Stripped back history play brings Shakepeare’s Globe and Headlong to Northampton stage
Like this pared back, stark adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V, the audience was much reduced on Wednesday’s Press Night, due to heavy snowfall.
But those of us who made it were tucked warmly into the Royal, watching the 20-something, newly-anointed King, bruised by his dying father’s distain, wreak havoc across France after being ‘dissed’ – if you will – by the delivery of a tennis ball.
Enraged by Charles VI of France’s apparent slight and determined to become a warrior king and claim France as his birth right, as his dead father had done, Henry invades, and begins a bloody campaign that culminates in the battle of Agincourt. (Read up on your history if you didn’t do Henry V at school, as it gets pretty complicated, with references to English subjugation of the Welsh, who ultimately provided the 500 longbow archers who laid waste to the French bogged down in the muddy battle.)
Georgia Frost in Henry V. Credit Ant Robling
This lauded production, a collaboration between Shakespeare’s Globe, Headlong and Royal & Derngate, started its creative life at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, essentially the indoors bit of the Globe, which seemed to use chandeliers and candlelight to give the production a switch from light to dark. On the Royal stage, the set is starker, with rows of green chairs facing each other to indicate the French and English, and a ruched green curtain drop alternating with an impressive and effective distressed mirrored backdrop. In Northampton, the chandeliers looked more like suspended light-sabres, which didn’t have quite the same effect.
Oliver Johnstone as Henry V . Photos by Ant Robling
The company of ten actors share all the parts, and while this is a very ‘male’ play (and on International Women’s Day I did feel a bit exhausted by the angry, entitled violence of it all), the mixed gender cast do a sterling job of keeping the dialogue comprehensible.
However, the adaptation has them in quite possibly the worst collection of ill-fitting chino trousers I’ve ever seen outside Twickenham on a match day.
OK, so there’s no cliched armour, swords or period frocks, but the contemporary clothing just made it more confusing to keep up with the character switches – apart from shrugging off the odd shirt to reveal white ‘wife-beater’ vests during the fighty bits.
Oliver Johnstone and Dharmesh Patel in Henry V. Credit Ant Robling (5)
Strong among the performances were Georgia Frost (Nym/Rambures/Williams) who brought a fizz of energy to every scene, James Cooney’s subtle side-eyeing which could be detected even several rows back, Joshua Griffin’s frustrated and almost controlled Fluellen and Jon Furlong’s impressive pre-interval death (no spoilers). Emotional performances from Helen Lymbery (Henry IV/Uncle Exeter) and Oliver Johnstone as the titular King must be exhausting.
Oliver Johnstone as Henry and Joséphine Callies as Katherine/Boy. Credit Ant Robling (1)
It’s a lot of story to cram into a couple of hours, and I kind of missed the context of the Pistol/Bardolph/Nym spoils of war link. And I’d have like to have lingered a little longer over the forced marriage/courtly love scene, where the teenaged Princess Katherine (of Valois, she’s buried in Westminster Abbey btw, and would go on to produce the Tudor line) is offloaded by her parents to the King who just slaughtered their citizens.
I’d be surprised if the schools haven’t snapped up the matinees because this production is a total shoo-in for an English or drama essay in future studies, especially with the sharp (and I meant total switcheroo) final scene, which slams us into a present-day immigrant citizenship exam. The roar of laughter from the audience confirmed the direct hit, although Shakespeare purists may not agree.
Henry V runs at Royal & Derngate until Saturday March 18, box office 01604 624811
The performances on Wed 15 March 7.30pmwill be Audio Described and will be preceded by a pre-show Touch Tour. All patrons attending the tour should meet at the Box Office at 6.30pm, where a member of staff will then take them into the auditorium. Please email boxoffice@royalandderngate.co.uk to book the Touch Tour.
The performance on Thu 16 March 7.30pm will be performed with integrated British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation
Historic campus making way for housing after the main campus moved to Waterside in 2018
It’s difficult to count the number of students who must have passed through the doors of Avenue Campus in Northampton, now under demolition to make way for a housing estate.
From its official opening by the late Queen’s mother and father, the then Duke and Duchess of York in 1937, Avenue Campus in St George’s Avenue has had several names and purposes relating to education. From the purpose-built Northampton Technical College in 1924 through incarnations including the Central College of Technology, Northampton School of Art, Nene College, University College Northampton and eventually University of Northampton. Eight decades of students and staff have worked and studied on the site (and no, it was never a mental hospital as the rumours had it.)
Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and the Queen Mother
According to the University archives, On March 11, 1867, a free public lecture on Science and Art was held by the Museum Committee in the town hall (maybe the Guildhall, which had just been built in the same year?) It was so popular evening classes in painting and drawing started in October.
Art evening classes continued and expanded, closely linked to science classes, until in 1894 the Northampton and County Modern and Technical School was established.
The (ugly) central Maidwell building was reception, with the library above and classrooms below – Image StJaBe via wikimedia commons
In 1907 the evening class organisation became the Northampton and County Technical and Art School, with the Art School functioning separately. A further name change occurred the following year, to Northampton and County Technical School and School of Art.
One source states that the Northampton School of Art was re-designated the Northampton School of Arts and Crafts in 1917, but there are no documents in the archive from this date. However, two documents contained in the archive dated 1934 and 1937 use this form of name for the Northampton Art School.
The School of Art continued to grow, working in overcrowded rented accommodation, until new purpose-built premises were opened in 1937 next to the Technical College on St George’s Avenue.
In 1954, the Central College of Further Education was established, to include both the School of Art and the College of Technology. The School of Art appears to have continued to function as a separate college. It is likely that relevant papers were destroyed by a fire in a County Council records store.
