North West Archives - Page 33 of 174

9Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

A Work in Progress – Unity Theatre

Following a successful scratch night performance, Ladderman Collective literally take their work in progress to its next developmental level as part of the Up Next Festival at Unity Theatre. Coming in at about an hour, director Mason Guthrie navigates us through five acts that follow the trials and tribulations of problematic MP Phillip Braxton (Aidan Rivers) and his personal assistant, Alison (Natasha Jobst) as he looks to resurrect his political career following an earlier embarrassing altercation on a television programme. There were consequences too for the television host, Robert Jones (Tom Browning), who can now only work on a regional radio programme. With an impending general election, the opportunity to get his revenge on his political nemesis looms large and he begins plott...

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Cinderella – The Lowry

7Mar

By Abigail PendleburyNo Comments

North West

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Cinderella – The Lowry

A Magical Evening of Dance and Storytelling. Birmingham Royal Ballet's production of Cinderella at The Lowry was a captivating and enchanting performance, blending classical ballet with stunning visuals, exquisite choreography, and a timeless tale. It was a tale of 3 acts that had the audience enraptured with its charm and elegance. Choreographed by the renowned David Bintley, this retelling of the classic fairy tale offered an imaginative and fresh take on the beloved story, while staying true to the traditional charm that has made Cinderella a favourite among ballet enthusiasts. The production was a visual masterpiece, with enchanting costumes designed by John Macfarlane, that added depth and fantasy to each character. From Cinderella’s tattered rags to her stunning ballgown, ev...

The Incident Room – Blackburn Empire Theatre

7Mar

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

The Incident Room – Blackburn Empire Theatre

Everyone knows the story of Peter Sutcliffe, known best by his alter ego, The Yorkshire Ripper. A sadistic serial killer who plagued the North of England for nigh on 5 years, the Ripper’s legacy and story is synonymous, still with an uncanny ability to send ripples of fear into hearts and minds even 45 years after his reign of terror. As the saying goes: “Real life is often stranger than fiction” - and the story of the Yorkshire Ripper has all the hallmarks of a crime story taken straight from the pages of a novel. An illusive yet fearlessly dangerous serial killer. Well-intentioned law enforcement embroiled in a fatal game of cat and mouse. A half-decade whodunnit, topped off with a generous dose of press sensationalism and public panic for good measure. All the ingredients you need fo...

7Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Wild Swimming – Hope Street Theatre

Directors Dan Meigh and Connor Wray delightfully plunge us into the lives of a young couple whose relationship is firmly in the ‘can’t live with you, can’t live without you’ stage, with their production of Marek Horn’s somewhat timeless two-hander that plays fast and loose with time. Whilst men are from Mars and women are from Venus, Nell (Amy Thompson-Hope) and Oscar (Harry Clark) opt to meet on a beach in 1595 – or is it 1610 – and to which they will return like the tide over the next four hundred years to debate feminism, privilege, literature, sex, and, of course, swimming. Watery metaphors abound for these two very diverse characters; she is witty and acerbic with a sharp tongue whilst he dreams of being a poet and adventurer from the safety of his beach towel, yet the opening k...

7Mar

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Shirley Valentine – Everyman Theatre

An absolute treasure of a play – a joy to behold!! I adore the Everyman theatre in Liverpool. Maybe because I was born and raised in Liverpool, or that the design of the theatre is so encompassing, almost like we the audience are part of the stage or because it’ a charitable theatre that always hosts astonishing shows. Added to that, the opportunity to watch a Willy Russell (Liverpudlian playwright also born and bred in the city) masterpiece, being performed back on the floorboards of this fabulous theatre, reviving the one-woman play to the stage where it premiered in 1986, a great homecoming as the final show in the theatre’s 60th year celebrations. This was not something me or my 92-year-old mother were going to miss! Willy Russell, who’s famous and fabulous shows includ...

6Mar

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Glorious! – Hope Mill Theatre

The fascinating story of Florence Foster Jenkins was brought back to mainstream attention by Hollywood in 2016. Hope Mill Theatre’s production of Glorious! covers much of the same ground but does so in a way that feels a lot more focused and a lot less condescending about the ‘worst singer in the world’. The ever-versatile Ancoats stage is, once again, utterly transformed. Clam shell footlights, a dusky velvet curtain and a vintage gramophone player set the scene. Charlie Hiscock’s Cosmé McMoon emerges to assure the audience he is not a pseudonym and that what we are about to see is all true. He also plants the core message: that maybe Jenkins was living in a cocoon, but that perhaps that’s a lesson for us all. The curtains open, McMoon and Jenkins meet, and we are away. Swift sto...

Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) – Shakespeare North Playhouse

5Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Shakespeare North Playhouse’s latest co-production with Stephen Joseph Theatre promises much, but sadly, as the title hints at, delivers little in this 1990’s-based adaptation. Ferdy (Timothy Adam Lucas) and his stags Berowne (Thomas Cotran) and Long-Dumain (Linford Johnson) have tipped up at a resort in Ibiza run by Armado (David Kirkbride) for their lads’ weekend but are under a promise to not talk to any girls, let alone think about them. Meanwhile, Yvette (Annie Kirkham) and her hens Mary-Kate (Alice Imelda), Rosie (Alyce Liburd), and Boyet (Jo Patmore) are heading to Malaga until the resort says they’ve had to relocate them to a hotel in Ibiza. Cue shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters, and theatrical chaos as we wait to see whether the boys get the girls or indeed something el...

Now That’s What I Call a Musical – Liverpool Empire

5Mar

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

Now That’s What I Call a Musical – Liverpool Empire

NOW That’s What I Call a Musical promises a nostalgic trip back to the 80s, but what it delivers is more like a chaotic tribute night with a flimsy story tacked on. Following best friends Gemma and April, the show jumps between their teenage years in 1989 and their reunion in 2009, exploring how life — and friendship — doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. It’s a familiar premise, but the story itself never really finds its feet. The biggest issue is the script, which feels like an afterthought, existing purely to glue together as many 80s hits as possible. Jukebox musicals often lean on their soundtrack, but this one takes it to extremes. Songs like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves” feel clumsily wedged into scenes, rarely adding anything to the...

2Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Dead Mom Play – Unity Theatre

The funny thing about grief is that it’s no laughing matter, yet conversely laughter is generally considered the best medicine. That’s the conundrum for this semi-autobiographical production from writer, director, and producer Ben Blais which it doesn’t entirely overcome. A young man, Charlie (Griffyn Bellah) faces his critically ill mother (Hannah Harquart) and Death (Joe Bellis), a scythe-wielding Scouser in a hood, as he struggles to accept the harsh reality of the grieving process whilst stuck in a play of his own creation. This is the second play I have seen on grief in as many weeks and whilst I wasn’t reviewing the first, both pieces suffer from the need for some independent creative check which is absent because, in this instance, the writer has opted to direct and produc...

27Feb

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Rita, Sue & Bob too! – Floral Pavilion

Yes of course, this play comes with a trigger warning, pointing out that it’s the original 1981 script. No surprises there - except that it is still as shocking today as it was over 40 years ago, although the emphasis is more on the bawdy humour than the disturbing issues it addresses. Even more shocking, for all the audience gasped at the arrant sexism, things haven’t changed that much. Improved seems far too much to hope for. You still get dodgy blokes cruising around secondary schools in their flashy cars, tho Bob’s looks like a second hand Trabant, and bright orange to boot. You still get stubborn, self-obsessed, giggly teenage girls interested in little else but sex: there’s nowt else to do here, as one student proclaimed years ago. Blame their parents? The usual suspects are here as ...