Reviews

Impartial reviews about places to go, shows to see and eating out, mostly in the Eastbourne area and East Sussex

REVIEW: Murdered to Death

By Gary Murray Spoof crime thrillers are all the rage at the moment. Murdered to Death, one of a trilogy, came to Eastbourne last night: it’s a parody of the Agatha Christie country house genre. A variety of characters assemble in the drawing room. It’s 1936 and the hostess Mildred, along with her prim niece […]

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REVIEW: Grease – The Musical

By Paul Bromley A profusion of ‘Pink Ladies’ poured into the Congress Theatre for a stylish and colourful production of Grease – The Musical. Some of the audience members were mature enough to remember the film first time round; others seemed too young to be familiar with the story of Danny and Sandy at Rydell […]

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REVIEW: The Rude Mechanical Theatre Company

By Gary Murray The Rude Mechanical Theatre Company’s summer residence in a big top tent in Helen Garden has become a regular fixture of the Eastbourne summer scene. The Rudes, as they are affectionately known, specialise in a highly visual type of theatre incorporating elements of the Italian theatrical form of commedia dell’arte plus several […]

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Hound of the Baskervilles

REVIEW: The Hound of the Baskervilles

By Paul Bromley If you’ve ever been to one of Eastbourne Theatres summer productions before, you’ll know what to expect. If you’ve never been to one of Eastbourne Theatres summer productions before, you’re about to experience the unexpected. The Hound of the Baskervilles follows in the footsteps (or rather pawprints) of previous shows such as […]

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REVIEW: Dangerous Obsession

By Gary Murray Dangerous Obsession, a taut thriller, is the third production in the Summer Playhouse season at the Devonshire Park Theatre. Author N.J. Crisp wrote mainly for television, notably The Expert, a series about a forensic scientist, and boardroom drama The Brothers, both big TV hits during the 1970s. However, when Dangerous Obsession was […]

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Mark Farrelly playing Quentin Crisp

REVIEW: Naked Hope

By Gary Murray Mark Farrelly’s one-man play about the legendary author, writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp was staged last night at Grove Theatre, Eastbourne. Portraying real people might be daunting but, as in previous performances at the Grove, such as The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton, and Howerd’s End about the (secret) […]

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Travel With My Aunt

REVIEW: Travels With My Aunt

By Gary Murray Travels With My Aunt is the second of three plays being presented as part of the ‘Summer In The Park‘  season at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne. Following an entertaining but by-the-book production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Table Manners, Travels is the tale of Henry, a mild-mannered bank manager who’d much rather be […]

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Gel printing at Motcombe Pool for Eastbourne Alive

REVIEW: Taking the plunge with Eastbourne Alive  

Silent concentration was interspersed with ‘oooh’s of delight and ‘oh’s of resignation as a group of us gathered for a printing workshop in the empty Motcombe Pool caretaker’s house in Eastbourne Old Town.  We were experiencing the unpredictable process of printing using a flexible silicone gel plate rollered with paint then imprinted with images or […]

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The Good Grub Eastbourne

REVIEW: The Good Grub  

I may have reached Peak Smug on a recent Sunday, eating lunch at The Good Grub restaurant at the back of the very grand Grand Hotel building.  Not only was I eating vegan and saving a tiny cloud of farmed animal emissions, I watched torrential rain cascade off the green striped canopy onto Compton Road […]

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REVIEW: Mad Catter Cat Café 

The first item on the agenda to note is … this place has a lot of cats.   In fact, there are 16 featured on the website, not all of which are visible to the naked eye inside the café. I forgot to count how many were draped across hammocks, tucked inside cat igloos and festooned […]

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