The former staff parking entrance next to Newton building (now Bosworth College). At the back is Malcolm Arnold prep school on the site of the former Trinity Upper School swimming pool
In 1972 the School became known as the College of Art and 1975 saw the establishment of a college of higher education, Nene College. The Northampton colleges of Education and Technology along with the School of Art were amalgamated to form this new higher education college.
The Walgrave and Isham buildings, along with the old SU, have been demolished. MB5, my old classroom, is just about still standing at the bottom on the right
After many years as a journalist, I joined the university as a part-time lecturer on the journalism degree in 2009 and quite liked the building. My former classroom/newsroom was called MB5, later renamed the Matthew Engel room, down the hill opposite the rather useful cashpoint at the base of the Bassett Lowke halls of residence. It had a beautiful parquet floor and students in Year 1 could pretty much roll out of bed and into my lectures, but often still managed to be late. Many times the fire alarm would go off and see students having to stand on the Racecourse in their pajamas at all times of the day, waiting to be allowed back to bed. The radio studio on the same floor was named after Jo Whiley.
The old MB5 newsroomClive Lewis MP came to visit, having worked with me in the Chron days at Upper Mounts
I have plenty of good memories of the place, but also of the people. My first mentors were the now retired Richard Hollingum and Ted Sullivan. Avenue had plenty of great guest speakers, from Chris Mason, now BBC political editor, to the late Faye Weldon and comedian Stewart Lee.
The offices for staff were up the stairs, but due to the layout of the building, on a steep slope, they were really on the ground floor. I shared an office with the journalism and media staff, and it was a welcome hideaway where we could support each other, get marking done in peace and swear loudly when necessary.
One area, tucked away behind a large weeping fig, disposed of by the authorities in the move to the new campus, was a small sofa and this became ‘Hilary’s crying corner,’ not for me, but for students, when the pressures of academia all got a bit too much. We were lucky to have our own space and students – although they may not felt so at the time, had a brilliant location for studying – even the day I sent them out to report on a solar eclipse with paper plates.
Our media and journalism office during the clear-out before the move in 2018
Despite its whiff of furniture polish, mixed with multitude different cheap perfumes and body odour, I liked the place. Navigating it often felt like going in circles, due to its multilevel design on the only hill in the area. It had brass handrails and tiled walls in the old sections, some of which will stay – with the two ‘end’ buildings saved from destruction due to their listed building status, along with the old caretakers’ house/security building, Quinton Lodge.
It’s the second building I’ve worked in that I’ve watched be demolished, as the old Chronicle & Echo Building at Upper Mounts is now an Aldi…
A sunny, fun-filled day for all showed Northampton at its best #NorthamptonPride22
Northampton did itself proud this weekend with a massive turnout to support the Pride march event.
With a march starting at 11am and a huge range of stalls and performers, Pride was well-organised and attended, with the sun coming out just in time for the Market Square music performances.
Sponsored by Northampton-based Travis Perkins, the event is organised by Northampton’s LGBTQ and Allies Forum and aims to highlight the LGBTQ+ community, businesses and support organisations.
Lots of families were at Pride, including Chanice Taylor, Kerry Marriot, Dominic Ross Whithey with Imogen and Harlie Pic by Hilary Scott
Musicians including Ffsytho featuring Mark Ski, Joe Payne, drag acts, a brilliant Lady Gaga tribute called Radio Gaga and stilt walkers entertained crowds on the Market Square.
All over the Market Square stalls were busy and there were some fabulous outfits as the town came together to support Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. Staff from Northants Fire and Rescue, East Midlands Ambulance Service, the Police, WNC and Northampton Guardians had vehicles emblazoned with the Pride Rainbow while there was a roaring trade in flags. See our photo gallery below and video walkthrough.
A walk through Northampton Pride 2022 on the Market Square
Review: Hairspray. Royal and Derngate, Northampton (opening night January 31)
I had never seen Hairspray before. Yes, I know, I know. It’s one of the most popular musicals in the world, an award-winning tour de force combining fantastic music and storytelling and genuine social commentary that, although set in 1962 Baltimore, certainly still resonates today.
But musicals…? You either love ‘em or hate ‘em, right?
“Just admit that you loved it Mum and write ‘It was great’ over and over until you hit the word count,” suggested my 13-year-old, musical-theatre fan daughter.
“And don’t call me a fan, I’m not a fanatic.” (This is what you get bringing up four kids with two journalist parents). “And don’t call me a kid…”
photography by Mark Senior
OK, so it was great. Really great. You don’t need to go to the West End when the West End comes to Northampton. I was blown away by the skill of the huge cast – more than 20 on stage for complex yet seamless dance sequences, belting out song after song from the best known You Can’t stop the Beat finale to the intricate Mama I’m a Big Girl Now and I Know Where I’ve Been.
The show opens in ‘60s Baltimore, Maryland, with ‘gently plump’ schoolgirl Tracy Turnblad (Katie Brace) belting out Good Morning Baltimore with her trademark black flick beehive, observing the flashers, rats and alcoholics before heading home to agoraphobic mum Edna (a drag role played by Alex Bourne) and joke-shop owner dad Wilbur (Norman Pace, yes, the one from Hale and Pace, all you people of a certain age).
photography by Mark Senior
Tracy and her best pal, Penny (Rebecca Jayne-Davies, aforementioned daughter’s favourite actor of the night), tune in their TV to the Corny Collins Show, a teen dance programme, based a on a real, American Bandstand-esque show of the time. Tracy and Penny yearn to get on the show, but detention, mean girl Amber (Jessica Croll) and her pushy TV producer mother Velma (Rebecca Thornhill), plus a massive dollop of classism, racism and body-shaming, look like killing their dream.
