REVIEWS Archives - Page 50 of 339

19Oct

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Funny Girl – Northwich Memorial Court

Tonight, marked KMTC’s 126th production, it is hard to believe that this company began in 1943 as Knutsford Amateur Operatic Society (KAOS) as it is a company that has not been on my radar before this evening, but certainly will be from this day forward. KMTC is one of the leading community theatre companies in the North West of England, with a vision to bring a diverse and talented mix of performers together and to make theatre accessible and affordable to everyone. I was honoured enough to meet Lesley Reed KMTC’s President who informed me about her 40-year run involved with this magnificent theatre company, and how things have evolved over the years. There is clearly a family feel with this company with its resident Director Ben Ireson with his huge accolade of awards and vast experi...

18Oct

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

I, Daniel Blake – Traverse Theatre

It’s too glib to simply give this a theatrical review. Yes, it’s well-acted, well-lit, commitment and emotion running through the production from top to bottom, but to thoughtlessly term it ‘entertainment’ would be to miss the point entirely. Roughly eight years after a financial crash laid bare the clandestine, labyrinthine world of modern finance, providing a golden, once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the rotting edifice, the film ‘I Daniel Blake’ was released, illustrating by how far this opportunity had been missed. Mysteriously, by 2016, many of the architects of the 2008 disaster were somehow richer than they’d ever been. Clearly there was still wealth-a-go-go in the country; it just kept winding up in the same pockets while ‘austerity’ persisted unabated, resulting in cu...

18Oct

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Noises Off – The Lowry

There have been a few fairly sniffy reviews of Noises Off recently. Both of this touring version of last year's 40th anniversary production and of the Michael Frayn classic more generally. The argument seems to go that the 1982 farce is showing its age and the same joke - a play within a play going all wrong - can be seen elsewhere. It is an interesting quirk of theatrical criticism that comedies are occasionally treated in this way. Dramas, on the other hand, become 'period pieces', described as 'kickstarting a trend'. What should matter, of course, is whether a play works in its own right. Yes, Noises Off is a product of its time, yes it has been lovingly ripped off in recent years but yes, in the right hands, it is still riotously funny. The cast on the Lowry Lyric st...

18Oct

By Emma LambeNo Comments

North West

Peter Pan Goes Wrong – Liverpool Empire

If you haven’t already heard of Mischief Productions and their work, then look them up, they’re brilliant. You can find some of their TV work on BBC also. Writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Sheilds do a fantastic job at making a beloved classic work as a slapstick comedy production. Think lights flickering, props being misplaced, set falling apart and performers being injured. This is the kind of show that you could watch with friends and family old and young and they’re sure to love it. The concept for Peter Pan Goes Wrong is just like the title says, Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society presents J M Barrie’s timeless classic Peter Pan and things don’t go quite to plan. The show officially begins as the audience are still taking their seats. With actors weaving in and out o...

18Oct

By Ella CatherallNo Comments

Scotland

Pickled Republic – Assembly Roxy

Walking into the Assembly Roxy space to be greeted by a tomato with legs, I was a little suspicious of what I had gotten myself into with this show. However, ‘Pickled Republic’ a ‘surreal cabaret’/sketch show in which all the acts are vegetables played by Ruxy Cantir, is astoundingly good fun. As a solo show, the quality of the piece lives and dies on the strength of the performance and Cantir’s performance makes it such that this show is live and kicking. Her extraordinary physicality paired with the incredible costumes (Visual Design by Fergus Dunnet) that she swaps out between sketches makes this an unbelievably fun show to watch. Also impressive is the speed at which she’s able to get the audience on side while dressed as a tomato with legs. I can’t have been the only aud...

18Oct

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Musicals That Made Us – 53two

There is no denying that musicals are a guilty pleasure for many people. Whether you’re openly a musical theatre lover or there’s the odd one you can’t help but sing along to, musicals make us feel something deeply; joy, sadness, confusion, sorrow, and there’s something so thrilling about watching a talented cast sing, dance and act their way into an audience’s hearts. 53Two’s latest show, ‘Musicals That Made Us’ is a celebration of all of that. Current Manchester School of Theatre student, Nejc Lisjak, and recent graduates Megan Keaveny and Lara Rose Hancox take the audience on an exploration of musicals old and new in a cabaret style performance. Described as a production that “takes you through the mistakes they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learnt through the medium of mus...

18Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Metamorphosis – Liverpool Playhouse

Originally written in 1915 as a novella Franz Kafka’s claustrophobic and deeply unsettling classic is brought to the stage by one of this country’s finest physical theatre companies, Frantic Assembly. Poet Lemn Sissay OBE has successfully adapted Kafka’s dark story of devilish transformation and its presented here in all its surreal and muscular glory. Kafka’s dark fairy tale is simple in its construct , telling the story of Gregor Samsa a travelling salesman who slowly turns into a gigantic insect much to the horror and distaste of his dysfunctional family. Given that the subject matter would be quite difficult to translate to either film or stage Frantic Assembly and Lemn Sissay have achieved some success in delivering an uncompromising and totally addictive piece of theatre. ...

18Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Sweeney Todd – Waterside Arts

I always jump at any chance to see a show written by Stephen Sondheim, and as we approach the second anniversary of his death next month opportunities on both the professional and amateur stage approach thick and fast. Tonight, Sale & Altrincham Musical Theatre present 'Sweeney Todd' written by Sondheim and his long time collaborator Hugh Wheeler, a production that despite some excellent individual performances never fulfils its potential as the 'sensational horror show' that Sondheim conceived. Written at the zenith of his productivity in 1979, 'Sweeney Todd' is the tale of a tortured barber (played this evening by Richard Ross), escaping from transportation to Australia for a crime he did not commit, returning to Victorian London to exact his revenge on evil Judge Turpin (Jon Gar...

17Oct

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

42nd Street – Opera House, Manchester

Timeless, famed, genre-defining: all befitting words to describe this classic backstage musical considering its screen debut ninety years ago, later followed by an 80s stage adaptation. Arriving in New York City, wide-eyed, budding performer Peggy (Nicole-Lily Baisden) has her heart set on stage stardom- and the right set of circumstances soon land her a spot in a new musical’s chorus line. As opening night approaches, an accident involving the leading lady then gives Peggy the unexpected chance to make it big. A paper-thin storyline matters little when outstanding tap numbers are in such plentiful supply. Exuberant and unremitting, the ensemble commands attention with their well-honed coordination. Dance sequences in We’re in the Money as well as the titular song make them unforget...

14Oct

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Jock Night – Seven Dials Playhouse

A decade ahead of its arrival to these shores, I was the first journalist in the UK to write about crystal meth in the gay press. In 1997, after spending a deranged summer in San Francisco, I returned to London and in the pages of QX warned readers of a highly addictive new drug that was decimating the community on the West Coast. That same year, I wrote and performed ‘Twisted’ with Wayne G, arguably, the first ‘chemsex’ dance tune. That portmanteau had yet to be coined by the late, great David Stuart, but excessive drug use and epic sex sessions were the central themes of that record. They are also the driving forces in Jock Night, a new play by Adam Zane. Methamphetamine hydrochloride (aka ‘ice’ ’Tina’ ‘crank’ ‘meth’ ‘tweak’) took almost 20 years to get a foothold in the UK, unlike i...