North West Archives - Page 46 of 174

11Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

JB Shorts 25 – 53two, Manchester

Under the arches at 53two’s Watson Street headquarters, JB Shorts is now firmly established on the Manchester theatre scene as the place to experience sharp new writing and watch both emerging and established actors hone their craft. Now in its 25th iteration, tonight’s offerings were as eclectic as ever, managing to mix the farcical and surreal with more thoughtful offerings to delight the packed midweek audience. Railway Sleepers Kicking off the evening with a familiar train journey from Piccadilly to Euston, we meet Frank (Will Travis) and Sue (Sue McCardle) ostensibly travelling south for a conference and striking up a conversation with fellow passenger Cheryl (Rosa Brooks) around how best to reply to a text message received from Frank’s mysterious boss. The piece worked quite we...

10Oct

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Grease – Palace Theatre

Sometimes when a reviewer goes to see a show, no matter what the content, the audience will so completely overwhelm the performance that there is very little one can say in review. Such is the case with “Grease” which continues a national tour at The Palace. The audience are so loyal to the show, they will it along every moment of the performance. I have to say that I would have preferred to hear the paid cast singing some of the songs rather than the “Levenshulme Ladies Choir” across the aisle from me, but hey, we know the tunes anyway. Despite a book as thin as a cigarette paper, Director Nikolai Foster drives the show along like greased lightening and genuinely lights up the stage with the musical numbers. To add to the “A” list production team the choreography by Arlene Phill...

10Oct

By Paddy Darnell-WalshNo Comments

North West

Grease – Pendle Hippodrome

School’s out and Grease is most definitely the word as Basics Junior Theatre School take us back to 1959 and Rydell High School. Pendle Hippodrome welcomes the hit musical Grease, centring around the romance between Danny and Sandy for one week only. Packed with iconic numbers and performed by the youthful exuberance of this talented cast, it is the perfect recipe for a great night out. Everything about this production was of professional standard from the lighting, to set design and the music to the authentic costumes. Bravo to the entire production team. However, what really elevated this production was the wonderful choreography from Lydia Cooke and Helen Cheung. The standout dances for ‘Greased Lightening’ and ‘Born to Hand Jive’, particularly, showcased the abilities of the cast. U...

Divorced, Beheaded, Died: An Audience With King Henry VIII – Shakespeare North Playhouse

9Oct

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Divorced, Beheaded, Died: An Audience With King Henry VIII – Shakespeare North Playhouse

An intimate evening with the most famous monarch that ever lived – who could resist that! I have loved the Tudors and been fascinated particularly by the ‘antics’ of Henry V111 since my history lessons at schools. That as one of my favourite theatres – The Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescott - were holding ‘An evening with’ - I was very excited indeed to see how this legend would be portrayed. The performance was in the smallest of the theatres at the playhouse and as I took my seat – a front row of course – a large regal chair awaited us. Then to wonderful 16th century music, the magnificent monarch entered the room. The audience gasped – as there he was- in all his splendour, the noble tyrant, we all knew so well. Jack Abbot was awesome from the minute he ...

Jane Eyre – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

8Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Jane Eyre – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Bringing to life Charlotte Brontë’s vivid, sprawling gothic tale of love, independence and moral struggle will always be a demanding task of any theatre company, requiring evocative visuals and lighting, pace and energy and commanding performances from the leading actors. Altrincham Garrick’s production achieves all of this in spades. Carole Carr’s assured direction of Polly Teale’s adaptation, has created an engrossing account of Jane Eyre, as we go through the key moments of her life – beginning with the ill treatment she bears at the hands of her aunt and cousins, and the harsh reality of school life at a time when life expectancy can be cruelly short, through to her time at Thornfield as governess to the ward of the enigmatic Mr Rochester and the aftermath of discovering the devasta...

7Oct

By Anna Ní DhúillNo Comments

North West

WRESTLELADSWRESTLE – HOME Mcr

While you might not think Judo and racism are the easiest go-tos for a (sort-of) one-woman show, Jenni Jackson’s expert weaving of personal experience with community accountability in WRESTLELADSWRESTLE cracks the subject matter wide-open in an approachable way, inviting us in to listen and learn. The piece, at its core, is built off the universal desire we have as humans to assert ownership over our own pain: at least if we can decide when and how it happens, we can be somewhat prepared. Out of this, we learn anecdotal stories, as well as news snippets of traumas that have occurred to women when they simply weren’t prepared. So: Jenni prepares us. What we learn, among other things, is how to get people out of our house when they start to act aggressive. Bringing her ‘girl gang’ onstage...

The Salon: The Sequel! – St Helens Theatre Royal

6Oct

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

The Salon: The Sequel! – St Helens Theatre Royal

This adult comedy show, written by Drew Quayle, follows the antics and everyday life of salon manager, Carol, played by radio and stage star Leanne Campbell. It’s predecessor show, The Salon originally played at St Helens Theatre Royal in 2009, playing again in 2011 and 2017, before transferring to Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre in 2018. This stand-alone sequel has been updated to reflect current local Liverpool culture and is awash with Scouse over-the-top caricatures and Scouse humour which had the hyped-up audience showing their appreciation with boisterous whoops and piercing squeals of laughter amid noisy excitement. Carol (Leanne Campbell) is orchestrator of the story, managing the salon staff and trying to keep her family life in control. Her staff of two, be...

Girls Don’t Play Guitars – Liverpool’s Royal Court

5Oct

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Girls Don’t Play Guitars – Liverpool’s Royal Court

Reading the 2019 reviews of this show it was natural that I took my seat at its revival with high expectations. The story is undoubtably inspiring and it feels right at home in this theatre, however, as a stage show this lacked depth for me. With an 80:20 ratio of music to dialogue, albeit good music, it was difficult to feel much emotional pull towards these characters. As characters themselves, I imagine it was difficult to ascertain much difference between them for the actors as their personalities were as similar as their costumes in most parts of the script, noticeably different only by which love interest they had. Nothing can be said of the talent of the cast though. Their skills as musicians were undeniably central to the success of this show’s success; I just wish they were ...

5Oct

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

The Lodger – Unity Theatre

From the creator of ADHD: The Musical comes a semi-hallucinogenic exploration of belonging. After an unsettling welcome paired with deadpan humour, the nameless lodger takes the dust sheets from the objects strewn around the stage and orchestrates the story. I was lost for the few minutes during the lodger’s own initial perspective, but the story soon developed into a compelling journey through place and possession. Dora Colquhoun plays 5 characters and gifts each one their own physicality. Most impressive was her representation of the unspeaking female deer, which was an impressive feat of physical storytelling. Furthermore, the play-world that is conveyed through The Lodger is theatrically inventive and unique. Through the recurring props and reappearing characters - all fighting to s...

Blue Man Group: Bluevolution World Tour – The Lowry

3Oct

By Nicky LambertNo Comments

North West

Blue Man Group: Bluevolution World Tour – The Lowry

Blue Man Group are a long established (since 1987) group of performers with their own unique brand of entertainment, the main feature of which is their phenomenal drumming. They always appear as a trio and are completely silent, in that they do not speak a word throughout the whole performance. Their current world tour, “Bluevolution” features a female drummer who provides them with excellent support but also gets her moment in the spotlight. I have seen Blue Man Group on the television and I wasn’t really sure how they could make their act stretch to a full ninety minute show (there is no interval) but they have crafted a wonderful evening’s entertainment, full of fun and joy and I was so sorry when it came to an end. The Blue Men mingled with the audience before the ...