photography by Mark Senior
But Tracy bunks off school, meets heartthrob Link (understudy Joshua Pearson did an excellent job on first night) and makes a big impression on show host Corny (Richard Meek), as well as winning the show lots more fans and a plus size clothing contract. Cue loads of amazing costume changes (bravo Takis).
photography by Mark Senior
But Tracy’s stardom is short-lived. With and with the help of Motormouth Maybelle (the extraordinary Brenda Edwards), her kids Seaweed (Reece Richards) and Little Inez (the very talented Charlotte St Croix) and others segregated by their race (despite it being over 100 years since slavery was abolished in the southern states), they storm the show and a riot sees everyone locked up. (Locked up for protesting? How very now…) Cue a race to escape and get everyone live on air for the TV show finale.
photography by Mark Senior
Hairspray the Musical came after John Water’s cult film of 1988, which starred Ricki Lake as Tracy, Debbie Harry as Amber and drag icon Divine (in his last role) as Edna. Waters was to cut through the discrimination of the 60s still evident in the 80s, from racism to gay rights.
Today’s Hairspray does the same, skewering the biases and bigotry with a riotously funny musical. Bourne and Pace have a hilarious chemistry and comic timing as Edna and Wilbur, while Brenda Edwards’ voice during Maybelle’s protest ballad I Know Where I’ve Been moved many to tears – such is her power (and yes, she’s the one off Loose Women, The X-Factor and Songs of Praise). Newcomer Katie Brace as Tracy is a total star – from her voice to her movement and acting with every inch of her face. You also can’t take your eyes off Charlotte St Croix (Little Inez), who I’m confident will be one to watch.
Brenda Edwards as Maybelle
There’s not enough space here to name them all but it’s an incredible cast at the top of their game – from the skill of the dancers on a relatively small stage to the live band who sometimes appear as part of the show – we’re really very lucky to have the Royal and Derngate for these top-of-their-game touring shows.
It WAS great!
Book now if you can, it’s on until Saturday (February 5) with tickets from Derngate Box Office or on 01604 624811.
Strictly champion Joanne Clifton and CBeebies star Andy Day to lead the cast of Royal & Derngate’s pantomime Cinderella
Strictly champion and musical theatre star Joanne Clifton and CBeebies favourite Andy Day will head up the cast for this year’s spectacular Christmas pantomime Cinderella at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate.
Rising to fame as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, where she lifted the glitterball with her celebrity partner Ore Oduba in 2016, the world champion ballroom dancer Joanne Clifton has more recently been seen in top musical theatre productions, including The Addams Family, The Rocky Horror Show and Flashdance. Currently touring as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, Joanne will be casting her magic as the Fairy Godmother this Christmas.
Taking the role of Dandini is one of CBeebies’ most popular personalities, Andy Day. His many shows for the channel include the BAFTA-nominated Andy’s Wild Adventures and Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures, and he even has his own pop band Andy and the Oddsocks. He has appeared for many years in CBeebies’ annual televised pantomime in addition to starring in panto at theatres around the country.
Joining the cast as Ugly Sisters are Gordon Cooper and Matt Daines, both seasoned pantomime performers, most recently appearing together at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil last Christmas.
Building on the success of last year’s smash hit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and 2022’s Jack and the Beanstalk, Royal & Derngate are pleased to be continuing their partnership with award-winning pantomime producers Evolution Productions. A family business, run by husband and wife Paul Hendy and Emily Wood, Evolution are four-time winners of Pantomime of The Year in the Great British Pantomime Awards.
Jo Gordon, Chief Executive at Royal & Derngate, said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce such a brilliant cast, and look forward welcoming audiences into the theatre for what promises to be a fantastic festive outing. Christmas is such a special time of year, and it’s always a joy to see so many children introduced to the magic of theatre for the very first time.
“For me as a mum, Andy Day was a firm fixture in my house for many years, bringing such joy to my two kids. So to see him bring his bags of fun and skill to the stage alongside Joanne, who continues to wow people across the country with her musical theatre performances, will be such a treat.”
Cinderella will run from Friday 6 to Tuesday 31 December 2024. For more information and to book tickets, go to http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk or call Box Office on 01604 624811.
Herman Melville’s tale of a man’s obsession starts its national tour as far from the sea as possible
It might be one of the most well-known stories we’ve never read, and here’s yet another adaptation of Moby Dick, a story written at the height of the whaling industry in the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign, where slavery was still legal, lights needed whale oil to burn and the fate of a species was secondary to profit and enterprise. An opportunity then for a modern adaptation then, looking at the effect of man’s industry on the environment and the attitudes to human labour?
Guy Rhys as Captain Ahab – all photos by Manuel Harlan
My 16-year-old, theatre-mad daughter was my plus-one for the press night, a useful sounding block for a seasoned reviewer. Had she heard of Moby Dick? Nope. The famous opening line “Call me Ishmael” as our narrator (a sensitive performance by Mark Arends) relays his story of adventures on a whaling ship? Nope. OK, well this might be an education then.
The set and staging to portray a ship chasing the lure and lucre of whaling is ably tackled by designer Kate Bunce, whose set consists of scaffolding poles which are adapted throughout the performance from a quayside, to an inn, to a ship, particularly clever as the cast move boards to create a two tier ship’s deck and prow. The cast – with talented musicians – sing and play sea shanties to add context and aid the movement of staging. This works to a point – you can’t hear the lyrics very clearly – but when the singing stops as the whalers chase their prey the music, particularly the drumming – adds a heart-racing element to the violence of the action which you never actually see.
