Lou Steggals, Author at North West End UK

<strong>Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) – The Lowry</strong>

20Jan

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

**Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) – The Lowry**

Sending up classical literature is nothing new but there’s still nothing quite like the sight of one of its most iconic characters busting out an accordion whilst her mother has an asthma attack on the chaise longue. Welcome to the most irreverent interpretation of Austen you’re ever likely to witness. A madcap mix of petticoats and profanity that prompts everything from schoolgirl sniggers to flat out belly laughs, like a foul-mouthed French and Saunders spoof on steroids. Here, Austen’s familiar tale of the Bennett brood, with their overbearing mother desperate to marry them off lest they lose their fortune and home to a most disagreeable male relative, is told through the view of the servants of the Bennett home of Longbourne. They highlight with hilarious effect, not onl...

<strong>Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Epstein Theatre</strong>

14Dec

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Epstein Theatre

I think I’m in love with a pantomime villain. We’ll come to the snake-hipped Von Vippemall in a moment. Firstly, an acknowledgement that in an absolute ocean of Pantos, it can be very difficult to stand out from the crowd. But Regal Entertainment’s offering, directed by Chantelle Nolan, has not so much raised the bar as smashed it into orbit with the perfect blend of music, slapstick and a few fantastic circus acts to literally put a new spin on a well-known fairytale. The familiar plot of Goldilocks gets dispensed with in about two minutes flat so that we can focus on a far more interesting tale – Goldilocks (played by the charmingly bubbly Olivia Sloyan) is now a circus entrepreneur with her mother, Dame Gertie (Britain’s Got Talent favourite, Mama G, from Dame Nation) with the thr...

<strong>Snow White and the Scouse Queen – Hope Street Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Snow White and the Scouse Queen – Hope Street Theatre

Panto is a tricky beast to get right. Audiences come armed with expectations of organized chaos, cheesy jokes and lots of interaction. City Theatre have aimed to turn the formula a little bit on its head, modernizing the tale of Snow White (played by Molly Riley) and bringing it away from some unknown Fairy Tale kingdom, into the heart of Liverpool. City Theatre’s ethos is about opportunity for those with a passion for performing arts to have a space to develop their ability and confidence. This is evident in the show as we certainly have heaps of enthusiasm but a bit of a mixed bag in performance craft. Strong turns come from Elisha Mai Curry as Fairy Hope, with her powerhouse vocals, an energetic Denise Collins as Billy Shine and a warm, charming Lucy Walters as the ironically depr...

<strong>Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Empire</strong>

27Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Empire

Two composers, two very different backgrounds, yet both with stories swirling with intrigue and rumour. As the Glyndebourne returns to the Empire for its annual residence, tonight is an interesting showcase of arias from composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, sometimes nick-named the ‘Black Mozart’ alongside the legendary Requiem of the main man himself. Part one focuses on Bologna, who may not have reached the heights of fame that Mozart would eventually achieve but still impressed many of his contemporaries with his abilities (Beethoven was reportedly a particular fan). Director Simone Ibbett-Brown has cleverly combined elements of Bologne’s remarkable story – a Creole sone of a slave-woman Nanon and her Plantation owning master who travels to France to make his ma...

<strong>Seascapes and Mountains: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic</strong>

9Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Seascapes and Mountains: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

On a grey, drizzly day in the city, a packed Philharmonic Hall is ready to escape the gloom outside for an aural expedition that will take us from the wilds of the Scottish Hebrides to the heights of Swiss Alps. Conductor Laureate (and ‘honorary Scouser’ as of 2009) Vasily Petrenko is greeted like an all-conquering hero and doesn’t hesitate to whisk us off on the first part of our journey as the familiar strains of Mendelssohn’ Hebrides overture, ‘Fingal’s Cave’ fill the hall. Petrenko is so ‘at one’ with his orchestra, it’s as if he never left. The magnificent harmonies swell together to bring the vast arches and columns of Staffa’s famous sea cave, and Mendelssohn’s musical inspiration, to life. The swaying of conductor and orchestra alike mirrors the waves that one can picture cra...

