Tag: Rob Ellis

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TIME AND TIDE on Eastern UK tour in Autumn

Excellent news that Relish Theatre and Norwich Theatres have organised a month-long East of England tour of the warmly-received play TIME AND TIDE by James McDermott and directed by Rob Ellis.

Set in a run-down cafe on Cromer pier, dreamer May dispenses advice to her “protégé” Nemo, a young gay man stifled by loneliness who’s leaving for the bright lights of London. But he’s torn between staying and going because of his feelings for his best mate, Daz. Is it love, or just bromance? But May also has some choices to make- in the form of amorous, lonely bread supplier Ken who’s running out of customers but is also looking for company – in May’s direction; however things are not as straightforward for any of this quartet as they might at first seem.

I’m delighted that this warm and touching comedy/drama which played to very busy houses at London’s Park Theatre in 2020 – is getting another outing. Another enthusiastic supporter is Stephen Fry, who was noted sitting next to us on the night we went. He wrote a delightful, positive and enthusiastic review. So if it’s good enough for Stephen Fry to get excited about, you should definitely see it for yourself!

The show plays a number of venues in September/October, opening and closing at Norwich Theatre’s studio theatre, and in between calling at Colchester, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft, Sheringham, Wells, Diss, Great Yarmouth, Thetford and Bungay.

I highly recommend that you make time to see this charming play which addresses issues we can all relate to, which will make you laugh and think.

You can find out more details and book tickets here

Read my four star review of the 2020 London production here

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Review: TIME AND TIDE

TIME AND TIDE runs at the Park Theatre until February 29th. information and tickets here

IN BRIEF Seaside quartet faces change with hope in funny and real play which treats its characters with care

“Cromer’s fine for growing up and ending up, but the bit in the middle – you need some life!”. In her run-down cafe on a Norfolk pier, dreamer May is dispensing advice to her “protégé” Nemo, a young gay man stifled by loneliness who’s leaving for the bright lights of London. But he’s torn between staying and going because of his feelings for his best mate, Daz. Is it love, or just bromance?

Amorous, lonely bread supplier Ken is also looking for company – in May’s direction, but things are not as straightforward as they might seem.

In James McDermott’s TIME AND TIDE, this quartet of characters ebb and flow through many challenges and changes in the pivotal day covered in the play’s two-hour duration. It’s enjoyably human; the carefully-crafted script is peppered with gentle comedy, often naturally arising from the situations and carefully brought out by director Rob Ellis. Humour like the daft, punning shop names, mixed with the quickfire comebacks of adolescence, could so easily have sounded lame, but here they contribute to a kind of authenticity, lending a warmth and ease which enables the audience to relax into the show.

Performances are all of a very high standard. Josh Barrow’s Nemo clings to routine in a busy but studied and vulnerable portrayal, allowing us to see the young man outgrowing his surroundings.  Elliot Liburd’s Daz (“the Archbishop of Banterbury”) exudes that natural verbal playfulness of adolescence that masks deeper, more conflicting feelings which don’t come so naturally. Both actors inhabit their roles meticulously, to effect. Wendy Nottingham points up the dreamer in May, mothering the two lads with compassion and a variable regard for reality; and Paul Easom as Ken the lifelong baker (“Cut me and I bleed yeast”) exudes a rough warmth and a gentle, wistful yearning for what he’s never had.

Ending on a hopeful note, TIME AND TIDE captures these sleepy small-town characters and shows us their hopes, realities and dreams. A small, detailed and touching play, it astutely balances its humour with moments of tension and quiet revelation, made all the more satisfying by Rob Ellis’s production.

TIME AND TIDE runs at the Park Theatre until February 29th. information and tickets here