The View From Lower Down

 This might be the fastest review I’ve ever written. We saw Peter Pan Goes Wrong (henceforth PPGW ) at the Birmingham Alexandra Theatre (I probably won’t bring it up again, but henceforth known as The Alex). All of our party (and probably most of the audience) had seen the TV version (link goes to iPlayer; I think that it is available worldwide paid on Amazon Prime) so we were familiar with a lot of the material. Therefore, this review will be diving into the bits removed from the televised version. Firstly, did you know that before it was a book or a movie, the original Peter Pan was a play? PPGW is almost verbatim that play, with additional (mostly physical) jokes added. For example (this was in the televised version as well), the narrator has an opening monologue, which Chris (as Mr Darling) keeps interrupting too early. Before we go on, some housekeeping: I own a copy of the script and currently have it open to remind me of bits I’ve forgotten. I had read it before and th

Here's one that's a bit out of nowhere. I want to talk about the plot of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist , and the musical adaptation Oliver! : This is the plot (cut down from the musical and missing a lot more of the book than you'd think): Oliver is a boy who lives and grew up in a workhouse in (fictional) Mudfog; he asks for more gruel one mealtime and as punishment, the beadle, Mr Bumble (workhouse overseer), sells him to an undertaker (Mr Sowerberry); Oliver gets in a fight with the undertaker's other apprentice; Oliver runs away 70 miles to London; he is adopted by a group of pickpocket children; on his first outing as a pickpocket he is caught by his victim Mr Brownlow and brought before a magistrate; at his trial, Brownlow intercedes for him and takes him home; Brownlow realises Oliver is his grandson; the gang kidnap Oliver to stop him revealing their existence; Nancy, one of the gang, tries to take him back but her husband Bill Sikes kills her; Mr Brownlow a

 Ooh, a theatre review before the show left the theatre! What? I didn’t know he could do that! DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW OF BHANGRA NATION WAS COWRITTEN BY MY BROTHER JOSH BECAUSE HE SAYS MY REVIEWS ARE TOO LONG. ALSO, AT THE TIME OF WRITING, HE HASN’T SEEN BHANGRA NATION, THE TOPIC OF THE DAY MAJOR SPOILERS FOR BHANGRA NATION AHEAD I would normally include some background information about the journey to add colour to the review, but as this is the short version, I’ll limit my comments to the following: We had a lot of trouble finding somewhere to park; when we tried to leave, the Queensway was closed so we went a very roundabout way, and we encountered at least one street sign that said Cuba.  Additional context over! There is one part which I have forbidden Josh from editing, namely that when we went in the usher said: “You have to turn off your phones during the performance [Okay; standard procedure], but only until the confetti cannon goes off [Less standard]” Of course, they have t