Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bridge Theatre

27Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Bridge Theatre

Gwendoline Christie (Titania), Oliver Chris (Oberon), David Moorst (Puck) and Hammed Animashaun (Bottom) lead an ensemble cast of actors, acrobats, singers and dancers in The Bridge Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, currently streaming on YouTube as part of the National Theatre's online programme. The production's advertising calls it “Shakespeare’s most famous romantic comedy”. Even in a sentence in which every word is necessary (no one could call it Shakespeare's most famous play, or his most famous romance) it is a bit of an over-statement, not just because of other, possibly more famous ones such as Much Ado About Nothing, but also due to the play itself: the romance is the least interesting thing about it. Even the “comedy” aspect isn't its main feature as, like happens with mos...

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: Playing Sandwiches – BBC iPlayer

25Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: Playing Sandwiches – BBC iPlayer

Alan Bennett's original Talking Heads was five filmed monologues shown in 1988. At the time they were received with great acclaim and featured prominent and respected actors of the era. A second series was produced in 1998 with five new monologues and was again much lauded. Now in 2020 and filmed during the lockdown adhering to all social distancing measures, the original ten plus two new pieces written by Bennett himself last year have been remade with a new generation of respected actors. Some are better known that others, but all have the experience to make each monologue their own rather than a rehash of the original. Talking Head 5 is Playing Sandwiches. Originally filmed with David Haig in 1998, now it features the wonderful Lucian Msamati as park worker Wilfred Paterson. M...

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: An Ordinary Woman – BBC iPlayer

25Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: An Ordinary Woman – BBC iPlayer

In 1988 the BBC released the first six short Talking Heads monologue plays written by Alan Bennett. After their first outing on BBC1 they were adapted for radio and in 1991 were broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The second series was released for BBC2 in 1998 so thirty-two years on we will see if they stand the test of time. Sarah Lancashire takes on this disturbing tale which was not part of the original set of plays. Gwen has a daughter Maureen and her 15-year-old son Michael. From the beginning this play is a difficult watch as it focuses on a mother who is obsessed with her son, but not in the molly coddling way mothers can annoy their kids with; she admits that she fancies him! Shocker within the first few minutes sets the tone for the rest of the monologue. She likes to look at her son’s ...

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: A Lady of Letters – BBC iPlayer

25Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Talking Heads by Alan Bennett: A Lady of Letters – BBC iPlayer

In 1988 the BBC released the first six short Talking Heads monologue plays written by Alan Bennett. After their first outing on BBC1 they were adapted for radio and in 1991 were broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The second series was released for BBC2 in 1998 so thirty-two years on we will see if they stand the test of time. Originally performed by Patricia Routledge, Imelda Staunton has taken up the mantle in this re-make. Produced by Nicholas Hytner and Kevin Loader, the first scene is set in Irene Ruddock’s front room with the quintessentially British net curtains, which you can imagine are regularly twitching. Irene Ruddock or Miss Ruddock (no-one has called me Irene since my mother died), as she prefers to be called; is your typical nosy parker, poking her nose into the lives of others. Wh...

Over 50% of charity-run small theatres could fail in the next 3 months without government support

23Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Over 50% of charity-run small theatres could fail in the next 3 months without government support

Due to the Covid-19 crisis and temporary closures of theatres, 57% of small theatres in the UK could fail without government support. Theatres Trust warns that as many as 136 small local theatre operators could go into administration in the next three months. In response, Theatres Trust has announced a package of additional support for small theatres to help them survive the impact of Covid-19. At this critical moment, the national public advisory body for theatres is increasing its support for these smaller theatres including: • Taking on an additional adviser to help small theatres with business planning, budgeting and cashflow, fundraising and essential building maintenance. • Creating a new Theatres Trust Skills Bank to match theatres with experts willing to offer pro bono adv...

M6 Theatre Company to Stream Love in the Time of Corona Monologue Series

22Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

M6 Theatre Company to Stream Love in the Time of Corona Monologue Series

M6 Theatre Company will be streaming ten brand new monologues from Friday 26th June, written for young audiences in response to the coronavirus pandemic. From almost 500 entries, these new works have been produced following an online competition, open to writers of any experience. The challenge was to create a short piece of drama, up to 10 minutes long, telling stories of love and life in lockdown. Gilly Baskeyfield, Artistic Director of M6 Theatre Company said: “Since many of our building-based projects have temporarily been put on hold, we’ve been hard at work creating new ways to serve our communities and audiences. We embarked on the Love in the Time of Corona project in order to unlock powerful stories during this time of isolation. Choosing our winners wasn’t an easy tas...

22Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Forever Plaid – YouTube

High school pals Sparky, Jinx, Smudge, and Francis are a talented “guy group” who call themselves ‘The Plaids’, and love singing harmony. They used the basement of Smudge’s family’s plumbing supply company to practise and they would play school proms and department stores, whilst dreaming about success and making it big. When the boys are killed in a car accident on the way to their first big gig at the Airport Hilton Cocktail Bar, on 9th February 1964, for some reason the young men linger in limbo. It’s as if they need to finish the ‘gig’ to be able to win their place in Heaven and claim the deluxe plaid dinner jackets they had dreamed of and saved up for, for so long... Some kind of phenomena allows them to return to Earth to perform their final concert but will it lead to Heave...

Doing Shakespeare – The Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live

22Jun

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REVIEWS

Doing Shakespeare – The Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live

Established in 2015 by Artistic Director Shaun Chambers and Tom Platt, the Northern Comedy Theatre have been gradually expanding their repertoire and are now working with playwright David Spicer. The theatre’s previous plays include ‘The 39 Steps’, ‘Noises Off’, ‘Abigail’s Party’, ‘The History Boys’ and ‘Dead Funny’. The first of Spicer’s plays to be performed by the company was ‘STOP! … The Play’ and they then collaborated on a second Spicer play ‘Health and Safety’ which they are hoping to tour in Autumn 2020. In a play written for theatre online, this Zoom production once again crafted by David Spicer, uses the Bard as its subject or Shakespeare’s plays to be exact. The Felching Players are to put on a play written by good old Will, but no-one appears to have thought it important to ...

21Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Peter Pan Live! – The Shows Must Go On

This continues the offerings from the “The Shows Must Go On” YouTube channel that has been showing productions throughout lockdown. Peter Pan live! is a cross between a stage and a TV production, with multiple viewing angles and large detailed scenes following on from each other but without special effects being used for the flying scenes and other TV values. Peter Pan Live! was originally shown as a live production special in America on NBC in December 2014, it followed the production of the Sound of Music the year before. The musical was first performed on Broadway in 1954, although some of the songs in this production have been taken from other revivals of the show and new songs adapted from other musicals. PETER PAN LIVE! -- Season: 2014 -- Pictured: (l-r) Allison Williams as Pet...

20Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

The Magic Flute – Royal Opera House

Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a wonderful tale of princes, giant serpents, mysterious temples and birdcatchers. An enchanting damsel in distress meets a hilarious nonsensical birdman in this vibrant opera which is one of the most performed in the world today. Conducted by Julia Jones and directed by David McVicar, this funny show has plenty of peril and drama and is performed in the original German with English subtitles. The opera opens with beautifully energetic music before we see Tamino (Mauro Peter) fighting with a giant serpent. The serpent is a well-constructed puppet, controlled by several cast members, and its appearance and the dexterity of the performers mean that it is no surprise Tamino is losing the battle. He loses consciousness before being rescued by three ladies (Rebecca...