Karen Morley-Chesworth, Author at North West End UK

2Mar

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

The Glee Club – Theatre by the Lake

The wheels of the pit shaft create the backdrop for this coming of age play, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. Music has always been at the heart of mining communities - and the latest production at Theatre by the Lake takes us back to 1962 to join the five pitmen who aren't in the brass band but singers in The Glee Club. This is a beautiful ensemble of five actors who take us back to when coal was king and the men who dug it out, deep in the bowels of the earth, were hard-working, hard-drinking and resolved issues with their fists. The Glee Club is an outlet for emotion and sensitivity that appears on the surface to be missing from the lives of these men - and we get to enjoy some great singing. Under the veneer of laughter, the older men are still scared by their loss and experi...

Tom’s Midnight Garden – Theatre by the Lake

Nothing heralds the start of Christmas like the family production at Theatre by the Lake - and this year they added some festive sparkle to the children's classic Tom's Midnight Garden, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. Not a traditional Christmas story, but one loved by all ages, making this the ideal family visit to the theatre. Director Liz Stevenson has brought some real drama to this tale, where time past and present come together on the stroke of 13 from the grandfather clock in the hall. The characters from across time create an eerie image in a beautifully choreographed scene at the opening of the production. The minimalist set crates the moves through time and into the midnight garden with flying flowers and a greenhouse. However, it is the snowfall in the second part of thi...

Home, I’m Darling – Theatre by the Lake

Drama and comedy returns to the stage of Theatre by the Lake with an entertaining play that looks at how we all pick and choose our own narrative of reality - shaped by our rose-tinted glasses approach to history writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. The main theatre is in the round for this production of Laura Wade’s deconstructed rom-com - providing a viewpoint on every perspective of a marriage cloaked in fantasy and collapsing under the weight of pretence. The relationship between Judy and Johnny has been captured within a 1950s bubble - like an insect trapped in amber. Living in the 21st century, they both have a passion for the 50’s style, fashions and music yet take it one step further to take on the philosophy and social norms of the era. From career woman to housewife carer, Jud...