What the critics say....
The Marriage of Figaro
'Hickman makes a fine wench of Fanchette'
'(The audience) should enjoy the originality of Sarah Travis' incidental music, especially as played on Joanna Hickman's plangent cello'
Judi Herman, Whatsonstage.com
http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/southeast/E8831309963026/The+Marriage+of+Figaro+(Newbury).htmlChess no 1 Tour:
'To describe these super talented people as actor-musicians is an understatement; they act, they sing, they dance and at the same time they play a full range of musical instruments, producing a sound just as good as I've heard from any traditionally seated theatre orchestra.
There are some incredibly strong voices within the cast, and the score they have to perform is full of incredibly powerful music, some of it with a choral quality that wouldn't sound out of place in a cathedral, some of it almost operatic, and some of it pure rock ballad.'
Vivienne Kennedy, Guide2Bristol
'This production... is clearly on crystal meth and styled by Lady Gaga, a whirlwind of pop-culture elements.. The show-stealing ensemble are dressed as flamboyant, Westwood-esque chess pieces, with black-bobbed, black lipped pawns in military dress. Christopher Woods' incredible designs animate the politics of the chessboard, each piece vivid and charismatic in its own right.'
Lucy Thackray, The Public Reviews
http://thepublicreviews.blogspot.com/2011/03/chess-hippodrome-bristol.html
Grimm Tales:
'The production moves along at a perfect pace like a well-engineered piece of machinery. The actors work as a perfect ensemble, all telling stories, acting and playing instruments to a very high standard. It may be a reviewers' cliché, but it really is impossible to pick out any individuals from a cast that works so perfectly as an ensemble: Peter Ashmore, Angela Bain, Jack Beale, Sarah Groarke, Joanna Hickman, Jack Lord, Sophia Nomvete and David Ononokpono plus musician Mark Aspinall.
There are no concessions at all to this being a children's show as the tales contain death, violence and some grisly images (mostly told rather than seen but still present) acted with realistic emotions and with none of the 'Disneyfication' of these stories that later occurred due to a misguided attempt to protect children from anything mildly upsetting in fiction leaving them unprepared for upset in real life. Conor Mitchell's music certainly doesn't come close to the jolly pop music of many other Christmas shows, using string, woodwind and percussion to produce sounds that vary from lush and tuneful to harsh and atonal.
That doesn't mean that it is unsuitable for children; far from it. It adds up to a perfect marriage of music, movement, acting, storytelling and visual imagery in a slick and superbly-performed piece of theatre that is appropriate for all ages and is about the perfect length for this type of production.'
David Chadderton, British Theatre Guide
Saturday Night:
'Helena Blackman and Joanna Hickman are compelling female leads', Norman Lebrecht, Bloomberg News
Dorian Gray:
'There is a mesmerising performance from Joanna Hickman, who brings a haunted quality to both the doomed Sibyl Vane, who falls in love with Dorian, and the servant boy, Leaf, who is corrupted by creeping knowledge' Lyn Gardner, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/jan/14/dorian-gray-leicester-square-basement
Dracula:
'Other performances of note are that of Joanna Hickman and Oliver Hume. Hickman impressively switches between the irritatingly virginal Lucy; a lustful vampette brazenly dropping to the floor baring teeth and hissing; and backseat role of cellist.'
Kathleen Hall, Whatsonstage
'Joanna Hickman's Lucy is also a nice young gal, with a brief but dangerous vicious moment when she bares her teeth in her vampire transformation'
Howard Loxton, The British Theatre Guide
'Alex Loveless's musical adaptation of Bram Stoker's vampire classic has one really excellent
sequence. In life, Lucy (Joanna Hickman) is a bit of a pallid simperer. Vampirisation brings about a dramatic improvement: when Van Helsing digs up her coffin to cut off her head, in place of Arthur Holmwood's insipid old fiancée he discovers an alluring, fully-fledged femme fatale.'
Robert Shore, Time Out
Merrily We Roll Along:
'Joanna Hickman's sweetly trusting Beth turns spiteful, agonised avenger in the wake of Frank's infidelity.'
Sam Marlowe, The Times
'At one point, Beth plays the cello as if she is sawing off her husband's head.'
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
'Joanna Hickman is the knockout performance as Frank's first wife, Beth. Her transformation from bitter divorcee to naive, fresh faced youth is the most convincing and also the most apparent' Damian Sandys, The Public Reviews
'At the same time, the performance of the night in some ways is Joanna Hickman's Beth, here holding a cello almost bigger than she is and attired in a virginal, bridal white as if in constant rebuke to the Franklin who flung her aside for Rebecca Jackson's predatory, flaming-haired Gussie.'
Matt Wolf, Theater News Online , http://www.theaternewsonline.com/LondonTheatreReviews/THEIRTIME.cfm
Sweeney Todd reviews:
'....other eye-catching performances include blonde Joanna Hickman as a Du Pre-like, cello-playing Johanna, and Gemma Page on clarinet as a stooping Beggar Woman like Mrs Overall from Acorn Antiques'
The Stage, 15/2/06, http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/11590/sweeney-todd
'Outstanding was Joanna Hickman as Sweeney's long lost daughter Johanna'
Manchester Confidential, 20/03/2006,
http://www.manchesterconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNw7jNwOrIpqiNwF6IHqi
Peter Pan reviews:
'Justine Koos, however, is a tough, touslehaired Peter, Joanna Hickman a sweet Wendy'
Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph, December 2004,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/3633029/This-magical-show-refuses-to-grow-old.html)
'The entire cast showcases its musical and acting talent... As Wendy, Joanna Hickman enchants with her naive smiles and sweet songs'
Jon Lewis, Newbury Weekly News, December 2004
http://www.newburytheatre.co.uk/archive/200412f.htm
Into the Woods
'..while Joanna Hickman was a feisty Little Red, refusing to be fazed by a lascivious wolf'
Newbury News, 5/8/04 http://www.lhi.org.uk/docs/Page_2_5_aug.pdf
Putting It Together
'It's nigh impossible to single anyone out in this word-perfect, pitch perfect production - extremely likeable performers Joanna Hickman, Hannah Whittingham, Matt Woodgate, Christopher Berry and Al Brookshaw all have luscious voices, they move well, raise the spirits with the comedy numbers, tear at the heartstrings with the sadder songs, and I can't remember the last show in which there was so much smouldering (especially in the sexy Bang - grrrrrrrr doesn't begin to cover it)...
The cast of this show have the audience in the palm of their hands from the start and never let go'
The Scotsman, 13/08/04
CSSD showcase:
'There are, however, a few notable solo spots for Joanna Hickman, grabbing Miss Marmelstein from I Can Get it for you Wholesale and making it her own'
Mark Shenton, The Stage, 30/04/2004
http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/1896/central-school-of-speech-drama-ma-acting