at Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadlers Wells Theatre, London

“Utterly, utterly magnificent.”

The director of this ‘cheeky’ dance/sketch/comedy show is Alfred Taylor-Gaunt. He thinks people have a fixed idea of what dance is and that it can put them off going to see it.

So – collect half a dozen dancers, let them co-create sketches with classical music as a background and anything can unfold. The result is 100% a clowning show – they just happen to be dancing beautifully.

The sketches come thick and fast, with over a dozen in the first half alone, all choreographed to music. Covering so many topics: losing a ticket at the airport (Flight Of The Bumblebee) to putting a duvet cover onto a duvet (Dance Of The Hours), getting mugged by charity collectors (Dambusters March) to queuing at a bus stop (Sailor’s Hornpipe). There is an operating theatre scene and a football match, there is romance and there is laughter. Plus the running gags – never forget the brilliant running gags!

I am a massive fan of Slava’s Snowshow – the Russian clown spectacular that keeps reappearing because of its popularity. I saw it in its first incarnation in the UK and have watched it blossom. Derrière On A G-String has that potential. It is a pure joy to watch. Still a little rough and ready at the edges – nothing a few clown workshops couldn’t smooth out – but Taylor-Gaunt’s creation will make you laugh. It is rude, risque and naughty all at once, but it is pure, honest and magical. Funny sketches – tick. Classical music – tick. Excellent contemporary dancing – tick. A standing ovation to the whole company and, especially, the performers: Jonathan Mewett, Sammy Moore, Alex Murray, Ruth Emily Plaxton, Joshua Sinclair-Evans and Aisling Tara.

If this show manages to tour – I can only but cheer and fist-pump the air. We may be living in dark and scary times, full of doubt and fear. But this show is a perfect antidote. 90 minutes of escapist theatre. Utterly, utterly magnificent. Bravo. Bravo.

Photography                             Jamie Scott

Director and Choroegrapher       Alfred Taylor-Gaunt

Producer                                   The VERY Top Secret Dance Company

Designer                                   Libby Todd

Sound Design                           Thomas Cheeseman

Twitter                                      #derriereonagstring, #putyourcheeksontheseats

@taylorgaunt_uk, @verytopsecretdc

Age 14+

TO TRANSFORM FANS INTO THEIR FAVOURITE TEEN VILLAINS

London, UK, 2^nd October 2019: In celebration of the highly anticipated Descendants 3 making its UK premiere on Disney Channel on Friday 11^th October, Disney Channel has collaborated with London’s hottest hair braiders, The Braid Bar, to transform fans into their favourite characters with dedicated Descendants 3 inspired braids.

The premiere of Descendants 3 on Disney Channel US (2^nd August 2019) saw an astonishing 8.43 million Total Viewers watch the movie, making it the #1 telecast of the day across all television^*, a figure that rose to 11.2 million just over two weeks post-premiere. To celebrate its premiere from across the pond, the Descendants 3 braids are inspired by the film’s key characters and iconic hairstyles. As braids have become a top trend** and the ultimate style statement with young viewers, the braids will be available to customers to emulate their ultimate characters, in time for half-term, from Monday 7^th October until Sunday 3^rd November.

Located in Oxford’s Street’s Selfridges store, The Braid Bar is renowned for brilliant braids and chic styles, often adorning the crème de la crème of A-listers with their famous braids – from Cara Delevingne and Suki Waterhouse to Mabel and Lila Grace Moss.***

Furthermore, Disney Channel has also collaborated with four of the next generation of young, talented content creators; Ruby & Raylee, Ambi C, and Tianna, who will emulate The Mal, The Evie, The Uma and The Audrey looks. With tutorial and ‘how-to’ videos revolutionising the internet, proving one of the most popular types of video search terms, to mark the launch, each content creator will film their own tutorials, showing fans how they can revamp into VK’s (Villain Kid’s) and style their own Descendants 3 braids from home. Tutorial videos will be released from w/c 7^th October. To watch their videos and get the look, head to https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyChannelUK.

The exclusive Descendants 3 inspired menu at The Braid Bar will showcase the various braids on offer, including stylish Descendants 3 initials, colours and character inspired braids, such as:

• The Mal The Evie  The Jay  The Uma  The Audrey The Carlos

Descendants 3 style braids will start from £15.

Descendants 3; which stars Dove Cameron (Mal), Sofia Carson (Evie), Booboo Stewart (Jay) and Cameron Boyce (Carlos) playing the teenage children of Disney’s most iconic villains; sees the VKs return to the Isle of the Lost to recruit a new batch of villainous offspring to join them at Auradon Prep. In the film, the safety of Auradon is jeopardised with an unfathomable dark force threatening the people, and it’s up to Mal and the VKs to save everyone in their most epic battle yet.

