Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

Tamsin Greig joins the stars performing Talking Heads in Yorkshire

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Tamsin Greig joins the stars performing Talking Heads in Yorkshire

Tamsin Greig is the latest big name to perform one of Alan Bennett’s classic Talking Heads monologues in Leeds and Sheffield. Tamsin will perform the dark Nights in the Gardens of Spain, directed by Marianne Elliott, joining Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake who also be performing their monologies at Leeds Playhouse and Sheffield Crucible. “I’m thrilled to be invited to perform Alan Bennett’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain at Sheffield Crucible and Leeds Playhouse after a very happy run at the Bridge Theatre,” says Tamsin Greig. Photographer: Zac Nicholson “It’s wonderful to be able to support and enjoy regional theatres especially during these extraordinary times for live performance venues. And how fantastic to perform these Bennett words in their region of origin.” In line...

Slung Low launches scheme to give every kid in their area a free book

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Slung Low launches scheme to give every kid in their area a free book

Theatre innovators Slung Low run a members club/performance space in the Leeds area of Holbeck and have launched a scheme to give every local child in Holbeck a free book. The company is renowned for both its theatre work and the work it does with its local community in South Leeds. During the pandemic they have been operating a food bank, co-ordinating a cultural community college, and managing the country’s oldest working men’s club. A part of their community work three of the Slung Low team spent a week at Holbeck’s Ingram Road Primary School reading their new book Emergency Story Penguin to the pupils ending the sessions by giving all 340 of them a copy. Emergency Story Penguin follows Lady Grace Thompson and her crew on an adventure around the secret underground tunnels t...

Leeds Playhouse is back with a new season and free ticket offer for NHS workers

17Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse is back with a new season and free ticket offer for NHS workers

Working with COVID-19 safety guidelines Leeds Playhouse have launched their Autumn/Winter season and are giving away 1000 free tickets to NHS workers for the revival of their critically acclaimed seasonal show A Christmas Carol. This time round playwright Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of the Dickens festive classic is upgraded to the flagship Quarry Theatre after recreating a warts and all Victorian England during their 2028 Pop-Up Season in 2018. Once again directed by Playhouse Associate Director Amy Leach it runs from 3rd December – 9th January and it will sell out. Another returning work is poet and playwright Zodwa Nyoni’s Nine Lives which debuted at the theatre in 2014. Presented by Leeds Studio this timely and intimate single hander combines humour and humanity in a deep...

17Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

The Fall – Dazed New World Festival

Coracle Arts’ The Fall, written and performed by Sarita Plowman under the direction of Alex Howarth, is a poetic and unique exploration about how we are shaped by tradition, particularly religion, and how this effects the place of women in the world. A simple set with one chair and a table represents the detailed, and often overwhelming, world that Plowman creates. The lyrical language of the piece is captivating from the beginning and emphasises Plowman’s switches between herself in adulthood and her childhood memories, which are emphasised beautifully by a change of voice and body language. Sound effects such as loud, but incomprehensible conversations, are also used to recreate the sense of being a child in an adult’s world, something which everyone is familiar with. Plowman’s...

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

14Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann is the most enduring ‘serious’ opera from a composer better known for his operettas and this 2016 revival of legendary film director John Schlesinger’s sumptuous 1980 production provides the perfect vehicle in which Offenbach’s story – in turn witty, erotic, and macabre – and highly melodious music come together to form a deeply and satisfying whole. Set in the 19th C, the great storyteller Hoffmann (Vittorio Grigòlo) is losing himself to drink. His rival in love, Councillor Lindorf (Thomas Hampson), claims that Hoffmann knows nothing of the heart, and so goads Hoffmann into telling the tales of his three great loves – each destroyed by a villain who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lindorf… First Hoffmann tells of his infatuation for the mechanic...

Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show – Leeds Playhouse

12Oct

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Yorkshire & Humber

Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show – Leeds Playhouse

imitating the dog are a company who make things difficult as part of their creative DNA so it’s not much of a surprise they are the first company to try a national tour in the midst of a pandemic. The audience are placed on socially distanced cones outside Leeds Playhouse, sans cover, as are the three strong cast also exposed to the elements playing a gang of ghoulish vigilantes who travel the country righting wrongs. This time they are on the trail of a crooked mayor, a bent chief constable and a dodgy headteacher who are conspiring to build the biggest casino in the UK before pocketing in the profits. Some critics who like to over intellectualise work will no doubt bemoan the slight narrative, and the chance to rub their chin reflectively. The rest of us are just grateful it’s o...

Royal Ballet: Back on Stage – Royal Opera House

12Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Royal Ballet: Back on Stage – Royal Opera House

Describing what has happened to the performing arts as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic is difficult and upsetting. In a time when the arts were needed more than ever, stages were emptied and orchestras were silenced for the sake of safety. Royal Opera Houses’ ‘Royal Ballet: Back on Stage’, is more than just a selection of ballet excerpts, but a battle cry on behalf of artists up and down the nation who work on and off stage. It urges us to dream of a future when the arts will be safe and possible again. As the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House begins the Overture from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake under the baton of Jonathan Lo, one could be forgiven for thinking the mess was all over-that we were once again back to normal. At this moment, the orchestra, the dancers, and the theatre ...

11Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

East Midlands

The Color Purple – Digital Concert

The Color Purple – Digital Concert features reflections and performances from the cast and creative members of the 2019 Made at Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production. This digital concert was recorded remotely over the Summer and commissioned to mark Black History Month. Directed by Tinuke Craig with Musical Direction and Piano by Alex Parker, the concert includes seven songs from the show including Brown Betty, African Homeland, The Color Purple and the stunning I’m here. In between songs we have cast and creatives talking about how important the show is, how it tackles many issues, especially those of which black women have had to go through and in some ways, still are. About the coming together of people and finding the strength within, and within your community to ...

11Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Tonight at the Coliseum: Kerry Ellis

As most theatre lovers will know, Take Two Theatricals in conjunction with Carter Dixon Productions and stream.theatre began streaming a series of one-off concerts on 18th September, and this week was the turn of Kerry Ellis. Best known in theatreland from her time as Elphaba in Wicked and Meat in We Will Rock You, Ellis is also an extremely successful recording artist, and she finished recording her sixth album, Feels Like Home, just before lockdown. Produced by Nikki & Joe Davison at Auburn Jam Music, Ellis had intended to sell the album as exclusive merchandise at her 2020 live gigs, but when the coronavirus pandemic put an end to her touring plans, she decided to sell the album online. Tonight, with a backdrop of the empty Coliseum as a haunting reminder of the current challenge...

Apollo 13: The Dark Side of The Moon – The Original Theatre Company

10Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Apollo 13: The Dark Side of The Moon – The Original Theatre Company

I have always been in awe of those committed individuals who would dare to take on the challenge of space travel. Having been a fan of the movie version, I tuned in with high expectations, and I wasn’t disappointed. It is 50 years this year since the aborted lunar mission took place in April 1970, and so it is fitting that on the anniversary that writer Torben Betts has penned his play using the original transcripts as his guide. Using the same creative team that gave us the wonderful online plays ‘Birdsong Online’ and ‘Watching Rosie’, the skills needed to create the effects, have clearly been sharpened by practise. The introduction allows the joining together of two time periods. We meet Jim Lovell 2020 (Philip Franks) and Fred Haise 2020 (Geoff Aymer) who a...