REVIEWS Archives - North West End UK

My Fair Lady – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

23Jun

By Dan GrimesNo Comments

North West

My Fair Lady – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Surprisingly, the story of My Fair Lady, that most quintessentially British of musicals, has its origins in ancient Greece. The character of Henry Higgins is a reinterpretation of Pygmalion, the gifted sculptor from the myth recorded in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In that story, Pygmalion is disillusioned by what he sees as the flaws of women and decides to remain unmarried, choosing instead to carve an ivory statue of a woman so exquisitely beautiful that he falls in love with his own creation. George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 revision of the myth is a sharply satirical retelling in an updated social context. His Pygmalion is transplanted from the island of Cyprus to Edwardian London, and he reframes the story to explore class structures, gender roles, and questions of social mobility within a rig...

20Jun

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Planet Omar – Birmingham Rep

Asif Khan’s adaptation of Zanib Man’s book first launched to the stars at the Leeds Playhouse with intergalactic backup from Unicorn Theatre and, of course, our own much-loved space station, the Birmingham Rep. “Planet Omar” has blossomed into five much loved children’s books whose creator, who studied Molecular Cell Biology, has developed further titles and appeared on BBC’s CBeebies Bedtime Stories. Omar is a fantastically imaginative 8-year-old boy of British Pakistani Muslim heritage who is forever getting into scrapes, scraps and escapades. His family has moved to a new neighbourhood entailing a tsunami of new experiences - including a new school, a bully and a very unfriendly neighbour. How Omar navigates his way through these obstacles is revealed in this new play directed by Sameen...

19Jun

By Saloni SanwalkaNo Comments

London

Camdenwalla – Camden People’s Theatre

There are some works of art which one wishes were fiction and Camdenwalla is one of them. The play takes us back to 1990s Camden, when racism against the British-Bangladeshi community was at an all-time high. Amidst police indifference emerged the Camden Monitoring Project, an organisation run by local volunteers which functioned as a helpline of sorts and kept meticulous record of the details of each attack. Camdenwalla is a snapshot of an average night for one of these volunteers, Muhammad, as he races to extinguish the embers of violence before they catch. The first few minutes of the show perfectly capture the period’s unease. Bhasker Patel, in a truly magnetic turn as Muhammad, tries to go about his routine but gives himself away with fleeting glances towards a locked door, wai...

Calendar Girls The Musical – Pontefract Town Hall

19Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Calendar Girls The Musical – Pontefract Town Hall

An emotional and memorable evening was had at Pontefract Town Hall last night as Encore Theatre Company performed their version of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s Calendar Girls – The Musical. For those who aren’t familiar with the stage show, it is based on the true story of a group of ordinary Yorkshire women who attend a branch of the Women’s Institute (WI). Through tragedy, the loss of one of their own, Annie’s husband to blood cancer, led by Chris they find a novel and extraordinary way of raising money to buy a memorial settee for the visitor’s room at Skipton General Hospital. Let’s create a ‘nude’ calendar! Resulting in a global phenomenon and enough money (Millions!) to have a ward in the hospital named the John Clarke Memorial Wing. The musical explores the challenging, movi...

19Jun

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Miraculous – Kings Head Theatre

This is a play about the Christian religion, authority and the interpretation of the Bible. It takes place in a Christian camp in the Oregon Mountains where Josh, a young student has been sent by his parents, and the retreat is overseen by a zealous young pastor, Paul, who has daily mentoring sessions with Josh. In these sessions Josh, at best a lukewarm Christian, tests his pastor's faith with challenges about what he reads in the Bible and Christian interpretations of sex, forgiveness and miracles. This is not a play with deep theological debate. Josh's questions are fairly simplistic; the sort everyone asks from time to time, and Paul's responses are less satisfactory and thoughtful than one would expect from a well-educated cleric placed in a position of authority over young p...

Remember, Remember! – Hull Truck Theatre

19Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Remember, Remember! – Hull Truck Theatre

Hull Truck’s John Godber studio was all abuzz on Thursday evening, full of theatregoers eager to hear what really happened when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament in 1605. And who better to tell the story than WIT? Theatre Company members Kluane Saunders, Ross Tomlinson, Lucy Buncombe and Tom O’Kelly. And as the lights dimmed, aka curtain up, I listened to “their truth” with baited breath while lots of mental “surely nots” “OMGs” and “come off its” ran through my head. I exaggerate, of course, I didn’t believe a word the four uttered, sang, shouted or sexily whispered, but I thoroughly enjoyed their lies. The Gunpowder Plot was led by Robert “Robbie” Catesby (Saunders), in a vain attempt to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament to end Protest...

Company – A Musical Comedy – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

19Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Company – A Musical Comedy – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

Handsworth and Hallam Theatre Co raise the bar and the roof with their highly enjoyable and professional production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company – A Musical Comedy. What a refreshing change to review something a little different from the norm and witness a local theatre company dealing with a notoriously difficult dark comedic production with such flair and ease – the time flew by and I was highly impressed! Directed with admirable confidence by Matthew Walker, with directorial assistance from Jane Jefferson-Blythe, the eleven vignettes are merged seamlessly and with purpose. Hayley Wilbourne and Beth Cooke’s choreography gives much to the production and the rehearsal is evident with the complexity of the use of stage and proxemics. A production team at the top of their game. Origin...

19Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Mrs Dalloway – Wilton’s Music Hall

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway is a book with a formidable reputation. Its seismic cultural impact is still fascinating to ponder a century later. Occasionally, a work of art will emerge in society that causes a ripple on the lake of consciousness, creating waves for years to come. This novel falls into that rare category. Woolf isn’t the only one credited with heralding modernism, but she wears some very big boots in that department. Adding to Woolf’s power is the fact the Department of Modernism is mostly filled with men. As is life. Woolf not only kicked against the patriarchy, but linked men’s power to the horrors of colonialism, war and poor mental health. Woolf may have pointed out the factually obvious, but it was almost unsayable at the time. The world woke up. Feminism, sexu...

17Jun

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

RON – Riverside Studios

RON is one of those rare productions that refuses to stay in a single genre and is all the better for it. What begins as something familiar, a stand-up comedy act, quickly spirals into an increasingly surreal, dark comedy that constantly keeps its audience guessing. Every time you think you've understood where the story is heading, it gleefully pulls the rug from beneath you and quite literally lifts the curtain on a wildly inventive theatrical experience. The direction (Ted Walliker and Lev Govorovski) is razor sharp, maintaining an impressive pace while allowing every twist to land with maximum impact. There is a real confidence behind the production, balancing absurd comedy with moments of genuine unease without ever feeling forced. It is an ambitious piece that could easily have col...

Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) – Soho Theatre

17Jun

By Saloni SanwalkaNo Comments

London

Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) – Soho Theatre

Jade Franks’ one-woman show, Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x), has had a fairytale run. Its sold-out debut at Edinburgh Fringe last year marked Franks out as a breakout talent and the excitement has carried her from London to Melbourne and even Netflix offices. Its return to the Soho Theatre this June is accompanied by a similar buzz which, for the most part, is warranted. The semi-autobiographical show is sharply written and draws the audience into the world of Jade, a Liverpudlian scholar, as she navigates her first year at Cambridge University. It is a caustic commentary on the cultural and class-based divisions which overwhelm her experience, almost to the point of caricature. The posh students are ignorant and nasty, and the professors are technologically challenged crows. ...