Adam Williams, Author at North West End UK

18Dec

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Cinderella – Opera House

From the moment the curtain rose on the Opera House stage there was magic in the room and everyone was transported into a world of laughter and light. It had fun, frolics, wit and so much warmth that they probably could have turned the heating off in the theatre. This was a panto with a distinctly northern edge. It was laid-back and friendly, with enough jokes to keep the kids amused but also plenty of gags for the adults that would easily sail over younger heads. Topical jokes were thrown in and there were a few ad-libs when things on stage didn’t go as planned. This show was early on in the run, but you could feel that the cast was having a great time. Everyone knows the story of Cinderella and there was little jeopardy or drama on stage. This panto was not particularly concerned w...

12Dec

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

The Human Voice – King’s Arms, Salford

The insistence of a telephone ringing can be annoying, “Answer me! Answer me!”, it cries. Yet when it stops and there is silence, that is worse. A phone call is the perfect metaphor for a play about disconnection. Callers can be cut off and find themselves shouting into the void, searching for someone to talk to. We all want to find someone with whom we can connect. Jean Cocteau saw the theatrical benefit of the phone call with his play La Voix Humaine in 1930. At that time the telephone was the only way for two people to communicate at a distance. The main problem with adapting the play and setting it in the present day is that there are now so many ways for two people to “talk” to each other that the last way they would do it is to speak over a landline. However, I am willin...

31Oct

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Frank 4 Sophie 4 Eva – 53two

Of all the politics in the world, sexual politics is perhaps the most difficult to navigate especially when the initial thrill has gone. It is bad enough when sex has become a chore, a lie back and think of England job, where you have to fantasise about Scottish heroes from the 17th century to get you through it. Yet for Frank (Simon Naylor) and Sophie (Alexandra Maxwell) sex isn’t even that. They have completely stopped doing it and are visiting a sex therapist to see if they can sort out their love life. Are sex and love the same thing they ask? Can you have one without the other? Frank is full of one-liners and bravado. He is definitely up for it and can’t understand why Sophie does not want to have sex with him anymore. Why does she fancy Jamie from Outlander and prefer to read ...

28Sep

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Two of Us – HOME Mcr

It seems somehow apposite that this play about the last meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon should be staged just as a certain well-known group from Manchester is about to reunite. Not just because of the massive debt that Oasis owed the Beatles but because Lennon and McCartney were in some ways like a pair of warring brothers only with more wit and talent. Throughout the seventies, until John Lennon was murdered, they would both be constantly asked if The Beatles were going to reunite. There is a story that even after Lennon’s death the remaining three were offered a fortune to get back together but they all turned it down as they said without John it wouldn’t be The Beatles. On an April night in 1976, Paul makes a surprise visit to John’s apartment in New York. Lenn...

26Aug

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Coming Home – King’s Arms, Salford

The link between a football fan and their team can often be like the relationship between a man and a woman. First, there is deep passion which means the supporter can love and hate his club simultaneously. Secondly, there is a lot of shouting involved, some kissing, a bit of singing and every now and then feelings of pure ecstasy. Regretfully, some people's passion for their football team surpasses their love for their significant other. If that team is the England football team you can introduce layers of hope, desire, frustration, and as we all know, ultimately disappointment. When similar emotions are applied to the romance between Jack (Christopher Wollaton) and Suzie (Lucy Farrar), you have a hilarious drama that is just as dramatic and emotional as any penalty shootout. Ja...

My Last Two Brain Cells – King’s Arms, Salford

27Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

My Last Two Brain Cells – King’s Arms, Salford

One of my favourite cartoons in The Beano was a strip called The Numskulls. They were a team of human-like technicians living in the brain of an unnamed man. This energetic, extremely fun, and diverting show takes that concept and introduces us to a couple of brain cells inside the mind of a man called Gary, who unfortunately is dying, and they have to save him. Brain cell 64,928,460,784, who is fortunately known simply as Clive (Joe Pike), is the nerdy, strait-laced brain cell while his counterpart, brain cell number 12 (Tom Hazelden), is the more out-going, ebullient, and entertaining one. This is a common comic setup, think the Odd Couple, Peep Show, and many others but the sheer energy of these two performers and their playfulness help to make this situation extremely entertaining. ...

My Chat with Harold Pinter – King’s Arms, Salford

19Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

My Chat with Harold Pinter – King’s Arms, Salford

All playwrights speak to each other in one way or another. Sometimes they will talk to the living but most of the time they talk to the dead. Every writer has stolen from another scribe, especially their heroes, and usually they are six-foot under and not in a position to complain. In this play, playwright Jen communes with Harold Pinter to help her to write her play. She wants him to assist her through her writer’s block so she can complete writing her magnum opus. Thus starts a post-modern foray into writing, feminism and theatre which will also teach you the fielding positions in cricket. People of a certain age will remember a TV show called Call My Bluff and there are lots of words in this play which could have been included in that programme. On that show celebrities had to def...

12Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Dead Dad Show – 53two

I read an article by the comedian Cariad Lloyd about the death of her father. In particular, she wanted to give advice to people on how to approach someone dealing with grief. Her favourite reaction, she said, came from the comic actor Ken Campbell who asked if her dad was going to come and see the show they were performing and she explained he had died and he replied, “Huh, yeah, they have a habit of doing that, dads.” Humour, as opposed to sentimentality or the stock phrase, was, as always, the best policy. Which is the attitude of this rip-roaring, full-on, no-holds barred of a show which is not averse to the odd profanity, contains nudity, cross-dressing but also has a cool satirical edge. It is brash, cocksure you might say, cheeky, confident and it certainly has plenty of s...

12Jun

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Long Story Short – King’s Arms, Salford

The issue of crime and punishment has been discussed by writers and thinkers for thousands of years. There is, of course, Dostoevsky’s famous novel but it is a subject whose very nature makes it ideal for drama. Where there is a crime, there is a victim, a perpetrator and the associated emotions of for each of guilt, remorse, sadness and heartbreak. These five short plays by Ward J Harries were all linked by this theme, and each had a differing perspective on the issue. They all came across as work-in-progress pieces, that do need some fine tuning, but the basic ideas behind each play were engaging. There were times when some of the writing veered too much towards melodrama and theatrical artifice. Yet there were some genuinely powerful moments of theatre when a true emotion or conflict...

6Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Work It Out – HOME Mcr

“Five, six, seven, eight - step right, swimming motion, move like Jagger, turn and again!” Exercise is good for us. We all know that. It is beneficial not just because it helps to shed a few pounds, it also gives a much-needed boost to our mental health. Progress over perfection is the key to success. Writer Eve Steele has produced a play so full of heart you can hear it pounding like the ticker of an unfit beginner at their first exercise class. This finely judged play is polemical when it needs to be, veers on the right side of sentimentality and brings together a wonderfully disparate group of characters. Together they become their own little mini community. They all have their problems including drug addiction, alcoholism, hoarding and overeating. Damaged and defeated they com...