Mark Davoren, Author at North West End UK

It’s A Wonderful Life – St George’s Hall

14Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

It’s A Wonderful Life – St George’s Hall

Having completed a two-week run at Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio and with the bells well and truly ringing, Old Fruit Jar Productions turned to St George’s Hall to spread the festive magic of this delightful tearjerker production a little further. Christmas Eve, 1946 and down-on-his-luck banker George Bailey (Robbie Fletcher-Hill)) feels life has passed him by, and he's at the end of his tether, so angels Joseph (Andrew Johnson) and Gloria (Faye Griffiths) decide to send a fledgling guardian angel, Clarence (Jordan Barkley) to earn his wings, but if he is going to be of any help, he needs to understand who George truly is: the young boy at play with brother Harry (Anthony Roberts) and friend Sam (Taona Matope)? Or the young man distracted by the attractions of Violet (Rachel McGrath) a...

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – St Hilda’s Church Hall, Hunts Cross

13Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – St Hilda’s Church Hall, Hunts Cross

Directors Gemma Hurst and Georgina Anwyl lead us on a delightful romp through time and space with Glyn Roberts’ adaptation of the well-loved C.S. Lewis tale. Siblings Peter (Carl Latham), Susan (Victoria Turnock), Edmund (Connor Jones) and Lucy (Zoe Marras) are evacuees staying at the house of the Professor (Zoran Blackie) and his housekeeper, Mrs McCready (Jenny Snell). When Lucy steps into the wardrobe and out again into the magical world of Narnia, a land of Beavers (Andrew Parsons; Victoria Grimbly) and Leopards (Ife Babatunde; Elise Ng) amongst other animals, where she meets fawns, Mr Tumnus (Aslan Herzen) and Mrs Tumnus (Samra Uddin). All is not well though as The White Witch (Snell), assisted by her Wolves (Juliet Shreeve; Lydia Byrne; Heather Robinson; Ray Ormsby; Michelle Conne...

Waiting for Godot – Theatre Royal Haymarket

9Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

London

Waiting for Godot – Theatre Royal Haymarket

Director James MacDonald breathes new life into Samuel Beckett’s absurdist 1953 tragicomedy about two down at heel men waiting for a mysterious figure to appear, with a fresh and engaging interpretation that focuses more on the inherent humour within the play rather than just the disconsolate existentialism with which it is usually associated. Opening to a dystopian landscape bereft of any positive discernible feature other than a leafless tree, we encounter Estragon/Gogo (Lucian Msamati) and Valdimir/Didi (Ben Whishaw), as they wait for Godot. Whilst their connection to each other is unstated, there is an endearing affection between them that pervades their ongoing conversations about something and nothing, which distracts from the obvious bleakness of their everyday lives. The appe...

8Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

London

The Mousetrap – St Martin’s Theatre

Director Philip Franks wonderfully maintains the suspense of what is the longest running play in the world, which now in its 73rd year, having first opened in London’s West End in 1952, continues to play to packed houses which is a testament to Agatha Christie’s suspenseful writing and the accompanying performances from the cast with the support of an accomplished creative team. Set in early 1950’s England, Mollie Ralston (Lara Lemon) and Giles Ralston (Harry Bradley) have been married for one year and having decided to repurpose her inherited stately home, Monkswell Manor, as a guest house, they nervously await their first guests amidst a snowy blizzard that has just descended. First to arrive is the excitable Christoper Wren (Richard Leeming), an architect no less who loves to coo...

Woman | Women – Shakespeare North Playhouse

1Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Woman | Women – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Produced, directed, performed, and choreographed by Dr Rowena Gander, Woman I Women is a physical and comedic show that takes an ironic deep dive into the typically fast-paced nature of lesbian relationships, coming out of the other side with a more philosophical whole that encourages its audience to contemplate the meaning of relationships and oneself within and without one. Whilst its focus is on lesbian relationships, this powerful, empowering, and informative work resonates on a number of levels. Less is more and Gander’s approach to physical theatre demonstrates how you can do a lot with a little as a basic rectangular cuboid frame serves as a metaphoric clothes horse that brings two into one as well as the boxing ring for some playful fighting through to the rougher breaking u...

