North West 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 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 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 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...

Sunny Girl – New Adelphi Theatre, Salford

24Jul

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

Sunny Girl – New Adelphi Theatre, Salford

Bringing plenty of sunshine and humour, Rain Man’s counterpart, Sunny Girl, is just an autistic girl living in a neurotypical world. Written and performed by Beth Westbrook ‘Sunny Girl’ tells the story of Erin, which is closely based on Westbrook’s own experiences of navigating through the five categories that make up the intensive assessment for Autism. The plays depicts the process in which an individual, with support from their family, needs to recall past feelings, experiences, and behavioural traits in order for a specialist to determine whether they meet the criteria for Autism. Sunny Girl takes a look at each category and the related memories, which are recalled within the safety of Erin’s ‘Mind Palace’, an explosion of colours, textures and objects which are used to help rep...

Madame Chandelier Saves Opera – King’s Arms, Salford

22Jul

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

Madame Chandelier Saves Opera – King’s Arms, Salford

As part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival 2024, The Kings Arm in Salford welcomes the flamboyant, some would say ‘Diva’, Madame Chandelier, aka Delea Shand. With her one woman show, it’s safe to say this performance certainly does what it intends – Madame Chandelier, and her bright pink very high wig, single handedly throws her heart and soul into her mission to ‘save Opera’. Shand is a proud Canadian and full of charisma. She has many accolades to her name and previous sell out shows at The Edinburgh Fringe. She was also nominated for best newcomer in the 2019 Manchester Fringe and is clearly master of her craft which was instant as she performed as ‘Madame Chandelier’, immediately captivating the audience. Shand is open with the audience from the beginning in a most comedic w...

20Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Ghost The Musical – Storyhouse

On what was one of the hottest days of the year so far, the welcoming arms of the Storyhouse’s air conditioning system was very much appreciated as I took my seat to see D&S Productions latest show, Ghost The Musical. Having seen this show many, many times before in a number of guises I was looking forward to seeing how they tackled what is a complicated show to stage. The show centres around banker Sam Wheat (Chris Doyle) and sculptor Molly Jenson (Kate McHenry) who not long after moving into their new loft apartment in New York are torn apart when Sam is murdered in a failed mugging. Sam then becomes stuck between this world and the next and stumbles across phony psychic Oda Mae Brown (Gabrielle Stanfield) who helps him discover best friend Carl Bruner (Jack Parry) is not who he ...

My Chat with Harold Pinter – King’s Arms, Salford

19Jul

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

My Chat with Harold Pinter – King’s Arms, Salford

All playwrights speak to each other in one way or another. Sometimes they will talk to the living but most of the time they talk to the dead. Every writer has stolen from another scribe, especially their heroes, and usually they are six-foot under and not in a position to complain. In this play, playwright Jen communes with Harold Pinter to help her to write her play. She wants him to assist her through her writer’s block so she can complete writing her magnum opus. Thus starts a post-modern foray into writing, feminism and theatre which will also teach you the fielding positions in cricket. People of a certain age will remember a TV show called Call My Bluff and there are lots of words in this play which could have been included in that programme. On that show celebrities had to de...