Adam Williams, Author at North West End UK

19Apr

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

The Beekeeper of Aleppo – The Lowry

Christy Lefteri’s 2019 bestselling novel was inspired by her work over two summers at a refugee centre in Athens. She felt that no one would tell their story, so she decided to humanise the tale of the asylum seeker and created a heart-breaking tale of love and loss. In a world where politicians implore people to “Stop the Boats” this dramatization brings to life the fractured life of the refugee in those dinghies. It tells the story of Nuri and Afra who have to flee the bombed-out city of Aleppo in Syria. He, along with his cousin Mustafa, was a beekeeper living in harmony with nature until the civil war tore everything apart. The story is told in a fragmentary way on an ingenious set which enables the action to move effortlessly from scene to scene. We are taken backwards and forwa...

Kipps, The New Half a Sixpence Musical – The Plaza, Stockport

22Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Kipps, The New Half a Sixpence Musical – The Plaza, Stockport

Flash, bang, wallop – what a show! It had vim, vigour and energy pouring through its veins. The only pity was there was not much of an audience there to enjoy it. Yet, the cast can’t do anything about that, and they were clearly giving it everything. This show from the Romiley Operatic Society was a joy to behold. The popularity of Kipps is down to it being a rags-to-riches tale with a bit of depth. H G Wells’ novel deconstructs that age old story by not just having a poor person become rich but by exploring the idea that this new found wealth is in fact alienating for its recipient and also a tad malign. Like Pygmalion, another story that pulls apart notions of innate class, Kipps was always ripe to be turned into a musical. Tommy Steele is synonymous with Half a Sixpence, but this ...

10Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – The Lowry

Tonight Shakespeare met Tarantino, this was the bard seen through the lens of some kind of super-visual filmmaker complete with swear words and a dark, brooding attitude. What we have with this production is theatre as film, it could be said to have more style than substance. As a backdrop to the action there were projected flashy, incandescent and strangely beautiful images and video. They were bright, scintillating and imaginatively put together with great skill and creativity. The problem was that they were, at times, somewhat distracting. Above the stage top left and right were two screens showing feeds from two mobile cameras which were on stage. Given the conceit of Macbeth reimagined as a Tarantino film, set in an underground world of drugs and prostitution, Macbeth and his wi...

13Oct

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Vincent River – Hope Mill Theatre

The dark space between grief and prejudice is at the heart of this play. Indeed, this piece is replete with dimly lit spaces, the dingy, drab, bedraggled places that are falling apart. Those secret areas of the soul where people hide their true lives and loves. Existing in these shadows can be dangerous and also fatal. Set in the East-End of London this two-hander centres on Anita, whose gay son was murdered, and Davey, the young lad who found her son’s body. She suspects he had something to do with it and they start to talk. As a grief-stricken, angry mother she wants answers. It could be said the start of the play is almost too intense and dramatic as she is full of antagonism from the very first line. Davey has his own family issues to deal with and as they start to interact the i...

14Sep

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Trainspotting Live – Hope Mill Theatre

Wow, just wow! This was the perfect hit, a heady concoction of filth, foulness and fun. Yes, fun. Which seems extremely odd for a play which is based on Irvine Welsh’s infamous novel about heroin addiction and hopelessness. The characters maybe without hope but they are teeming with energy. This play is closer to the book than Danny Boyle’s film. If you have seen the movie, you will recognise a number of the set pieces. There is, for instance, the speed induced attempt to mess up a job interview without making it appear that they don’t want the job. And, yes, there is the toilet. Word of warning don’t sit near the loo. It is staged in such a way that the audience is seated either side of a thin strip where the action takes place. The actors also frequently come into the audience and ...

Mother There Art Thou – King’s Arms, Salford

27Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Mother There Art Thou – King’s Arms, Salford

Most plays, essentially, are about families and that age-old conflict between kids and their parents. If you go back to ancient Greek drama and myth Oedipus and Electra have complexes named after them. A child’s view of the world is created by their parents. They can, if they want, make it seem to be a scary place their kids should hide from, or they can say it is wonderful and should be embraced and enjoyed. The set-up for this darkly comic play is that a domineering rule-setting, brutal, mother has died, and her son and daughter are left to ponder how they want to live their lives. There is no mention of a father in the piece, so it is assumed the mother brought up the children on her own. Within the family dynamic son Charlie is clearly willing to follow the rules and is extrem...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream(ish) – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

14Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

A Midsummer Night’s Dream(ish) – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

It is not often that a reviewer becomes part of the show but that is what happened to me as part of this entertaining, engaging and extremely fun one-woman re-telling of Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy. Your humble scribe was plucked out of the audience to play a wall. It took all my theatrical skill to stand on stage holding a plastic brick and it would not be correct to comment on my own performance but the other audience members who were chosen to appear on stage with me were all excellent. Yet, the real energetic, frenetic and comic star of the show was Abey Bradbury. She wrote and performed this whistle-stop tour through the Bard’s classic play with such verve and sheer pizazz it was a joy to behold. Her playfulness and obvious love of clowning were such a treat she really brought...

15Jun

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

I Am Not A Robot – King’s Arms, Salford

The potential dangers to humanity of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robots have been the meat and drink of numerous science fiction movies for decades. On TV the BBC sci-fi show, Doctor Who, back in the 60s, created the Cybermen, monsters who had once been human but had turned themselves into killing machines devoid of emotion. I Am Not a Robot explores this theme, cleverly grounding it with northern humour, whilst adding a touch of slapstick and a healthy dash of melodrama. The sparky script is punchy and witty which rattles along at a wonderful pace until the third act. It starts off in the bedroom of a luxury hotel somewhere overseas in the near future. Beth has won a luxury stay via Instagram and has invited her best friend, ambitious politician Karina, to share it with her. Ka...

27Apr

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

If This Is Normal – 53Two

Being young is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? All you can remember, as you look back at those carefree days and that glorious summer before going to university, is the sunshine and the happy times, yes? Those heady days when everything seemed possible and all you had to do was to go out and enjoy yourself with your mates. Wasn’t it fantastic? Yet was it? Because when you get older you tend to forget all the confusion, the insecurity, the vulnerability and the sheer emotional nightmare we all went through when we were young. It is a very confusing time and If This Is Normal captures all that angst perfectly. Writer Lucy Danser’s play is, like most teenagers, full of verve, energy, sprit, fun and emotion. It follows the friendship of three young people, siblings Madani and Maryam w...

Dave Allen… A Journey Through Life… and Death – King’s Arms

15Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Dave Allen… A Journey Through Life… and Death – King’s Arms

Dave Allen was brilliant at pointing out the ironies and absurdities of life... and death. He was a storyteller who loved to poke fun at religion at a time, particularly in his native Ireland, when the church was extremely powerful. His shows were banned by the Irish broadcaster, RTE. He said, “I’m an atheist, thank God,” and he insisted he was not making fun of religion but people’s concept of religion. As a child at a strict Catholic school, even though they tried to scare him with hell and damnation, his natural intelligence and curiosity made him question faith and belief. Kieran Cunningham completely embodied the comedian, who has been called the father of alternative comedy. From the voice to the hand gestures and all his other little mannerisms he brought Allen back to life. W...