Syreeta Kumar (Manx), Tom Swale (Queequeg) Hannah Emanuel (Starbuck) and other cast members in Moby Dick
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, we join naïve Ishmael as a literal fish-out-of water trying to join a whaling ship to broaden his schoolteacher horizons. There’s a flash of humour in his interactions with soon-to-be shipmate Queequeg, a gentle South Sea island harpooner ‘savage’ played mesmerisingly by Tom Swale.
It takes too long in the first half (40 minutes) to actually get to the boat – the Pequod – where we eventually meet the already mad Captain Ahab (Guy Rhys), whose notoriety has been repeatedly flagged before we see him, appearing on the deck like a one-legged Eric Cantona about to give his ‘seagulls following the trawler’ speech. Ahab’s obsession with finding the albino Moby Dick who bit off his leg in a previous encounter is starkly contrasted by the (sometimes too) softly spoken first-mate Starbuck (Hannah Emanuel), who just wants to pragmatically get as much whale meat and oil from the voyage as possible before returning safely to their families on shore.
Act one ends with a successful catch – a random whale is brutally harpooned and red tickertape and clever lighting illustrate the kill – subsequently the crew haul and dismember the creature for the sum of its parts. Huge barrels of fish bits are lugged around the set (I only just caught the labels on each barrel to signify different types of whale as they were carting them off). Daughter was confused, was that Moby Dick they caught? The second half might be rather redundant if it had been.
Mark Arends (Ishmael), Guy Rhys (Captain Ahab) and William Pennington (Stubb)
Act two sees meetings (or ‘gams’) with other boats – The Rachel with its desperate captain (whose pleas to help find a missing son are rejected by Ahab) – and the Samuel Enderby, whose captain Boomer has also lost a limb to the white whale but who bears it no ill-will, unlike Ahab who continues on his selfish and dangerous quest to find and kill Moby Dick despite the protestations of Starbuck and the clear risk to the crew.
When the Pequod eventually finds the giant whale and the action comes to a crescendo, (spoilers), only Ishmael survives, picked up by the Rachel after floating in a coffin made for Queequeg (which is never really explained but is a clear plotline in the book).
There’s no doubt this is an incredibly skillful company of actors and musicians (the award-winning Simple8) led by Royal & Derngate’s competent and inventive new artistic director Jessie Jones. But adaptor Sebastian Armesto’s script seemed a little uneven in its pacing and the opportunity to connect such a vivid story of man’s destruction of, and by, nature more deeply seems to have been missed. Some of the main themes (faith, loyalty, class) are ignored and characters in the book (notably the slave boy Pip) are missing and those we do see are left underdeveloped. Too many sea shanties and a lack of depth of character made this, for me, miss the boat, but hopefully it will develop and find its (sea) legs during its national tour.
Moby Dick runs at Royal & Derngate until Saturday April 13, then is on tour (including a week in the Isles of Scilly) ending at the Oxford Playhouse on June 22. For tickets visit Royal and Derngate Box office or Simple8 for full tour details.
Northampton Saints move 7 points clear at the top of the table after a precious 41-30 bonus point win against Saracens under the Friday night lights.
The Londoners arrived at Franklin’s Gardens fully loaded with international stars and were the bookies favourites after Saints’ Bristol wobble and Sarries’ demolition of Quins the week before.
However another imperious display from Player of the Match Fin Smith coupled with some outstanding performances throughout the team (take a bow Langdon, James and Sleighthome) saw Saints safely home against a late Sarries fightback.
Saints started the fastest, Alex Coles strolling over to finish off some persistent pressure on the Saracens line. Fin Smith converted, 7-0.
Things would get better for the home side James Ramm scoring despite a lengthy TMO check. Smith added the extras in front of the posts again. 14-0.
Smith was at it again a minute later, slotting a penalty to extend the lead to 17.
Saracens would then receive a gift off the restart, Theo McFarland charging down a kick to score. Owen Farrell added the two, 17-7.
Momentum swung to the visitors after a raft of penalties, Farrell once again making the most of it to bring the game back to a one-score game. 17-10.
Saints would have to work hard to make sure they went into the break ahead, Nick Tompkins amongst a number of Saracens players coming close to going over the whitewash.
Saracens hit back straight after the break, Farrell slotting another penalty from under the posts after the hosts were deemed to not roll away at the breakdown. 17-13.
James Ramm would score his second of the game after a nifty Saints breakaway, Smith added the extras. 24-13
Saracens were gifted their second try of the game, Ben Earl charging down another box kick to go in under the posts to the delight of the travelling support, Farrell converted 24-20.
Smith extended the lead back out to 7 points with a penalty before Tommy Freeman continued his fine scoring form notching Saints bonus-point try. 34-20.
The game would be put to bed when Saints extended their lead to 21 points, Ollie Sleightholme picking up a loose pass before racing away to score. Converted yet again. 41-20.
The visitors ended the game with a flurry of tries both coming from Alex Lewington, enough to rescue a try bonus, but would miss out on the losing bonus point with both kicks missed. 41-30
Northampton now look ahead to Munster in the round-of-16 of the Investec Champions Cup at the Gardens next weekend.
Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson says there is “no need for added motivation” as they welcome reigning Gallagher Premiership champions Saracens tonight (7:45 pm March 29).
He said: “It’s always a mental test, it was a mental test going to Bristol, going to Munster, going anywhere it’s a mental test.
“We talk about it when we play in Europe, we talk about it when we then play in the Prem it’s a big challenge to find out where you’re at.
“They are all big tests, and this one is a big one for us.”
Dowson believed that preparation wasn’t quite right after last week’s trip to Bristol but feels like Saracens is a good test to get back on track.
He said: “We need to see how we react to last week’s result as a group and also see where we are as a team.
“Moving into the run-in, I’m excited about that and you want to be challenged by the best teams and they are certainly one of those.”