The Braid Bar, located in the heart of the Beauty Workshop of Selfridges, was founded in 2014 by artist Sarah Hiscox and Creative Director Willa Burton, and counts the likes of Cara Delevingne and Suki Waterhouse as celebrity fans. The concept of Braid Bar is a free-standing bar, offering quick and affordable braids from an a-la-carte style menu.

Descendants has been the number one UK Disney Channel Original Movie amongst girls for the last 11 years, with Descendants 2 becoming a global phenomenon with more than 72 million viewers across 159 countries and 32 languages. In the UK, Descendants 2 was the highest rated kids’ channel telecast with kids 4-15.

Descendants 3 is dedicated in memory of one of its beloved stars, actor Cameron Boyce.

 The Descendants 3 limited edition Braid Bar menu will be available in Selfridges from Monday 7^th October until Sunday 3^rd November,

Descendants 3 airs on Disney Channel on Friday 11^th October. Descendants 3 braids are available at Braid Bar from 7^th October. For more information please head to www.thebraidbar.co.uk.

Descendants 3 style braids will start from £15.

at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, Kent

‘So much theatrical experience they make it look easy.’

A lady sat down next to me and grinned. She was excited, waving her complimentary ticket at me. It transpired that she is a regular visitor to the Churchill Theatre – one of the Friends of the theatre – and, due to a clever PR move, she got a free ticket offered to her because her name is Margaret. Brilliant!

I explained that my ticket was free, too… because I was a murderer. She glanced at me, then laughed. We chatted over the 1960s pop music that was playing in the auditorium – each song bringing back memories of more innocent times.

[Lin Blakley and Gill Tompkins]

Murder, Margaret and Me – a new play by Philip Meeks – is set in that decade. Agatha Christie is angry that Miss Marple has become ‘a brand’. Moreover, films are to be made and they have cast Margaret Rutherford in the part. Agatha is not amused.

The first few meetings do not go well, but the frosty relationship begins to thaw, especially as soon as Agatha realises that Margaret has a secret which she is determined to dig into until the mystery is solved.

[Sarah Parks and Gilly Tompkins]

Agatha is played by Lin Blakley, strutting around with an arrogance far greater than her diminutive stature. Sarah Parks play Margaret – a full-on performance littered with classic Rutherford mannerisms. A joy to behold. The triumvirate is completed with the presence of Gilly Tompkins as The Spinster – a fictitious presence, sometimes Marple, sometimes a make-up artist, but always a clever device to guarantee the scenes flow.

Directed by Damian Cruden, the piece is visually large in scale and wonderfully designed by Dawn Allsopp. The three ladies hold court magnificently, even though the script is heavy and slow – lacking Christie’s own pace. Billed as a thrilling comedy, the play does not quite fulfil its promise in tension nor laughter. Instead, it is more a dramatic exploration of the real-life friendship that the two ladies shared. It struggles a little towards the end of Act One. After the interval, there is a fresh crispness to the action and the mystery begins to resolve.

It is a strange play – sometimes a biographical show, with speeches directly to the audience – sometimes the action is akin to a normal drama – sometimes the story is told through puppetry. This latter bit could be better.

[Sarah Parks, Lin Blakley and Gilly Tompkins]

At its height, Murder, Margaret and Me works when the three actresses hold the stage and simply banter their way through the story. They are a tour de force and joyous to watch – so much theatrical experience they make it look easy.

The show now tours the UK for a couple of months.

Paul Vates is: Winner of The People’s Play Award

Photographer    Craig Sugden

Writer               Philip Meeks

Director            Damian Cruden

Producers         Tilted Wig, Malvern Theatres and Bromley Churchill Theatre

Designer           Dawn Allsopp

Running Time   2 hours 10 (including an interval)

Ages                 12+

Twitter              @tiltedwiguk, #murdermargaret&me

Tour dates:                               (contact individual box offices for ticket information)

30th September-5th October      Theatre Royal, Windsor

www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk

8th-12th October                       Malvern Theatres

www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

22nd-27th October                    Devonshire Park Theatre

www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk/venue/devonshire-park-theatre

28th-30th October                     New Wolsey, Ipswich

www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

31st October-2nd November      The Haymarket, Basingstoke

www.anvilarts.co.uk

5th-10th November                    Kings Theatre, Portsmouth

www.kingsportsmouth.co.uk

11th-13th November                  Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds

www.theatreroyal.org

From the creators of the bestseller Storytellers Dictionary comes the My Epic Life Word Book for children ages 4-8 years. All the hilariously illustrated words every child needs to learn to express themselves in today’s world. This is not your average dictionary. It is a dictionary, but its also a truly epic life. Designed by literacy experts to be hilariously fun and endlessly surprising, each page bursts with Hollywood illustration. The words are curated from relevant, global curriculum lists for kids aged four to eight, with extra challenging vocabulary added to the mix. This dictionary gives children the words that need to express themselves in every part of life from emotions to maths, food to philosophy, making a big mucky mess to cleaning up, as well as a whole section on the future of technology.

