REVIEWS Archives - Page 104 of 548

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...

12Mar

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

The Glass Menagerie – The Yard Theatre

When the audience walked into the theatre, an actor was spray painting the wall of the stage, and smoke was being pumped into the air, a fitting start for an exceptional and anarchic evening of theatre. Tennessee Williams' classic play focuses on the Wingfields. Abandoned long ago by their father, the family are waiting on the promise of change, symbolised by the 'gentlemen caller' a figure who might come into the family's life and marry the daughter, Laura (Eva Morgan), giving her 'security', allaying her mother's (Sharon Small) fears, and allowing the son, Tom (Tom Varey), to be free of his obligations to them. What follows is a tender exploration of repressed desire. Photo: Manuel Harlan Jay Miller's direction is teeming with creative energy and takes an anarchic approach to sp...

The Space Between the Sheets – Lion and Unicorn Theatre

12Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Space Between the Sheets – Lion and Unicorn Theatre

Gripping from its opening moments, this sixty-minute play is a two-hander that invites audiences to saddle on up and hang on for dear life. Detailing the one-night encounter of a Stratford born boy and a Texas bred girl. The Space Between the Sheets gets into all the nit, grit, and gristle of cross-cultural connection without even getting out of bed. Sexy and fun as Estelle’s “American Boy” and heartachingly funny as a Dolly Parton medley, the rare and gentle thing this play explores isn’t as butterfly-like as love but has many of its flighty and fascinating qualities. Writer and star Kelsey Ann Moebius takes on the role of the capricious outsider, a young American actor in London fizzing with loneliness and bristling with indignation at the fractured society that has left her so...

12Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Birds of Passage – Drayton Arms Theatre

This is a new play with contemporary resonance. It takes place on the fictional Greek island of Zandros, where Emma, Bill and Sandra have been booked in to a beautiful hotel overlooking the sea. They notice a strange-looking concrete building in their sightline, which did not feature in any of the holiday company brochure pictures. It turns out to be a reception/detention centre for refugees who arrive by sea, and it's not long before they come face-to-face with the exacerbated refugee crisis, which upsets their holiday plans and changes their lives. Initially, the play is slow to get going with the characters appearing to be rather one-dimensional, and the dialogue rather stilted. However, as the plot develops it becomes more engaging, with the characters having to react to the develop...

12Mar

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Ghost The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

We are all familiar with the 1990 film Ghost, with its iconic casting of Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, the famous potter’s wheel scene and the soaring soundtrack of Unchained Melody – now this latest and slightly reworked touring production has manifested itself at the Sheffield Lyceum. This Bill Kenwright Ltd production with a masterful Book and Lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and Music and Lyrics by Eurythmics Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard had is first stage opening in 2011 and all will forever by judged by that stunningly visual production. Unfortunately, I found myself having to ‘suspend my disbelief’ as this production as it left me sporadically underwhelmed and at times - disappointed. The title alone leads us to expect supernatural / unexplainable occurrences and the special...

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Palace Theatre

12Mar

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Palace Theatre

A Truly Scrumptious Spectacle! From start to finish, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the Musical is a magical and thrilling ride that captures the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages. Currently at the Palace Theatre Manchester. This spectacular production, directed by Thom Southerland, brings to life the beloved story with dazzling production values, an outstanding cast, and the timeless music and lyrics of Richard and Robert Sherman. The show’s true star, of course, is the flying, floating Chitty Chitty Bang Bang itself—a breathtaking piece of stagecraft that left the audience gasping in awe. The technical wizardry behind the car’s seamless movements was simply outstanding, adding an extra layer of wonder to an already enchanting production. Complementing this spectacle were the ...

12Mar

By Kevin EcclestonNo Comments

NEWS, North West

Ghost Stories – Liverpool Playhouse

Prepare for an unparalleled theatrical experience. Running until March 15th Ghost Stories is an extraordinary production brimming with moments of shock, suspense, and psychological tension that will deeply unsettle even the most fearless theatre goers. This chilling performance is strictly unsuitable for individuals under 15 years of age. Those sensitive to disturbing or anxiety-inducing experiences should carefully heed this warning before securing their tickets. Brace yourself; spine-tingling thrills await! After captivating audiences worldwide with record-breaking, sold-out performances and an acclaimed film adaptation, Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s Ghost Stories stands as a landmark achievement in horror theatre. Lauded by the Sunday Times as “genuinely scary fun,” this masterfully ...

12Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

North West

Do I Love You? – Octagon Theatre

During the mid-1970’s a curious phenomenon was taking place in obscure nightclubs of northern Britain; in Cleethorpes and Blackpool and from Manchester to Wolverhampton young men and women were donning braces, tank tops and red star vests and gyrating all night to the melancholy lyrics and upbeat tempo of Soul music imported from the United States. This movement became known as Northern Soul and one of its disciples John Godber has taken it as the inspiration for this terrific piece of theatre, which examines the loss of community and identity in our post-Covid world, all to the soundtrack of some of the sweetest songs ever recorded. The Mecca of this scene was undoubtedly Wigan Casino and fifty years later just eleven miles down the A58 the packed press night clearly has stalwarts from...

12Mar

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

War Horse – Wolverhampton Grand

Galloping across the country like the noble steed it is, “War Horse” stops off momentarily at the Grand Theatre for some water and hay staying long enough to regale us once more with the stunning and breathtaking tale it has been sharing since it first staggered out of its stable back in 2007. Though initially a book by Michael Morpurgo it was playwright Nick Stafford who trained and groomed it for success with this adaptation at the National Theatre. Handspring Puppet Company have transcended their art and produced creatures which are beyond anything we've before seen - they live, they breathe, they gallop. I defy anyone to see the work and not come away thoroughly convinced they have been amongst real animals. It’s uncanny. You can almost smell them. The image of Joey is now iconic ha...

11Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

maliphantworks4 – The Coronet Theatre

A two-part program comprised of In a Landscape (Russell Maliphant) and Afterlight (Daniel Proietto), maliphantworks4 puts out a fourty-five minute program full of twists and turns. Its first act, a solo performance by Russell Maliphant, founder of the much awarded Russell Maliphant Dance Company and choreographer of both of the evening’s performances, is a conversation between shadow, light, and movement, brilliantly designed by Panagiotis Tomaras and dramatically scored by Dana Fouras. Maliphant himself is utterly captivating but it is the interplay between his stage presence and the diaphanous and dynamic set dressings that unfurl and undulate throughout the performance that make In a Landscape so inescapably enthralling. The miasmic nature of simultaneously revealing and obfus...