Kes, Theatre Royal

A strong performance by the lead carried this story of the gritty north through from start to finish.

Perfect casting saw Stefan Butler throw himself into an un-self conscious re-telling of this tale of an anguished childhood.

Young Billy seems to be the runt of the litter, getting the rough end of the deal at home, at school and even on his paper round. Thieving and antisocial behaviour by the disaffected youth of the area only drags him down.

And yet his devotion to Kes, the kestrel he took as a chick and brought up and then trained, gives a new insight into his sensitive character with even his teacher taking heart from the extra layer to Billy's psyche.

Clever lighting and a carefully marshalled company revealed scenes within scenes and we learned much about what makes our hero tick.

The first night audience sat for the most part in awe as the story unfolded before them.

Their silence punctuated by laughter – sometimes uncomfortable – prompted by the shafts of humour in a few choice lines that strike home from our own childhood experience.

It was good to see familiar faces among the cast: The Bill's Mike Burnside was more substantial than I recall, while Daniel Casey (Troy from Midsomer Murders) was much trimmer than he looked on television.

The director chooses to work with local children for the classroom and school scenes – and those from Bramcote Business and Enterprise School made the grade.

I last saw the film and read the book more than 25 years ago – it was a requirement for school.

This version made for a much more enjoyable experience and the two-hour-plus running time past far too quickly. Absorbing, thought provoking and ultimately tragic, this tale offers little hope for those real working classes of days gone by.

Oldest newlyweds cancel honeymoon

Oldest newlyweds cancel honeymoon
... from the Torquay Herald Express

Torbay's oldest newlyweds, have had to cancel their luxury honeymoon.

Les Atwell, 94, and his 87-year-old bride Sheila will instead be unpacking their suitcases when they should have been heading off for a 14-day Mediterranean cruise from Southampton.

Sheila fell ill soon after their wedding on Wednesday with a tummy bug.

"It must have been the excitement," said Les.

'Karen Carpenter, I feel so close to you'

'Karen Carpenter, I feel so close to you'
... from the Stoke Sentinel

A KAREN Carpenter tribute artist says she has been living the life of her idol – right down to developing anorexia.

The legendary Carpenters singer died from heart failure in 1983, aged 32, believed to be a complication of her anorexia.

And as professional musician Julie Roberts – who has a similar singing style to Karen – began to perform more and more Carpenters songs, she found her life began to parallel the tragic singer.

Then when Julie started taking laxatives to lose weight – just like Karen – she realised matters were getting out of hand. The 5ft 10ins singer plummeted from a healthy 12 stone, to just eight stone.

In the end, it was only when she temporarily stopped singing Carpenters songs that she was able to quit taking laxatives and get her weight loss under control.

Vampires Rock, Newark Palace Theatre

With flame-throwers, blood, fireworks and bats, this show is something of a shameless romp through some top rock anthems, with the music of Queen, Billy Idol, Rainbow, AC/DC, Bonnie Tyler, and even good old Suzi Quatro.

The show lent itself well to the talents of Meat Loaf tribute artist Steve Steinman (the man who dreamed it all up) who - apart from appearing completely bemused by a quiet audience during the first half - gave a solid and passionate performance as Baron von Rockula, owner of the Live and Let Die club, who is searching for a new bride.

The evergreen Toyah Willcox as The Devil Queen in foxy skin-tight red leather is a powerhouse, screaming on to the stage and putting all her energy into hits like She Sells Sanctuary and Live and Let Die.

Toyah turns out to be the star turn, full of energy, vitality and cheekiness. Although she's not the female lead. That's reserved for Emily Clark as Pandora Honeybox, who becomes the object of Rockula's attentions, annoying his hissing, jealous queen.

Some of the signposting is rather tongue in cheek, when characters utter "it must be the final countdown", to usher in the old Europe song, or "I think you give love a bad name" (Bon Jovi).

But the audience IS there to have fun and eventually enter Steinman's world, with a little panto banter between stage and punters developing. A sneaky section in the second half invites the audience to stand - and that's when Newark finally got into full swing, let its hair down and enjoyed a rocking good night.

Cinderella, Newark Palace Theatre

I'M a convert! For more than 40 years I somehow managed to avoid the ballet but this was a magical introduction.

European Ballet mixed sparkle, humour, tradition and – of course – elegant dance in this incredibly accessible production.

Prokofiev's famous score was the glue that held together the much-loved tale with sparse props ensuring the dance told the story.

From lowly Cinders (Scilla Cattafesta) dancing gracefully with a broom when she fears she won't be able to get to the royal palace, we see her transformed into the belle of the ball after she was the only one to show an old beggar some kindness.

For many in a packed house, the ugly sisters were a star turn, wonderfully conveying their mood swings between petulance, envy, excitement and just plain grumpiness. Ania Thormeyer and Felizia Roth's ham-fisted footwork as they took dance lessons before the ball brought comedy – and some laugh-out-loud moments – to the show.

The ensemble dance after the handsome prince (Vincent Cabot) and Cinderella fell in love at the ball was the most spectacular, lending itself well to the intimacy of the venue.

Happily, Cinders forgave the ugly sisters for their cruelty and this faithful retelling left the audience with a very happy ending.