North West Archives - Page 31 of 173

21Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Raven – Liverpool Playhouse Studio

The raven is often associated with loss and ill-omen and there’s plenty of that in Abigail McKenzie’s debut play as, inspired by her own lived experiences with addiction, homelessness, children’s services, and domestic abuse, the piece delves into themes of addiction, isolation, and the far-reaching consequences on maternal relationships. Staged on a raised platform with the audience on three sides, Raven presents the challenges of a mother, Elis (McKenzie), trying to reconnect with her young daughter who has been taken into care, with an unravelling back story hinting as to how she has got to this position. The play touches upon a range of sensitive and challenging issues, which most audience members will not have direct experience of, so as an adject, I must note that I have worked...

19Mar

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Pig Heart Boy – Liverpool Playhouse

Better to have a pig heart that works, that a human one that doesn’t, right? Pig Heart Boy, based on the popular 1997 novel by Malorie Blackman of the same name and has been adapted for the stage by Winsome Pinnock. It is true to the book and has even been endorsed by Blackman herself. It tells the story of Cameron, a 13-year old boy who has had heart problems since he was ill as a child. Everyone treats him as though he’s a China cup, fragile and to be handled with care. When his father contacts Professor Bryce, things start to look up, after a failed attempt at a heart transplant. Or does it? Bryce has been working on a way to get pig hearts transplanted into humans, to help save more people. The story ends up in the media and what follows is how a young boys life changes – for the be...

19Mar

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

The Moth – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Paul Herzberg’s two hander is a nuanced take on familial responsibility, the ethics of searching for forgiveness, and history’s grip on our adult lives. Using the studio at Shakespeare North to its full potential, The Moth directly confronts its audience with these thought-provoking themes. The stage was preset with tall posters and a flat screen TV that introduced one character’s ‘Confesisonal’, implying a public forum and foregrounding the character study that was to come. The action weaved between John Josana’s talk on racism, his international childhood and his experiences meeting Marius (a South African ex-solider) on a train and later elsewhere. In detailing John’s experiences, the play introduced some vivid imagery and an interesting historical backdrop, supported by monochro...

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) – The Lowry

19Mar

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) – The Lowry

After its 2018 debut at The Tron, Glasgow, Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) enjoyed a stint in the West End as well as a nationwide tour. With ballgown and boombox at the ready, this musical medley of classic meets comedy ventures out to entertain once more. This irreverent adaptation of the Austen novel is delivered by 5 actors soon to portray servants in a “proper” performance of it: think play-within-a-yet-to-start-play. They are tired of being the unsung heroes and so take on the leading roles in their own loud, rough and ready interpretation. Unwavering passion from an all-female troupe ensures that the utmost humour is squeezed out of every interaction, every song, every gesture. Emma Creaner delights as a pompously charismatic Charles Bingley, later slaying the audience as hi...

19Mar

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

Dear Evan Hansen – Storyhouse Chester

An Emotional Roller-Coaster - It’ll Make Your Spine Tingle! There’s no doubt that composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have a formula for success with The Greatest Showman and Lala Land as part of their catalogue and Dear Evan Hansen is another award-winning musical hit. It premiered on Broadway in 2016, followed by a film and endless theatre tours and it has found a solid following of fans, of which there were many in the audience last night. A standing ovation to rapturous applause. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with moments of grief, love, laughter and sympathy and those ‘sweet spots’ in the melodies make the hairs on your arm stand up and your spine tingle. For those who haven’t stumbled across this wonderful show before, it’s the story of a socially anxious teenager who fee...

19Mar

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Handbagged – The Lowry

Moira Buffini’s Handbagged has been revived and brought back to the stage and is currently at The Lowry as part of its UK Tour. Directed by Alex Thorpe; this revival is as sharp, funny, and thought-provoking as ever. Exploring the imagined private conversations between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher, the play deftly balances political satire while exploring power, duty, and legacy from these two iconic women in UK’s history. The brilliance of Handbagged lies in its unique dual-casting, with two actors playing each of the leading figures at different points in their lives. Morag Cross delivers a commanding performance as the older Thatcher, bringing both steely determination and flashes of vulnerability to the role. Emma Ernest, as the younger Mags, captures the rising polit...

17Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

The Flying Dutchman – The Lowry

I’m afraid this production of The Flying Dutchman, an opera about a man cursed to wander the oceans forever, was itself all-at-sea, lacking direction, and one feared, at times, would sink under the weight of its sadly misguided reimagined central conceit. It was kept afloat by the excellence of the cast, but the production itself did not seem to know where it was going because the basic idea behind it did not work. In their own words, they “have re-imagined The Flying Dutchman to take place on the ‘ship of state’: the Home Office. Daland is the ‘Home Secretary’ and the Dutchman and his crew become displaced people seeking refuge.” This analogy just did not work and whilst it was a noble effort to make The Dutchman a man seeking asylum it did not fit with the opera and became confusin...

17Mar

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

The Magic Flute – The Lowry

The Magic Flute is arguably an opera that welcomes many newcomers to the world of an opera performance for the first time. Directed by James Brining for Opera North, this particular opera is certainly aimed at all ages. With singing and spoken dialogue, plus screens at the side of the stage to follow the words, it is a reassuringly easy opera for all to follow. The Magic Flute is an opera with two acts and with music by Mozart. The story is essentially about Prince Tamino who is yearning to discover love. It relays his quest to do so and provides audience with a story centred in a world of make belief. Prince Tamino is given various trials to ensure he can gain the love of Princess Pamina. He is accompanied by Papagano, the bird man and the two completely opposite characters share ...

Klezmer: Old and New – Manchester Jewish Museum

13Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Klezmer: Old and New – Manchester Jewish Museum

Out with the old and in with the new? Well, sometimes it’s actually better to bring together the best of them which in this case resulted in a wonderful evening of klezmer, performed by Susi Evans and Szilvia Csaranko – a klezmer clarinet and accordion duo – with support from the Michael Kahan Kapelye, in the beautiful surround of this former Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. Evans and Csaranko perform tunes from old manuscripts, collected in Jewish villages in Ukraine between 1912-1914 and only recently rediscovered in Kyiv. With no defined chords, these are melodies played by generations of klezmer musicians at Jewish weddings and other celebrations, contemporaneous with the likes of Beethoven and undoubtedly influencing the operatic opus of Offenbach and Verdi, and these informed the...

12Mar

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Blood Brothers – Liverpool Empire

A centenary celebration is a milestone in itself, but having Liverpool’s iconic musical back in the city’s legendary theatre for its one-hundredth birthday is a new level of special. Audience members may have watched Blood Brothers countless times, I being not from the city, have only studied Willy Russell’s play, never seeing it performed. So, I had all hopes this would live up to expectation. Bringing Sean Jones back to re-imagine Mickey was a stellar move by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright. He was at home in that character and his ease in the role from age seven to eighteen is nothing but smooth and effortless. Together with Joe Sleight’s equally natural and charming Eddie, they make a magnicent pair, full of vivacity until the very end. This musical will never die. Just like the Em...