Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

Can you help Mikron Theatre raise £48.337.49?

2Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Can you help Mikron Theatre raise £48.337.49?

Like most companies canal-based Yorkshire theatre makers Mikron Theatre are struggling to survive the impact of the virus but they've set a very specific target to stay afloat - £48,337.49 That's the amount the virus has cost them in lost income from shows, no merchandise, no programmes, or raffles after they were forced to cancel their entire 2020 season when they were going to premiere two new plays as the company toured the UK’s canals, rivers and roads. Next year is Mikron's 50th anniversary, so they asking their legion of fans to dig deep so they can finally perform two brand new shows; Amanda Whittington's Atalanta Forever, which tells the story of Women's football in the 1920s, and Polly Hollman’s canine comedy caper A Dog’s Tale. And they deserve help as since they to...

World premiere broadcast from 28th September – 18th October 2020

2Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

World premiere broadcast from 28th September – 18th October 2020

Following the success of their online plays, The Understudy and Nigel Slater’s ‘Toast’, The Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield has announced that it has commissioned three critically acclaimed, UK dance companies to create three, site specific works for camera. Available to watch online, ticketholders will enjoy two contemporary dance solos and a short ballet. Featuring choreography by Jordan James Bridge (dancer, Studio Wayne McGregor), Daniel de Andrade (Artistic Associate, Northern Ballet) and Gary Clarke (Artistic Director, Gary Clarke Company) the three works will be choreographed in isolation, using video calling software to set the work on the company’s professional dancers. As a direct response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the three companies will create pieces that explore...

The Merchant of Venice – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

2Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

West Midlands

The Merchant of Venice – Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

It is not often recognised that this is one of Shakespeare’s comedies and watching this RSC production from 2015 under the direction of Polly Findlay as part of the BBC Culture in Quarantine programme, one would be tempted to say it was a tragedy. I often say that less is more but Johannes Schütz’s set design is so bare that even with its pendulum constantly swinging, it is impossible to decipher a proper sense of time or place which is at the heart of this play about money and how it affects all involved. We begin with Antonio (Jamie Ballard), a prince among Venetian merchants who is unaccountably depressed despite his obvious success as a dealer in luxury goods. His friend Bassanio (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) in contrast is broke but remains reasonably cheerful as he has a plan to marry Por...

Up to 65% of Royal Exchange Theatre’s staff in Manchester face redundancy

1Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Up to 65% of Royal Exchange Theatre’s staff in Manchester face redundancy

Today the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester has had to take the heart braking decision to scale back their organisation as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. These situations are becoming far too regular an occurrence in our industry. A statement posted on their website earlier today reads:- “The impact of Covid-19 on the Royal Exchange Theatre is monumental, and we have been working incredibly hard to ensure the survival and the future of our theatre. The Royal Exchange is heavily reliant on the income earned through ticket sales, fundraising, food and drink and venue hire. Over recent years we have been successful in reducing our dependence on public subsidy, which now equates to less than 25% of our £10 million annual turnover. As such, the impact of lockdown and our ...

Dame Gillian Lynne: The Lynne and Land Foundation announces grants to 4 arts organisations

1Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Dame Gillian Lynne: The Lynne and Land Foundation announces grants to 4 arts organisations

Today, on the second anniversary of the death of dearly-loved choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, The Lynne and Land Foundation announces grants to four arts organisations close to her heart. Grants have been made to The Royal Ballet School, ArtsEd, LAMDA and the Royal Academy of Dance to enable talented young performers reach their full potential in the choreographic arts, drama and musical theatre. Her husband Peter Land said: “Our scholarships and grants are there to help where they are needed most, and I am sure this is just such a time. The funding is for actors and dancers in training to ensure their continued artistic education. These four institutions, who will distribute the funds at their own discretion, are known and respected for their high level of teaching standards and p...

1Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

DIVORCED, BEHEADED, DRIVE – IN CONCERT

The international smash-hit SIX announces that it will be the first West End musical to perform again after Lockdown SIX will join the Utilita Live From The Drive-In summer shows and rock out 8 shows a week at 12 open air sites across the U.K. in London, Birmingham, Bolton, Bristol, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Newmarket and Teesside 300 vehicles can attend each show with a maximum of seven people allowed in each car Fans will be able to picnic and party as they watch the festival-style full length show live from their own dedicated area next to their vehicle Electrifying musical phenomenon SIX by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss will become the first West End musical to resume performances across the U.K. with Utilita Live From The Drive-In. ...

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads: Nights in the Garden of Spain – BBC iPlayer

30Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads: Nights in the Garden of Spain – BBC iPlayer

Number nine in the new series of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads is a remake of the 1998 monologue Nights in the Garden of Spain. Originally featuring Penelope Wilton, it is now Tamsin Greig's turn to recreate Rosemary Horrocks. Like the majority of the Talking Heads pieces, Nights in the Garden of Spain is set in Alan Bennett's semi fictionalised version of Leeds. It is the 1990s and Rosemary and her husband Henry live in a fairly well to do suburb of Leeds, on a street of mostly detached houses. Henry is keen to sell up and move to Marbella and the passive Rosemary is going along with his choice. But one morning as she is going to the shops, her neighbour Mrs McCorquodale stops her. Her husband is dead and she needs help. It transpires that she s...

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: The Shrine – BBC iPlayer

30Jun

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REVIEWS

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: The Shrine – BBC iPlayer

In the new series of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, ten of the twelve are remakes of five of the original six from 1988 and the another five from 1998. Two of the original series' have not been remade as they required actors over the age of seventy. There are two new ones, written last year and filmed this year under social distancing conditions. One of these new ones is number twelve The Shrine. Lorna is a woman in her fifties and the monologue starts a few days after she has lost her husband Clifford in a motorbike accident. The police have offered to take her to the scene of the accident, but she does not wish to go. As the piece continues she has decided to visit the place of the accident and then returns regularly, making herself a seat and&...

Hard hitting urban drama No Milk for the Foxes makes a welcome return online

30Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews

Hard hitting urban drama No Milk for the Foxes makes a welcome return online

Try as it might theatre all too often gets working class culture badly wrong unless it is created by people who have lived experience of daily struggle and social disadvantage. That’s exactly why the online revival of Beats & Elements’ 2015 production of No Milk for the Foxes is very welcome. Using spoken word, beatboxing and live looping Beats & Elements founders Conrad Murray and Paul Cree explored David Cameron's England from the perspective of their own class. It’s the tale of security guards Marx, a white working-class male from Croydon, and Spaxx, an Anglo-Indian from Mitcham, counting down the hours on a zero hours nightshift. So did Conrad base these two funny and angry men on anyone he knew, or they are composites? “It is when it comes to Spaxx, and it is a...

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Within – Threedumb Theatre Live

Joseph Furey’s one man play tells the story of an isolated and lonely young man who downloads a creepy AI app which promises to show him the meaning of life. Even though the sci-fi element is strangely familiar, Furey’s script is interesting and quite poignant in parts. Stephen Smith (who also directs this piece) plays the young man with a great deal of energy throughout his AI torture with the mysterious and at times rather annoying AI voice S.U.E (voiced by Millie Webber). This is a play that explores isolation (quite apt for the times that we live in) and it also looks at vulnerability and how easy it is to be attacked from malevolent forces hiding in plain sight. Smith’s character is intense and just a fraction overstated and I felt that the play was a touch overlong (mayb...