Our House

This was my second visit to TADLOP and I was delighted to attend ‘Our House’. However, this was a first for TADLOP, as having usually performed at Telford Theatre, they performed this show at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury.

Moving venue whether by choice or not is a gamble. Will loyal audience members travel or will local people attend? Although I do not know where the audience came from, they most certainly did come. I was pleased to see what appeared to be a capacity audience for the final performance and they were in for a real treat with the show they saw. As soon as the overture began the audience joined in by clapping in time to the beat. They were set on having a good time!

The set which was open to view on arriving was simple compiling of seven front doors 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31 and the street. This was well used during the performance with the front doors swinging around to depict different colours.

The show is of course based on songs from Madness and needs energy by the shed load. Luckily this was not lacking from start to finish in this production.

Joe Casey, played by Alastor Clark is 16 years old and the show opens with his birthday party. The enthusiast cast were evident in this scene. Joe takes, Sarah, his girlfriend played by Alice Ball out. He is of course keen to impress and as a result breaks into a building site to take in the view of North London. The police arrive and the story from this point on shows the result of two routes taken by Joe. The Joe who stayed and the Joe who fled the scene.

The plot is not necessarily the easiest to flow with two chains of events unfolding before us. The cast did however play it out well and with pace which the show unquestionably needs.

Alastor was outstanding in the role in every way. The necessary changes of character and clothing to show which plot we were following was well managed – I can only assume back stage was manic to ensure they were all in the right place for these to take place. Alice supported him well in both acting and vocally.  The remaining characters Benjamin Davies as Emmo, George Price as Lewis, Sophie Bowen-Thomas as Billie, Charlotte Macey as Angie, Rich Kee as Joe’s Dad, Lyndsey Bird as Kath (Joe’s Mum), Nat Hodgkiss as Reecey (the bad boy) and Indraroop Chakraborty as building site owner Mr Pressman all provided the support required.

The orchestra (located behind the set) were balanced and the singing was first class throughout. Those hits of Madness just kept coming - "Baggy Trousers", “Driving in my Car” (this one was exceptional) and, of course, "Our House".

Lighting and sound were effective and the costumes fitted the requirements of the production.

The show concludes by taking us back to the beginning and the same birthday party – which way would the story go? Well that’s left for us to decide.

This was the last night of the show and the cast were ready to party and did they party. Many of the cast must have had family and friends in the audience who came down to join in.

In short this was an excellent night’s entertainment and most certainly a "House of Fun".  Did moving venue work? Well it seemed to for me. The time spent in the rehearsal room leading up to this show truly paid off.  I really enjoyed the experience and was pleased to pop back stage after the final curtain.

I for one cannot wait to see this group again in the future.

TADLOP can next be seen performing Bonnie and Clyde at the same venue – Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury 24- 26 October 2024.

Andy Brown

West Midlands Regional Councillor

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