Tracey Bell, Author at North West End UK

14Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Hercules – Wesley Centre, Maltby

With delight I went to see Sherlock Productions latest show, the pantomime Hercules and as expected their talent and skill improve with every show – this was my favourite to date! This has become a yearly occurrence for me and one I look forward to as a visual reminder of the true spirit of Christmas – to love one another. Sherlock Productions is a unique amateur dramatics company who completely embrace inclusivity and wholly demonstrate the joy that this gives to all involved and to its observers - one of heart-warming accomplishment and unity – equality and achievement. Sherlock Production was originally founded in memory of Paddy Sherlock a talented thespian and a great friend to all who had the pleasure of knowing him, Paddy would have been so very proud of this production of Hercul...

11Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Aladdin – Sheffield Lyceum

Aladdin flew into Sheffield this week and lives up to its hype with a high energy, nonstop flight of frivolity! Evolutions Productions do it again in their 20th year with Paul Hendry writing, directing and producing joined by Emily Wood as Associate Director and Producer of the pantomime. This year’s cast is a strong, extremely talented and an evenly matched array of performers/musicians and they inclusively have energy abound. None more so than the Musical Director James Harrison who entertains the audience both at the keyboard and on stage, with the excitable energy of a child… I was tired watching him and was constantly draw to his exuberance. Harrison’s score is fresh and up to date with more than a few ‘bangers’ to get the audience of all ages buzzing! The set design by Morgan Brin...

5Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Christmas Carol – Crucible Theatre

What a start to my Christmas celebrations, a joyous and heart-warming new adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic – A Christmas Carol. Set in Sheffield and dripping with the festive custom of Carols, these harmonic vocal bells charm the local audiences and provide the grounding human link between our past and our present. Long before the well-known choral carols in churches, Christmas regional songs were sung ad hoc in pubs and this tradition remains strong and striving in Sheffield. What better way to highlight Dicken’s story of change and redemption than with a kaleidoscope of a vocally created backdrop, replacing much of the instrumental music and also gifting the community audience with localised lyrics and customs encompassing and highlighting the moral story to inclusiv...

Midsomer Murders: The Killings at Badger’s Drift – Sheffield Lyceum

26Nov

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Midsomer Murders: The Killings at Badger’s Drift – Sheffield Lyceum

A Murderous Midsomer maze of twists, turns and dead ends! Originally penned by Caroline Graham in 1987, the first ever TV episode of Midsomer Murders - The Killings at Badger’s Drift aired in March of 1997 and became the highest rated single drama of the year. With the firm TV favourite John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Daniel Casey as his sidekick Sergeant Troy - the dead body of Emily Simpson, the elderly ex school teacher; gentle and orchid-loving; is discovered in her idyllic cottage in the seemly sleepy village of Badger’s Drift in the county of Midsomer. The thrilling and charming series became a firm TV favourite with its interjection of wit juxtaposing its dark undercurrents and shocking twists. This first ever episode now takes to the stage a...

13Nov

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Band – Sheffield Lyceum

The Cast ‘Shine’ with a heart of pure gold! A STOS production worthy of its 125 years anniversary! With title changes including ‘The Official Take That Musical - Greatest Days’ and a TV talent show, a UK tour and finally the result of these changes, what you see today – as STOS Theatre Company bring - The Band A new musical by Tim Firth with the music of Take That - to the Sheffield Lyceum in their 125th anniversary year. And what a fitting celebration of a show it is to mark this milestone! I was fully invested and smiled from the very first scene to the final crowd pleasing medley. It was warm, it was nostalgic and it was thought provoking what more can you ask for from a night at the theatre! But let’s consider why all the changes before this production? It would seem people were expect...

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts – Sheffield Lyceum

30Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts – Sheffield Lyceum

Billed as a ‘thrilling murder mystery featuring the iconic Inspector Morse’, House of Ghosts arrives in Sheffield to fulfil the gap the much missed TV Series left, 25 years ago. Based on Colin Dexter’s characters and written by Morse scriptwriter Alma Cullen the production goes some way towards filling the void Jon Thaw left and is a must experience for bereft Morse fans. The house of Ghosts refers to Morse’s past rather than the ghoulish variety as we are transported back to 1987 to the City of Oxford. The play opens as a play within a play, as we are greeted with a rather amateur stage version of Hamlet (Spin Glancy) and it is as Ophelia (Eliza Teale) enters the scene we witness her stutter, raise her hand to her mouth as blood falls onto her white gown and within seconds she is dead....

Gwenda’s Garage The Musical – Sheffield Playhouse

19Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Gwenda’s Garage The Musical – Sheffield Playhouse

Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a Lesbian run garage named after the 1930’s racing driver Gwenda Stewart, three female mechanics and an apprentice, 1980’s Thatcher’s Britain, a time of protest and strikes and a time of a vibrant women’s movement. The controversial Section 28 of the local government act to prevent the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ as a ‘pretended family relationship’ empower the women through activism, solidarity and sheer hope to strive for a better future. This Out of Archive in association with Sheffield Theatres production with an onstage band of five, and written by Nicky Hallett with musical numbers by Val Regan, Gwenda’s Garage is an excitingly raw and exuberant episode taking the stories of local women and placing them into the iconic location. Directed by Jelena Budi...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Sheffield Lyceum

15Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Sheffield Lyceum

Triumphant and sublime masterclass of theatrical storytelling – Enchanting! Selectively based on C.S Lewis’ novel of the same name and the first and best known of seven in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Direct from the West End, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe takes its audience on a magical and majestic journey through the wardrobe into Narnia. Written in 1950, the story tells of four siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy who are evacuated in wartime to the home of an eccentric Professor, they discover an old wardrobe in a spare room and upon entering it are transported to the mystical land of Narnia. Can the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve aid both the animals and the returning saviour Aslan, the Lion, to rid Narnia of the White Witch and restore Narnia to its seaso...

26Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Consumed – Sheffield Playhouse

The aptly named play Consumed, written by Karis Kelly won the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2022, is a dark, deliciously humorous yet disturbing drama, set around the kitchen table in Northern Ireland. It is Eileen’s 90th birthday party and her daughter Gilly, granddaughter Jenny and great granddaughter Muireann gather for the first time in three years to celebrate. However, the cracks; long since painfully covered; appear in this intentionally slow burning and powerful script. Expertly written, the intergenerational differences of Northern Irish women is laid bare - with all its historical ‘Troubles’, trauma and repressed family tension. With ‘food’, perception and more than one skeleton in the cupboard, this four performer play has first rate performances that are unnerving from the o...

19Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dancing at Lughnasa – Crucible Theatre

Riveting and far reaching, a masterclass of storytelling. The Sheffield Theatres and Royal Exchange Theatre Production of Dancing at Lughnasa is inspired by its renown writer’s own life and Brian Friel’s powerful play is given an outstanding outing by the new Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres, Elizabeth Newman. Newman’s vision is crisp, captivating and concise, disregarding sentimentality and instead allowing the audience to witness the societal change on a generation with great intricacy and care. It is harvest time in 1936, rural Donegal, Ireland and we meet the five unmarried Mundy sisters. Their lives are marred with hardship yet laced with unfulfilled and often hidden dreams and in one season their mundane lives are changes irrevocably. Enter Uncle Jack, a clergyman of the...