Paul Ackroyd, Author at North West End UK

21May

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Book of Grace – Arcola Theatre

This is an outstanding production of a gripping drama, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks in 2009. The Arcola Theatre presents the UK premiere of a revised version, with an all-black cast. The play tells the story of Vet and his second wife Grace who live on the Texas Mexico border. They receive a visit from Vet's son Buddy, who has been away and out of contact for 15 years. He has returned for his father's award ceremony, recognition for his single-handedly having detained a large group of illegal migrants on the border. The border runs through Vet's life: he is a very proud member of the border force, his house is within sight of the border fence and he has a live stream of the fence playing in his house. Borders generally are very important to Vet,...

16Feb

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Lear’s Shadow – Jack Studio Theatre

The pandemic was, of course, a disaster for theatres and those involved in the performance arts. But it is striking how many of those affected used their time to develop their creative skills and produce new work, which would otherwise possibly never have seen the light of day. One such is Lear's Shadow devised and performed by Colin Hurley, and now performed in the Brockley Jack Theatre. The Jack performance space is almost bare except for a round wooden table and a bench. Enter an old man with dishevelled hair and greying beard, dressed in a dressing gown and long johns, with bare feet. He carries a modern looking box full of his props. Although looking like a Lear, the programme notes make clear that this is not Lear: it is an actor very familiar with the Bard's w...

22Jan

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Fire Embers Ash – Barons Court Theatre

This play by Hailey Mashburn tells the little-known story of the establishment by the Soviet Union of the first all-female aviation regiment to fight against the Nazis in the Second World War. Apparently, the regiments were created by Stalin after pressure from one of the early aviators Marina Raskova, portrayed in this play by Henrietta Laursen in the role of commander. The establishment of the unit was controversial and looked down upon by many of their male colleagues. They were only allocated old and decrepit planes and had to wear ill-fitting male uniforms. Nevertheless, they distinguished themselves, and were nicknamed by the Nazis as the " Night Witches". The title which they adopted themselves with pride. To overcome the deficiencies of their equipment...

19Jan

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Kindred – Brockley Jack

This new play by Amee Walker-Reid is a journey through one tumultuous week in the lives of a young couple, Lois and Matt, as they look forward to their wedding at the end of the week. As the play starts, they have just returned from Matt's father's funeral, which was a disturbing event due to the ongoing animosities within his family. During the week, they also have to attend Lois's sister's divorce party. This would be enough for most stable couples to cope with, but Matt suffers from a fairly severe psychotic illness which he is struggling to manage, and Lois is reaching the end of her tether trying to help and support him. Thus, this is a fairly angst laden 60 minutes of theatre. There was a lot of swearing, shouting and some physical violence, with just moments of tenderness s...

14Dec

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Ulster American – Riverside Studios

A play about an American actor and English director and an Irish playwright sounds like the combination of two rather bad bar jokes but that is what David Ireland’s play Ulster American presents. While it might have been expected to be about the legitimate differences in the creative process between actors, writers and directors. In fact, it was a conflict between three rather implausible characters. Jay Conway, played by Woody Harrelson, is the American actor, with a glittering Hollywood career behind him. He has a great sense of his own importance and of being right even when he is clearly in the wrong. He carries his Oscar around with him to remind himself, and others of his omnipotence. From the beginning of the play, having only just recently arrived from America ...

7Dec

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Time Machine – Park Theatre

Produced by Original Theatre and currently playing at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. The Time Machine is a hilarious romp. It is based upon the pretext that the great great-grandson of HG Wells discovers several items belonging to his illustrious ancestor in a locked box in his auntie's attic. These include items such as a ticket for a Take That reunion tour featuring Robbie Williams in 2025, that “proves” that HG Wells's famous novel was not just a work of fiction but, that he actually built a Time Machine. The play takes the form of a play within a play, and the actor playing the great-great-grandson Dave Wells (Dave Hearn) with his two fellow actors, set out to verify the time travelling exploits of his famous relative. In this they seek the assistance of a wide range...

30Nov

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Ikaria – Park Theatre

This play is about mental illness, although that is not immediately apparent. The setting is students' lodgings in 'Ikaria', a hall of residence. Simon, a third-year student, who has just taken a year out from his studies, has invited Mia, a first year student in her second term, back to his room. After meeting at a film club, he has offered to share some pizza vouchers. Mia, who is for some unaccountable reason strongly attracted to Simon, is clearly expecting that this invitation will lead to something more. Simon seems initially pleased at the chance to develop a relationship with Mia and although the first meeting is uncomfortable, it is followed up by others, and soon develops into a romantic relationship. Early on both parties declare their love for each other, alt...

8Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Othello – Riverside Studios

The features which set this production of Othello apart are its length, only 100 minutes without an interval, and the casting of three actors to play the villain Iago. A full production of the Othello text would probably run to about three and a half hours although few productions are totally uncut. So, cutting it down so severely inevitably means that a lot of the background and subtlety of Shakespeare's text is lost, although the main plotline was preserved and presented in Shakespeare's language. The casting of the three Iago's was the defining characteristic of this production. The director Sinead Rushe, had apparently explored a similar methodology with Hamlet and says in an informative interview in the programme that this was intended to underline the conflict...

Hedda Gabler – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

6Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Hedda Gabler – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

The Fish Don't Matter theatre company have produced a pacy but flawed production of Ibsen's classic. Hedda Gabler is one of theatre's great characters often likened to a female Hamlet. A young bride returning from her overlong honeymoon already bored with her academic husband who is more interested in his research then her, is trapped in a relationship and house that she does not like. She takes out her misery on those around her and tries to rekindle relationships with previous admirers but fails to find satisfaction leading to an ultimately tragic end. The Brockley Jack playing area is not large, and the director Scott James had made it even smaller by creating an acting area demarcated by a wooden boundary containing small bunches of flowers. The result was that the cast were f...

3Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Imposter 22 – Royal Court Theatre

This Royal Court Theatre production presented in collaboration with Access All Areas is an extraordinary production. It has been devised and is performed by a group of 6 actors with learning disabilities. It takes the form of a whodunnit. When one of the characters appears to have been murdered, the group are concerned that because of their disabilities they will be suspected by the police. They therefore resolve to coordinate their stories and to try and find out who might have committed the crime. Danny, a homeless person played by Jamael Westman, joins their group and receives instruction by them in how fit in to a learning-disabled community. An interesting inverse of the struggles which people with learning disabilities face in fitting into society. There are then various di...