Eleanor Hall, Author at North West End UK

14Dec

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Evita Too – Southbank Centre

A joyously inventive dissection of Isabel Perón’s life, 'Evita Too' is an unforgettable piece of theatre. Questing to write a musical about Isabel - who is still alive, according to Wikipedia - Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole artfully interweave historical facts with the comic iconography of 'Evita'. Having already completed a run at Soho Theatre, this show was ambitious in its use of the Southbank’s more spacious Purcell Room to explore power dynamics with a playful approach. Clowning and music were the instruments of choice in this interrogation of the legacy of a woman forgotten, despite being the world’s first female president. Thrown to the wind was the invention of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, with Sh!t Theatre's original songs embargoing any familiar intrusions. ...

Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People – Soho Theatre

10Sep

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People – Soho Theatre

Fresh from a run at Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance, Lorna Rose Treen is an agile one-woman show, consistently humorous and wonderfully well-rounded. Belly laughs are a guarantee at this Diner! Opening with an original song, akin to a Studio Ghibli tune, Treen takes us on a masterclass in audience interaction, perfectly integrated within the show and the narrative. Even where playing with the audience was at its riskiest (with one audience member being asked to read lines for several scenes) Treen did not drop the ball once. The spirit of madness is infused into this show, from a poem underscored by ratatouille soundtrack, to the ridiculously long-limbed trucker, to the pre-show mock menu offering a taste of what’s to come. Each character inhabiting the diner is joined up to the ne...

17Aug

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

On the Nose – Courtyard Theatre

‘On the Nose’ is a feel-good flounce between the friendships of two working clowns, Buddy and Dorothy. Directed by Izzy Ponsford, the clown world presented in the play tested our sense of belonging - not without generous helpings of metatheatrical references! With some fruitful audience interactions and echoes of familiar gags, these birthday clowns sprinkled silly all over. That is, until the friendship of this co-working duo is threatened by Buddy’s sudden desire to become an actor. There was an implicit interrogation of queer actors’ exclusion from particular acting roles by the ‘high brows’ of theatre. The career-changing plight gave way to Buddy not being ‘straight enough’ to be an effective understudy for a catapult. Similarly, the strain on the pair’s friendship allowed fo...

19Mar

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

The Moth – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Paul Herzberg’s two hander is a nuanced take on familial responsibility, the ethics of searching for forgiveness, and history’s grip on our adult lives. Using the studio at Shakespeare North to its full potential, The Moth directly confronts its audience with these thought-provoking themes. The stage was preset with tall posters and a flat screen TV that introduced one character’s ‘Confesisonal’, implying a public forum and foregrounding the character study that was to come. The action weaved between John Josana’s talk on racism, his international childhood and his experiences meeting Marius (a South African ex-solider) on a train and later elsewhere. In detailing John’s experiences, the play introduced some vivid imagery and an interesting historical backdrop, supported by monochro...

27Oct

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

After the Act – Liverpool Playhouse

Breach Theatre have tapped into the extreme niche that is the verbatim musical (the only other that comes to mind is Alecky Blythe’s ‘London Road’). Directed by Billy Barrett, ‘After the Act’ illuminates the shockingly recent aftermath of Section 28, which prohibited the so-called ‘promotion of homosexuality’ in schools. Photo: Alex Brenner The narrative is replete with first-hand, personal experiences of the Section 28’s harrowing impact, and the wider political conversation, weaving artfully between the two. Given that the show is replete with historical information such as contemporary House of Lords debates and the prevalence of Haringey parents’ protests in the Act’s construction, I came out of the theatre feeling much more informed. Ultimately, the personal accounts are the mos...

5Oct

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

The Lodger – Unity Theatre

From the creator of ADHD: The Musical comes a semi-hallucinogenic exploration of belonging. After an unsettling welcome paired with deadpan humour, the nameless lodger takes the dust sheets from the objects strewn around the stage and orchestrates the story. I was lost for the few minutes during the lodger’s own initial perspective, but the story soon developed into a compelling journey through place and possession. Dora Colquhoun plays 5 characters and gifts each one their own physicality. Most impressive was her representation of the unspeaking female deer, which was an impressive feat of physical storytelling. Furthermore, the play-world that is conveyed through The Lodger is theatrically inventive and unique. Through the recurring props and reappearing characters - all fighting to s...

Hourglass: A Suffragette Story – Soho Poly

26Jun

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Hourglass: A Suffragette Story – Soho Poly

‘Hourglass: A Suffragette Story’ was advertised as a dark comedy, but I could count on one hand the number of times any audience member could be heard laughing. It felt as though five acts had been thrown into hamster wheel of amateur dialogue and could not disembark. This was not helped by a hefty running time. Set in the time before and during World War One, we watch a mother, daughter and their maid experience and support first wave British feminism. It seems that the men surrounding them has something to gain they seek to protect their social status, defend their gender or make their money. During Act 1, great ladles of pathos were heaped onto Kitty (Penny Bosworth), the maid-turned-beggar, by swamping the audience with repetitive scenes of her begging us. She is then offered reside...

A View From The Bridge – Theatre Royal Haymarket

5Jun

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

A View From The Bridge – Theatre Royal Haymarket

Arthur Miller’s encapsulating tragedy of the 1950s stands the test of time. This production remains faithful to Miller’s story centred on an American-Italian family, which brews themes of blood, honour, love and instinct, to ultimately boil beneath the skin of the law and authorities. Eddie, our protagonist, beholds a tangled idea of himself as his niece Kathryn’s father-lover. Throughout the course of the action, he pursues what he believes to be just for his niece. It is in this warped sense of justice that Eddie’s anger and self-martyrisation become wrapped up in his ideals of nationalism, patriarchy, and a fostered fatherhood. The set was comprised of contemporary facades of buildings, perhaps emphasising the protective walls between the immigrant family members and authority, and e...

20Apr

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

Your Flaws: The Musical – Unity Theatre

This fifty-minute whirlwind came as part of the Liverpool Improvisation Festival, which might look to become an annual event for the Unity theatre, following its launch last year. Alongside Patrick Clopon on the piano, Lee Apsey and Emma Wessleus explained their ‘flaws’, distastes and aversions, and invited us to share our own. As we admitted to being afraid of a range of kitchen devices (i.e. potato peelers, sieves, blenders) and taking umbrage with food combinations (i.e. mint and chocolate), the piano began to twinkle… Engaging with the audience’s culinary offers, the trio embarked on a journey through a haunted restaurant with all characters gifted with strange fears and desires which echoed our flaws back to us. We watch the tortured head chef fight for his Michelin star, a chef lo...

5Apr

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Life with Oscar – Arcola Theatre

Life with Oscar is a tumultuous to-and-fro between the cult fever of Hollywood and its horrible shadows, all through the autobiographical perspective of Nick Cohen. We are introduced to a round table of figures, immigrant creatives familiar to Cohen gathered round to discuss the casting of Superman. Soon we are whisked from Lewisham to Los Angeles, all the way back to the dawn of the Academy. It’s not just places and times we encounter; we’re also uncovering the ‘secret formula to winning an Oscar’ alongside Cohen’s persona. We chart Cohen’s quest with a sense of irony, given the show’s semi-autobiographical nature; before our eyes, Cohen is carving out his own Hero’s Journey as a writer. Cohen glides comfortably between portraying characters and describing their actions. Ultimately, hi...