REVIEWS Archives - Page 136 of 548

An Officer and a Gentleman – Hull New Theatre

5Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

An Officer and a Gentleman – Hull New Theatre

An Officer and a Gentleman the Musical got off to a delayed start on Monday evening with a voice emanating from the nether regions of the Hull New Theatre stage, informing us that “due to unforeseen circumstances the show will now start at 8pm”. We’d all taken our seats ready for curtain up at 7.30pm, so 30-minute delay sort of dimmed or excitement. No matter, I just hoped the show was worth waiting for. It most definitely was, so that delay I mentally grumbled about, was very soon forgotten. I had seen the movie (of the same name) upon which this musical is based, way back on its UK release in 1983, and could only remember its star, Richard Gere, resplendent in white naval uniform, doing something so breathtakingly romantic that the scene has stayed with me all these years later....

The Ritual – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

5Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Ritual – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Is there a better example of Vampire Clowning in the UK? I doubt it. The Ritual, my favourite show of the annual Edinburgh Horror Festival, sees the charismatic duo, Gregory Lass and Steffens Hanes team up once again, ably assisted by ‘Emily’, their gate closing, vape puffing (smoke machine) tech wizard who brings it all together rather beautifully. Imagine Fawlty Towers’ Manuel and Basil as vampires and you get an idea of the hilarious roles that Lass and Hanes take on stage. The sycophantic servant, who tries hard but always falls short, and the master who demands perfection and ends up a little deranged trying to achieve it. The beauty here, is that although the roles are very clearly defined, there is also plenty of ‘air’ in this performance, leaving ample room for improvisat...

A Gift of Nightmares – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

5Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

A Gift of Nightmares – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Storyteller, Ines Alvarez Villa, brings to vivid life two stories of her own creation in the deep-padded luxury of the Cinema Room at Banshee Labyrinth. Thankfully, background noise is low (not always the case!) and we are able to sink into the colourful fabric that Ines weaves for us. Both stories are allegorical and centre around the danger of averice, of excessive greed of always wanting more, and prioritising personal gain over integrity. In the first, caution is cast aside when a group of sailors happen upon an abandoned galley. Unable to resist, their curiosity gets the better of them, and whilst they reap the treasure rewards from the silent ship, they also inadvertently invite something else along for the ride! The second, which I preferred, is more in the style of classi...

Spooky and Gay – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

5Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Spooky and Gay – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Orlandoan, Bruce Ryan Costella packs a lot into this hour long show at Banshee Labyrinth as part of the Edinburgh Horror Festival, maybe too much. Arcing from queer Halloween fairy tales through cowboy folk tales to real life gay bar shootings, with a splash of cheery then sad ukulele tunes thrown in for good measure. Uplifting in places, spooky at times, then desperately sad, it is all a bit of a rollercoaster to be honest. Costella’s, Orlando homage ends rather unfunnily with his recounting of the mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Florida in 2016, where 49 people died, and 53 were seriously injured. The overriding emotion at the conclusion of the show is of a man desperately trying to save himself with humour in spite of an overwhelming burden of grief. Which probably exp...

Stand Up Horror – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

5Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Stand Up Horror – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Alex Staniforth, actor, writer and tour guide is an old hand at the Edinburgh Horror Festival, and a regular performer at Banshee Labyrinth throughout the year, and it shows. His easy and warm interaction with the room between generous gulps from his pint allows the group to relax together and the story that unfolds between them to flow organically, and hilariously. The small size of the audience in the intimate Cave Bar space ensures that everyone contributes - whether they want to or not! The story as it develops under Staniforth’s tutelage is guaranteed to take some unlikely turns, and tonight is no exception. Elon Musk makes an unscheduled appearance, making our heroine an offer she can’t refuse for her flying keyboard, meanwhile the hordes of zombies heading for Edinburgh Ca...

Dracula’s Guest – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

5Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Dracula’s Guest – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

The rock carved chambers at Banshee Labyrinth are highly appropriate for the annual horror festival but are also arguably among the most testing in Edinburgh for performers, where the combination of (extreme!) background pub noise, very late audience arrivals and tiny cave-like spaces, with minimal tech and set, provide a stern test for their theatrical efforts. However, I’m pleased to report that tonight, Frederick Bang’s sensitively played Jonathan Harker and Magnus Kelly’s towering Dracula manage to pull off an unlikely triumph in the face of such minor issues. Indeed, by the end of the climactic and bloody performance, there seemed to be as many peering in (and cheering!) from the labyrinth corridor beyond as in the room itself! Produced by Martyr, a Glasgow based theatre compan...

Slave: A Question of Freedom – Riverside Studios

2Nov

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Slave: A Question of Freedom – Riverside Studios

Slave: A Question of Freedom is a powerful performance that transports the audience to the Nuba Mountains, where we are introduced to Mende Nazer in her childhood. We see Mende with her family, singing, dancing, playing, attending school, and enjoying the wonders of life. This remarkable true story soon shifts gears, confronting us with the brutal reality and horrors inflicted by humankind. We witness the devastation as Mende’s village is raided, families are killed, and children are taken—forced into lives they never wanted or deserved. The play delves into the ongoing existence of modern slavery, vividly portraying the tragic reality that such horrors are still a part of our world. The scenes make references to incidents including sexual violence, murder, female circumcision and many ...

2Nov

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Cirque du Magique – Wolverhampton Grand

I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of the great Philip Astley who, in 1770, gathered together a disparate band of acrobats, unicyclists, tight rope walkers and stunt performers to entertain the crowd in the gaps of his horse-riding show inadvertently creating what we know today as circus. Over the years the format has grown and evolved with clowns thrown in and a ringmaster added to offer some semblance of authority until it has become today what Barnum bombastically described as “The greatest show on Earth!” and after two hundred and fifty years it continues to grow - and today we welcome its latest incarnation into the ring! For those of you who thought Richard Cadell was first and foremost the right-hand man of one of the most iconic characters in British entertainment - a chara...

The Sculptor – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

2Nov

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Sculptor – Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

A fascinating introduction to the world of ‘the anatomical Venus’, we are immediately presented in glorious projected technicolour with an 18th-century reclining beauty complete with pearls, ecstatic expression and lift-out intestines. Not So Nice! Theatre company present The Sculptor, written by Charlotte Smith and Directed by Grace Baker. Fashioned from seven anatomically correct layers, life sized and made of wax, but with real hair, the Venus was a ready alternative (to cadavers) for the keen medical students of the day to pull apart: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, stomach, intestines, ending in a teeny foetus, curled in the womb. Our short play tonight focuses on the fascination of this era, in which the study of nature was also the study of philosophy, and where a dead body cre...

2Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

How To Be Brave – Hull Truck Theatre

The Godber Studio was very well-attended on Friday evening, when Hull Truck Theatre hosted How To Be Brave. Writer Louise Beech cleverly intertwined the lives of the two main characters in this true-life drama - one a Merchant Seaman in the Second World War, the other a 10-year-old girl. And, despite the 64-year gap in their stories, the two had an undeniable connection. The Able Seaman, Colin Armitage (Jacob Ward), was Beech’s grandfather, and the girl her daughter, Katy. And it’s her storytelling to young Katy of Armitage’s horrific ordeal during the war that proved to be of huge benefit for her daughter, who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes; helping her to accept and cope with her condition. Five very talented performers brought How To Be Brave to life, on the small s...