REVIEWS Archives - Page 104 of 409

16Dec

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

Cinderella – Contact Theatre

Panto season is well and truly upon us, with this unique retelling of Cinderella just one of many pantomime offerings to get Manchester audiences feeling festive this year. Featuring a treasure trove of talented performers, this version of Cinderella is the story we all know and love - disenfranchised girl bullied by her relentless stepsisters, until she meets her Prince Charming at the ball - but with some comedic twists, in true pantomime style. Director Sean Canning said he hopes the audience “will cheer, boo and clap along” - and that, they did. The show had everything you could want from a classic pantomime: drag queens, tongue-in-cheek humour, theatrical villains and fabulous song and dance numbers. Photo: Shay Rowan The script was a little lost in parts, and some of the ...

14Dec

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Lost and Found – Factory International

Nestled in the heart of the city, a brand new arts venue stands proud as a testament to Manchester’s rich cultural legacy; Factory International is the new kid on the block, a cutting-edge venue that is establishing itself as a hub for artistic expression and entertainment. With a wide variety of productions and shows booked, staging everything from live rock concerts to immersive family productions, it’s a venue for everyone! I’m here for the latter, seeing the beautifully whimsical ‘Lost and Found’ - an adaptation of Oliver Jeffers' tale, which is an absolute triumph in immersive storytelling and tells such a heartwarming tale which introduces little ones to live theatre in just the right way, under the skilful direction of Will Brenton, a loveable cast and very clever traditional tri...

Jack and the Beanstalk – Floral Pavilion

14Dec

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Jack and the Beanstalk – Floral Pavilion

Floral Pavilion and Martin Dodd for UK Productions bring Jack and The Beanstalk to the Floral Pavilion for the festive period. A well-known panto that has been told in many ways and this is no different. We follow the Trott family who are poor and are trying to find the money to survive and pay the £1000 the King (Tom Sterling) tells them they need to pay. So, they must sell their beloved Sandra Bullock, The Cow (Amy Walker) at market. Along the way we are introduced to many characters, such as Flesh Creep (Joseph Elliot), The Vegetable Fairy (Hayley Tamaddon) and Princess Jill (Rachel Grundy). The Trott family are made up of Dame Trott played by Oliver Brooks, Simple Simon played by Sean Jones and the title character, Jack, played by the wonderful Joe Sleight. The set for Jack an...

14Dec

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Little Women – HOME, Manchester

Christmas is not an easy time for theatre programmers. The demand is there, from young and old, but so is the competition. Eschewing the traditional panto, the full-scale musical and the seasonal farce, HOME has instead opted to revive Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation of the classic novel Little Women. It is a very smart decision. First performed last summer, this production is like a stage version of the very best Sunday afternoon TV drama. It is totally and utterly charming from the very first second. Louisa May Alcott’s semi-autobiographical novel has truly stood the test of time and been adapted countless times and ways since the 1860s. This version is a relatively faithful, if stripped back, affair which smartly refreshes the storytelling. At the height of the American Civil ...

14Dec

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Ulster American – Riverside Studios

A play about an American actor and English director and an Irish playwright sounds like the combination of two rather bad bar jokes but that is what David Ireland’s play Ulster American presents. While it might have been expected to be about the legitimate differences in the creative process between actors, writers and directors. In fact, it was a conflict between three rather implausible characters. Jay Conway, played by Woody Harrelson, is the American actor, with a glittering Hollywood career behind him. He has a great sense of his own importance and of being right even when he is clearly in the wrong. He carries his Oscar around with him to remind himself, and others of his omnipotence. From the beginning of the play, having only just recently arrived from America ...

14Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Cinderella – Bradford Alhambra

Taking your seat in this historic theatre you can’t help reflecting that for the local mill workers who made this city rich a festive trip to the panto must have been a real treat, and this old school spectacular with a modern sensibility proved to be just that. Unlike other pantos that often push the boundaries of good taste this is very much a family show, so grannies and the little kids being carried into the venue can all share some good clean fun. Cinderella is a no expense spared panto from Britain’s biggest festive producers that starts with Strictly star John Waite flying down onto Ian Westbrook’s big set. The hard working cast then gleefully go over the top from there with daft jokes aplenty, flamboyant costumes, energetic dancers, pyrotechnics, a couple of real Shetland ponies...

14Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Beauty and the Beast – Sheffield Lyceum

What a wonderful sight, a packed auditorium full of all age groups, laughing, engaging and experiencing collectively – a tradition that spans the generations – Pantomime! Well, as Sheffield Theatres have opened their panto season, it is well and truly Christmas in Yorkshire! This year’s excellent new production being Beauty and the Beast, written by Paul Hendry who can heroically claim his 17th year of directing writing and producing Sheffield’s panto. The script contains all the expected pantomime traditions from the audience participation, the ‘it’s behind you’ scene in the dark woods and the manic ‘messy’ comedy mayhem and some very funny moments which are very geographically and topically observant. ‘Woodseats’ is now firmly on the panto map and never has it looked so effortlessly gran...

13Dec

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Cinderella – New Wimbledon Theatre

Pantomime season is back and this year you shall go to the ball! Craig Revel Horwood stars as Cinderella’s Wicked Stepmother in this fresh and colourful version of Cinderella set in the great land of Wimbledon. We are introduced to the characters of the show in a bold and modern number describing the local area of Wimbledon. The set is bold and remnant of a fairy tale, with everything you’d expect for a pantomime. The grand staircase used for the palace is impressive and fitting, with the decoration of the wings adding to the grandeur. Cinderella’s carriage at the end of the first act is a stunning surprise, leaving audience members in magical disbelief. Our narrator of the show is Buttons (Pete Firman) who is exceptional at holding the audience’s attention, both children and adults,...

13Dec

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

21 Round for Christmas – Park Theatre

21 Round for Christmas gets off to a promising start. Into a realistically lived in Christmas kitchen set glides Tracey (Cathy Conneff), adorned in a tinsel boa and belting out a gutsy performance of Santa Baby. Tracey is frazzled – dealing with the various dietary demands of family members, including a vegan tart, a ham and a turkey and concerned about the gravy which usually falls to her friend Jackie. Conneff’s Tracey is chatty and familiar, if not entirely relatable; it’s an interesting cross between feeling like you’re gossiping with a friend and having that person at work talk at you about people from their life that you’ll never meet and frankly don’t care about. It’s all pretty safe territory, though – amusing gripes about picky family members, her irritating mother-in-law and char...

Cinderella – Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh

13Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cinderella – Portobello Town Hall, Edinburgh

The story of a once beautiful town hall falling into rack and ruin but being saved, just in the nick of time, by the local community sounds like a fairytale, but here we are in the stunning interior of the revitalised Portobello Town Hall and the successful staging of the family favourite pantomime, Cinderella. Big, bold, colourful and entertaining. This Stage Door Entertainment, production of the timeless classic, could perhaps do with a bit of a reboot, riven as it is with stereotypes and outdated values, but nevertheless, from the reactions of the almost full house, still appears to hit every mark. Tommie Travers, Musical Director and co-Producer, correctly puts music centre stage, in a show which is jam-packed with banging tunes and great singing, and with a leading lady, Amy Cam...