Mark Davoren, Author at North West End UK

Twopence To Cross The Mersey – Floral Pavilion

13Sep

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Twopence To Cross The Mersey – Floral Pavilion

Adapted by Rob Fennah from Helen Forrester’s million-selling book and directed by Gareth Tudor Price, Twopence To Cross The Mersey is a period drama set in the early 1930’s during the Great Depression. Helen’s (Jenny Murphy) spendthrift father (Mark Moraghan) has been declared bankrupt forcing the family to leave behind the nannies, servants, and beautiful middle-class home in the south of England. With little more than the clothes they stand up in, the family take the train to Liverpool where they hope to rebuild their shattered lives, although mother (Lynn Francis) is plagued by other doubts, but it is not the wealthy port that used to exist as the city too has changed and fallen on harder times. With the parents looking for work, Helen is taken out of school to look after her sibl...

The Crucible – Woolton Drama Group at St James’ Hall, Woolton

19Aug

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Crucible – Woolton Drama Group at St James’ Hall, Woolton

Whilst Arthur Miller’s 1953 play dramatises the true story of the horrific with hunts in Salem, Massachusetts at the end of the 17th century, at its time of writing it was an allegory of the anti-Communist persecutions in post-World War 2 McCarthy era USA. That it remains an accurate reflection of the fashion and fad culture of today reinforces the idiom that rather than learn from history we continue to make the same mistakes. Act I sets the background to the play and to the mischief which will become frenzy as the sanity of this God-fearing community is broken down with the upright Reverend Pariss (Andrew Parsons) and the Putnams (Curtis McGuinness and Georgina Anwyl) waiting expectantly on his afflicted daughter Betty (Razz Cadman). The arrival of Giles Corey (Zoran Blackie), Reveren...

3Aug

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Roped In – United Wolves Productions

Roped In from screenwriter Dylan Cullum – based on Rope by Ane Skarvǿy – is a short film from United Wolves Productions under the direction of Michael Wolf with cinematographic support from Nadia Parpova, who also edits, and sound from Tennur Daud. Filmed in a single location, Ben (Dan Kralev) appears to be in control of the situation with Selma (Zori Dragiyska) but is all as it really seems? Psychologically gripping, it’s dark on the drama and heavy on the intrigue with a healthy dose of black humour coursing through it to keep you guessing at what may be unravelling in front of your eyes. Kralev captures the hope and hopelessness of Ben perfectly whilst Dragiyska is captivating as the alluring femme fatale, and with both providing strong, believable performances and the action subt...

Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse – Shakespeare North Playhouse

24Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Kitty Wilkinson is the only female statue in Liverpool’s St George’s Hall, and she is brought to life by Samantha Alton to take us back to 1830’s Liverpool in a captivating one-woman show that tells an against all odds story of how a working-class Irish migrant girl, whose life was laden with poverty, loss, and hardship, fought the cholera epidemic and became a community champion. Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden provides the perfect backdrop for this intricate tale from celebrated local writer John Maguire which, told with humour and kindness, brings Kitty’s story centre stage under the direction of Margaret Connell as we are immersed in the world of a true heroine of the North. White sheets draping the open set provide the perfect backdrop for the narra...

The Liver Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse

23Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Liver Bird – Shakespeare North Playhouse

What if the Liver Bird really did exist? Charlie J (Tom Browning) has heard all about Liverpool’s famous Birds from his Grandma’s (Samantha Alton) stories but are they real? Has anybody seen one fly? When things start to get difficult at school and just when he needs it most, Charlie is visited by a very special creature… Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden is well and truly brought alive by this enchanting modern-day fairy-tale from writer John Maguire, adapted here for stage by Jessica Mae Buxton of The Bookworm Players and directed by Margaret Connell. Using the simplest of sets, our two talented actors bring all of their skills to the fore through mesmerising performances with mime and puppetry added in for good measure. There is a high level of interact...

