Old Wicked Songs

Although the gentle professor and arrogant mixed up student argue and disagree a lot, they both discover a new understanding of Schumann's song-cycle and they both have thoughts on the atrocities of the 2nd World War which effected the professor and now has an effect on the young student.

This is a gentle , sentimental and humorous play with some excellent acting from Bob Hoskins who plays Professor Josef Mashkan and James Callis who plays the student, Stephen Hoffman. This is Hoskins first stage performance for 13 years and it is Hoffman's stage debut, but you wouldn't think it. They both capture their characters superbly, they were very convincing and they complemented each other perfectly. The only gripe, I found Hoskin's accent a little hard to understand, but I soon got used to it.

With just two people in the cast who both talk and play the piano quite a lot without much action , it makes you feel very comfortable and relaxed. The trouble with this is that you may start to fall a sleep if you're tired. This is not to say the the play is boring, it is not.

(Darren Dalglish)