REVIEWS Archives - Page 24 of 336

2Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Bury Me – Riverside Studios

Bury Me is billed as a one act comedic drama which has been put on at the Riverside Studios as a part of their Bitesize Festival, a theatre festival meant to platform and uplift new and emerging theatre talent. This story was told in two timelines. The timeline in which Nadia is trying to track down her brother Noah’s body to be able to hold his funeral and the timeline in which Noah and his family are preparing for him to undergo a surgery to treat his cancer. Being able to get to know the person that these characters lost was a great choice, so we can imagine the extent of Nadia’s pain more and more throughout the play. The highlight of this show was the exploration of the strength of the sibling bond. Explored by Gillian Konko and Peter Todd through their characters Nadia and Noa...

2Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Stimmicanto – Barons Court Theatre

Do you keep more than five pictures of Paul Rudd on your laptop? Have you ever tried and failed to make small talk with your own brain? Do you find yourself giggling at peculiar street names on a regular basis? If so, consider this your sign to check out Stimmicanto, an hour of offbeat comedy full of surprises. The show, conceived and performed by comedian Paggy Gacheva, densely packs a wide-ranging slew of information into its 60-minute run time. Audiences are guided gently through its many transitions between topics, but their frequency and lack of clear directional focus prevent viewers from settling into consistent enjoyment, and the absence of an overall theme in the work at times makes it difficult to follow. The joy, or “encanto” Gacheva finds in performance is evident an...

Our Day Out – Castle Hill School, Stockport

1Feb

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Our Day Out – Castle Hill School, Stockport

As NK Theatre Arts do not currently have access to their home venue at the Romiley Forum, this production was staged at the hall at Castle Hill School. This meant that instead of their usual capacity of close on 300 seats, there was an audience of only about 50 people, but those that did attend were treated to an excellent interpretation of Willy Russell’s comedy about a group of Liverpool’s underprivileged children on a day out from their normal classes exploring the countryside of North Wales. The director described this production as an “Informal Show”, which is perhaps doing it a bit of an injustice as everything about it was done in an extremely professional manner. The date of the production has changed a number of times which necessitated a number of changes in the cast, but the...

Giovanni, Let Me Entertain You – Floral Pavilion

1Feb

By Emma LambeNo Comments

North West

Giovanni, Let Me Entertain You – Floral Pavilion

Strictly Theatre Co. presents a fun filled evening with quite possibly Strictly's favourite professional dancer, well certainly mine, Giovanni Pernice! This show proves how he is an all-round entertainer, he is not only a highly talented dancer, but showman and surprisingly a singer too. He charms us with his cheekiness and multiple times showing love for being centre stage by asking the spotlight to be moved etc. This is all done in a charming way and is very likeable in the process. He is joined by a cast of professional dancers and West End performers and a 2-man band. Most noticeably his fellow Strictly Dancer Lauren Oakley, who wowed us just as much. The live music was the icing on the cake, as their vocals brought the roof down. Giovanni draws us in with his cheeky swag, earni...

Bronco Billy The Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

1Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Bronco Billy The Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

"There's a world out there that has lost its way, full of dark and hateful things to say." The first line of Dennis Hackin's Bronco Billy - The Musical is as relatable to the current world as it is to the 1979 in which this musical is set. Powerfully delivered and led by Karen Mavundukure as Doc Blue, the opening song, "Ride With Us" sets the scene with a wow start to the show. With music and lyrics by Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres, and based on Hackin's earlier movie, this is a wonderful triple-threat of a production. Marvellous vocals, credible characters with chemistry and a clever set that almost steals the show. Bronco Billy and his small troupe of Wild West show people are touring the US in a beat-up bus to ever-dwindling audiences. They've made it to Kansas when Bi...

1Feb

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

Rewind – New Diorama Theatre

Rewind opens with Andres Valesquez talking to the audience, he is informal and casual. As he introduces himself and the rest of the cast, he gives us some context around the story they will tell. In Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, dictators and regimes often supported by the United States were in charge. People disappeared, often without a trace. Valesquez dons a white shawl to represent Madres de Plaza de Mayo, known in English as The Mothers Of the Disappeared, and then a blue coverall, the uniform of an investigator for El Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. It is clear that Ephemeral Ensemble have a very set vision for the show. Through very little dialogue relying instead on music, puppetry and physical ...

31Jan

By Annette NuttallNo Comments

West Midlands

The Full Monty – The Alexandra

Most people know one thing about The Full Monty, it’s about a group of men who decide to be male strippers. There is however a whole lot more to this brilliant show than that. The themes in this play are as relevant now as they were when the story was first written. As the redundant steel workers struggle to make ends meet and deal with unemployment in their own ways, we are shown a realistic portrayal of the struggles faced by anyone in that position. Each character has his issues, Gaz the laddish, confident rogue played with gusto and heart by Danny Hatchard, who would do anything for his son. Dave (Neil Hurst) dealing with weight problems and rock bottom self-esteem and Gerald (Bill Ward) trying desperately to hide his unemployment from his wife and the world. These and the other me...

I Should Be So Lucky – New Wimbledon Theatre

31Jan

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

I Should Be So Lucky – New Wimbledon Theatre

‘I Should Be So Lucky’ marks a long-awaited milestone in musical theatre, finally a production that pays total homage to the iconic music of Stock Aitken and Waterman, the soundtrack of “generation pop”, intertwined with a typically British camp musical comedy storyline that should, on paper, be guaranteed to leave audiences dancing in the aisles. At the heart of the show lies the story of Ella (Lucie-Mae Sumner) and Nathan (Billy Roberts), whose impending nuptials are thrown into total chaos when Nathan jilts Ella at the altar due to a mysterious family secret. All is not lost though as Ella's larger than life family and closest friends rally around her, whisking her off to Turkey for what was meant to be her romantic honeymoon, but ends up being a glitter bomb of rom-com moments, i...

Varna International Ballet: Swan Lake – Hull New Theatre

31Jan

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Varna International Ballet: Swan Lake – Hull New Theatre

Whenever the ballet is in town, vacant seats are usually few and far between at Hull New Theatre, and so it was on Monday night when Varna International Ballet brought its production of Swan Lake to delight theatregoers. This Bulgarian company will also perform The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty during their stay in the city. As the curtain rose, we were treated to a video backdrop depicting the turning pages of a huge photo album, showing the life of Odette, offspring of a good fairy - a swan - and a noble knight. Odette’s parents die by an evil sorcerer’s spell, so she flees to a mountain lake to join other fairy swans. Alone on the stage sits Prince Siegfried (Vittorio Scolè), engrossed in a book of Odette’s story. The Prince is about to come of age and his mother, the S...

31Jan

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Calendar Girls – Bradford Alhambra

‘The flowers of Yorkshire are your women of Yorkshire’, from the initial spotlight to the closing curtain the women on that stage empowered each and every lady in that theatre. The show is a true testament and representation of womanhood in both its beauty and difficulty. Seven inspiring women took to the stage to demonstrate the beloved 2003 original narrative from female favourite ‘Calendar Girls’ that starred Julie Walters and Helen Mirren. A true traditional Yorkshire tale that concours relatable life hurdles with a devotion to honesty, what you see is what you get and there’s no hiding the truth. While the show is both entertaining and fascinating it’s also down to earth, much like the friendships and relationships on stage, the show covers the audience in a blanket of comfort and wh...