Damian Riverol, Author at North West End UK

11Dec

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Sleeping Beauty – Storyhouse Chester

Back for their 8th Christmas Season, we have another Storyhouse original production, this time the classic Sleeping Beauty, but as usual, done in their own way. This year, Storyhouse have tried something different and produced their show on the proscenium stage rather than the thrust stage. This gives them more scope to include a bigger set and more stage magic including flying and pyrotechnics. It does feel like it loses a little bit of magic not having the cast as close as usual as in the past, with the audience surrounding the stage and the cast entering through the audience at times but what they have done with this year’s set and storytelling makes up for that. Written by Samantha O’Rourke who also wrote last year Cinderella, we are taken on a journey of love, self-discovery and be...

Mother Goose: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd

29Nov

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

Wales

Mother Goose: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd

After almost two years, we are getting a sneak peek at a part of the Theatr Clwyd redevelopment with the first show back in the main theatre, this years Theatr Clwyd panto, Mother Goose. The rest of the building is not quite ready, with an exciting opening season recently revealed for early Summer 2025. Theatr Clwyd are back doing what they do best, bringing excellent theatre to audiences, some new but many returning year after year for the famous Rock n Roll pantos that Theatr Clwyd do so well. You could feel the excitement tonight as we enter the auditorium with new carpeting and brand-new chairs, a feeling of coming home but a home that has had a beautiful new makeover. Mother Goose is once again written by Christian Patterson and brings all the great jokes and innuendos we come t...

It’s a Wonderful Life – St Mary’s Creative Space

22Nov

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

It’s a Wonderful Life – St Mary’s Creative Space

Disley Theatrical Productions return to St Mary’s Creative Space with the Christmas Classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Directed by Gail Young, we are taken along the journey of George Bailey and his life from one of his lowest points, right back to when he was a child, up to present day, and even how life would have been if he had never been born. This is all played out so Bailey’s Guardian Angel, Clarissa, can get to know who she is going to help and hopefully get her wings along with it. George Bailey is brought to life by Rob Lyon and what a role! Barely leaving the stage and so integral to the story. Lyon is great in the role, giving all the emotions needed to take us on this rollercoaster of a ride that Bailey goes on. Clarissa is played by Hilary Wiseman and brings a warmth to the...

Flint Street Nativity – The Little Theatre, Birkenhead

7Nov

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Flint Street Nativity – The Little Theatre, Birkenhead

As the first play of their series, The Carlton Players bring Tim Firth’s Flint Street Nativity to the Little Theatre in Birkenhead. As I enter the Little Theatre this evening, I instantly feel warm and welcome. My first visit to this lovey theatre and it certainly won’t be the last. With a lovely bar/waiting area downstairs and the auditorium upstairs, the ushers couldn’t do enough to make our visit a great one. One thing that stands out is the accessibility of the building, for such an old building, there is a lift down to the bar and a lift up to the auditorium, something that makes a return visit cemented in my eyes. Directed by Marc Smith, we are transported to Miss Horricks’ class where the juniors are putting on their nativity. But will everything go smoothly? We are about to f...

29Oct

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

& Juliet – Liverpool Empire

What would happen if Juliet decided not to end it all when she finds Romeo dead? What would happen if when writing Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s wife, Ann, has a share of the writing and what we thought we knew about this well-known play is altered completely? For the better? For the worse? Well, we are here to find out. With book by David West Read and Music and Lyrics by Swedish pop song writer, Max Martin and Friends, we are taken on a bright, exciting, loud journey of discovery, love, and the meaning of compromise. The show opens with the company of players milling around the stage, interacting with the audience and treating us to some incredible dancing before an explosion of colour and life hits us and we are thrown into this rollercoaster of a story. Matt Cardle is extrem...

18Sep

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Heathers The Musical – Storyhouse

Based on the 1988 movie, Heathers the Musical has come exploding in to the Storyhouse, taking us on a journey of high school dramas, with stories of love, popularity, bullying and eventually coming together. Following the diary entries of Veronica Sawyer (Jenna Innes), we are taken through the trials and tribulations of the teens at Westerburg high. Veronica is just trying to get by and ends up forming a boon with the Heathers, the most popular girls at the school and who everyone either looks up to or is afraid of. Along the way we meet meek and mild Martha, Veronica’s best friend since diapers, Kurt and Ram, the high school jocks who think they own the school along with the Heathers. JD, the new dark, mysterious guy who Veronica falls in love with but soon realises that he has many is...

12Sep

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Beautiful Thing – Storyhouse, Chester

Disley Theatrical Productions return for their third production, this time making their debut at Storyhouse, Chester. The Garrett Theatre is usually a bare studio space, so it was nice to see it used in a different way with a set that brought the piece to life. Designed by Phil Cross and built by Mark Disley, the main set is the front of three flats in which the characters live, and the communal area outside the front of the flats is where the story is played out, where issues are aired and dealt with. We are occasionally taken to Jamie’s bedroom where a bed is brought to the centre of the stage area and where some tender scenes take place. Beautiful Thing follows the story of three teenagers struggling with their own issues. Jamie who is being bullied at school for being gay, Ste who i...

4Sep

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Ghost the Musical – Liverpool Empire

Based on the 1990 film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Kenwright Ltd has brought the musical back to life with a UK tour, and this week it is at the Liverpool Empire. Ghost focuses on a banker, Sam Wheat, who is murdered on his way home from his girlfriend, Molly’s, art exhibition and seeks the help of psychic reader, Oda Mae Brown, to help him save Molly and release him from the transitional world he is currently trapped in. Ghost the Musical started its life back at the Manchester Opera House in 2011, but the show has come a long way since then, and due to artistic changes and budget cuts, this is a vastly different show to what it once was. Gone are the days of elaborate sets with high tech special effects but the story and the heart still remains. ...

My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) – HOME Mcr

21Aug

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) – HOME Mcr

Multi-talented, social media sensation Rob Madge brings their award-winning production of My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) to HOME in Manchester and tonight the audience welcomed them with open arms and a double standing ovation. Starting during lock down with Twitter posts and home videos of Rob attempting to stage a full-blown Disney parade at home for their grandma, with costumes going awry, Rob’s Mum mixing up characters and Rob’s Dad missing cues as Stage Manager as well as many other roles, Rob is here to tell the story from birth to finally completing this parade live for us this evening. Written by Madge and directed by Luke Sheppard, My Son’s A Queer is going from strength to strength, originating at the Turbine Theatre in 2021, it has had two seasons at the Edinburgh...

Tell Me How It Ends – Liverpool Everyman

14Jun

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Tell Me How It Ends – Liverpool Everyman

Set in Liverpool in the late 80s, Tell Me How It Ends follows the lives of two Queer people who are polar opposites, brought together during the AIDS epidemic, when they realise the community have no one else to turn to but themselves. Luke Sookdeo as Marc and Emmy Stonelake as Aster take us on a journey of love, truth, and heartbreak. As Marc lies in his hospital bed, trialling numerous concoctions of drugs to try and combat HIV, Aster is a volunteer who gives up their time visiting the men in hospital who are going through the same thing. Offering an ear, a laugh and joke or just some silent company and a book, Aster and Marc become the closest of friends. Written by award winning Tasha Dowd, the story is told with care and love, injected with humour throughout to give the piece a ...