Fraser Dingwall battles for the ball (Archive pic by Dave Ikin)
Fresh from his return from Six Nations duty with England, Fraser Dingwall was open about the need for a response from the team this week.
He said: “The nature of the loss on Friday is normally teams then give a response.
“You mentioned we are playing the reigning champions at home on Friday night and also it being the Saints Foundation game which is very important to us with the charity and everything they do.
“In terms of occasions, it doesn’t get much bigger for us.”
The centre also reflected on his time with England.
He said: “I look back on it really positively, especially in the early stages.
“Even when I wasn’t involved it was great to be part of a group trying to evolve and go to a different place than rugby and kick on.
“I am very honoured and very fortunate for the chance and be a part of the bigger picture.”
Dingwall also knows no love will be lost once that whistle goes at the Gardens on Friday night.
He said: “Once you come back to your club it becomes your focus.
“There won’t be any issues with who you are competing against but no doubt on game day you know who you are competing for.”
The Saints remain top of the domestic table despite a difficult 52-21 defeat away at Bristol Bears last time out.
Despite hopes that last week’s result was a blip, Dowson understands that his side can’t afford to get complacent in the run into the end of the season.
He said: “I don’t think it is ever a case of the players not trying or not believing in what we are doing.
“It was more of a case of us not quite getting the preparation right, we haven’t done this block right.
“It’s that we don’t want to get it wrong again.”
15 James Ramm 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Burger Odendaal 12 Fraser Dingwall 11 Ollie Sleightholme 10 Fin Smith 9 Tom James
1 Emmanuel Iyogun 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Alex Moon 5 Alex Coles 6 Courtney Lawes (c) 7 Tom Pearson 8 Juarno Augustus
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi 17 Alex Waller 18 Ed Prowse 19 Temo Mayanavanua 20 Lewis Ludlam 21 Sam Graham 22 Archie McParland 23 Tom Litchfield
Hilary Scott reflects on Labour’s second by-election win in the early hours of February 16and how the media coverage really workswhen you cast your vote
Newly elected Labour MP for Wellingborough Gen Kitchen, and Helen Harrison, ousted MP Peter Bone’s girlfriend and Tory candidate who lost the party’s large majority
Election counts are a funny old job as a reporter. You know it’s going to be a very long night when a General Election is eventually called, ending with a ten minute adrenalin hit in the wee small hours – presuming there’s no dreaded re-count. When it’s a by-election, it’s the same, only with far more journalists in one place. This was how it panned out at the Wellingborough by-election in the early hours of February 16.
Your research and ability to remember numbers and faces is pretty important – nothing gets the adrenaline going like having to quote the percentage turnout at the last election (64.27% in 2019), the previous electorate size (80,765) and majority of the now ousted and somewhat notorious Peter Bone (18,540), while also looking for the faces of the candidates (11 of them in this case) who all show up to the count at different times.
While us local hacks largely have the generic leisure centre-based counting halls to ourselves on General Election night, save for a couple of agency stringers, a by-election sees ‘Network’ – the London-based national broadcasters – swarm out into the provinces.
It’s a mixture of getting multiple forms of communication done these days – no longer just getting some background colour for a piece that might be published in the next day’s paper or the next morning’s bulletin. The internet and social media have changed all that. You need candidate arrival quotes, pictures of ballot boxes coming in from various polling stations, pieces to camera every hour or more with ‘updates’, live two-ways with candidates or their team members, pre-records and Tiktoks and live blogs and Twitter (X) threads – not quote so much time for catching up with your fellow journos or campaigners you may not have seen since the last election.
The excellent Northants Telegraph team of four staff members, all of whom know the county and people better than anyone, were live blogging, Tweeting, writing online stories, getting quotes and pictures and liaising with contacts they’d built up over years. Likewise the independent Sarah Ward of subscription newsletter publication NNjournal was working her contacts and getting to the heart of Local Issues for Local People.
BBC Political editor Chris Mason and Sky’s Chief Political correspondent Jon Craig
BBC Political Editor Chris Mason and Sky’s John Craig were the big beasts up from the big smoke and the regional press have to jostle to ensure they are in the front of the scrum for the big reveal. Mason had to leave before the declaration of results as he was due on air first thing but Craig was there until the end, kicked out with the rest of us at 5am as the Kettering Leisure Village closed its doors with most reporters still editing and filing copy.
There’s a lot of camaraderie behind the scenes and at this count some disquiet about a ‘pen’ that had been set up for journalists to stand in, a bit like sports’ mixed zones, which one determined hack decided to test by simply walking out into the hall to interview party representatives as we usually do. Back in your pen woman! (the pen was then moved closer to the entrance but candidates were kept safe from us by the nylon straps and poles more commonly found in a Post Office queue. Phew.
A note: we get warned A LOT about where and when we can report. We are trained journalists do know how to cover a count. We abide by impartiality rules and know we can’t show the ballot papers (although let’s face it, they are all anonymous really) and we don’t detail anything about results until the Returning Officer (in this case High Sheriff Milan Shah) gets on the podium with the final tariff. We KNOW we can’t ‘do anything that interferes with the integrity of the poll‘. We’re not influencers, we’re trained journalists.
Of course, there are always rumours – early doors there was talk of a Labour landslide. Others said it was going to be too close to calls and a recount was on the cards. There was also a man in a giant hat and a white coat called Nick the Flying Brick claiming he was going to abolish gravity. Another bloke was walking about the counting hall with a creepy ventriloquist’s dummy. The far right candidates must have done a weeks’ worth of their step counts just bimbling around the hall for hours.
By the wee small hours there was talk of a Labour landslide again. Reform’s Richard Tice turned up and made a lot of clams about how their candidate, former Tory donor Ben Habib was going to annihilate the Tory vote – the Conservatives still beat them by almost 3,500 votes. Labour’s Gen Kitchen got over 13,000.
