North West Archives - Page 3 of 187

16Jul

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

Nell Gwynn – Theatre by the Lake

Nell Gwynn is like many women of influence in history, whose name may be known but whose story is. With memories of Barbara Winsor as the orange fruit seller in a Carry On film, I knew very little about the woman. However, Theatre by the Lake bring to life King Charles II’s mistress with a lively, bawdy romp – and tells her story. A collaboration between Theatre by the Lake, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Storyhouse Theatre, this production is as lively and entertaining as anything that may have been performed in the original Globe Theatre. Music, dance and bold, playful banter make this production a joy. The opening scene did have me worried as Burhan Kathawala, began a performance which was so wooden, then the lights lifted, the stage opened up to reveal a play within a play. Kath...

14Jul

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Waitress – Winter Gardens Blackpool

Tonight’s review comes from Blackpool Winter Gardens and viewing the tour of Waitress starring Les Dennis as Old Joe and Carrie Hope Fletcher as Jenna. Jenna is a waitress in Joe’s cafe that sells 27 pies, all of which are of Jenna’s creation influenced by her mother. She is the cog in so many people’s lives that people go to for advice and a slice of the daily special. However, behind closed doors Jenna is trapped in an abusive relationship with her husband Earl (Mark Willshire) who takes her money and mentally manipulates her. Jenna often day dreams of a better life and makes up pie names in the process. As the show develops she becomes sick and after a pregnancy test it becomes positive. She’s unsure what to do about the baby especially as home life isn’t the perfect place to bring u...

12Jul

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Grease – The Forum Theatre

Well, seeing as this is one of the most iconic shows ever produced, I don’t think there is much point in my writing a synopsis of this except to say, “Welcome to Rydell”! This is actually by way of a swansong for many of the seniors at NK as a large number will be leaving to go onto further education, whether in the musical theatre forum or in alternative areas of study. I am proud to say that I have followed the journey that many of these young performers have been on for the past 12 years plus and have seen them grow from little 5-year-olds to super confident performers who have developed into outstanding young men and women who all have an amazing stage presence. A nice touch was the section of the programme devoted to the memories of the leavers, where they could each come up wi...

This Machine Kills Fascists – The Empty Space

10Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

This Machine Kills Fascists – The Empty Space

The words “This Machine Kills Fascists” emblazoned across Woody Guthrie’s guitar have become one of the defining images of American protest culture. In David Dunn’s spirited musical—ending a short UK tour as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe—that slogan becomes both mission statement and challenge, asking whether songs still possess the power to confront intolerance, inequality and authoritarianism in an increasingly polarised world. A musical biography of Guthrie could easily descend into reverential myth-making. Dunn wisely resists that temptation. Instead, he presents a man of extraordinary talent, fierce conviction and deeply uncomfortable contradictions. Guthrie’s loathing of racism and exploitation is rooted in a childhood overshadowed by poverty and by a father whose prej...

10Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Fun Home – Royal Exchange Theatre

In the same month that Something Rotten! delights audiences with its joyous Shakespearean irreverence at the Opera House, Manchester welcomes another long-awaited Broadway success whose journey across the Atlantic was delayed by the pandemic. Almost a decade after its Tony Award-winning run, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking graphic memoir finally reaches the Royal Exchange, joining a growing wave of American musicals—including Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Jagged Little Pill and next month’s London premiere of Kimberly Akimbo—that have reshaped the genre by favouring emotional realism over escapism. Its arrival continues the Royal Exchange’s renewed commitment to musical theatre. After years in which the genre appeared only occasionally in...

9Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

East – The King’s Arms

Nearly 50 years after its premiere, Steven Berkoff’s East still has the power to provoke. What was once notorious for its profanity and sexual explicitness now shocks for entirely different reasons. In 2026, it is the casual misogyny, blatant racism and everyday homophobia that land with the greatest force, exposing attitudes that have aged badly while prompting uncomfortable reflection on how much has – and hasn’t – changed. If Shakespeare met Shameless, the result would look much like East. Berkoff fuses muscular, poetic verse with the grit of London’s East End, creating a theatrical language that is exhilarating one moment and exhausting the next. Performed in the intimate surroundings of The Kings Arms as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe, Stir Crazy Productions fully embrac...

9Jul

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Moulin Rouge – Liverpool Empire

Ever wondered what it would be like to enter Paris and be enthralled within a world of Freedom, Beauty, truth and love? Well, now you cancan can. Moulin Rouge the world tour has descended in the iconic Liverpool empire. From the moment they opened the house doors you were immersed from having the house open call in French to entering an auditorium that made you feel like you time travelled to Paris. Having seen the real place myself there wasn’t much that was different every intricate detail was adhered to. The musical by John Logan based of the iconic film by Baz Luhrmann, set in 1899 in the bohemian district of Paris. Where at the club it has a star attraction Satine (Verity Thompson). Where common folk and aristocracy flock to see the beauty and wonder she beholds at the club. The club ...

7Jul

By Amanda HodgsonNo Comments

North West

The Divine Move – King’s Arms

Arthur and Augustus Blackwood (played by Joseph Dawson, and Ole Francis respectively), heirs to a vast fortune, meet at their family estate to spend the summer with the Prescott sisters and friends (played by Katie Jordan-Linton, Mia Shaw, and Polly Graves). What begins as breezy upper-class comedy of manners soon becomes something more agonising, as the death of the Blackwoods’ father turns the family’s expectations on their head. Both brothers are denied the futures they crave; Arthur is pressganged into service as the new head of the family, and Augustus is downgraded and forced to give up the woman he loves. Waiting in the wings is Cora (played by Emma O’Malley), a guest of the Prescott sisters with her own agenda. The Divine Move is a well-produced and acted play that skips alo...

7Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Baby Brain – Salford Arts Centre

Tonight’s show may have a minimal set – just a chair and a table inside our setting of a mother and baby unit – but that is where the restraint ends. Co-written and directed by Tim Clague and Danny Stack, with input from BAFTA award-winning actor Kimberley Nixon, who stars in the show, this one-hour, one-woman play confronts postpartum mental illness with a fearlessness that is both admirable and, at times, very unsettling. Inspired in part by Nixon’s own experiences, the production tackles postpartum psychosis, postnatal OCD, and depression with unflinching honesty. The show comes with a list of understandable trigger warnings for the heavy-duty topics of suicidal ideation, infant death, and severe postnatal mental illness, and rightly so. We meet Cassie, a wannabe stand-up comedian...

4Jul

By Stewart Who?No Comments

North West

Minogueus Sanctus – Crazy Coqs

The excellent 3-part Kylie documentary, currently on Netflix highlighted a sometimes vulnerable, seemingly authentic woman with a sense of humour and winning humility. She’s weathered major personal struggles, with her health and love life, all exacerbated by her celebrity status. The media interest in the movement of Minogue hasn’t waned since the mid ‘80s. Thanks to PWL’s ‘hit factory’, Kylie Minogue became a pop phenomenon on the back of her fame as TV soap actress. She was always a gay icon but cutting edge queens were digging acid house in ’88 and Kylie was the antithesis of the freewheeling rave scene. The Netflix doc shocked younger audiences with its focus on the widespread critical responses to her work. It was mean, misogynist and relentless. Kylie wasn’t cool. She had a c...