By Michael Coveney
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More awards & May poles

Even before the Olivier Awards are handed out this weekend, we hear of yet another set of back-patting bravos from the estimable Mousetrap Theatre Projects, a theatre education charity that spreads the West End word among schoolchildren and young adults.

"The Mousetraps" will be announced in a ceremony in the Old Vic Tunnels next weekend — presumably the dank vaults will be littered with cheesey nibbles to attract the guest rodents — but one of the prizes is already declared.

And the winner in the "most attractive cast" category is... Shrek the Musical. No it isn't, silly, it's Chicago. But in a contradictory press release, the category doesn't even exist: instead, there is a "sexiest cast" label, so presumably that's now been withdrawn on, well, sexist, grounds, though I don't see much difference with the new naming.

Anyway, point is, the awards have all been voted for by young people aged between 15 and 23, and aside from the usual categories of Best Musical, Best Play, Best Ensemble, we have "show I would most recommend to a friend" and "show that shouldn't have closed."

There's no individual actor category, alas, and perhaps a little spice might have been added with a prize for "show I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy" or even "show that really shouldn't still be allowed to carry on," though that might have brought a certain thriller called The Mousetrap into contention on both counts.

Mousetrap Theatre Projects is indeed a beneficiary of that long-running show and has used its good fortune to the advantage of countless young theatregoers, and their horizons are not necessarily limited by what is available on the West End list.

Chicago has long been a favourite, and hundreds of thousands of Mousetrap theatregoers have been pressed into The Woman in Black, but they also pay regular visits to the National, the Young Vic and the Royal Court. The Young Vic's A Doll's House will be on the schools' programme this summer term.

Susan Whiddington and her small commando force deserve everyone's support, and I hope the awards go with a real swing. We critics have often taken part in her critical seminar courses with the youngsters and such enjoyable experiences are always of two-way benefit: educational for the kids and refreshing for the critics.

One critic who felt a chill this week was my friend and colleague Joyce MacMillan of The Scotsman, whose no-nonsense disapproval of Spymonkey led her into a walk-on part (in reference only) in the group's new show, Oedipussy, at the Lyric, Hammersmith.

Actually, the Joyce-baiting was very good-humoured, and one of the cast was even moved, ironically, to agree with most of what she said; that they really should grow up, stop messing around, and take Greek myths and everything else a bit more seriously.

By the end of the slightly too-long show, there was a growing feeling in the audience that perhaps Joyce really had made one or two valid points about Spymonkey; which only reinforces the wittiness of including her strictures at the top of the evening.

I was saddened to learn of the passing on Good Friday of Val May, a distinguished West End figure who ran the Bristol Old Vic through the 1960s and beyond until settling at the Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford, in succession to Laurier Lister, the theatre's founding director, in 1975.

May's Bristol Old Vic was the most prestigious rep in the country, a position it is surely now reclaiming under Tom Morris, but in a very different sort of way. May, who trained with Michel Saint-Denis at the Old Vic School in London, was an actors' director and traditionalist par excellence, and not many of our leading players failed to pass through his hands.

In one outstanding season in 1973, Peter O'Toole, who loved the Georgian theatre and had worked there early in his career, returned to appear in three plays: Uncle Vanya, Plunder by Ben Travers and Shaw's The Apple Cart.

The BOV travelled in Europe and supplied the West End with countless transfers without ever losing its regional cachet, status and identity. May supervised the building of the new frontage, and the creation of the studio theatre to which he was devoted.

At Guildford, his policy was much more of a forthright launchpad for commercial presentations in London, though I've often wondered how much the dedicated suburban Surrey audience is a reliable barometer of West End taste, beyond a fast fading loyalty to Penelope Keith and Richard Briers.

Still, Guildford still flourishes under Jamie Barber, while Jonathan Church at Chichester has probably assumed Val May's mantle of judging exactly the best balance between contemportary writing and acting talent and their commercial application.

Not even Val May could have foreseen a West End pairing, for instance, of Terence Rattigan and David Hare, in the Chichester transfer next week to the Harold Comedy Theatre of The Browning Version and Hare's South Downs.

- by Michael Coveney

Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.

Related Content

Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	Chicago Listing Page
	The Mousetrap Listing Page
	The Woman in Black Listing Page
	Oedipussy Listing Page
	The Browning Version Listing Page
	South Downs Listing Page

Other Posts By Michael Coveney
	Michael Coveney: New York honours Matilda with five big awards - 20th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Tales from New York in Kinky Boots - 17th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Finsbury hails its local Park Theatre opening - 15th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Hooray for Halifax and Carrie's ENO debut - 13th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: All change at Trafalgar, Liverpool and Finsbury Park - 10th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Critics come full Circle in centenary bash - 8th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: High old time with High Tide in Halesworth - 7th May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Hytner steams on, Sondheim scintillates - 2nd May 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Theatre queens and Paris low-life - 30th Apr 2013 blog
	Michael Coveney: Olivier big winners and Stratford long runners - 29th Apr 2013 blog
	More...
Internal Links
	New cast announced for West End Woman in Black - 21st Mar 2013 news
	Photos: Galaxy of stars caught at Mousetrap 60th - 19th Nov 2012 photos
	Bonneville, Greig, Hart, Stewart & Walters celebrate Mousetrap 60th - 16th Nov 2012 news
	Chicago confirms West End closure for 1 Sep at Garrick - 13th Jul 2012 news
	Smash star Raza Jaffrey guests as Billy Flynn in Chicago - 23rd Apr 2012 news
	With 100 days to go, West End warms up for Olympics - 18th Apr 2012 news
	WOS 15th birthday: Transporting you back to 1997 - 10th Apr 2012 features
	Sondheim sounds off - 5th Mar 2012 blog
	WOS Radio: Theatregoers mark 60 years of The Mousetrap - 29th Feb 2012 radio
	Record-Breaking Mousetrap Tours to Celebrate West End 60th - 25th Nov 2011 news
	1st Night Photos: New Chicago Stars Bow at Garrick - 8th Nov 2011 photos
	Photos: America Ferrera Fulfils Dream as West End Roxie - 31st Oct 2011 news
	Darius Returns to West End to Join Ferrera in Chicago - 27th Oct 2011 news
	Ugly Betty's America Ferrera Leads Chicago at Garrick - 10th Oct 2011 news
	Chicago Confirms 7 Nov Opening Date at Garrick - 7th Sep 2011 news
	Longrunners Extend: WWRY, Mousetrap, Les Mis - 21st Mar 2011 news
	Plays Extend: Ghost Stories, Mousetrap, 39 Steps - 14th Sep 2010 news
	Plays Extend: Defending Caveman, Enjoy, Black - 24th Feb 2009 news
	The Woman in Black - 23rd May 1998 reviews
	Mousetrap - 2nd Mar 1998 reviews

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