Something Old, Something New At Sheffield Playhouse Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This is a production put on by the Sheffield People’s Theatre, who use amateur actors from in and around Sheffield to act and help produce their shows. This was on in the Sheffield Playhouse, one of the smaller rooms within the Crucible building. This provided an intimate experience where I really felt immersed in the show.

The show is about Nat (Ezzie Nettleingham) and Alex’s (Mark Kenny) wedding, in Sheffield of course. It doesn’t quite go to plan, for various reasons. One of the issues is due to protestors blocking the hotel the reception is supposed to be in. Various other options are suggested but the decision is made to hold it in the Burton Road Community Centre, which has been closed for 6 months so is not in the ideal condition for a wedding reception. However, most people club together to help prepare it. The bride is unaware of the venue change so a plan is hatched to take various wedding photographs across iconic parts of the city while the other wedding guests get the venue ready.

Spattered inbetween the unravelling plot are a set of seven teenagers called the ‘drama kids’; Grace Bower, Holly Boyer, Gabrielle England, Rory Harneis, George Ingall, Dylan Jones and Will Memmott. Their actions interspersed between the main storylines bring additional entertainment to an already funny plot. I especially liked their costumes for different Sheffield sites, including as fish… for which you have to work out which site they are depicting (I had no idea until they said, then it fell in to place and made sense!)

Tess Seddon, as writer and director, has done a fantastic job of incorporating topical and local aspects in to the storyline, as well as incorporating a large cast, giving people the opportunity to shine in a new, local show.

Nat’s parents, Gary (Ian France) and Trish (Debbie Audus) have been split up for several years and he has been a little absent in Nat’s life for a while. Trish had invited a toyboy, Raj (Praneeth Vellala) along as a bit of a joke but it turns out he is actually really in to her, for which he has some hilarious declarations and outbursts. Trish’s trilogy of friends are funny as her personal support group. They are all dressed in similar outfits with large fascinators and act like mother hens around Trish.

Alex’s sister, Toni (Hannah Wade) does a fantastic job of being a standoffish and un-keen wedding attendee who is not comfortable in a posh frock so wears doc martens with it and stomps around in them. This is alongside Alex’s ex, Mia (Jacq Exton), adding to the drama by wanting to pull Alex aside several times to have a private word. Their daughter Hana (Freya Rose-Hattrick) later gives away why.

Alex isn’t from Sheffield and his parent’s are property developers in Surrey. Nat is set to move there with him after the wedding and start a job with them. However, as the show pans out, it seems the job offer may not be quite as it seems and Nat’s roots in Sheffield have a stronger pull than she thought.

I love how the men’s group was initially positioned when they thought that the father of the bride Gary (Ian France) had broken in to the community centre and then when their reason for forming their group came out.

The show is ultimately a feel good show, with people pulling together within their community. Well, the exception is the too big for his boots chef Pierro (Max Marriott) who gets what he deserves.

Ezzie Nettleingham as Nat, the bride, was the stand out actress for me. She was exceptional at showing the many emotions she needed to exhibit during the whole show and even came out and played violin with her former community centre band at one point. The band were also funny, having split up after various artistic differences as they grew up.

With the show being in the smaller, downstairs, room, the set design is fairly simple as it is on in a smaller space. However, the drama kids play a big part in ensuring the set changes happen smoothly and/or comically!

As the show was put on by Sheffield People’s Theatre it had a larger cast than many ‘professional’ touring shows, with 50 cast members. The cast ranged from children through to older people. It was really refreshing to see a wide variety of people acting, of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and backgrounds. I loved that it was all based in Sheffield and about people of the city coming together. I really enjoyed it and it’s a real shame that it’s only on for 4 days after all the effort that has clearly gone into it.

Rating: I really enjoyed this show and rate it a 4.5/5

Something Old, Something New is on at Sheffield Playhouse between 14th and 17th August 2024.
For more information visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk although the remaining shows are sold out so there are no tickets available, which is a shame. Hopefully, they will decide to run it again.
Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA