Reviews & Awards

for Three's Company

On this page you can see some highlights from our reviews. Use the drop down menu at the top right to jump to where you want to go.

Reverie

"It's in the nocturnal world of the 'lucid dreamer' that Fringe favourites Three's Company set their latest tale... It's very good indeed. Impeccably acted, strongly scripted and with a truly distinctive style, Three's Company have produced another highlight for this year's Fringe."
Richard Stamp, Fringe Guru : August 2010
"Well scripted, well-delivered,,, well worth seeing"
Barbara Wilson, Buxton Fringe Review : July 2010
"Three's Company have managed to excel with their latest Fringe offering Reverie."
Graeme Stracham, British Theatre Guide : August 2010
"A work of evident talent and strong elements."
Gerald Berkowitz, The Stage : August 2010
"Beautifully staged... a stylish and well-crafted production"
Claire Smith, The Scotsman : August 2010
"Reverie follows on from one of my favourite pieces of theatre in the 2009 Fringe – Play On Words. It is a work that operates at a completely different pace from its predecessor but that only shows the level of dexterity that this group have at their disposal. I would not hesitate in recommending this play to anyone who has an interest in modern theatre; such is the stuff that dreams are made of."
David Marren, AllTheFestivals.com: August 2010

The World's Greatest Walking Tour Of Buxton

"The conceit, writing and delivery are classic Crawshaw, witty, intelligent and surreal. The happy band of followers laughed long and hard in the pouring rain. A most enjoyable hour."
John Wilson, Buxton Fringe Review : July 2010

A Live Transmission of Adventure Time

Adventure Time
"Left me breathless but smiling... a hugely entertaining show. Three's Company were on top form"
Martin Wood, Buxton Fringe Review : July 2009
"Pun-dimensional and spoof-tacular: a farce to be reckoned with!"
Sam Tanody, The Trogolodyte: September 2009

Auditorium

Auditorium

Summer 2008 Tour (Buxton, Edinburgh) (top of page)

“Magnificent… a perfectly balanced gem of a show… This continually entertaining and warm-hearted play proves that anything's possible.” *****
Richard Stamp, Fringe Guru: 5th August 2008
“Tom Crawshaw's script is quite excellent. A tongue-in-cheek Cache for the stage - makes for many laughs and a wistful finale” ****
Frank Lazarski, Fest: 6th August 2008
“On one level this play is funny and silly, and on another level it is clever and raises some important questions; most importantly, it had everyone laughing out loud and it left me feeling thoroughly entertained. This play was odd, but brilliant, and well worth seeing.” ****
Frances Allan, Three Weeks: 10th August 2008
“Three's Company, the creators of last year's Fringe hit, Play On Words, are offering another hilariously interactive experimental comedy this year. This clever play is not just highly amusing, but also something you're unlikely to see elsewhere.” ****
Natasha Long, Broadway Baby: 13th August 2008
“Any battle cries from the miserabilist anti-Fringers, who suggest that innovation is waning at this year's festival, should be silenced by this.”
The Scotsman: 15th August 2008
“The ingenious premise, a series of brilliant little coups de theatre and some strong comic performances make this a very watchable show from an inventive young company.”
The Stage: 16th August 2008
“A gloriously diverting, sprawling, anarchic mess of a play (and I do mean that as a compliment). It moves at a cracking pace and is often very funny indeed. Its use of the audience is very clever.”
Victor Hallett, On Stage Scotland: 18th August 2008
“Oh my goodness! This performance is amazing: it is imaginative, innovative, unique, intelligent and very funny. The whole cast was outstanding, extremely confident and above all made it an evening of fun and much laughter.”
Jenny Heyward, Official Buxton Fringe Review: 14th July 2008
“I honestly can't recommend it highly enough. Be prepared for tears of laughter and plenty of surprises!”
Jenny Heyward, Official Buxton Fringe Review: 14th July 2008

Play on Words

Play On Words

London 2010(top of page)

"Both smart and funny... and ingenious little box of tricks"
The Times : January 2010
"Michael Grady-Hall, as Fred, and Yaz Al-Shaater, as Eddie, build an intense, ultimately fractured relationship that maintains the interest throughout..."
Derek Smith, The Stage : January 2010
"Lightfooted and adept at scrambling the act of theatre... Three's Company's rug-pulling production keeps you on your toes for most of its 70 minutes."
Brian Logan, Time Out : January 2010
"The writer, Tom Crawshaw, has clearly spent some considerable time wrestling with his material and with three fine actors in the shape of Michael Grady-Hall, Yaz Al-Shaater and Meriel Rosenkranz has produced a hugely refreshing, sharp, stimulating and utterly commendable piece of theatre... Witty, thoughtful stuff that's consistently entertaining and full of delicious surprises."
Alison Goldie, Remote Goat : January 2010
"I'm still won over by the simple chutzpah of throwing so many concepts into the blender. It could easily get out of hand, but it doesn't; it's a tight and finely-engineered work, where details of dialogue which at first seem off-the-wall later prove perfectly-formed and crucial."
Richard Stamp, Fringe Guru : January 2010
Play On Words

