Helen Jones, Author at North West End UK

12Oct

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Barbara Nice: Fun – Waterside Arts

Barbara Nice, the stand-up comedy alter ego of actress Janice Connolly, returned to the region of her birth to appear at Waterside Arts with her new tour entitled Fun. The character of Barbara Nice cannot avoid comparisons with Victoria Wood in her housewife persona and Caroline Aherne's Mrs Merton. This comparison is not always favourable. A Stockport housewife, cleaner to the stars, the entire act is a caricature of a northern homemaker of thirty years ago with most of the comedy feeling like it could have been performed then too. Even then it would have felt dated. There are occasional more modern notes, but the majority of the show is very much based on the era of the seventies and eighties. It is very much a woman of a certain age with a principal target aud...

19Apr

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Rambert: Death Trap – The Lowry

Following on from the success of their adaptation of Peaky Blinders, Rambert are back at the Lowry with their current tour Death Trap. Consisting of two separate pieces Cerberus and Goat, Death Trap is more contemporary theatre than contemporary dance but is no less engaging and is intensely powerful. Cerberus is an adaptation of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It opens with Aishwarya telling the audience that what we are about to see is her life, from birth to death. She emerges stage right, with a rope around her middle and moves across till she exits stage left. As she exits her Orpheus emerges holding onto the other end of the rope. He is unwilling to believe she is dead and with the assistance of his translator fr...

Treasure Island – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

4Apr

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Treasure Island – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

As an Easter Holiday child friendly show, the Garrick has produced a version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. This version adapted by the well-respected Bryony Lavery was first produced in 2014. The basic plot remains the same, but Lavery has taken liberties with both characters and sections of the story. Jim Hawkins is now female, Jim has a grandmother not parents, characters are missing, new characters are inserted, and the fate of several characters is altered. The problem with doing this is that while the play bears some resemblance to the original it should be referred to as the Alternative Treasure Island. Jim and her grandmother run the Admiral Benbow Inn in Black Cove. One night a man arrives with his sea chest and takes a ...

Let The Right One In – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

6Feb

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Let The Right One In – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Let The Right One In is an adaptation of a book by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist of the same title. It has also been adapted twice into film, one in the Swedish Language and one American produced. It has also been adapted for the stage twice, once in Swedish and then English. This is the Jack Thorne English adaptation rather than a translation of the Swedish version. Unfortunately, the fact it is an adaptation of a complex storyline is all obvious within the first five minutes. The show suffers badly from far too many micro scenes. In a two-hour play there are probably less than ten scenes that even make it to five minutes long, many are sub one minute. Between each scene the stage has to go dark allowing for props to be brought on and off the ...

Altrincham Garrick Show Choir – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

8Jul

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Altrincham Garrick Show Choir – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The Altrincham Garrick Show Choir, attached to the amateur company, has not been together that long, and this is only their second full concert held at the building from where they rehearse and take their name. As such a certain amount of leeway is given as are all giving up their free time to rehearse and perform, and a lack of experience as a choir. The choir, under the musical direction of Dan McDwyer, have obviously been rehearsing hard and sing well, but there are issues with the format as a whole. Many of the songs were either relatively obscure from musicals such as Come From Away and Out of Our Heads, a pleasure to hear something different, to the overused Bring Him Home from Les Misérables and From Now On from The Greatest Showman. Good to hear some classics i...

Carrie Hope Fletcher: An Open Book – The Lowry

30May

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Carrie Hope Fletcher: An Open Book – The Lowry

Carrie Hope Fletcher started her career in musical theatre at the grand old age of nine, playing the young Eponine in Les Misérables. Since then she has played a large number of roles in various musicals including the adult Eponine and Fantine and the first UK Veronica in Heathers The Musical. Here in An Open Book she takes a retrospective look at her career and her life through anecdote and song. Taking the order of story and song seemingly from an online source, for each anecdote she ‘reads’ from a different book. Stories of her childhood, adulthood and from various shows are followed by a relevant track. After her opening song Another Chapter, she goes into There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease. Her songs range from Les Misérables, He...

<strong>Dick Whittington – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse</strong>

10Dec

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Dick Whittington – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Pantomime season is once more upon us, and the Garrick Playhouse in Altrincham is joining in the fun once more. This year’s offering is Dick Whittington, the age old tale of a young man, seeking his fortune in London. The Garrick have kept to the basics of the story with their own adaptations and as with any panto lots of modern and local references The staging of the show is well done with a simple but effective design, excellent lighting effects and stunning costumes. There are some sound issues with actors being hard to hear, especially when singing, but that could be first night technical hitches. The actors are enthusiastic and generally perform well. Shining stars are Dan Ellis, who also directs, as Idle Jack and Phil Edwards as Sarah the Cook. &nbs...

<strong>All My Sons – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse</strong>

15Nov

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

All My Sons – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

It is seventy-five years since Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons was first produced on Broadway. Three quarters of a century later it is as powerful as it was in the late 1940s. Miller’s writing and crafting of the plot is exceptional. Unlike many of his later plays it also feels the most personal. The family set up is similar to that of his own growing up, with himself as the younger brother, and the story is based upon a true tale told to him by his mother in law. It was also his last chance to write a successful play before he gave up playwrighting altogether. Thankfully it was a success and Miller continued writing until not long before his death in 2005. The play takes place over a period of twenty-four hours. Joe Keller is a ...