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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Sssmouldering Sunday night cabaret: Miss Hope Springs

Miss Hope Springs has a regular Sunday night Cabaret show at The Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly. She now has a new show "Latin a la Springs" which injects a bit of bossa nova and sophistication into the Sunday night proceedings (well a double bass and a syncopated beat always sounds a bit of sophisticated if you ask me).

Miss Hope Springs is a surprise as you don't just get a cabaret show of some great songs at fabulous venue, but you get a character and a back story of a recovering showgirl who has been there and done Hollywood, done Vegas, done worse and is now here for your pleasure. Nothing is taken too seriously and everything from a her hilarious career highlights to the conventions of performing a cabaret set of jazz, pop and bossa nova standards are lovingly sent up.


While the voice is low and gruff, and you could be mistaken initially for assuming she is Rula Lenska's younger sister (which got confusing when the famous actress herself was there on Sunday night), there is some fine music making here. This is no rubbish drag act that you might find at a gay bar.

If you find yourself in Piccadilly on a Sunday evening wondering what there is to do, this is the place to be. An album recorded live at the venue covering some of the material performed, including the excellent "Devil Made Me Do It"is also available as a digital download.

Miss Hope Springs is performed by Ty Jeffries and runs every Sunday night at The Crazy Coqs from 7pm. Doors open from 6.30ish for some great cocktails. The show runs for about two hours including an interval.

 

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