Tory Helen Harrison, Nick the Brick, Independents Kev Watts and Marion Turner-Hawes
Elections are performative for a lot of people. It gives them a misplaced sense of importance. They get a special entrance, a different queue, they’re allowed to hang out with people who might actually have power and influence now or in future. Journalists ask for their opinions and take their photos. They cease to be ‘normal’ folk for a while, even if they do, as Britain First’s Alex Merola found out, find fewer than 500 people cast their ballot for you. One candidate, the absent Ankit Love Jknpp Jay Mala Post-Mortem, got 18 votes. There’s an awful lot of hyperbole – ‘the people’ and ‘the public mood’ get quoted a lot, even though their only presence at the count is in the little pieces of white paper they stuck a cross in, which is the actual reason we’re all there.
Then there are the principled local candidates, independents like the former Green party candidate Marion Turner-Hawes and former Northants police office and parish councillor Kev Watts, along with the Green Party’s Bozeat-based Will Morris – who genuinely stick their heads above the parapet and endure the circus because they want to make a difference to the actual constituency. They hand over their £500 deposit knowing they probably won’t get it back (you need 5% of the overall vote to not ‘lose your deposit’).
Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins who campaigned for Wellingborough Labour candidate Gen Kitchen faces the cameras
They know it’s unlikely they will get anywhere near the Big Party candidates who may not even be from the area, but have been parachuted in to make a more general appeal to a wider electorate (see Ben Habib from the Reform Party, formerly the Brexit party, started by Farage after he dumped his UKIPers and to date with no electoral success.)
Reform’s Habib wasn’t even in the right town on the morning of the election, broadcasting from nearby Irthlingborough which is in a different constituency. But to listen to his gang of election supporters, you’d think he was the Second Coming, despite actually coming in third.
Perhaps surprising was the result for the Liberal Democrat candidate Ana Savage Gunn, a well-respected former local police officer who retrained in social care during the pandemic and who might usually expect to be at least in third place, but pushed into fourth with 1422 votes. The moderate Lib Dems might be expected to gain from the electorate’s dislike of the two major parties, but not here.
Will Morris from the Green party,Lib Dem Ana Savage Gunn and Labour’s Jen Kitchen
The unsung heroes of any election are the vote counters – those anonymous council and bank staff who you see flipping expertly through piles of ballot papers with those blue rubber thimbles at super speeds – clicking and stacking and shuffling each precious ballot, careful not to make a single error which could lead to an expensive and soul destroying recount.
Thankfully only one small recount was needed of a rogue box, at around 3am, when the PA system also needed fixing as we were all temporarily deafened by a loud blast of high-pitched feedback. Lots of standing around in our pens was followed by a rush to the stage as press and party supporters were released forward in turn for the result. The BBC, ITV and Sky were running live feeds from the hall, radio reporters were on hold to studios, the rest of us shooting and broadcasting on phones – instructions handed out as to who would be chasing the successful – and unsuccessful – candidates for reaction quotes and shots after the result. No longer the days of simply noting down the result with pen and paper now every scrap of life can be sent in real time.
In the end, we got our result at about 4am, we watched the relief for Labour’s Genevieve ‘Gen’ Kitchen, who had the added pressure of being the favourite in the run-up, even abandoning her honeymoon in Suffolk when Bone was ousted to start her campaign.
Conservative Helen Harrison make a rapid exit after the result
The Tory candidate Helen Harrison, completely unsupported by the national Conservative Party, had had to drag the ghost of her ‘boyfriend’ – the aforementioned disgraced former MP Peter Bone – around on the campaign. After losing the Tories enormous majority, she left the hall chased by the press in the glare of the TV cameras into the rainy early morning. The indignity of it all was visible on the faces of the old-school local Tory councillors (most of them apparently married to each other) who had at least turned up to support her.
The day after the successful result for Labour might have seen Gen Kitchen and husband Joe catch a lie-in, but no, the new member of parliament for Wellingborough had a press call at 11.30am and the following week saw her getting to grips with her new job, new office and a whole heap of urgent tasks for a patch that has been without an MP since Bone’s removal.
While the candidates disappeared into the 5am darkness, the hacks trying urgently to file final updates from the leisure centre were unceremoniously booted out into the rain to finish their reports in the nearest open fast-food restaurants which had working wifi. Some may have been lucky to get any sleep before having to cover the morning after the night before.
And this will all be happening again, in by-elections like Rochdale this week and possibly in Blackpool South, after yet another Tory MP was found to have misbehaved.
We are very much due a full General Election, the first since December 2019, (which was pre-Covid, pre-Partygate and cost-of-living crisis), when ALL candidates across the country will be going through the election night counts from leisure centres, just as they did in Wellingborough and Kingswood, Gloucestershire two weeks ago.
So even if you still feel confused and exhausted by the politics of the country, make sure you register to vote, and don’t forget your ID. It’s the only way to truly make your views on your community and the wider country count. Too many citizens of the world today don’t have that luxury.
Northampton’s iconic Derngate auditorium reached its 40th birthday last year and, as its anniversary season continues, the theatre is launching an online auction raising funds for the Derngate at 40 appeal.
Featuring some exciting lots, including hospitality and theatre experiences and signed sporting memorabilia, the auction will be open for bidding from Monday 5 to Monday 12 February.
Hibiscus
Kindly donated by businesses based in Northamptonshire and the wider region, there is an enticing range of items for which to bid. Highlights include Saints hospitality packages, golf days, tickets for Silverstone Interactive Museum with F1 Simulator, a Comedy Season Ticket, a pendant necklace from Michael Jones Jewellery, unique pieces of theatre artwork, and a hamper and tour from Warners Distillery, to name but a few.