Angela Griffin to interview Johnny Vegas at Shakespeare North Playhouse

22Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Angela Griffin to interview Johnny Vegas at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Beloved comic and actor Johnny Vegas sits down with actress and TV Presenter Angela Griffin, in the second of Shakespeare North Playhouse’s ‘Evening With’ events on Friday 29th July in the Cockpit Theatre. Before sipping cuppas with a knitted monkey or being a TV panel regular on QI and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Vegas was perhaps one of the most fearlessly honest stand-ups that this country has ever produced. Revered for his comedic rants and use of surreal humor, Johnny is a true Northern legend (and a local one at that!) Leeds-born Angela is a firm favourite with audiences around the world. Her road to success began in 1993 when, as a 16-year-old, she assumed the role of hairdresser Fiona Middleton in ITV’s Coronation Street. Since then, Angela has appeared in a wide variet...

22Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Book of Mormon – Liverpool Empire

The Book of Mormon has been meting out metaphors since it first broke on the stage in 2011 and this latest adaptation continues that rich vein with recent local topical references slipped in for good measure. Two young men, Kevin Price (Robert Colvin) and Arnold Cunningham (Jacob Yarlett) have finished their training to be missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and inspired by the memory of Joseph Smith (Johnathan Tweedie) and with the title Elder inserted in front of their names, the pair are thrust together and sent off on their two-year mission to find, recruit and baptise new members into the Mormon religion. However, it’s not to be the magic of Orlando but Africa when they pitch up in Uganda to help struggling Elder McKinley (Jordan Lee Davies) and team. W...

The Countdown Is On To Deva Fest’s Big Weekend

19Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

The Countdown Is On To Deva Fest’s Big Weekend

With just weeks to go until Deva Fest 2022, excitement is building for what is set to be the unmissable event of the summer. The three-day music, food and lifestyle extravaganza comes to Chester Lakes from 12th-14th August and final preparations are underway to make the annual event the best one yet. Cheshire’s premier family festival includes a host of activities and attractions which are all included within its entrance price - including marvellous mermaids, pirates and parades, funfair rides, fancy dress competitions and a fantastic line-up of household names on the main music stage. They include headliners Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Heather Small, singer-songwriter and pop-rap princess Betty Boo, and brilliant bands Scouting for Girls and Dodgy. Mermaid Cove is a new attractio...

Twelfth Night – Old Fruit Jar Productions at Royal Court Studio, Liverpool

18Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Twelfth Night – Old Fruit Jar Productions at Royal Court Studio, Liverpool

Twelfth Night – Old Fruit Jar Productions at Royal Court Studio, Liverpool Old Fruit Jar Productions have well and truly ripened with their upcoming production of Twelfth Night at Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio this August, and it was a delight to catch up with director Alex Carr and cast members to discover what they have in store. Shakespeare is often perceived as off-putting, mainly because of how poorly it is taught in schools, and something that people look forward to escaping from but in the right hands, one can delight at the continued relevance of work from over four hundred years ago and its ironic examination of the human character: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose… OFJP have embraced the challenge and chosen to reset the play, one of Shakespeare’s more famous co...

Off the Ground Theatre – Love’s Labour’s Lost

16Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Off the Ground Theatre – Love’s Labour’s Lost

It may have been 2 long years coming, having been postponed due to Covid-19, but Off the Ground Theatre are overjoyed to finally be able to bring their production of Love’s Labour’s Lost to audiences across the north west of England and Wales this summer. This summer will also see OTG return to Ireland for the first time since the summer of 2019, making this production all the more exciting. Shakespeare’s most poetic play, this is a comedy all about love in its many forms, and what hapless, beautiful young people will do to find it. Ferdinand, King of the idyllic Navarre region of Spain, has sworn a vow with his three closest friends, and most trusted advisers, to avoid the company of women, too fast and to sleep just three hours a day for three years, so they can devote themselves f...