North West Archives - Page 96 of 174

25Jun

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Punch – Hope Street Theatre

Punch, written and produced by Steve Bird, and directed by Elaine Louise Stewart and Bird, is a drama uncovering what happens when two families collide in a shock tragedy that will change their lives forever. Aiming to raise awareness of death and catastrophic injury from single punch injuries, the play uncovers a single example of how one punch can rock the foundations of family life. The set shows two family homes, one with crisp white tablecloths, and a graduation photograph and one with an overloaded clothes horse and a tacky fringed lamp. This serves to illustrate that the two families are from different social classes: one with “a house on the hill” and the other on an ill-reputed estate. These differences are highlighted in the beginning of the play where Charles (Ted Grant) bemo...

23Jun

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Stars – Everyman Theatre

Where do all the orgasms go? And how can you be sure you've ever had one? These are the philosophical questions that play on Mrs' mind as she reflects on what she's had in life and what she wants from it before the sun sets. STARS is described as an Afrofuturist space odyssey and incorporates a range of audio-visual media into the performance. A moving mix of celebratory Black queer empowerment, it is an experience that arouses consciousness and demands attention. Written by Mojisola Adebayo and with Debra Michaels as Mrs, STARS is largely a one-woman-show. The lights dim and a late hours DJ (Bradley Charles) sets the mood with some laid-back vibes. We see Mrs respond to the radio conversationally and occasional breaks of the fourth wall - you're never sure if Mrs is talking to th...

The Addams Family – Rainhill Village Hall

22Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Addams Family – Rainhill Village Hall

Director and choreographer Bryan Dargie takes us into the upside-down world of the Addams Family, where to be sad is to be happy, to feel pain is to feel joy, and death and suffering are the stuff of their dreams. Patriarch Gomez (Luke Montague) and his wife Morticia (Julie Robinson) are visiting the graveyard for an annual gathering of family members including the dead: Evangeline (Claire Heaton), Scarlet (Michelle Williams), Owenna (Claire Jones), Missy (Meg Charlton), Veronica (Annie Topping), Lizzy (Fiona O’Gorman) and Octivia (Anita Shaw). But Uncle Fester (Ben Greenall) stops them returning to their graves to enlist their help, as while torturing brother Pugsley (Tyler Lloyd), Wednesday (Sarah Johnson) has admitted to inviting her new ‘normal’ boyfriend Lucas (Cameron Gilbert) ...

My Fair Lady – The Forum Theatre, Romiley

22Jun

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

My Fair Lady – The Forum Theatre, Romiley

This production is based on the book and music by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which were adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion. The original musical production of 1956 took place on Broadway before transferring to the West End and starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in both productions. I have to confess a soft spot for this show as it was my first introduction to musical theatre as I can remember sitting on my auntie’s knee as a pre-school toddler with her singing “I could have danced all night” to me and from then on I was hooked! The storyline is based around a cockney flower-seller, Eliza Doolittle, who is taken under the wing of Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, who undertakes a wager with his linguistic colleague, Colonel Pickering, that within six mo...

22Jun

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Julie: The Musical – Hope Mill Theatre

To most, the name Julie D’Aubigny may not mean anything at all, but once you’ve seen Julie: The Musical, you’ll be enthralled by her life, leaving as if you’d almost known her. Julie D’Aubigny (otherwise known as La Maupin or as known as in this musical, ‘that b*tch’) was a 17th century opera singer, who was quite a dab hand with a sword, and widely believed to be one of the first openly bisexual public figures. Julie: The Musical takes us on a journey of her flamboyant life, through her turbulent career, scandalous love life and of course the tale of her romp with a nun (I’ve tamed the language for the sake of this review). From the offset, audiences know they’re in for something a little different. The gig style performance is led by a cast of 5 wonderfully talented actor/musicians...

21Jun

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

Julius Caesar – The Lowry

‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen; lend me your ears!’ Julius Caesar contains some of William Shakespeare’s most quoted lines, and in fact this play begins with Caesar celebrating the height of his power and influence and being faced with a stark warning to ‘Beware the Ides of March’. What follows is a dramatic exposition of the struggles of power, that is equally relevant today in 2023 as it was when it was published in 1599. This play calls on us to consider whether our actions can be justified on the basis of their goal, and whether it is a right or a duty to speak truth to those in authority. The design of the production (Rosanna Vize) is for the most part outstanding. The creeping introduction of colour into a monochrome space was really powerful, and really made me think; why is it ...

20Jun

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

O’Brien’s Dream – Hope Street Theatre

Enthusiastic community theatre present a subject which resonates today. The last play by the late Bill Morrison, one of the giants of theatre in Liverpool, examines the plight of the Irish Émigré after the potato famine of the 1840s. Morrison, an Irishman himself, also had strong links to community drama in the city and a personal link to Keyhole Theatre, who have been running for twenty five years. This play premiered at the Unity Theatre in 2009. The songs by Frankie Connor and Alan Crowley offer some pleasant, musical telling of the tale. Sean O’Brien, desperate to get to America, arrives in Liverpool, falls in love, loses the little he possesses but eventually, settles and finds happiness with the sweet-faced but level-headed Mary. There can’t be many Liverpudlians who don’t have...

20Jun

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

Julius Caesar – Royden Park

All Hail Hillbark! Electrifying! It’s the time of year we sit out on a beautiful evening in Royden Park, to be entertained by Hillbark Players’ bi-annual, open-air production. Julius Caesar, performed by the crème de la crème of Wirral actors, opened tonight with sunshine and blue skies: thankfully, no thunder and lightning but it was definitely an electrifying production! If you’re thinking it’s a stuffy play with old men in togas – think again! I’m not one for over doing the superlatives but I just might run out of them tonight. Directors, Ruth Stenhouse and Stuart Rathe skillfully brought this political drama to life with imaginative ensemble work, creative use of sets, eye-catching costumes, although ‘modern’ still had the Romanesque twist, and compelling performances, from...

Into The Woods – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

20Jun

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Into The Woods – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Ever since the death of Stephen Sondheim in November 2021 there has been a rush on both the professional and amateur stage to produce his works, with every performer and creative wishing to pay posthumous tribute to the most influential voice in musical theatre during the latter half of the last century. As a fully paid up 'Sondaphile', I've therefore been delighted to witness this outpouring of love for the great man with productions of Company and Sweeney Todd and 'A Little Night Music' standing next to his lesser known works (Passion, Assassins and the forthcoming Pacific Overtures) in showcasing his lyrical genius. Tonight we are firmly at the popular end of the spectrum with a production of 'Into The Woods' the 1987 collaboration with James Lapine, as Altrincham Garrick finish their s...

15Jun

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Vernons Girls – Liverpool’s Royal Court

What could be better on a hot Summer’s night than a feel good show celebrating 50’s red hot property, the Vernon Girls? Hot – weather that is: were this horror, the hairs on your neck would be too plastered down to stand up. Horror? Well, although a cheerful, intriguing blend of music and history, it is horrific, judging by the gasps from the audience at some points. On the one hand, a bunch of talented teenagers whose dreams come true, from company choir to showbiz glamour, on the other – the iron fist, barely clad in a velvet glove, their big bosses, manipulative (the usual platitudes about being one big happy family) and exploitative, don’t see their actions as such. It’s just the way it is. And what an easy way to make lots of money, for them. When Equity points out the girls are ...