The theatre’s unexpected temporary closure in autumn 2023, due to the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in parts of the foyer, disrupted some of the plans to mark this milestone year but now it is full steam ahead for the rest of the 40th season, with the auction forming an integral part of the Derngate at 40 fundraising activity.
Support for the Derngate at 40 appeal will help the theatre to continue to bring the best live performances from around the world and sustain the charity’s much-loved community and outreach projects. Additionally it will help Royal & Derngate provide a venue for future theatre-goers that is accessible to all and to regenerate the Derngate auditorium seating to give the best visitor experience.
The Derngate at 40 online auction is kindly supported and hosted by Auction Marketer. The auction link will go live from Monday 5 February at 10am. Royal & Derngate’s social media channels is featuring previews of the auction lots and more information about Derngate’s 40th anniversary can be found on the theatre’s website at www.royalandderngate.co.uk/derngate-40/
An anarchic, tender and ‘unfrogettable’ return from the Spymonkey team
“It’s tapdancing frogs Dad, why wouldn’t you want to go?” our 15-year-old, theatre-obsessed daughter chided. She’s been my reviewing sidekick for the last few months but was unavailable for The Frogs press night, and her father was to be my plus-one instead. He didn’t want to miss The Traitors on telly, but the lure of live theatre worked.
I was pretty sure we’d reviewed Spymonkey before – way back in February 2012 it turns out – and a lot has happened to the comedy quartet since. No longer a foursome, as revealed via the play-within-a-play, or ‘falling into the space between scenes.’
Jacoba Williams, Toby Park and Aitor Basauri – Spymonkey 2.0 All images by Manuel Harlan
Actors Toby Park and Aitor Basauri have been forced into a double act, as their former Spymonkey members Petra and Stephan were no longer around in real life. Petra had taken a gig in Vegas and yes, Stephan really did die.
That grief weaves its way through the chaotic retelling of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy, which Spymonkey’s remaining members have been persuaded to stage by newcomer Jacoba Williams (whose multiple costumes and character changes are just amazing). She sweeps the old boys along with both gentle encouragement – they’ll be reviving ‘the first every comedy double act’ – and the scorn of her multiple monster parts, including a muscle-suited Heracles with his swinging chipolata and beans, and a multi-headed monster whose angry puncturing of her various faces is classic Spymonkey.
The Frogs, in summary, is a quest story. The preening half-God Dionysius (Park) and his slave Xanthias (Basauri) have to travel to Hades to bring back the recently dead playwright Euripides. Sent on their way by Heracles (Williams) who assumes they’ll be staying in hell for good, the duo meet various characters along the way, including the aforementioned tap-dancing and psychoactive frogs (played by a Northampton community cast).
The audience doesn’t have to know all the theatre-studies in-jokes, but it helps. Someone was laughing, very loudly, from the moment the first cagoule-clad frog appeared to the giant frog finale and, to be frank, it was a massive distraction for the rest of us.
The storytelling – reflective perhaps of the shattered confidence of the depleted theatre company – is manic. The search for dead Euripides in the ancient Greek is mirrored and morphed into Toby and Aitor’s search for much-mourned Stephan – processing grief right in your face and without apology. Forget breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience – it also broke our hearts a little.
While straight-man Park and his effortlessly funny sidekick Basauri awaken their decades-old comic partnership, it’s Williams who adds the pace. She carries not only the enormous and frankly beautifully mad costumes (bravo Lucy Bradridge), but the contemporary reality of theatre. Is it enough to do jokes about asses and reference numerous old white blokes, when theatre – and the and the society it is supposed to reflect – has changed beyond recognition? (See also: giant moon/mirror as part of the set).
We thoroughly enjoyed the Frogs – yes, it’s bonkers, slightly meandering and not fully formed just yet – but my jaw ached from laughing and the tender sadness of lost friends and aging was palpable.
Please, stick the Traitors on to record and go and see this Made in Northampton co-production while you can. The Frogs runs until Saturday February 3 (with £10 tickets for the under 25s), before it transfers to The Kiln in London. For tickets visit Royal and Derngate Box office or call 01604 624811.
Northampton Saints qualify for the knockouts of the Champions Cup for the first time since 2016 with a 61-14 demolition of Aviron Bayonnais at the cinch stadium at Franklins Gardens on Friday night, writes James Logan.
The home faithful were treated to 11 tries with 9 of those coming for those in Green, Black and Gold making sure the Saints would stay top of Pool 3.
The Saints also made it eight wins in a row in all competitions which has been an informality of their recent past as director of rugby Phil Dowson is aware.
He said: “I think we have a group of lads that have been together through some tough experiences in the past.
“But it is looking like we are turning a corner and they’re taking ownership of the game plan and how they want to play and what they want to achieve.
“I think that’s powerful in terms of the group, who are very, very tight.
“I’m conscious we’ve won absolutely nothing, but we’ve put a run of games together when previously our main criticism was our consistency.”
Unlike their disappointing first 40 at Sandy Park last weekend, the Saints made no mistakes in making a quick start at the Gardens.
Tries from winger Tommy Freeman and flanker Tom Pearson put the home side 21-0 up just 20 minutes into the game, both trying to cement their names in the hat for England’s selection for the Six Nations next Wednesday.
Northampton would complete a half-hour bonus point as fan favourite Courtney Lawes latched onto the end of a lovely Fin Smith pass to find the gap and go over to score.
It would be a disappointing opening 40 for the travelling fans and that wouldn’t get any better as prop Tevita Tatafu would be yellow-carded following a high tackle on Sam Graham.
The home side would capitalise on the one-man advantage with both Curtis Langdon and Alex Waller adding tries just before the half-time break to extend the lead to 42.