Summer 2009 Tour(top of page)

"A script that crackles with vitality and exuberance showing a great command of the language that is used throughout - whether through clever punning or the artillery of quick-barbed remarks that they have at their disposal - the result highly innovative and enthralling.
Energy and originality compete with each other right through to the conclusion. Outstanding"
David Marren, AllTheFestivals.com : August 2009
"Sizziling with intellectual jokes and wonderfully witty puns. The shift in tempo from funny to serious was remarkably well-handled. Three's Company are absolutely aware of what they're doing and are all the better for it!"
Susan Safari, Three Weeks: August 2009
"Finely constructed and intriguingly woven... fresh and alive throughout. A graceful waltz through words and how they are used."
Andy Slater, Remote Goat: August 2009
"Sophisitcated and extremely funny... It makes great use of puns - luckily they're excellent. Crawshaw is the master of his materials."
Lloyd Evans, The Spectator: August 2009
"Fine word play... well-judged and dark. I can tell you that all is explained, and the explanation hurts. Words aren't just to be played with, it turns out; words can lead to tragedy, too."
Richard Stamp, Fringe Guru: August 2009
Play On Words

Summer 2007 Tour (London, Buxton, Edinburgh) (top of page)

"Jammed full of witticisms, with conversations spilling over with double entendres and misunderstandings that have the audience erupting with laughter from the start" ****
Nat Dyer, Fest: 22nd August 2007
"A very good play indeed… in such a way that reveals just how well it has been written and performed from the start"
Victor Hallet, OnStage Scotland: 20th August 2007
"Philosophical musings and witty wordplay... softened by physical comedy, audience participation and experimental presentation. Stoppard for the Gondry generation" ****
Hazel Smith, Three Weeks: 13th August 2007
"The best thing to happen to puns since the double entendre!" ****
FringeBlogger.blogspot.com: 18th August 2007
"Exceptionally clever... highly polished... definitely one of the best productions on this year's Fringe. Don't miss!"
Peter Lowe, Official Fringe Review: 13th July 2007
Play On Words

Buxton Fringe 2006 (previews) (top of page)

"The audience loved the show, laughing uproariously... what can a reviewer say that will add anything to that?"
Robbie Carnegie, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2006
"Go and see it."
Robbie Carnegie, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2006

Later Showers

Later Showers

Edinburgh Fringe 2005 (top of page)

"Whatever else you are planning to do this week – see this show. If you are fully booked, cancel others." *****
Pippa Tennant, EdinburghGuide.com: 20th August 2005
"Deeply moving..."
'FestivalFive', The Daily Mail: 26th August 2005
"Explores the theme in a considered and thoughtful way and is, by turns, terribly desperate and darkly comic."
Charlotte Smith, Three Weeks: 24th August 2005
"This impressive production penetrates vast depths of insight, creating an intelligent and engaging performance. Wow. I was stunned and I hope you will be too."
Pippa Tennant, EdinburghGuide.com: 20th August 2005
"The professionalism of these talented young men... is astonishing."
'FestivalFive', The Daily Mail: 26th August 2005
"Moving and sad, Later Showers is one to see."
Charlotte Smith, Three Weeks: 24th August 2005
Later Showers

Buxton Fringe 2004 (top of page)

"A remarkably taut drama... an astonishingly virtuoso performance... what a bright future lies before them!"
Peter Low, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2004
Later Showers

Buxton Opera House Studio Season 2004 (top of page)

"Deep and compelling... a tour-de-force!"
Jackie Cruse, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 4th March 2004
"A powerful performance: moving yet full of life..."
Jackie Cruse, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 4th March 2004
"Sometimes frightening, sometimes funny and always moving."
Jackie Cruse, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 4th March 2004

Crash Course

Buxton Fringe 2007 (top of page)

"The true spirit of The Fringe! Driving Miss Daisy as you've never seen it!"
Stoon Barrar, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2007
"A high-octane mixture of adrenalin & nervous energy... cutting edge!"
Stoon Barrar, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2007

Plane of Existence

Buxton Fringe 2005 (top of page)

"Full of fun and humour... you need to see this play!"
Aly Phillips, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2005
"Enormously funny... quick, light-hearted and very clever, extreme comedy... You must see this play before it stops showing!"
Sean Wilde, BuxtonFringe.com: 15th July 2005

