Monday, December 23

Author: Mark Davoren

The Signalman – Metal Culture, Liverpool
North West

The Signalman – Metal Culture, Liverpool

From ArtsGroupie, the producers of Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse and A Portrait of William Roscoe, comes a slice of winter terror with a new adaptation from David Griffiths, who also directs, of the much-loved Charles Dickens supernatural classic, The Signalman. Following the arrival of a somewhat lost and larger than life visitor (John Maguire) at a remote signal box on a dark winter night, the solitary railway signalman (Zoran Blackie) tells him of a spectre that has been haunting him with each appearance preceding a tragic event on the railway on which the signalman works, a deep cutting near a tunnel entrance on a lonely stretch of the railway line where he controls the movement of the passing trains and is alerted to danger by his fellow signalmen via the telegraph and alarms. T...
The Woman Who Crossed the Road – Theatre Porto
North West

The Woman Who Crossed the Road – Theatre Porto

The uprising in Iran is just over a year old. Women are still demonstrating, refusing to wear their headscarves and shouting ‘Woman. Life. Freedom’. At the same time, the government is hitting back, often literally: in the past week, a sixteen-year-old girl died suffering from brain damage after an alleged altercation with morality police who had assaulted her for not wearing a hijab. Performed by Najmeh Shoara, born in Iran but forced to leave to keep herself safe and sane, she is in the UK for the first time to tell this story which, written and directed by Kevin Dyer, is based on the true stories of the many women forced to leave places and start over again. Whilst pre-dating the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in Iran in September 2022, it was updated to reflect its Iranian origins and ...
Brendan Son of Dublin – The Tung Auditorium
North West

Brendan Son of Dublin – The Tung Auditorium

In the 100th anniversary year of the birth of the infamous Brendan Behan, Fatdan Productions present the second of their musical dramas focusing on the ‘outsider’, following their 2021 play on Oscar Wilde, as part of the Liverpool Irish Festival. Written by John Merrigan and with music and lyrics by Danielle Morgan, director and visual artist Professor Pamela Howard OBE presents a semi-staged production to explore the enigma that is Behan. With the simplest of staging that includes three stools, three chairs, and a clothes rack, Behan (Pádraig Lynch) steps through the key phases of his life from impassioned young Republican through to literary lush, with supporting characters portrayed by an ensemble (Gillian McCafferty; John Newcombe; Jack Klaff; Ann Marcuson; Ross Scarfield) and the s...
The House Amongst the Willows – Formby Little Theatre
North West

The House Amongst the Willows – Formby Little Theatre

Fletcher (Peter Harris) is taking his fiancée Sadie (Hannah Johnson) away for a week, but they will be staying with the parents, Paul (Michael Leathley) and Erin (Vicky Birrell), of his previous wife, Laura (Donna M Day). Although engaged, they haven’t been together that long and Sadie is about to discover more than she had bargained for when his friend Josh (Simon James), a former policeman, reveals some hidden truths about Fletcher’s previous relationship, and when his Parisian ex, Kelly (Samantha Jones), turns up, things are about to get really complicated. If that’s not enough to get you started, then director Day’s unravelling of the subtext of the story definitely will as all is most certainly not what it seems in this tranquil part of middle England. Without giving too much away,...
Fran & Flora: Synagogue Nights – Manchester Jewish Museum
North West

Fran & Flora: Synagogue Nights – Manchester Jewish Museum

Experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, kickstart the latest season of Synagogue Nights at Manchester Jewish Museum with Contemporary Diaspora Sounds, drawing upon music from Unfurl, their 2019 debut album, and their upcoming second album due for release in 2024. Having freshly arrived from Romania that morning, this was cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and violinist Flora Curzon’s first performance in Manchester as well as their first at a Sephardic synagogue. Drawing inspiration from their travels in eastern Europe and beyond, their work pulls upon the melodies of Klezmer, influences from Transylvania, Romania, Greece, and Armenia and archival manuscript and recordings. Providing us with an array of musical pieces, we moved between traditional Klezmer and the Doina’s of Transylvania and...
Baba Yaga – Theatre Porto
North West

