REVIEWS Archives - North West End UK

Marigold Lately: Dirty Old Town – The King’s Arms, Salford

25Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Marigold Lately: Dirty Old Town – The King’s Arms, Salford

In the upstairs studio of the King’s Arms, a small tornado named Marigold is being unleashed onstage. At first glance, Marigold (the brainchild of Mikayla Jane Durkan) looks somewhat unassuming, like a librarian who’s wandered into the wrong pub. Then the first F-bomb drops and we’re launched into a frenzy of Spitfire-like energy as Marigold tears chunks out of the woes of society, politics and misogyny - as if our ‘librarian’ has befriended the local biker gang, downed a bottle of sherry and wrestled the spotlight from an open-mic night folk guitarist that only exists in her head. Tonight is a surreal and slightly disorientating blend of story-telling, singing and stand-up, although Marigold stresses repeatedly that she is very much not funny. Non-sequiturs pile up alongs...

The Wedding Singer – The Bridewell Theatre

25Jul

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Wedding Singer – The Bridewell Theatre

The Wedding Singer is from the book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy revived for the musical stage by Stuart James. Its 1985 in New Jersey, it is retro and audiences will be familiar with the film version. It features the story of Robbie Joe McWilliam a wedding singer, and with his band he forms part of the ‘experience’ many couples look forward to, the happiest day of their life, their wedding. However, his own relationship is not that straight forward, his true love Linda Heather Daniel leaves him jilted at the altar. Robbie meets Julia Abbie Minnock a waitress who consoles him and supports him to get through his rejection and encourages him to overcome his struggles with love. Julia on the other hand is set to be married to Glen, Toby Chapman a hard talking Wall Street sales shark w...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Speke Hall

25Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Importance of Being Earnest – Speke Hall

The challenge of Oscar Wilde is not in the words but ensuring the performance does them justice. There were no such fears with director and founding member Mark Hayward’s laugh-out loud production which delights from the off. As butler Lane (Hannah Pryal) prepares tea at the London home of dandy Algernon Moncrief (James Alston) there is a hint of the fun and frolics to follow when his friend John Worthing (Harry Drummond) arrives, explaining that when he tires of life in the country looking after his teenage ward, he escapes to enjoy the high life of the city under the guise of seeing his wayward brother, ‘Ernest’. Algernon, in turn, regales him with his exploits of escaping the city in reverse fashion. Algernon’s aunt, Lady Bracknell (Madeline Hatt), arrives with her daughter, Gwendol...

The Things We Think About & All Cops are ________, The Fitzgerald

25Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Things We Think About & All Cops are ________, The Fitzgerald

Deciding the order of your performance by a random spinning wheel or creating part of your costume by mid-show balloon modelling are certainly novel ways of spicing up a theatre show. And in tonight’s double bill that’s exactly what we get, as Break Up Theatre present two intriguing shows. The first is a double act performed and written by Amber Hainge-Cox and Michael Deacon with the premise of exploring everyday thoughts. Each take it in turn to perform the 40 mini-monologues that are selected as the wheel spins and it is at the very least an impressive feat of memory, with the actors delivering each thought with confidence. The monologues are cleverly genderless to work for whichever actor has to deliver them. Some are absurd, some are single lines that trigger laughter at their a...

25Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Bangers – Arcola Theatre

“A lyrical love letter to UK garage,” Bangers is a mixed bag mix tape of bright futures and crushed dreams. Under the neon glow of Laura Howard’s chilled/chilly lighting design, the Arcola Theatre is transformed into a concert venue. DJ Tanya-Loretta Dee cues up tracks under an industrial scaffold as audiences file into the space, meander across the stage’s set of club speakers, and make their way to their assigned seats. There’s a strange uneasiness to the arrangement of the space which places a playing stage not above its audience but in the arena pit of the small Hackney theatre. Very much a North London storytelling theatre, and despite its ushering staff’s best efforts the atmosphere cultivated in the room is not that of bouncer patrolled nightclub where the music is booming and t...

25Jul

By Amelia PhillpottsNo Comments

North West

NeuroChatter – The Fitzgerald

Three personalities, one body, one actress, one act. One great performance. Written and performed by Sara Harvey is a one woman show following three personalities all inhabiting one body, all battling for control. Along with the unnamed Host of the body, broken by an undisclosed previous trauma, alters Mike and Elliott constantly bicker. Mike acts as the egotistical intellectual, attempting to use psychological academia to understand the three’s collective situation. Elliott is the complete opposite, as the foul-mouthed artist, who leads with their heart and prioritises emotional freedom. As the show develops, the individual relationships between the three personalities grow, revealing each character’s main motivation to help Host in the best way they know how. Despite the deeply tragic s...

24Jul

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

FANGIRLS – Lyric Theatre Hammersmith

Welcome to the world of Boy Band mania, FANGIRLS is set within a time when girls dream about love romance and yes their pop idols. “Its journey started in 2015 when Zayn Malik leaves One Direction” and Yve Blake is inspired to capture this moment in a book describing the feelings of young girls in a crazy tumultuous time in their lives, as young teenagers. Now it is a musical premiering in London and has hit the scene with a bang. This vibrant cast bring to life the tunes, the funny and the serious side to ‘growing up’ as young teens, idolising ‘pop icons’ peer relationships and the need to feel love, being pivotal milestones. In between the mayhem and madness is a message that ‘young people’s feelings’ should not be underestimated. This productio...

24Jul

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

A Chorus Line – The Lowry

In 1975, choreographer Michael Bennett turned taped interviews with Broadway dancers into a pioneering musical by giving a voice to those historically-unsung background performers. Having enjoyed a return to Curve, Leicester, A Chorus Line begins its summer tour at The Lowry. As part of the final audition stage for an upcoming production’s ensemble, seventeen hopefuls pitch themselves- and their talent- to director Zach (Adam Cooper) whose final casting decisions will cut their number down to eight. The pieces runs without an interval to mimic the real-time duration of the audition. Collective ambition is energetically established thorough the opening song I Hope I Get It. Sitting through every auditionee’s introduction (name, age, a bit about themselves) after this may border on te...

24Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

& Juliet – Opera House, Blackpool

Ever wondered what might’ve happened if Juliet hadn’t died? Well, there’s life after Romeo! With a hilarious script from David West Read (Schitt’s Creek), the story offers Juliet a new beginning, and a second chance at love, as it explores what might’ve happened if she hadn’t ended it all over Romeo. Intertwined with pop hits by song-writing juggernaut, Max Martin, & Juliet feels fresh, fearless and an awful lot of fun. The opening number, ‘Larger than Life’, set the tone for the evening. Everything about this show, indeed, felt larger than life! The set design from Soutra Gilmour was epic, using a very clever blend of moving furniture and projections to bring the stage to life. Video designs and animations, from Andrzej Goulding, were similarly superb. Paloma Young’s costume desig...

24Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

West Midlands

Cluedo 2 – The Alexandra, Birmingham

Based on the popular board game of the same name and the successful original Cluedo play, Cluedo 2 arrives in Birmingham in its mysterious glory. Fading rock star Rick Black is trying to relaunch his career. He’s invited his entourage (with very familiar names) to his multi roomed mansion for the first play of his new song. However, someone in the house has other ideas and chaos soon ensues. Is everything as it seems? Who did what to who where and with what? A “spoof” like this has a style of performance that is unlike a serious play, everything is exaggerated a little more than normal, overly dramatic poses and reactions, adding to the comedy. The whole cast (including the bear) worked together to bring the game and story to life with strong characterisations throughout. E...