This year's New Year's Eve theatre outing was a little different to last year's. Firstly there was the rendition of Auld Lang Syne with he cast at the curtain call (can now say I did Auld Lang Syne with Simon Russell Beale) and it was a musical or rather there were a lot of songs, the same number as you'd have in a musical, Poly said.

I knew there were songs in Privates on Parade, a lot of people told me there were songs but I didn't realise quite how many.

One or two I liked the rest I would have fast forwarded through, I just think they get in the way of the story - but I'm not going to digress into my 'why I don't like musicals' explanation.

Privates on Parade is a good story mixing humour and japes with hints of insight into the harsh realities of a post war, dying colonial empire, racism and homophobia in a changing world.

In a different play, a play without so many songs these topics would perhaps be explored more but Privates on Parade is a play with songs centred on a group of soldiers whose primary duty is entertainment. They travel around post World War II Singapore and Malaysia entertaining the troops still stationed there, putting on camp shows, cross-dressing a duty (for some) as there is only one woman in their group.