the totally bored stripper is hilarious (she can even swing tassels)...
the many who did go were treated to as fine a display of quality performances as they are likely to see anywhere - in fact, I felt I could understand and sympathise with the feelings of each and every character even more so than I had in the film....
Antonia Christophers is a consummate Elaine, trying to be the perfect and dutiful daughter that her parents expect, yet unable to resist Benjamin and his vision of life - well, he is very persistent! A beautiful performance of confusion torn between two different life styles - “I don’t want to go against the world” - and she screams and stamps her feet quite delightfully......
American accents are in place throughout and each character is faultlessly portrayed - people we can easily recognise....
Adrian Lloyd-James’ direction keeping the pace, and the laughter, on a high....
I hope that the people who stayed home to watch the football last night now realise what they have missed. This production is a gem!
- Sheila Connor (British Theatre Guide Guildford 2010)
Karen Henson wonderfully recreates the man-eating and achingly desperate and lonely seductress.....solid, supportive performances from John Hester as Mr Robinson and Susan Earnshaw as Mrs Braddock. Particular mention should be made to Sarah Wynne Kordas' superbly simple set, which switched effectively from bedroom to hotel to seedy bar.
- Emily Taylor (British Theatre Guide South Shields 2009)
A play with eleven different scenes is a daunting prospect for director Adrian Lloyd-James but is neatly accomplished by the set and furnishings of designer Sarah Wynne Kordas. Bedrooms are swiftly turned into hotel lobbies, middle class living rooms, seedy bars and church vestries and back again. What could be an untidy mish mash is made coherent by the largely black and white costumes of the players with only the occasional punctuating colour. Keith Tuttle’s lighting, flooding different colours through the venetian blinds of the two large windows ,suggests the outside world and David Gilbrook’s use of the songs of Simon and Garfunkl as the scenes change keeps us “in period”. Careful details such as the ping of the lift and the roar of passing traffic at appropriate moments all add to good effect.....This talented and lively cast, Grant Orviss, Karen Henson, John Hester, Antonia Christophers, Michael Sherwin, Susan Earnshaw, Sarah Wynne Kordas, Mark Huckett and Al Naed deserve a better vehicle and a larger audience.
- Ann Bawtree (thepublicreviews)
Tabs productions have brought to The Customs House a production that is as relevant today as it has ever been. The story of the sexual awakening of 21 year old Benjamin Braddock (Grant Orviss) at the hands of the older, and lascivious Mrs Robinson (Karen Henson) is brilliantly brought to the stage in an adaptation by Terry Johnson.
Grant Orviss splendidly portrays the naivety and gaucheness of Ben, whilst Karen Henson proves more than a match for more high-profile predecessors, including Linda Gray of Dallas and Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner.
There are also some strong supporting performances from John Hester, Susan Earnshaw, Michael Sherwin, Sarah Wynne Kordas and Mark Huckett.
Adrian Lloyd-James’ direction is slick yet subtle, perfectly balancing the comedy and the drama in equal measure. The simple and highly effective black and white set, designed by Sarah Wynne Kordas, is transformed, with military precision, by members of the company into various locations to suit each scene
- Steve Burbridge (uktheatre.net)
“Here’s to you Mrs Robinson”
“The Graduate gets the full treatment from Tabs Productions; sophisticated set, exquisite lighting, the best of the regions home grown talent along with a couple of newcomers with flair and confidence… Grant Orviss plays poor callow Ben Braddock with real sympathy”
Lynne Patrick – Derbyshire Times
“Excellent performance of ‘The Graduate’ at Theatre Royal”
“…brilliant and hilarious production of the Graduate”
Catherine Allen – Hucknall Dispatch
“Superb Sixties Satire”
“On a simple set, designed with cinematically nifty scene changes in mind, there’s some splendid acting going on… This is a lovely production of a considerable play”
Alan Geary - Evening Post Nottingham
the many who did go were treated to as fine a display of quality performances as they are likely to see anywhere - in fact, I felt I could understand and sympathise with the feelings of each and every character even more so than I had in the film....
Antonia Christophers is a consummate Elaine, trying to be the perfect and dutiful daughter that her parents expect, yet unable to resist Benjamin and his vision of life - well, he is very persistent! A beautiful performance of confusion torn between two different life styles - “I don’t want to go against the world” - and she screams and stamps her feet quite delightfully......
American accents are in place throughout and each character is faultlessly portrayed - people we can easily recognise....
Adrian Lloyd-James’ direction keeping the pace, and the laughter, on a high....
I hope that the people who stayed home to watch the football last night now realise what they have missed. This production is a gem!
- Sheila Connor (British Theatre Guide Guildford 2010)
Karen Henson wonderfully recreates the man-eating and achingly desperate and lonely seductress.....solid, supportive performances from John Hester as Mr Robinson and Susan Earnshaw as Mrs Braddock. Particular mention should be made to Sarah Wynne Kordas' superbly simple set, which switched effectively from bedroom to hotel to seedy bar.
- Emily Taylor (British Theatre Guide South Shields 2009)
A play with eleven different scenes is a daunting prospect for director Adrian Lloyd-James but is neatly accomplished by the set and furnishings of designer Sarah Wynne Kordas. Bedrooms are swiftly turned into hotel lobbies, middle class living rooms, seedy bars and church vestries and back again. What could be an untidy mish mash is made coherent by the largely black and white costumes of the players with only the occasional punctuating colour. Keith Tuttle’s lighting, flooding different colours through the venetian blinds of the two large windows ,suggests the outside world and David Gilbrook’s use of the songs of Simon and Garfunkl as the scenes change keeps us “in period”. Careful details such as the ping of the lift and the roar of passing traffic at appropriate moments all add to good effect.....This talented and lively cast, Grant Orviss, Karen Henson, John Hester, Antonia Christophers, Michael Sherwin, Susan Earnshaw, Sarah Wynne Kordas, Mark Huckett and Al Naed deserve a better vehicle and a larger audience.
- Ann Bawtree (thepublicreviews)
Tabs productions have brought to The Customs House a production that is as relevant today as it has ever been. The story of the sexual awakening of 21 year old Benjamin Braddock (Grant Orviss) at the hands of the older, and lascivious Mrs Robinson (Karen Henson) is brilliantly brought to the stage in an adaptation by Terry Johnson.
Grant Orviss splendidly portrays the naivety and gaucheness of Ben, whilst Karen Henson proves more than a match for more high-profile predecessors, including Linda Gray of Dallas and Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner.
There are also some strong supporting performances from John Hester, Susan Earnshaw, Michael Sherwin, Sarah Wynne Kordas and Mark Huckett.
Adrian Lloyd-James’ direction is slick yet subtle, perfectly balancing the comedy and the drama in equal measure. The simple and highly effective black and white set, designed by Sarah Wynne Kordas, is transformed, with military precision, by members of the company into various locations to suit each scene
- Steve Burbridge (uktheatre.net)
“Here’s to you Mrs Robinson”
“The Graduate gets the full treatment from Tabs Productions; sophisticated set, exquisite lighting, the best of the regions home grown talent along with a couple of newcomers with flair and confidence… Grant Orviss plays poor callow Ben Braddock with real sympathy”
Lynne Patrick – Derbyshire Times
“Excellent performance of ‘The Graduate’ at Theatre Royal”
“…brilliant and hilarious production of the Graduate”
Catherine Allen – Hucknall Dispatch
“Superb Sixties Satire”
“On a simple set, designed with cinematically nifty scene changes in mind, there’s some splendid acting going on… This is a lovely production of a considerable play”
Alan Geary - Evening Post Nottingham