Wednesday, December 17

Author: Paul Downham

Life in lockdown for Young Everyman Playhouse
15Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Life in lockdown for Young Everyman Playhouse

Young Everyman Playhouse will sign off their 2019/20 year with a radio drama recorded from their homes during lockdown. In collaboration with the Everyman’s Hope Street neighbours Liverpool Arts Bar and local freelancers, the youth theatre has created The Visit – a seven-part drama following student Ashley’s trip to a friend’s family home during reading week. The audio drama was created at a time when projects the young theatre makers had been working on for some time could no longer take place. Following lockdown, the young actors, producers, directors, marketers, technicians saw their production of Macbeth and the annual YEP Directors Festival, postponed. Despite this, YEP have continued to work on creative projects during lockdown, improving their own wellbeing and working with...
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The Space Between – A musical short by David Hunter and Caroline Kay
15Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

The Space Between – A musical short by David Hunter and Caroline Kay

The Space Between is a short musical for the times we live in. Filmed entirely in a medium of zoom meetings and WhatsApp/FaceTime calls, as a young couple reflect on their broken relationship, first with their confidants, and then with each other. The music is fun, and a good representation of modern musical theatre. The opening number in particular is sensationally written and delivered, and also has the strongest vocal - it is the best of the three numbers contained within the short - although all three are meaningful and entertaining. The performances from Hunter and Kay are relatable, fun, and vocally very strong. The key point to this work is that musical theatre (of a top quality) can still be made at this difficult time. We all miss it, and we all want to do what we can...
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Hale Barns Carnival Announce A Mini-Edition Event For July
12Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Hale Barns Carnival Announce A Mini-Edition Event For July

Hale Barns Carnival have announced that it will return after all in 2020, with a mini-edition event following the relaxing of the government rules regarding outdoor events.  The organisers have moved quickly to turn around a fantastic night of entertainment on Saturday 18th July, the date the original festival was due to take place. This smaller event will take place on the grounds of the newly refurbished Bulls Head Pub & Hotel on Wicker Lane, Hale Barns and will feature two award-winning tribute acts performing live on stage to a socially distanced outdoor audience with outdoor bars and food on site with an innovative new waitress/ festival location order delivery service The community focused event will this year feature big show performances by two of the greatest tribut...
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Romeo and Juliet – The Royal Ballet
12Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
London

Romeo and Juliet – The Royal Ballet

I have a confession to make. Before today I had never watched a ballet in full. Sure, I had seen clips, and as a dancer myself (although clearly not a classical one) I’ve seen many contemporary productions, but never a ballet. Such is the benefit of companies such as The Royal Opera House streaming past productions online – you can give yourself new experiences from the comfort of your own home. Despite me knowing nothing about ballet, I am however much more experienced in the works of the Bard and have played Juliet myself on several occasions. For this reason, I found the story very easy to follow, and could clearly identify who each of the characters were. As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, the female characters are few and far between, but in this production the women were given mor...
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Cinderella WILL go to the ball in 2021!
11Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Cinderella WILL go to the ball in 2021!

Producers The Really Useful Group announced today that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical Cinderella will now world premiere at The Gillian Lynne Theatre in London on Wednesday 7th April 2021, with previews from Friday 19th March 2021. Andrew Lloyd Webber said “Whilst I continue to impress on the government that theatres can reopen safely based on The London Palladium model, it has become clear that we need to move the opening of Cinderella to next Spring.  My teams have been working throughout lockdown to prepare the show and are raring to go, but there are key elements, not least casting and the building of sets and costumes, that take months of forward planning and can only start as we get further down the road to normal.  So, the show will absolutely go on, just a little la...
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The Lady Killers – Double Trouble Theatre Co.
11Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

The Lady Killers – Double Trouble Theatre Co.

A trio of short monologues written by Matt Fox and featuring three young women who share a common bond – they have all killed for one reason or another. There is some good storytelling going on here and the actors (Zoe Wells, Rosie Dunjay and Daniella Piper) perform each piece really well. Produced over Zoom and soundly directed by Mack Newton & Emily Collier this short piece of isolation theatre excels in creating an almost claustrophobic atmosphere to each of the stories that the women have to tell. Fox’s monologues are direct and to the point. The standout monologue for me was 150 which featured Daniella Piper and a story of revenge in the USA (no spoilers!!), the other two monologues were reasonably interesting but 150 really did stick in the memory. Produced by Adam Bayli...
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Stay Holmes – The Pantaloons Go Online
11Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

Stay Holmes – The Pantaloons Go Online

When an outdoor theatre company celebrated for helping themselves to their audience’s picnics are forced to go online to perform it’s natural to worry about them, and not just that they may be going hungry. But never fear, when The Pantaloons are here then, as with this show, it is simply elementary: you are in for a great night. Following a brief stay in the Zoom waiting room to the lovely accompaniment of solo violin from Fiona McGarvey, we were launched in true Pantaloons fashion into seventy-five minutes of high jinks and madcap entertainment that was kindly followed by a Q&A with writer and chief Pantaloon Mark Heyward and tonight’s outstanding cast of Edward Ferrow, Kelly Griffiths, Alex Rivers, and Christopher Smart. Dynamic duo Holmes and Watson are well and truly put thr...
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Josephs Assemble……for a special online production of a timeless classic!
10Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
Interviews

Josephs Assemble……for a special online production of a timeless classic!

In the same way the Avengers assemble to fight baddies a crack squad of Josephs have come together to perform an online megamix version of that classic musical for showbiz charity Acting For Others. As well as Darren Day, Jess Conrad and Jaymi Hensley, who have all played the man with the multi coloured coat over the last 52 years, the Josephs are joined by a team of 30 former ensemble performers. The original idea of this charity event came from Jordan Doolan who runs a Facebook fan site. His suggestion caught the attention of West End performer and producer Adam Lacey who decided he wanted to help turn the idea from a concept into a production. “Jordan had this idea that everyone is in lockdown and the London production we saw with Sheridan Smith, Jac Yarrow and Jason Donovan wa...
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The Deep Blue Sea – National Theatre
10Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
London

The Deep Blue Sea – National Theatre

Terence Rattigan was one of the finest playwrights of his generation and over the course of many years he wrote some outstanding pieces of work for the theatre. The Deep Blue Sea is probably the best play from his repertoire, an absolute masterpiece set in post-war Britain and centred around a woman caught between worlds and realising that passion can sometimes suffocate and harm. Rattigan’s beautifully constructed play explores many issues including those of mental health, self-worth and self-esteem. The play is set over one day in a flat in West London, it’s 1952 where  we first meet Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) trying to “end it all” but through the intervention of other people who also live in the building, she thankfully fails. Hester just needs to be heard, to be loved and ...
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You’re Late! You’re Late! For A Very Important Date!
10Jul By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

You’re Late! You’re Late! For A Very Important Date!

Site-responsive and immersive theatre-makers Creation Theatre and Big Telly Theatre Company present an innovative and fresh take on Lewis Carrolls’ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Teaming up with Charisma.ai, ground-breakers in interactive and immersive storytelling technology, this digitally advanced production, blends live acting and the latest in AI and online video techniques. Audiences will be invited to dive down the rabbit hole to experience a magical theatrical experience, meeting their favourite characters from this much-loved classic along the way. While venues remain in lockdown in the UK, the show bridges the worlds of theatre, art and technology and reunites the successful creative team behind The Tempest Live. Alice will be performed live each time across four weeks. ...
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