20 8AE.
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Charley's Aunt, 3rd October to 15th November
Two scheming students, Charley and Jack, must circumnavigate the curmudgeonly Uncle Stephen to declare their feelings to love interests Amy and Kitty. The promised arrival of Charley’s Aunt gives them an opportunity and the best laid plans are set. One delayed arrival, one fortuitous arrival and lots of classic comic confusion later, the champagne is finally poured at a dinner party to remember.
Mistaken identities, new identities and the discovery of true identities, will love - old and new - triumph through it all?
The Little Mermaid, 26th November to 4th January
Far beyond the Cornish coast, deep beneath the rolling waves lies the magical kingdom of the Seafolk. Merryn, daughter of the Sea King, eagerly awaits her birthday – the day she sees the world above the surface for the very first time.
Drawn towards a fishing boat and longing to discover more, Merryn is captivated by a world of twinkling lights and the charm of the Landfolk’s song. When a sudden storm strikes, she saves Cadan, a young fisherman who is thrown overboard. But, whilst Merryn’s been away, her home has been thrown into turmoil, and her younger brother is missing. Heartbroken, Merryn must choose whether to take a perilous bargain, risking everything to protect those she loves.
Reviews of Charley's Aunt
3rd October to 15th November 2025
Review from Newbury Theatre.
Charley’s Aunt has been a popular play since its first performance in 1892, and the original is probably showing its age by now. The Watermill’s adaptation keeps it staged in the 19th century but in this adaptation by Rob Madge it has a very 21st century vibe with an LGBTQ+ slant. Before I saw it, I was a bit dubious about how this would work, but I needn’t have worried. It’s extremely well done and adds its message in a subtle way that enhances the play without getting in the way.
Jack, Charlie and Babbs are friends from Oxford. Jack and Charlie fancy Amy and Kitty who are Lord Spettigue’s niece and ward, and want to propose to them with the help of Charley’s Aunt, Donna Lucia, who has come over from Brazil. When she doesn’t turn up, the girls persuade Babbs to impersonate her, leading to hilarity from mistaken identity when the real aunt does arrive.
Babbs, played by Max Gill, is the central character in the story, and it’s a bravura performance, ably supported by Mae Munuo (Amy,) Yasemin Özdemir (Kitty), Benjamin Westerby (Jack) and Jonathan Case (Charlie). The remaining cast members have smaller, but vital parts: Richard Earl as a splendidly demented Spettigue, Maggie Service as the real Donna Lucia and Elijah Ferreira as her sidekick Eli who bounds onto stage with great energy, later showing pathos as he recognises Babbs from the past.
The pace is terrific and there are no weak links. As a comedy/farce, the jokes come thick and fast and the acting is superb from the whole cast.
Director Sophie Drake has done a great job to bring this all together so well. Alex Berry’s set is simple and bright with a well-used gallery above. She is also the costume designer, and I bet she and the cast had great fun with the costumes.
My only criticism is that the music was far too loud before the start and in the interval. It should encourage the audience to chat, not drown them out.
It’s a great play with lots of laughs. Highly recommended.
PAUL SHAVE
Review from the Guardian.
A fresh and fun glow-up for Victorian farce
Rob Madge’s colourful reworking of the 1892 comedy makes clever adjustments while retaining the original’s spirit
The frump turns fabulous in this new version of a redoubtable Victorian
farce. Renovated with affectionate cheek by Rob Madge, it’s a scrappy
but very fun take on the tale of dowager dress-up and scheming
lovebirds.
Jack (Benjamin Westerby) and Charley (sweetly bird-brained Jonathan Case) want alone time with their beloveds Kitty and Amy (Yasemin Özdemir and Mae Munuo). Even if they evade the girls’ forbidding guardian, decorum demands a chaperone. Charley’s rich aunt doesn’t show, so am-dram fan Babbs is persuaded to impersonate her. Do shenanigans ensue? They certainly do.
Brandon Thomas, a Liverpudlian clerk turned actor, wrote the original 1892 smash. In Madge’s version, the women are no longer bit players in posh-boy stratagems, but every bit as smart and racy as their swains (Kitty, the minx, even waxes her ankles). Crucially, Babbs transforms from silly-ass student to sharp butler: a Jeeves saving the day by climbing into a crinoline.
On a textual level, Madge often doesn’t so much adapt as heckle the original, cheerfully scattering quips, filth and people getting the ick. Some of the most deeply dippy lines are in fact Thomas’s – rhapsodies about Oxford’s ancient spires, random offers of mayonnaise and the celebrated non sequitur about “Charley’s aunt from Brazil – where the nuts come from”. Others are most definitely Madge: “When that royal butler said he’d introduce me to his Prince Albert, that was not what I was expecting.”
The candy-striped doors and pink icing balustrade on Alex Berry’s set are as toothsome as her costumes: jaunty shorts, florals, lemon meringue frills and lots of bows. Zippily performed, Sophie Drake’s brisk production is kissing cousin to the National Theatre’s current The Importance of Being Earnest – Victorian courtship comedy gets a colourful glow-up, queer tweak and poppy soundtrack. The shows even share a gag about a self-playing piano.
For Gill’s tender Babbs, an afternoon as auntie is a liberation. Settling into a layer cake of ruffle or daring sequinned trousers, they can let their freak flag fly: flirting or gossiping about partying with Gilbert and Sullivan (“the 80s were wild”). “I’m simply enjoying being whatever I am,” they declare.
DAVID JAYS