Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May

15Apr

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May

After over a year without audiences in its building, Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May. Including two nights of work curated by Curve Resident Creatives and local artists, a new comedy musical, acclaimed dance and a Made at Curve concert inspired by the life and career of Andrew Lloyd Webber, these reopening plans have been made possible by a second grant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund. As recently seen in streamed productions of Sunset Boulevard and The Color Purple, by raising the walls between its theatre spaces, Curve will reopen as a 533-seat socially distanced auditorium, with audiences enjoying live performances from all four sides of the stage. To e...

14Apr

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NEWS

Royal Opera House announces FREE stream

The Royal Opera House is delighted to continue its #OurHouseToYourHouse programme, featuring online broadcasts that can be accessed by audiences around the world. Join us them Friday 16th April at 7pm GMT for a FREE stream of a very special Insight from 2016 celebrating The Sleeping Beauty. Former Director of The Royal Ballet Monica Mason and Christopher Newton join Director Kevin O’Hare in discussion about their restaging of the production that reopened the Royal Opera house in 1946 after World War II and this year celebrates its 75th anniversary. The Insight also offers a glimpse into rehearsals taken by Monica Mason and Samantha Raine with Olivia Cowley, Kristen McNally, Tierney Heap and Anna Rose O’Sullivan. The stream culminates in an additional treat with an excerpt from the...

Paperwork Theatre are back with Deep Blue

14Apr

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Paperwork Theatre are back with Deep Blue

She is caught between two worlds, Above and Below the water. Riley's at that in-between age where you can still carry off a crop top yet a whole bottle of wine has serious consequences the next morning. The parks are full of families, the pubs are full of mates but it’s only in Tesco that Riley can be whoever she wants to be. Back home, David Attenborough floods her flat with the story of the world’s loneliness whale. She understands its low, mournful sound - it too is lost at sea. Deep Blue is a heartfelt, sometimes humorous and raw exploration of what it means to belong, punctuated by an original indie-rock soundtrack. There are over 7.7million people living alone in the UK, Deep Blue shines a light on the importance of human connection. “Lights flicker and glow, it might be ...

13Apr

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REVIEWS

The Separation – Living Roots Festival

The Separation is part of the The Living Record’s ‘Living Roots’ initiative, which commissions and develops grass roots multi-discipline digital art. Even as the country begins to slowly whirr back into life again, the arts in particular are continuing to have to find ways to adapt to a new normal, and I found The Separation to be a prime example of a performance piece that makes best use of its medium to deliver something exciting and different. Flitting between a documentary-style talking head and the abstract, The Separation uses a single-person narrative to explore the inner turmoil of a young woman caught somewhere between realities. Taking inspiration from films such as The Others, while the piece is less than 20 minutes long it wastes no time in building a tense atmosphere and wa...

13Apr

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REVIEWS

Vigil – Mechanimal and Pound Arts

Vigil is a poignant one-man show that urges you to consider the impact of humanity on the world around us. Created by Bristol-based devised theatre company Mechanimal and presented in a new ‘online’ version with the support of The Pound Arts Centre in Wiltshire, Vigil blends physical theatre, projection, sounds and poetry to create a unique, deeply reflective journey focused on the devastating relationship between humans and nature. The original stage piece was supported by Bristol Old Vic Ferment, University College London, Arts Council England and Pound Arts, but was unable to tour in 2020 due to the pandemic. The show has the performer, played by Tom Bailey, encounter twenty-six thousand species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s ‘Red List’ within the space of ...

The Last Five Years to Transfer to the West End

12Apr

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The Last Five Years to Transfer to the West End

After a critically acclaimed run at Southwark Playhouse last year and a highly successful worldwide stream with stream.theatre, Jason Robert Brown’s Drama Desk Award-winning musical, The Last Five Years, will play a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre, previewing from 17th September, with an opening night on 23rd September and running until 13th October 2021. Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson will reprise their roles as Cathy and Jamie. This will be the first time the musical will have had a significant run of length in the West End. The production at Southwark Playhouse was nominated for eight Offie Awards and won two for Best Director and Best Musical Production. Oli Higginson was nominated for a Stage Debut Award for his performance as...

Birmingham Hippodrome have announced two new productions for autumn 2021

12Apr

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Birmingham Hippodrome have announced two new productions for autumn 2021

Pack up your wigs, heels and all the glitter you can find, because Priscilla is back, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert drives into Birmingham from Monday 30th August – Saturday 4th September. Based on the Oscar-winning movie, Priscilla is the hilarious and heart-warming adventure of three friends who hop aboard a battered old bus bound for the Outback to put on the show of a lifetime. Two worlds collide on this fabulous journey of self-discovery and friendship, and along the way our trio discover the true power of love, acceptance, and sass! With more glitz and glamour than ever before, this show-stopping musical features spectacular dance routines, a dazzling array of eye-popping costumes, and a scintillating, sing-a-long soundtrack full of your favourite dance-floor classics. Including,...

Charley’s Aunt – Proud Haddock Productions

12Apr

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REVIEWS

Charley’s Aunt – Proud Haddock Productions

Who doesn’t love a good farce? Double entendres and mistaken identity ahoy are the order of the day with ‘Charley’s Aunt’, the acclaimed farce by Brandon Thomas (adapted by Paul Thain). This virtual table reading (not a production) presented by Proud Haddock gives the audience great insight into how this play could be/ would be on the stage, through the power of Zoom. Gyles Brandreth and Gary Wilmot MBE are just a couple of the well-known names in this all-star cast who the audience get a chance to be up close and personal with. ‘Charley’s Aunt’ follows two Oxford undergraduates, Jack and Charley who, in an attempt to woo two girls, invite them over for lunch to meet Charley’s aunt. However, when they learn that her visit has been postponed last minute, they persuade their fellow...

HOME launch purpose-built Manchester outdoor theatre for the Summer

11Apr

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HOME launch purpose-built Manchester outdoor theatre for the Summer

• HOME announces Homeground – a brand-new temporary outdoor venue on First Street offering the best in live entertainment across two stages. • Featuring a 400-seat socially distanced outdoor theatre, and second stage with free live performance. • Productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Alice in Wonderland with tickets just £10 for adults and £5 for children. HOME, Manchester’s largest multi-arts venue, are launching a massive temporary outdoor arts space this Summer. The new space, named Homeground will be located on an 80,000ft2 future development site on First Street, just next to HOME. It will feature a 400-seat socially distanced theatre space: the specially designed and purpose built, Covid-safe outdoor theatre. At the heart will be two magical, musical productions of cl...

Ralph Fiennes and Julie Hesmondhalgh star in York Theatre Royal’s reopening season

11Apr

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Ralph Fiennes and Julie Hesmondhalgh star in York Theatre Royal’s reopening season

Bond star Ralph Fiennes and Corrie legend Julie Hesmondhalgh both star in one person shows as part of York Theatre Royal’s reopening Love Bites season. Fienne directs and stars in the world premiere of T S Eliot’s Four Quartets from 26-31 July. This solo theatre adaptation features Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Giddings which were published together in 1943. The quartet ranges across themes of time, nature and the elements, faith and spirituality, war and mortality. BAFTA-nominated Julie Hesmondhalgh stars in The Greatest Play in the History of the World from 1-5 June. The Broadchurch star is touring northern venues after a sell-out Edinburgh Festival run that transferred to Manchester and London’s West End. The play was written for Hesmondhalgh by her Brentwo...