The April Culture Review

Once a month, we bring together reviews of Medway’s cultural highlights in a single round-up, produced exclusively for our paid supporters. This month, our team of intrepid cultural reviewers present music, theatre, and food from across our towns...

Tales From the High Street: Leonard's of Rochester
Store 104, Rochester, 3 Apr

I must confess that I had never actually heard of this iconic department store that dominated the shopping habits of many in Medway (and beyond) for almost 90 years. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure whether its story would sufficiently captivate me to fend off the inevitable post-Easter egg sugar slump.

However, from the moment the impeccable (in both dress and manners) Miss Honey warmly welcomed us through the door, the years melted away, and we were immediately immersed in what life would have been like for the staff and shoppers of this once beloved jewel in Rochester High Street’s crown. Staged at Store 104, the present-day shop had been evocatively transformed to reflect Leonard’s different ages and incarnations.

Before the performance began in earnest, we were invited to browse the eras, guided by expertly trained staff, who gently quizzed on favourite fabrics and encouraged us to sport, with a touch of panache, a superb selection of stylish hats. Surrounded by beautiful black and white photos of bygone times, there may have even been the odd morsel of gossip thrown in for good measure, but we would be too discreet to repeat it here.

From a painting found in the archives, set designer Claire Rowlands beautifully recreated the eight buildings that formed Leonards. These delightful shop fronts were the springboard for an amusing run-through by the talented cast of some potential purchases for the discerning patron: novelty breadboards, a vacuum ‘for the wife’ and ‘some lingerie, sir?’, reminiscent of a favourite Father Ted moment involving lost and increasingly terrified priests.

The staff were made up of enthusiastic and energetic members of Medway Play Lab CIC improv group, but at the heart of the production were the terrific trio of Mr Leonard (David Sayers), Mrs Strout (Kate Mechedou) and Miss Honey (Nic Lamont), all generating genuine moments of comedy, pathos and heartfelt emotion as we walked alongside them to witness the rise and fall of this stalwart of Rochester’s retail history.

A particularly touching moment between the two women was the song Closing Time, poignantly written by Nic Lamont and orchestrated by Matthew Fisher, mirroring the reality that you could only have either a career or children – you couldn’t have both.

The audience also enjoyed the opportunity to show off their pipes by participating in a particularly rousing rendition of Deck The Halls and Our High Street History; at this point, I think everyone was just grateful that I mimed.

Other highlights included original audio from former employees, recalling the repercussions from ordering the wrong stripes for a school uniform; the recreation of the pneumatic air pressure tube payment system; and a simply fabulous vintage clothing catwalk, courtesy of Desdemona Style & Vintage, with a parasol and bathing suit to die for.

The store had a well-deserved reputation – “Leonards for Quality” – and it is clear that that this richly crafted and executed production more than lives up to that legacy. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, this is a stunning example of how heritage and history can continue to connect and cement communities today. - Anne Marie Jordan

Little Storping in the Swuff: Hassle Olympics

I mean, it’s brilliant. Obviously. Why beat around the bush? We’re all busy people with lives to lead, sinks to unblock, and children to pack off to school.

Little Storping in the Swuff’s second album, Hassle Olympics, glories in a mix of swirling 60s psychedelia, 90s indie nostalgia and – but of course – lyrics about the hum and drum of life. Where its predecessor, 2024’s sublime Baroque Anxieties, concentrated on the internal world of David Goggin’s unease, this second outing sees him turn his gaze to the unnerving world of – brace yourselves – other people.