Beth Eltringham, Author at North West End UK

Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

20Oct

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) – Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Witty, cleaver and true to its original material, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is one not to be missed. A cast of 5 brilliant actresses Tori Burgess, Christina Gordon, Leah Jamieson, Hannah Jarret-Scott and Isobel McArthur (today nominated by the Evening Standard Awards in the Emerging Talent category) take on the classic tale of Pride and Prejudice warts and all. The play is taken from the point of view of the staff within the novel, those forgotten by the reader and sometimes the writer, the ones deprived of a story of their own but who play a major part in bringing the story together and making things happen. Each actress takes on many a role within the play, dressing in a white chemise and adding character pieces on top to distinguish each character, no major wig changes, no extr...

The Cher Show: A New Musical – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

12Oct

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Cher Show: A New Musical – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

An electric, energetic and cleaver show, the Cher Show has come to Edinburgh to educate audiences on the life of musical icon Cher. The music loud and brilliantly executed, the lights bright and the costumes are absolutely dazzling. Cher has been around for what may feel like forever, an ever-constant voice through the lives of most of us living, and through the ages neither her voice, power or face has changed all that much. For such an individual voice it takes real skill to be able to impersonate and do the legend justice, the Cher Show takes the challenge of finding one skill filled actress to fill the role and multiplies it by three, separating Cher into the three main stages of her career: the naive rising star (Babe played by Millie O’Connell) , the confident woman freeing hersel...

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

22Sep

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

The Osmonds is a new Musical promoting the story of 70s family band The Osmonds as told by band member Jay Osmond. Starting from the boys first gig on TV and loosely following their lives through their triumphs, failures and inevitable split. Consider this a musical for the fans, but was this really a story that needed bringing to the stage? My answer is most likely no, don’t get me wrong the show is fun, colourful and high energy but the story is told in a very vague manner giving the audience very little too emotionally cling on to, meaning when the characters reach their lows, we aren’t all that invested. This is not of course due to any fault of the cast who were brilliant but due to the writing and perhaps the choice of Jay being the story teller, taking over the show story in a ch...

21Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Muse by FLIP Fabrique – Assembly Hall

Muse is an empowering, magical and witty show like no other that explores gender and social pressures in which we put on ourselves and others. Football or Ballet? Two sport industries designed for all, but gender assigned by the masses. What happens when a girl wants to play football? A man wants to be a ballerina? Or neither fancy either path? Delve into these topics with the use of acrobatics, circus skills and song (although for the most part the music is in French). The show carries throughout the symbol of the apple, the first sin. But to look in to the first sin is to decide if it was indeed a sin or just a woman making a choice. Muse urges you to take the apple like eve, break the rules and be who you really are. Despite little speech the whole performance is innovative and mo...

The Lovely Boys – Just The Tonic at The Caves

20Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Lovely Boys – Just The Tonic at The Caves

It’s very rare that a reviewer is left speechless after a comedy show but hours later, I’m still not sure what I had actually watched. The lovely boys are not your average stand-up comedy duo, in fact the show could better be described as a strange psychedelic dream crammed into a nightmare-ish underground vault. This is not a comedy style that would fit the masses, but then Mr Bean became famous because of his clowning antics, why couldn’t these two. The show is described by the duo as “one big hour of chaos glory” and they certainly aren’t wrong on the chaos part. Strange and disturbing character sketches had the audience wildly laughing almost as much as the two men had been laughing at themselves. Our primary characters “our two lovely boys” were the funniest part of the show...

Stop The World We’re Getting Off – The Space, Venue 45

20Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Stop The World We’re Getting Off – The Space, Venue 45

Stop The World We’re Getting Off takes a different approach to the concept of “the apocalypse”, no zombies, no nuke war, just the results of the damage that we the human race are currently doing to the world. The play takes place in a not-so-distant future when the world is no longer inhabitable due to a thick smog that has taken over as a result of the human races’ lack of care for the planet. 5 Survivors find themselves living their day to day lives hiding away in a bunker, however 5 is soon to become 6 when Ava (Georgie Cunningham) falls pregnant and dark secrets are revealed. With oxygen running low and so little time before the baby can arrive, it’s up to the team to work together to find an improbable solution. Tenderfoot Theatre Company are a global activist group specializing...

The Twenty Sided Tavern – Pleasance Dome

19Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Twenty Sided Tavern – Pleasance Dome

There are very few shows quite like the Twenty Sided Tavern, a choose your own adventure for theatre goers and dungeons and dragons fans alike. Step into the game with your own selected dice picked blindly from a bag determining your designated player. Are you a Fighter, a sorcerer or a Rogue? Either way you are in for a treat. Three professional improvisation artists take to the stage bringing the crazy world of Dungeons and Dragons to a live audience, determining their character’s movements with a combination of audience choice and the spin of the twenty sided dice. They are silly, bold and utterly hilarious. Guiding the gang is the “Game Master”, the dungeon master of the game. If you choose to embark on this quest adventurer, be prepared to use your mobile phone. Upon arrival...

18Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Dorian – Venue 21 C Arts

The Oscar Wilde sensation “The Picture of Dorian Gray” takes to stage once more with King’s College School’s performance of Dorian. This one-hour play uses physical theatre, choreography and some outstanding acting to bring to life one of Oscar Wilde’s darkest tales beautifully. Dorian Gray (played tremendously by Tom Conroy) finds himself on a journey of love, power and evil when Basil Hallwood (Sebastian Pavin) decides to paint a portrait that will encapsulate Gray’s beauty forever. Little known to artist or subject, a powerful force of evil would make Gray’s wish of staying youthful and beautiful a reality. Egged on by Lord Henry Wotton (Roemer Lips) and the forces of this dark magic, Gray transforms from a naive hopeless romantic to a monster with little regard for love or the lives...

Christof Epaminondas and Friend(s): Too Much Encouragement – Just The Tonic at the Caves

11Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Christof Epaminondas and Friend(s): Too Much Encouragement – Just The Tonic at the Caves

60 Minutes of pure comedy hosted by Christof Epaminondas and guest comedian Farah Sharp. In the small hot stuffy room of the Caves venue Christof and Farah had the room erupting with laughter from start to finish. I’m not sure if the guests change from day to day but Sharp was a fantastic warm up act. It’s hard to describe a comedy routine without too many spoilers but one can certainly say this one is not a “bust” (winking face). Epaminondas has the perfect level of charisma which makes him immediately likeable and knows exactly how to poke fun at himself for the audience without going too far. You don’t need to be Greek to relate to the friendly chaos that is his over encouraging family and I think we will be seeing a lot more of Christof in the coming years. He’s a natural at ...

The Return of Sherlock Holmes – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

11Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Return of Sherlock Holmes – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

Sherlock Holmes (Nigel Miles-Thomas) the world famous detective and his partner in crime Watson (Michael Roy Andrew) are at it again but this time it’s Watson who comes across the clues. It’s been three years since Sherlock’s believed demise at the hands of arch nemesis Moriarty and Watson finds himself lost. Returning to Baker Street to wander the old flat Watson find a letter addressed to himself from a strange source warning him of a murder that just so happens to be in the paper that day. Andrew plays of the role of Watson tremendously, a man in grief who still possesses the curiosity of a detective but displaying himself as a nervous mouse of a man. His comedic timing is on point, and he never misses a beat. Nigel-Thomas is impeccable as the famous detective carrying Sherloc...