Zoraida di Granata – Teatro Sociale, Bergamo

27Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Zoraida di Granata – Teatro Sociale, Bergamo

Director Bruno Ravella excels with a stunning interpretation of Donizetti’s 1824 version of his two-act heroic opera in this new production by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti in co-production with Wexford Festival Opera, that resonates strongly with events currently unravelling in Ukraine and the Middle East. Based in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in Andalusia, Almuzir (Konu Kim) has killed the king of the city by usurping his throne and would like to marry his daughter, Zoraida (Zuzana Marková), who is in love with Abenamet (Cecilia Molinari), head of the Arab aristocratic clan of the Abencerragis. Having declared war on the Spaniards, Almuzir entrusts the command of the army to Abenamet, ordering him to return with the flag. He has however set a trap for his rival by arranging for...

Roberto Devereux – Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo

27Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Roberto Devereux – Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo

Director Stephen Langridge delightfully breathes new life into Donizetti’s three-act lyrical tragedy in this new production by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti in co-production with the Teatro Sociale di Rovigo, and which, in spite of its title, is all about two women: one loved and one scorned, and the resulting danger that ensues. In late 16th C London, Elizabetta I (Jessica Pratt) feels neglected by Roberto Devereux (John Osborn), Earl of Essex, with whom she is madly in love. Two of the Queen’s advisors, Lord Cecil (David Astorga) and Raleigh (Ignas Malnikas), Essex’s enemies, ask her to charge him with treason for his lenient behaviour in the war against Spain. Elisabetta receives Roberto, who is detached and reserved. The Duke of Nottingham (Simone Piazzole) is concerned by the ...

Don Pasquale – Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo

27Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Don Pasquale – Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo

Director Amélie Niermeyer has bravely adopted a modern interpretation of Donizetti’s classic comedy opera in this new production by the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, but at the end of the day, there’s just too much going on which becomes a distraction and disrupts the singing. In Rome, the old and rich Don Pasquale da Corneto (Roberto de Candia) has decided to disinherit his nephew Ernesto (Javier Camarena), guilty of having refused the hand of a rich spinster because he is in love with Norina (Giulia Mazzola), a poor young widow. Despite his age, and in order to have an offspring, Don Pasquale therefore decides to marry and instructs Doctor Malatesta (Dario Sogos) to find him a wife. Malatesta, who is actually a close friend of Ernesto’s, extols the virtues of his ‘sister’ Sofronia, who...

16Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: The Magic Flute – Lowry

Opera North’s English Version of Mozart’s two-act opera hints at the fantasy but lacks the magic necessary for the classic fairy tale rescue of a princess by a handsome prince. Tamino (Egor Zhuravskii), a young prince, is being pursued by a terrible dragon and in his attempt to escape he passes out and is unknowingly saved by three mysterious Ladies (Charlie Drummond; Katie Sharpe; Hazel Croft). As they depart to alert the Queen of the Night (Naomi Quant) to his presence, Tamino regains consciousness only to meet another strange figure, that of Papageno (Emyr Wyn Jones), the bird catcher, who also works for the Queen, and deceitfully claims to have defeated the monster. He is punished when the three Ladies return by having his tongue sealed with a magic spell. Tamino is presented with a...

15Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Ruddigore – Lowry

Jo Davies’ 2010 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s fast-paced comic opera is dusted down for a well-deserved airing by Revival Director James Hurley, with the action reset in the 1920’s and the era of silent movies proving the perfect setting for moustachioed villains and cloak-swirling, whilst not missing out on some updated lines to have a dig at prime ministers old and new: now, whose name might rhyme with lettuce… Rose Maybud (Amy Freston) is an innocent village girl who lives her life by a book of etiquette which only serves to hinder any burgeoning relationship with tongue-tied suitor Robin Oakapple (Dominic Sedgwick), much to the disappointment of the village’s professional bridesmaids (Chorus of Opera North led by Gillene Butterfield). Robin ropes in his foster brother,...