The Saints would continue the second half in equally fast fashion, Tom Pearson charging down the left-hand touchline to secure his hat-trick, one of several players in Saints colours who will be wanting to play themselves into a Six Nations squad.
Alex Waller took the home side past the half-century mark moments later going over from close range to add his second of the game and the Saint’s 8th try of the evening.
The visitors would eventually show what their about with a quick-fire double, winger Tom Spring and fullback Aurelien Florian Callandret both scoring to give the travelling support something to cheer about in the Midlands.
Although that wouldn’t come before replacement Tom James put the cherry on top of the cake with the Saint’s 9th and final try of the context.
Man of the match Tommy Freeman was influential throughout the game scoring as well as setting up tries and with the Six Nations around the corner this upturn in form couldn’t have come at a better time.
He said: “It’s always better when we are winning and winning as a team and we’re enjoying it.
“We’re putting our game on the pitch, and we are benefiting from it.”
With Steve Borthwick announcing his England squad on Wednesday, Freeman said he would love another shot at representing his country.
Freeman said: “I think my mindset going into Australia and previous camps was just to take it as it came.
“I felt like I was very young and had it all coming my way.
“Whereas now I think it’s not about just taking your chances but about staying within the mix and staying in the international frame.
“You don’t want to be just sitting on the fringes, which I felt like I was last time, I kind of want to stay right in the thick of it and hopefully stay.”
This win for Saints guaranteed them a place in this season’s Investec Champions Cup round of 16 for the first time in eight years.
With a further chance to have a home round of 16 ties confirmed if other results in pool 3 go their way this weekend.
Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson says the squad are excited for yet another big European game at the Gardens, but they will “need to fire on all cylinders” if they are to get a result.
The Saints have the chance to make it three wins out of three in this season’s Investec Champions Cup, welcoming Top 14 side Aviron Bayonnais, known as Bayonne, on Friday night (8pm, January 12).
Northampton Saints currently top the domestic table, but Dowson understands that this weekend’s opponents are not to be under-estimated.
He said: “It’s another massive challenge, so much quality in their group (Bayonnais) and we are looking forward to measuring up against them.
“They’ll be disappointed about where they are in the league considering the quality of their players they have in their group and at different times they’ve been unlucky.
“And they were unlucky again at the weekend against Bordeaux and they have some world-class talent, and we are going to be on our metal as they can change a game at the turn of a hat.”
The men in Green, Black and Gold currently sit top of pool 3 following back-to-back wins against Toulon and Glasgow, home and away respectively.
With a chance to qualify for the European knockouts for the first time since 2016, Northampton will need to rely on big players stepping up.
Northampton Saints and England back row Tom Pearson is just one player who has relished the opportunities since arriving in the Midlands from London Irish last summer.
He said: “Northampton’s been great in helping me, I just want to keep putting in good performances out on the pitch as the competition is very strong.
“There are a lot of good young players, so I need to continue to keep playing well, impress on the pitch and keep winning at Saints because it looks good if you are winning as a team.”
Northampton were impressive last weekend in their 42-36 win away at Exeter coming from 26 points down to the Chiefs, although they will need to make a better start than last week.
Dowson said: “It’s very hard to put your finger on a single thing.
“But you’ve got to credit Exeter on how they start and how they start frequently at home.
“We were aware of that, and we couldn’t deal with that.”
Dowson spoke openly about his side’s second-half performance crediting the character of those who came off the bench to make such a distinct impact.
He said: “It says a lot about the maturity and confidence of the players, and it sounds ridiculous, but the coaching team were quite relaxed.”
“At least a lot more relaxed than when we actually started to score tries.”
The home side will still be without a raft of players on Friday night, Lewis Ludlam, James Ramm and George Hendy amongst those still sidelined through injury, as announced by Dowson.
George Furbank captains the side from fullback in the third round of the tournament, with Tommy Freeman returning to the starting XV to join Furbank and last weekend’s hat-trick scorer Ollie Sleightholme in Saints’ back three.
Fraser Dingwall starts alongside Rory Hutchinson – who scored the match-winning try in Exeter – in Northampton’s midfield, while Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith both start in Saints’ half-backs. Saints welcome Bayonne to Northampton for the first time in the Club’s history.
Alex Waller returns from injury to start in the front row alongside hooker Curtis Langdon and tighthead prop Trevor Davison, with Temo Mayanavanua and Alex Coles packing down behind them in the second row.
Courtney Lawes – who claimed the Gallagher Premiership Player of the Month award for December earlier this week – returns to Saints’ starting line-up at blindside flanker against Bayonne, with Tom Pearson and Sam Graham also named in the back row (at openside flanker and No.8 respectively) to complete the starting XV.
Dowson opts for a 6-2 split on his bench this Friday, with the likes of Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Juarno Augustus, Angus Scott-Young and Tom Litchfield all set to make an impact from amongst the replacements – while Tom James returns to the matchday squad following a suspension.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs AVIRON BAYONNAIS Investec Champions Cup, Round 3 Friday 12 January, 2024 cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens Kick-off: 8pm
15 George Furbank (c) 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Fraser Dingwall 12 Rory Hutchinson 11 Ollie Sleightholme 10 Fin Smith 9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Temo Mayanavanua 5 Alex Coles 6 Courtney Lawes 7 Tom Pearson 8 Sam Graham
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi 17 Emmanuel Iyogun 18 Elliot Millar Mills 19 Alex Moon 20 Juarno Augustus 21 Angus Scott-Young 22 Tom James 23 Tom Litchfield
Not available for selection: George Hendy, Paul Hill, Lewis Ludlam, Burger Odendaal, James Ramm and Tom Seabrook.
