North West Archives - Page 72 of 128

<strong>A Christmas Carol – Shakespeare North Playhouse</strong>

2Dec

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

A Christmas Carol – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Shakespeare North Playhouse is one of the most stunning venues in the country, there is absolutely no doubt about that. Home to the only timber-built “cockpit” theatre outside London, it was built throughout lockdown and is an experience unlike anything else you can find in the North West. The play is a mixture of modern and traditional costumes, dialogue, movement and northern references, and is a pantomime musical with original songs delivered by the four actor-musicians. The folk music involved at least 10 instruments, all played by the incredible multi-skilled ensemble and musically directed by Jessica Dives. Even for a pantomime there was a lot of audience involvement, with some exciting things for us to do during the performance. I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but the kids i...

<strong>The House Amongst the Willows – Hope Street Theatre</strong>

30Nov

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

The House Amongst the Willows – Hope Street Theatre

Robert Scott’s The House Amongst the Willows is a psychological thriller which explores the darkness which can hide in seemingly happy families and the inevitable tragic shadow that falls over a relationship with someone whose previous partner has passed away. Directed by Mark Holland and Gabi Castro, this is a tense and dramatic show with plenty of twists and turns around the eponymous copse of willow trees out front. The play opens with Fletcher (Sab Muthusamy) and his fiancée, Sadie (Josie Harrison) arriving at the holiday home of Paul (John Michael Rooke) and Erin (Sarah Howes-Dixon), who are Fletcher’s dead wife’s Laura’s parents. Sadie is understandably nervous over meeting Laura’s parents, but Fletcher is very keen for the weeklong break to go well as he is closer to Paul and Eri...

<strong>Red Riding Hood – Everyman Theatre</strong>

30Nov

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Red Riding Hood – Everyman Theatre

So, does the Everyman Rock n' Roll Panto tick all the right boxes this year? I haven't been for some time but it all still seems present and correct: feisty heroine; wicked witch type villainess; incredibly dumb henchmen; randy Panto Dame; unfortunate audience/honorary cast member (yes, that's you, Sean); amazing music and musicians. Plus, Adam Keast, and he always is a plus with his ability to wrap the audience around his little finger, so adept, he happily makes any improv perfectly (literally) obvious, leading them a merry jig, irresistible as the Pied Piper. Speaking of which, will our heroine stick to the straight and narrow or venture onto the path less travelled, what with having two suitors? But what chance does Prince Florizel the Fortunate have, although the clue is in the nam...

<strong>Men are Dogs – Cheadle Players</strong>

30Nov

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

Men are Dogs – Cheadle Players

Dr Cecelia Monahan is a New York relationship therapist with several relationship issues of her own. Her support group for divorced and single women provides the backdrop for much of the action in this 2003 play by Joe Simonelli, here being performed in the UK for the first time. The play provides an interesting – if slightly stereotyped – look at relationships of various types, and the ensemble cast perform it well. They get plenty of laughs, especially as the pace really picks up in Act 2. While I did find myself questioning – in 2022 – the need for a play that seems to emphasise that a woman’s happiness can only be found in a relationship, and specifically in a relationship with a man, I did enjoy the production. This has once again proven that the Cheadle Players Dramatic Society is...

<strong>The Mousetrap – Opera House, Manchester</strong>

29Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Mousetrap – Opera House, Manchester

At the conclusion of every performance of Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap, the murderer steps forward and asks the audience to 'keep the secret of whodunnit locked in your heart', an appeal that has proved remarkably resilient given that this tour marks its 70th anniversary and it remains the longest continuously running show of any kind in the world. With nearly 29,000 performances since its premiere in 1952 you could forgive audiences if they tired of it, but a packed opening night in the vast Manchester Opera House, is testament to its enduring popularity. Confession time, as a critic who has been attending theatre for well over 40 years, I have never seen 'The Mousetrap', the rodent has eluded me all these years and whilst it will never be on my theatrical bucket list, the completi...

