|
|
|
|
|
"A
heartwarmingly funny trip on the charabanc of life
in the company of the warm and amusing Violet
Sackville - Rhoad. Vi
- if I may call her that - alias Philip Cox- (in
disguise as his own Gran presumably) takes a
sideways look at institutions we hold dear and
invites us to ponder on exactly why. Why feng
shui, why feed meringue to poodles and tie budgies
to elastic and why oh why would you want to
genitally modify a tomato? Well,
I don't know why - but I spent an entertaining hour
in the company of someone who might be able to
advise me. Presumably
the volumes under the coffee table in her
conservatory inspired Vi's homespun wisdom.
'Chicken soup for the Woman's Soul' possibly
prompted her reflections on TV chefs. I
recommend an hour in the company of this lovely old
lady at the end of a hard day. Philip
Cox is clearly multi-talented, appearing as he does
in Going to the Lordyearlier in the evening. Why
not take in both shows?. Never
underestimate the power of a pale cream sherry..
(Nicola
Martin, Buxton Festival Fringe 2002)
BACK
Get
a Life! Get a Life Coach! - Blackpool
Grand Theatre Studio 2002 The
wisdom (and wit) of Violet Sackville-Rhoad may not
yet rank up there with the world's leading
philosophers or raconteurs but who could resist
such advice as "in the supermarket of life we don't
need more than five items - and certainly not a
trolley." The
latest 'lady' to join the ranks of Dame Edna and
Hinge and Brackett may have learnt all 'she' knows
from the little known Women are from Venezuela Men
are from Matlock but it was enough to fill the
Grand's intimate studio. Fashionably
late enough to leave alter ego, writer and
co-producer Philip Cox in the limelight
entertaining everyone (except the couple who walked
out actually believing Violet had made a diversion
via the half price sale at the Everything
£1 shop) the Derbyshire dowager of dowdiness
wastes no time in sharing her meanderings and
malapropisms. Cox's
creation weaves a fascinating web of contemporary
references, half-baked ideas and homespun homilies.
A cult figure at the moment, Violet's day will dawn
and when it does she's sure to have plenty of
barley sugar with her. (Robin
Duke, Blackpool Gazette 6th June 2002)
BACK
Ramblings
of a mad old woman - Brighton Festival
2002 "The
point of being a life coach, as Violet
Sackville-Rhoad would say, is to sort out other
people's mess and have a laugh at them behind their
backs. The trouble is, there is so much mess in the
world, where do you start? These
are the ramblings of a mad old woman; the world's
first septuagenarian life coach. In
Violet, actor Philip Cox has created a character
who looks at the world through the eyes of a
pensioner exposed to the new-age world through
means of the internet and who has stumbled across
all the advice needed to become a life coach.
In
this one-woman show, Cox made some fantastic
observations about life and cracked some truly
delicious gags." (Cliff
Ettridge, Brighton Evening Argus 27 May 2002)
BACK
Dotty
Violet is a wonderful success "Last
night's Get a Life! Get a Life Coach! wasn't as
much a guide to a new way of looking at life as a
tour through one outrageous character's bizarre
view of what modern living is about. Violet
Sackville-Rhoad is that slightly batty aunt that,
as a child, you used to visit once a year during
the summer. In
this show, the 75-year old house widow - "I do so
hate that term, it makes me sound like a poisonous
spider" - lets forth on the ways of modern life.
Using her five catchwords as guides - which also
create the basis for a witty end of show song -
Violet muses over such subjects as diverse as
personal computers and the internet, home-made
marmalade and Derbyshire rhyming slang. The
result is a remarkable performance by actor and
writer Philip Cox whose seamless portrayal of the
dotty and slightly forgetful, if most old fashioned
of modern women, is a wonderfully rehearsed
success." Ian
Waller, Bath Chronicle - 18 January 2002
BACK
There
can have been few life coaches to match 70-year old
Derbyshire widow Violet Sackville-Rhoad, who
arrives at the Rondo Theatre in Bath at the start
of a national tour. Written
and played by experienced West End actor Philip
Cox, Violet is the focus of an hour long ramble
through an amorphous range of 21st century foibles
and fancies. Using her newly-acquired status as an
American-style life coach - "more like a life
charabanc really" - she mixes truly dreadful puns
that no self-respecting pantomime dame would dare
embrace with some splendidly wry comments on modern
living. Her
numerous 'Rhoad rage' attacks a number of easy
targets including the Dome and Feng Shui while also
managing some genuinely offbeat barbs at phenomena
such as the Punctuation Society website
(,/,:.co.uk) and genitally modified food. I
particularly liked her criticism of Spanish tenor
Placebo Domingo as "not doing a thing for me".
(Jeremy
Brien, The Stage - 24 January 2002)
BACK
"Good
interactive theatre is meant to challenge the
senses and keep you on your toes, and an
interesting version of lateral thinking was on
display at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff last week.
Get
a Life! Get a Life Coach! starring Philip Cox
in the guise of Violet Sackville-Rhoad, is a
beautifully crafted journey through the thought
process of a favourite auntie on the verge of
self-destruction. Violet
was a product of a tremendous musical comedy,
Boorskale, which played at the Palace last year,
when Philip moulded the role into his own style.
Boorskalewas about three elderly sisters and their
equally elderly neighbour, who end up in a care
home for their own safety as well as that of the
neighbourhood. "It
was a tremendous part and so open for development"
said Philip "Violet's mind tends to fly off at
tangents, all perfectly clear to her, but you have
to be quick to follow her." Tangent
flying, which includes classic Thora Hird style
mispronunciations such as "I don't agree with all
that budgie jumping - it's so cruel on those poor
little birds" is just an example. The
performance is a superb display by an actor who
knows exactly how to manage his audience as well as
react to the unexpected, like a cough from the
audience, which immediately becomes part of the act
as the audience attempt to keep up. There
were times when we got there before him, but he
changed direction and left us with more to think
and laugh about. This
is a finely crafted production, which is great fun
as well. Last week I said Violet's thought process
were like a bowl of spaghetti. This week I modify
that to one that has been attacked with a chain
saw." (Romford
Recorder 28 September 2001) BACK
"...the
show was beautifully put together with slick sound
effects, pleasing sets and a script that was well
constructed...." |
|
|