Othello

Buxton Opera House Studio Season 2004 (top of page)

"Truly memorable... this young troupe have really come of age"
Paul Dearden, Buxton Advertiser: November 2004
"From start to finish, this production exuded energy, talent and professionalism... Quite incredible."
Anna Lomas, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 13th November 2004
"Full of fine acting... Buxton's worst kept secret!"
Paul Sullivan, Vine Magazine: November 2004
"Wonderfully effective.... very strong performances from the whole cast"
Anna Lomas, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 13th November 2004

Income Taxi

Buxton Fringe 2004 (top of page)

"Subtle, engaging, and well paced... very good indeed."
Nick Butterly, BuxtonFringe.org.uk: 14th July 2004

Platformation

Buxton Fringe 2004 (top of page)

"a feat of slick timing, superb technical effects and high comedy... truly and desperately hilarious."
Nicki Martin, Official Fringe Review: 12th July 2004
"Slick, smooth and satisfying... get down there while you still can!"
Nicki Martin, Official Fringe Review: 12th July 2004

Buxton Fringe 2003 (top of page)

"An electric theatre atmosphere... the audience was in stitches!"
Ben Turner, Official Fringe Review: 8th July 2003
"Neatly avoids the title 'student' despite the fact it was written, edited, directed, produced and acted by three talented guys who are still barely gifted with their adult teeth. ('Aren’t they sweet?' I heard one woman say…)"
Nick Butterly, BuxtonFringe.org.uk: 10th July 2003
"Looking good, very good..."
Ben Turner, Official Fringe Review: 8th July 2003
"Very fine work indeed."
Nick Butterly, BuxtonFringe.org.uk: 10th July 2003
"Judging by the audience's applause, an express (train) lesson in comedy that was right on track. First class"
Ben Turner, Official Fringe Review: 8th July 2003

The Company

"Precocious theatre innovators"
The Times: 8th January 2010
"A clearly inventive company"
The Stage: 12th January 2010
"Buzzy young performance trio"
Time Out: 9th January 2010
"It's very satisfying to see Three's Company mess about/create finely wrought drama."
Remote Goat: 18th January 2010
"I'm excited by what could yet be to come; it's easy to forget how young Three's Company are, and how much they might still have to show us as their work and their craft matures."
Fringe Guru: 19th January 2010
"Three's Company have it in them to be truly exceptional"
Fringe Guru: 9th August 2009
"This company are absolutely aware of what they're doing and are all the better for it."
Three Weeks: 13th August 2009
"An inventive young company... full of experimental ambition"
The Stage: 19th August 2007
"An extraordinarily talented company"
What's On Stage: 12th August 2010
"Took the fringe by storm… leaving the reviewers floundering for superlatives!"
Vine Magazine: 5th November 2007
"A recorded success and an overflow of potential"
Fringe Blogger: 18th August 2007
"Their huge following in the town and beyond is the result of a series of prodigiously talented productions over a number of years... a company with a vision and strength of purpose"
Robbie Carnegie, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2006
"I hope to have the honour to see more of them in the future!"
BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 13th November 2004
"A company with breathtaking power… they really do deserve to be noticed!"
Nicki Martin, Official Fringe Review: 12th July 2004
"Extraordinary professionalism… what a bright future lies ahead of them..."
Peter Low, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2004
"A brilliant and highly talented company"
Anna Lomas, Official Opera House Review: 13th November 2004
"Buxton's worst kept secret!"
Vine Magazine: 5th November 2004
"A talented trio... it's a privilege to be able to watch talent like this"
Ben Turner, Official Fringe Review: 8th July 2003

Michael Grady-Hall

"Grady-Hall really shows us what he's made of, holding things together by a thread as his character's world starts to crumble in around him. One difficult, ambitious segue from happiness to despair was utterly convincing, and a final outburst of frightening violence triggered both shock and empathy."
FringeGuru: January 2010
"Grady-Hall is in serious danger of busting a blood vessel in a terrifying, but impressive tirade near the show's close."
The Stage: January 2010
"Michael Grady-Hall switches from one character to the next with instantaneous clarity and credibility"
Pippa Tennant, EdinburghGuide.com: 20th August 2005
"Grady-Hall is a young actor as riveting as any you will see on the stage"
Paul Sullivan, Vine Magazine: 5th November 2004
"An astonshingly virtuoso performance from Michael... a young man with exceptional talent"
Peter Low, Official Fringe Review: 11th July 2004
"Such discipline, absorbtion and sheer believability… in a 16-year old student is nothing short of mindboggling"
Jackie Cruise, BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 4th March 2004

