Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

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...

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

FEATURES

Scenesaver – Fringe Theatre Online Hub

In these times of no live theatre performance (apart from digital alternatives), Fringe theatre has been badly affected. With no stage for their performances and summer festivals cancelled, they have had to either become creative online or go and find a job in another sector. I was, therefore, very pleased to hear about a wonderful ‘online fringe theatre hub’ which at the click of a button, opens up the world of fringe theatre without leaving your home. Set up in 2019, Caroline Friedman had an idea to help people who would love to attend live theatre performances, but are unable to do so for a multiple of reasons – cost, accessibility, etc. In creating this online off west end and fringe theatre hub, Friedman has widened the audience reach for these artists, who normal...

Hope Mill Theatre to live stream UK premiere of a new documentary celebrating the career of stage and screen icon Olympia Dukakis

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Hope Mill Theatre to live stream UK premiere of a new documentary celebrating the career of stage and screen icon Olympia Dukakis

Hope Mill Theatre will live stream the UK premiere of a new documentary celebrating the career of stage and screen icon Olympia Dukakis, in collaboration with the producers of the film. Olympia, directed by Harry Mavromichalis, will be shown on Friday 10th July at 6pm on Hope Mill Theatre’s facebook page. The premiere of the US documentary was due to have taken place in New York but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – so producers have decided to have a one-off online premiere of the film before its wider release. As well as the UK premiere, it is also being streamed in the USA & Europe. Olympia is an intimate look at the life and career of one of the greatest actresses to grace the stage and screen. A deeply personal portrait of the actress and her craft and her ...

The Da Vinci Code to make World Premiere on stage in 2021

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

The Da Vinci Code to make World Premiere on stage in 2021

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel that captivated the world, is to become an epic stage thriller. It will make its World Premiere on a UK Tour in 2021, opening at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley on Saturday 3rd April 2021, and touring throughout the year. The curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered, and alongside his body are a series of baffling codes. Follow the pulse-racing journey as Professor Robert Langdon and fellow cryptologist Sophie Neveu attempt to solve the riddles, leading to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and beyond, deep into the vault of history. In a breathless race through the streets of Europe, Langdon and Neveu must decipher the labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever. Based on the best-selling novel of...

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

West Midlands

Othello – Birmingham Opera Company

Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy which explores timeless themes of race, trust and fidelity and Verdi’s operatic version adds a mesmerising backdrop of powerful music. Birmingham Opera Company’s production is a unique modern interpretation which immersed its original audience within the action of the story and exposes the darkest elements of the story in shocking detail. The opera is sung in English, with occasional subtitles which turn on and off at seemingly random intervals. The opera is performed in a warehouse, with bare brick walls and a blood red carpet, with a live orchestra conducted by Stephen Barlow. As part of the broadcast we see the bewildered and shoeless audience enter the performance space and merge into the Chorus made up of 250 people. It was clearly the intention o...

Weekly Watch: Souvenir – Up ‘Ere Productions

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Weekly Watch: Souvenir – Up ‘Ere Productions

As Pride Month 2020 draws to a close it’s refreshing to see new writing of this calibre reflecting upon the gay experience and how it affects a person and relationships during a set period of time and change. Up ‘Ere Productions are a new Salford based production company working with local talent to create new work. Souvenir tells the story of sixty year old Iain who having lost his friend of many years decides to take one last trip down to Soho from his native Scotland. This was a trip that both Iain and his friend Kip made on regular occasions. They simply wanted to experience and fully appreciate what it meant to be out in a more open and friendlier environment. Matt Gurr’s script is both sympathetic and insightful and takes into account the changing attitudes of being gay in ...

28Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Lungs – The Old Vic: In Camera

On a deserted Old Vic stage Claire Foy and Matt Smith give us a fly on the wall insight into their character’s turbulent relationship. Yes, I did say they are standing on a stage, a sight that warms the cockles as the theatre going public have been starved of their beloved live theatre, The Old Vic have given us a chance to submerge ourselves in this tsunami of emotional drama. Due to social distancing requirements, the set is minimalistic and has been painted a dark grey and the designer Rob Howell appears to have co-ordinated the couple’s wardrobe to blend in. The show is directed by Matthew Warchus and is broadcast via good old Zoom which splits the two so that they can be brought together on screen without being too close to each other on stage. This works well with this production ...

28Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Primrose Path – Mannequin Mouth online

A show which first made an impact at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018, Primrose Path is the most recent of Mannequin Mouth’s raw and visceral stage productions to be turned into a film, designed to “shock, adrenalize, and confront” its audience. Written by Will Pinhey, and directed and produced by Pinhey alongside India Howland, this play is a challenging, dark, and disturbing piece which looks at love, jealousy, and obsession within a relationship. Chriss (Laura Jackson) and Damon (Michael Hogg) tease, play, and hurt each other in a twisted game of dominance and submission, but who has the upper hand, and where will this game end? Filmed in an empty performance space from a variety of angles to pull the viewer right into the action, this ninety-minute piece has a constant, jittery energy. It ...

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: A Chip in the Sugar – BBC iPlayer

28Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: A Chip in the Sugar – BBC iPlayer

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads made the monologue popular for writers and actors alike, but few manage to capture the magic of this wryly amusing series of short tales set in the grim north. A Chip in the Sugar was originally performed by Bennett himself and this new version created as part of a special series in response to the current lockdown is directed by Jeremy Herrin and stars Martin Freeman as Graham. The majority of the monologue is performed in Graham’s extremely tidy, dingy, grey bedroom, with his single bed and walls decorated with numerous chocolate box paintings and floral plates. Graham lives with his mother, and is devoted to her, but is very upset by their recently bumping into her old flame, Mr Turnbull. The realisation that his mother had a life before he and his...