<strong>A Double Helping of Talent – Melrose Hall</strong>

27Nov

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

A Double Helping of Talent – Melrose Hall

Both drama and music were on the bill at Melrose Hall, Hoylake tonight, Friday 25th November. Presented by the multi-talented Calli Hughes, this was a showcase of first, her directing talent and then her well-known talent as a local singer. The first half of the evening gave us an award-winning drama and in the second half Calli was joined by her equally talented husband Mark for a ‘Songbirds’ session – the music of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. Melrose Hall is a bijou venue seating around 80-100 in the heart of the Hoylake community. On this occasion it was set cabaret style and the audience could bring their own drinks. The first Act, a three-hander ‘Effie’s Burning’ originally directed by Calli for the Leverhulme Drama Festival last year. This powerful drama was written as a ...

<strong>Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Empire</strong>

27Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Empire

Two composers, two very different backgrounds, yet both with stories swirling with intrigue and rumour. As the Glyndebourne returns to the Empire for its annual residence, tonight is an interesting showcase of arias from composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, sometimes nick-named the ‘Black Mozart’ alongside the legendary Requiem of the main man himself. Part one focuses on Bologna, who may not have reached the heights of fame that Mozart would eventually achieve but still impressed many of his contemporaries with his abilities (Beethoven was reportedly a particular fan). Director Simone Ibbett-Brown has cleverly combined elements of Bologne’s remarkable story – a Creole sone of a slave-woman Nanon and her Plantation owning master who travels to France to make his ma...

<strong>Puccini’s Messa di Gloria – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall</strong>

27Nov

By Johanna RobertsNo Comments

North West

Puccini’s Messa di Gloria – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

I’ve often wondered what factors go into the decision of programming classical music concerts. Apart from the logistical decisions, on an artistic level, there must be well-known and well-loved pieces to attract the audience’s attention and guarantee ticket-sales, while also drawing in audiences by offering something new and/or challenging. Last night’s concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic managed to resolve this conundrum by a combination of two well-known and one far less well-known piece while triumphing in all three. That said, Debussy’s symphonic Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and what he called the "three symphonic sketches” that form La Mer, now familiar to and much loved by audiences around the world, were new and challenging for the audiences that first heard them in ...

<strong>The Marriage of Figaro – Liverpool Empire</strong>

25Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Marriage of Figaro – Liverpool Empire

Mozart’s classic four-act comic opera, an adaptation with Da Ponte of Beaumarchais’ banned 1778 play about warring masters and servants, is delightfully brought to life as Glyndebourne’s 2022 tour reaches the Liverpool Empire with this satirical and deeply human drama. As the day of Figaro (Alexander Miminoshvili) and Susanna’s (Soraya Mafi) wedding arrives, it becomes clear that their master, Count Almaviva (George Humphreys), is keen to exercise his ‘droit du seigneur’ – his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night – and they conspire with the forsaken Countess, Rosina (Nardus Williams), to outwit her husband and teach him a lesson in fidelity. Plans however are thrown awry when Bartolo (Henry Waddington), seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his own earlier plans to m...

<strong>Oppenheimer – Manchester School of Theatre</strong>

25Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Oppenheimer – Manchester School of Theatre

The genesis of the 'Manhattan' project, to develop a nuclear bomb ahead of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, is an irresistible subject for dramatists with film Director Christopher Nolan bringing his version of the story to the cinema screen next year. Writers have always found its chief architect, J. Robert Oppenheimer, a fascinating study and in 2015 Tom Morton-Smith succeeded where many of his illustrious predecessors (Arthur Miller amongst them) have failed, bringing him to life on stage. Manchester School of Theatre has further burnished its reputation with this excellent production, which manages to weave together the scientific, personal and political threads of the story into a wholly convincing tapestry that is Shakespearean in its breadth and illustration of both personal...