Peter Ruddick, Author at North West End UK

18Oct

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Noises Off – The Lowry

There have been a few fairly sniffy reviews of Noises Off recently. Both of this touring version of last year's 40th anniversary production and of the Michael Frayn classic more generally. The argument seems to go that the 1982 farce is showing its age and the same joke - a play within a play going all wrong - can be seen elsewhere. It is an interesting quirk of theatrical criticism that comedies are occasionally treated in this way. Dramas, on the other hand, become 'period pieces', described as 'kickstarting a trend'. What should matter, of course, is whether a play works in its own right. Yes, Noises Off is a product of its time, yes it has been lovingly ripped off in recent years but yes, in the right hands, it is still riotously funny. The cast on the Lowry Lyric sta...

18Aug

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Young Love – 53two

The unbridled joy and total angst of teen love has proved a rich vein for theatre makers to mine over the years. Jake Talbot’s Young Love takes that traditional theme, and a set of fairly familiar storylines, but refuses to condescend his characters. This is a production firmly grounded in a world in which younger generations are not naive and simple, but rather complex, thoughtful and, quite frequently, an example to their elders in terms of progressive ideas and how to treat others. Arguably, a world not unlike the one we are lucky to live in right now. Oldham theatre company Dare to Know are back at Manchester’s 53Two after the success of Talbot’s own one-man show, Drowning, in March. However, returning audience members are in for a very different experience. The under the arch...

24Jul

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Virtual Dust – The Fitzgerald

If one of the best things about a fringe festival is experiencing theatre you might not normally have paid to see, then there can be few better choices than a collection of short plays. If you don’t like one there isn’t long to wait for another that might take your fancy. Turtle Soup’s selection is a great example of this, showcasing good new writing and some strong performances. The idea behind Virtual Dust is simple. Ideas and work that would otherwise be gathering – you guessed it – virtual dust on a hard drive somewhere in Manchester. It is billed as an ‘eclectic’ night, and this isn’t false advertising. The five shorts cover homophobia, cancel culture, therapy, family rifts, philosophy and grief. Sounds a lot? That doesn’t even scratch the surface. The plays are presented sim...

Improbotics: Artificial Intelligence – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

23Jul

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Improbotics: Artificial Intelligence – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Comedy improvisation partly powered by artificial intelligence. A real-life imitation game, or Turing test. Given the current Hollywood strike and the rapid growth of models like ChatGPT, there can surely be no better moment for the Improbiotics troupe. Sadly, instead of a hilarious show tapping into the zeitgeist, this is a rather chaotic experience, and it all feels fairly dated. Kraftwerk’s Pocket Calculator brilliantly soundtracks the audience entrance. An EZ-Robot, now a mainstay of classrooms around the world, tells people to ‘find your door’. Purposeful error or a reminder of the fallibility of technology? Either way, it generates a laugh. The show begins with an awkward scripted double act from our host, AI researcher Piotr Mirowski, and the aforementioned robot: ALEX (Art...

The Pride of Pripyat: Tales from the Chernobyl Disaster – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

2Jul

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

The Pride of Pripyat: Tales from the Chernobyl Disaster – International Anthony Burgess Foundation

Some events are so burned into the general subconscious they can be immediately recollected with just one word. Chernobyl, for example. But how much do we really know about the life of the nearby town - Pripyat - beyond a vague image of an abandoned ferris wheel? American classical music ensemble the Perspective Collective set out to answer just that question in their operetta. Across a handful of vignettes, ‘The Pride of Pripyat’ explores the personal impact of the disaster on the lives of some of those living in the shadow of the doomed power plant. Beginning and ending with the perspective of the city’s chief architect, the show also explores the experience of a local school teacher with a husband at Chernobyl and a pair of nurses unsure how to approach a patient with radiation...

2Jun

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Crave – 53two, Manchester

Sarah Kane’s poetic masterpiece Crave marked a significant departure for the playwright when it was first performed in 1998. Whereas Kane’s previous work had featured graphic violence and sex, Crave relied on language. A quarter of a century on and it is clear the power of Kane’s words has hardly subdued. Four characters - A, B, C and M - take to the simple but beautifully-lit stage under the atmospheric 53Two arches. A black curtain backdrop and four stylish grey chairs are the only set dressing. This could be a waiting room or a therapy session or both those things or something else entirely or nothing at all. What follows are four haunting monologues or conversations beautifully interwoven together in a way that is almost impenetrable and yet totally understandable on a human leve...

24May

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Wish You Were Dead – The Lowry

The line between amateur and professional theatre is a lot finer than many people realise. Sometimes it is the best am dram performances that remind one of this fact. Other times it is pro productions that feel second best. Wish You Were Dead is, sadly, an example of the latter. This isn't the first of Peter James' bestselling Roy Grace stories to be adapted for the stage but, if the formula has worked well previously, it doesn't quite deliver here. The show is very heavy on exposition, very light on character development. There are a fair few plot points and devices which would have probably been given ample time to develop in a novel but which feel thrown away, redundant or downright confusing in a two hour stage production. These problems are then compounded by some lower grade...

Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me – Waterside Arts, Sale

20May

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me – Waterside Arts, Sale

There is a rich theatrical tradition of showcasing stories of people who have been left behind, left out. They tend to veer towards empowering and uplifting. So, it is safe to say theatregoers may make certain assumptions as they head into a one-person show about a young man growing up in a challenging background only to discover the power of cruise ship singer Jane McDonald. In reality, however, Jesus, Jane, Mother & Me is something altogether darker. Daniel Valentine (Jack Stokes) is restlessly roaming his mothers’ front room as the audience members take their seats. Bin bags full of clothes litter the floor, the windows are boarded up, no cleaner has troubled the space for many years and the faded shape of a cross on the wall tells us religion was here but is present no longer...

6Mar

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Drowning – 53Two

After a successful tour in 2020, Dare To Know Theatre’s one-man, one-act show Drowning is back on the road. The debut play by writer and performer Jake Talbot garnered positive reviews on its first outing and this time around the show is taking in larger venues - like 53Two in Manchester. It’s even paying a visit to the nation’s capital. Any fears the team may have bitten off more than they can chew are soon assuaged. This is an accomplished piece of work, performed comfortably by an actor who knows the emotional and humorous beats of his tightly written script inside out. A black stage, empty aside from a square white box, is plunged into darkness. The haunting melodies of The Lathums’ Struggle fades away and a spotlight illuminates Josh. The 16-year-old is lying peacefully, sile...

<strong>An Evening with Ms Sharon LeGrand & Friends – unity Theatre</strong>

15Nov

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

An Evening with Ms Sharon LeGrand & Friends – unity Theatre

The theme for this year’s Homotopia festival - Queer Joy Is A Protest! - could not be more accurately represented than in An Evening with Ms Sharon LeGrand & Friends. Liverpool’s annual LGBTQIA+ arts showcase is the UK’s longest running celebration of queer culture and it just seems to go from strength to strength. This year, fresh from causing outrage in the nation’s capital, drag queen Sharon LeGrand returns to her native Merseyside to host an evening of cabaret at the Unity Theatre. Sticklers for the Trade Descriptions Act might be a tad disappointed. There appear to be more friends of Ms LeGrand in the audience than on the stage with her. Each introduction only happens thanks to a shouted reminder from the wings of the next act’s name. Even our host declares the show shoul...