I cannot praise this book enough, I have a 5-year-old Son and a 4-year-old daughter who both absolutely loved this book, some of the words were for older children but my two particularly enjoyed the QR animations, they thought that they were hilarious.

Now I normally review a book from my point of view, what I liked, what drew me in etc. however seeing as this is a children’s book, I thought I would ask them.

As I said my children are young, they liked the fact that there were numbers to learn as well as words. They liked the funny characters, and how colourful the book was. I liked the fact that they were learning new words as well as a new way to express their emotions. For example, they learned the word ‘Exhilarated’ and my son used that word in a sentence, in the correct context. The QR animations are genius, as with most children, my two love watching YouTube so the fact that they were able to read something in a book and the watch the exact same thing on YouTube was amazing.

We keep going back to the book to learn more words so the learning and fun is never ending and I will most definitely be buying more.

Hardcover – £14.42

Natalie Jayne Peeke: www.thebookwormmother.co.uk

Anyone who regularly checks their Instagram account would have seen the magical colour foundation advertised. The advert consists of different women, with different skin tones, testing out the foundation. I was sceptical when I saw the videos, thinking that if something looks too good to be true then it probably is.

I have annoyingly fair skin, my general rule of thumb when buying foundation is to go for the palest shade available, even then it is often too dark for my skin. Out of curiosity I thought I would give the TLM foundation a go, it was less than £5 and I normally spend anywhere from £8-£15 on foundation, so it was cheaper than normal.

When I received the foundation, I washed and dried my face and applied it to my makeup wedge. I initially used two pumps worth. And to my amazement when I started to blend the foundation out it did in fact change colour. It suited me, it covered up my Rosacea and acne. It left my skin looking a little oily, so I used a loose powder to ‘set’ my face. Over the course of two weeks I have used the foundation every day, I now use 1 and a ½ pumps and I still get amazing coverage but less of a shine.

I am converted, not only does it cost less I even use less as well. It stays on all day and it has not irritated my skin. Win win win. The only issue I could find was it made my skin look more oily but this was easily resolved with the use of loose powder.

TLM description:

It’s a revolutionary new liquid foundation that goes on white and instantly self-adjusts to match your exact skin tone. The unique colour matching formula protects and moisturises the skin as it works to even out your complexion. The fragrance-free formula is lightweight and quickly absorbs onto the skin without any dryness or caking.

30ml for £4.42 from Amazon

SPF 15 Broad Spectrum

Dermatologist tested

Suitable for sensitive skin

Moisture cream

Natalie Jayne Peeke: www.thebookwornmother.co.uk

Writing as someone who has been through breast cancer myself, I understand only too well the importance of funding research and lobbying for improved care for people with this very prevalent illness. October is the month set aside to focus on this and a number of companies are doing ‘their bit’ by donating a percentage of profits on specific ‘pink’ items to the Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care charity. There are mixed emotions regarding ‘pink’ amongst the breast cancer community – many feel that pink is far too fluffy to reflect the reality of living with breast cancer. Nevertheless, anything that raises funds for such an important cause is welcome. You can view the links to the companies involved in this scheme on the Breast Cancer Care website.

On the same theme, TOMY and Britains have made a pink-coloured limited-edition 1:32 scale model replica Valtra tractor. It has a sturdy AGCO engine, removable cab, working steering wheel, an A-frame front hitch and 9” SmartTouch screen for Valtra Guide, U-pilot headland management and tractor control. RSP is £34.99 from Farm Toys Ltd and £1 from each sale going to Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now.

Finally, I cannot write about breast cancer initiatives without talking about my book, From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows. When, as a doctor I found I had breast cancer myself, I was bewildered and frightened. Even with my medical background, I struggled. I was being asked to make decisions on my care which I felt unqualified to make, and, on occasions, found myself having to speak out when mistakes had been made. I had to learn, and learn rapidly about breast cancer and the latest treatments – I needed to be my own expert. It was hard, but how much harder for people without medical training? There was a desperate need for a book to provide comprehensive knowledge in bite-sized pieces – people simply can’t concentrate at such a time.  So I wrote one. It guides through the diagnosis and treatment; when things go wrong; it demystifies medical research; explains cancer, why we get it and how to give ourselves the best chance. I used my own story to make it easy reading. Intended primarily for people with a breast cancer diagnosis, it will also help those with other cancers or serious illnesses – and it will help relatives and friends understand what their loved ones are experiencing. Available on Amazon and Kindle (links below) or through local bookshops ISBN: 978-0-9935083-0-1

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.