Baba Yaga – Theatre Porto

The tales of the Baba Yaga, best known in Slavic folk and fairy tale traditions, are full of rich story material, and Laura Lindow’s new play for Theatre Hullabaloo and Theatre Porto reimagines the best elements of these to present a dark, fairytale world where the children’s bravery and ingenuity ultimately triumphs. The journey of two children, Girl (Fran Burgoyne) and Boy (Ben Galpin), and their search for safety, resonates strongly with current times as they encounter a town which refuses to let them in, knowing that as a result they are almost certainly sending them into terrible danger.  However, whilst there is a moral message at the heart of this piece, directed by Nina Hajiyianni and produced by Miranda Thain, about our collective responsibility to look after the most vuln...
The Titfield Thunderbolt – Rainhill Garrick Society
North West

The Titfield Thunderbolt – Rainhill Garrick Society

Director Judith Martindale blows new life into Philip Goulding’s stage adaptation of the 1952 Ealing comedy classic bringing the right amount of mayhem and merriment to the birthplace of the modern railway and it’s a theatrical treat well worth waiting for. Whilst Clifton (Rob Williams) and Mr Blakeworth (Tom Nevitt) discuss the imminent closure of their railway line, Lady Chesterfield (Tracey Duffy) and Reverend Weech (George Lowe) bring together the local residents including his niece, Joan (Jenny Martindale), retired track layer Dan Taylor (David Parker), and Mrs Bottomley (Ruth Profitt) to run it themselves, with the financial support of philanthropist Mr Valentine (Michael Brennan), who has a fondness for drinking, as well as those much-needed passengers (Angela Vose; Alison Mawdsl...
L’elisir d’amore – Royal Opera House Live Transmission
REVIEWS

L’elisir d’amore – Royal Opera House Live Transmission

L’elisir d’amore is a bel canto comic opera in two acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti with libretto by Felice Romani. Written in 1832, today it is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti’s operas. Naïve country boy Nemorino (Liparit Avetisyan) is determined to win the heart of the coquettish Adina (Nadine Sierra) but this assured young woman doesn’t even bother to give him the time of day. When the parochial life of the village is thrown into disarray by the arrival of the dashing Sergeant Belcore (Boris Pinkhasovich) at the head of his troops, the lovesick peasant boy is forced to turn to other means in his Tristan-like pursuit of his Isolde, and the arrival of wheeler-dealer Doctor Dulcamara (Ambrogio Maestri) promises much with his so-called ‘elixir of love’. As...
Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)
REVIEWS

Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)

When you put two geniuses together there is no guarantee that what they create will match the expectation; there is no such concern here as Antonio Pappano conducts Barrie Kosky’s bold new imagining of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the musical brilliance of the orchestra matched by an outstanding cast. This production marks the start of a new Ring Cycle for The Royal Opera and this is undoubtedly a prelude of exciting things to come from the wonderful pairing of Pappano and Kosky. Any new production of Wagner’s Ring has to remain faithful to its mythical origins but also needs to find a way to connect to its modern audience, but that balance is achieved and some in this vibrant theatrical production set at the beginning of time and of life. Rufus Didwiszus’s simple yet symbolic monochr...
The Incident Room returns to Royal Court Studio
NEWS

The Incident Room returns to Royal Court Studio

Following a sell-out run at The Black-E, Old Fruit Jar Productions return to the Studio at Liverpool Royal Court, after their sell-out run of Twelfth Night, to present a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of a pivotal moment in British history. Exploring the wider issues of misogyny and institutional negligence that surrounded the case, Olivia Hirst and David Byrne’s beautifully crafted The Incident Room is an intense and thought-provoking look into the police investigation into the crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper. Set in Leeds 1975, the focus of the play is centred in and around the Millgarth Incident Room as the biggest manhunt in British police history unfolds. Whilst based on this gripping true story, the focus of the play is on the police officers at the forefront of what...