<strong>The Haunting of Blaine Manor – Epstein Theatre</strong>

5Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Haunting of Blaine Manor – Epstein Theatre

Halloween may have passed, with thoughts turning towards mince pies and Maria Carey, but our ensemble tonight is not quite ready for us to completely escape all things that go bump in the night. Written and directed by award-winning writer Joe O’Byrne, ‘…Blaine Manor’ takes us back to the 1950s, introducing us to renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, (Peter Slater) famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums. He has been invited to a séance at the most haunted building in England, but it soon becomes clear that there are more demons lurking than just the ones that Blaine Manor claims to house. As a storm sets in, secrets and lies are ripe for revealing, as well as the manor’s more unearthly inhabitants. The Epstein is an excellent choice for tonight’...

31Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Doing Whodunnit – Hope Street Theatre

The souvenir programme should have been the first clue of how tonight’s proceedings were going to go. Stretched headshot pictures and typos hint at the lack of finesse that has undone what could have been an excellent concept for a parody of the classic ‘Whodunnit’. Developed from what was a very well-received online piece during lockdown, tonight’s show from the Northern Comedy Theatre is based around the premise of a world-weary acting troupe whose schtick of putting on murder mysteries for corporate teams and parties is starting to test everyone’s patience, especially when 28 of the expected 30 punters from a local conservatory installation firm have failed to show for the latest outing. Soon a genuine murder occurs and anyone and everyone is a suspect. Unfortunately, the transiti...

Daniel Sloss: Can’t – Liverpool Philharmonic

11Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Daniel Sloss: Can’t – Liverpool Philharmonic

Daniel Sloss is a man on a mission. Dubbing himself the ‘Steve Irwin of comedy’ he’s on the lookout for the ‘Stingray’ joke that is going to end his career. It won’t be the one we’d expect he says, it will be something innocuous, that starts off about wallpaper. Nevertheless, he’s clearly relishes the opportunity in front of him to test the audience’s limit. In Sloss’ firing line are the death of the Queen, progressive liberals, magicians, and people who get travel sick. He loves the idea of us discovering that our fellow audience members absolutely hate him; that their discomfort will only serve to make the experience even funnier. Two Netflix specials have help Sloss hone his act, but he remains a man of two sides; one minute perching on a bar stool like he’s about to break into a ...

Tough Old Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse

10Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Tough Old Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse

The dulcet tones of Michael Parkinson wouldn’t normally invoke a collective eye roll. But when it’s delivering the familiar lines of a certain advert touting the advantages of buying a pre-payment funeral plan you can perhaps understand why a shudder runs through the audience. It’s a perfect example of the frustrations of how society views aging. And, with ‘Showbusiness and Gin’ running through her veins, Nana Funk (AKA Angie Waller who wrote the show) along with the ever-silent Val (a marvellously restrained Claire Jones, who composed tonight’s songs), is here to hold court on the indignities of it all. Inspired by her own mum’s experience, Tough Old Bird, directed by Margaret Connell, looks at how people can, with the best of intentions, patronise and infantilise our older friends ...

Half Measures – Shakespeare North Playhouse

3Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Half Measures – Shakespeare North Playhouse

War. Corruption and power plays. Women fighting for autonomy. All very Shakespearean themes but all still very much identifiable in today’s society. Tonight, we are asked if “life itself is always worth more than the way it is lived”. One Hour Theatre has re-visited its 2016 debut play, Half Measures, written by Tim Prentki and directed by Victor Merriman. The piece melds together selected scenes from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, with the modern tale of Nadia, an Eastern Ukrainian illegal immigrant, who seeks a better life away from her war-torn country. When Nadia catches the eye of a married hotshot footballer Angelo, she must decide how far she is willing to go to get the happiness and security she craves. By then focusing on the Measure for Measure storyline of Isabella,...