Tom Crawshaw

Crawshaw's script telegraphs its own artifice with twisty verbal gags and neat symmetries"
Time Out: January 2010
"Crawshaw is the master of his materials. His next play will be watched with interest."
The Spectator: January 2010
"This continually entertaining and warm-hearted play proves that Crawshaw, like his characters, is truly in another world."
FringeGuru on Auditorium: August 2008
"Tom Crawshaw's script is quite excellent."
Fest Magazine on Auditorium: August 2008
"Tom Crawshaw is a real playwright."
Theatre Guide London: January 2010
"Tom Crawshaw is manning the lights and setting the evening's somewhat anarchic tone, intriguingly breaking down established technical boundaries with shouted cues and withering remarks to cast and audience alike."
The Stage: January 2010
"When author Tom Crawshaw has Fred declare that audiences are 'very stupid' he's giving us a coded pat on the back; he trusts us to defy his character's doubts, and he'll throw in a few iambic-pentameter gags to prove it."
Richard Stamp,FringeGuru: January 2010
"The conceit, writing and delivery are classic Crawshaw, witty, intelligent and surreal."
John Wilson, Buxton Fringe Review: July 2010
"Tom Crawshaw's writing is subtle and thoughtful"
Fringe Review: August 2010
"Stoppard for the Gondry generation."
Hazel Smith, ThreeWeeks: 13th August 2007
"Surely a great future awaits this talented young author!"
Peter Lowe, Buxton Fringe Review: 13th July 2007
"Tom’s writing is masterful and mature"
Jackie Cruse, Opera House Review: 4th March 2004

Yaz Al-Shaater

"Yaz Al-shateer is an engaging lead, journeying into depths of his own mind."
What's On Stage: August 2010
"Yaz Al-Shaater does full justice to Crawshaw's lyrical text, selling his lines to the maximum right from the opening words. Describing his dreams, he painted a picture so vivid that when he stared at an imagined horizon, I involuntarily turned to see it too."
Richard Stamp,FringeGuru: August 2010
"[Reverie is] played convincingly throughout by Yaz Al-Shaater with an assured stage presence"
AllTheFestival.com: August 2010
"...the appeal of the cast — the loose-limbed, faintly bemused Al-Shaater in particular."
The Times: January 2010
"Al-Shaater is a versatile, confident talent"
The Stage: January 2010
"Yaz Al-Shaater gives a selfless but quietly comedic performance as Eddie"
Richard Stamp,FringeGuru: January 2010
"Sensitively and powerfully captured Othello’s torment and passion"
Paul Sullivan, Vine Magazine: 5th November 2004
"An extremely talented actor... deserves to go far!"
Anna Lomas, Official Opera House Review: 13th November 2004
"His innovative and exciting mastery of sound and lighting created a haunting ambience"
BuxtonOpera.co.uk: 4th March 2004

Awards

The Nightingale Award for tweeting excellence, The Pleasance 2010
Best New Writing, Buxton Fringe 2010, Tom for Reverie (nomination)
Best Actor, Buxton Fringe 2010, Alexandra for Reverie (nomination)
Best Event, Buxton Fringe 2010, for The World's Greatest Walking Tour Of Buxton (nomination)

Buxton Fringe 30th Anniversary Award, 2009, Speacial Achievement Award for Three's Company
Best Actor, Buxton Fringe 2009, Michael for Play On Words (nomination)
Best Actor, Buxton Fringe 2009, Meriel for Play On Words (nomination)

Winner, One Minute Theatre Festival, 2007, for Dreams May Come

Cameron Mackintosh New Writing Award (2007), for Play On Words
Best Production by a Young Company, Buxton Fringe 2006, for Play On Words
Best Comedy, Buxton Fringe 2006, for Play On Words (nomination)
Best Young Actor, Buxton Fringe 2006, Yaz for Play On Words (nomination)

Best Director, Lost Theatre: One Act Play Festival, Michael for Woman Of Uncertain Age

Best Musical Comedy, Buxton Fringe 2005, for Plane Of Existence
Best New Writing, Buxton Fringe 2005, for Plane Of Existence (nomination)

Award for Contribution to Tourism, Derbyshire County Council, 2005

Best Young Actor, Buxton Fringe 2004, Michael for Later Showers
Best Actor, Buxton Fringe 2004, for Michael, for Later Showers (nomination)
Best New Writing, Buxton Fringe 2004, for Tom, for Later Showers (nomination)

Best Production by a Young Company, Buxton Fringe 2003, for Platformation
Best Comedy, Buxton Fringe 2003, for Platformation (nomination)
Best Production, Buxton Fringe 2003, for Platformation (nomination)
Best New Writing, Buxton Fringe 2003, for Platformation (nomination)