REVIEWS Archives - Page 148 of 340

<strong>Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons – Harold Pinter Theatre</strong>

1Feb

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons – Harold Pinter Theatre

Bernadette and Oliver meet at a cat's funeral. One of them is an aspiring musician and the other is a lawyer. One of them has parents who ‘live in a castle’ and the other doesn’t want to have anything to do with the circumstances they worked their way upwards from. As they begin to get to know each other, their past and present, they’re presented with a challenge - they have a strict limit on the amount of words available to speak each day. How many do they need at work and how many can they use at a party? How many are they left with to communicate with each other? What happens when one of them has more words left than the other and what happens when they run out completely? While they use made-up abbreviations and morse code to navigate the literal challenge, what does not having enough...

<strong>Welcome Home – Soho Theatre</strong>

30Jan

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Welcome Home – Soho Theatre

Willy Hudson takes us on an adventure into a lurid, phantasmagoria of his past. It begins with Willy returning to his parents’ house after a messy breakup, which ignites memories of the past as he inadvertently seeks closure. The older Willy decides to avenge himself and portrays himself as the villain, fighting the good. With clever Doctor Who crossovers, comparing monsters to certain daunting figures in his life, Hudson’s personal story feels epic. Hudson is an engaging storyteller with sass and warm expressiveness, keeping the narrative buoyant throughout with direction from Zach James. His descriptive, visual script evokes nostalgia, and the conversations are naturalistic with comedic undertones as Willy re-enacts them. The back and forth time jumping was in keeping with the Doctor...

<strong>Closure – HOME Manchester</strong>

30Jan

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Closure – HOME Manchester

Alex (Conor Burns) and Laura (Nina Holland-Smith) arrive at a dinner party hosted by Laura’s friend Mia (Faye Draper) where they soon discover that all is not as it seems, in fact they may not even leave alive… Written by Draper and directed by Maz Hedgehog, Closure takes black comedy into its darkest corner as it unravels women’s rights, wrongs, and feminine rage. Understandably there is a trigger warning as the piece contains scenes of violence and drowning, strong language, and distressing themes including reference to rape and sexual assault. First and foremost, this is a play dealing with subjects that are far too often glossed over or avoided so I wholeheartedly welcome it for that alone. It does however need longer than the scheduled hour because the set-up was somewhat hurri...

<strong>Ellen Kent’s La Boheme – Opera House, Manchester</strong>

28Jan

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Ellen Kent’s La Boheme – Opera House, Manchester

Producer Ellen Kent has created a niche in the theatrical world over the last three decades, importing the best of traditional ballet and opera from Eastern Europe to be staged here in the UK. Given the ongoing war in Ukraine and subsequent political upheaval, it is a testament to her tenacity that she has managed to bring 'The Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre' from war torn Kyiv, on a Spring tour to the UK, beginning at Manchester's Opera House. The small company of approximately a dozen, supplemented by local young artists and supported by a full orchestra, will be showcasing classic works by Puccini and Verdi over the next four months; Madama Butterfly, Aida and La Boheme. Ah, 'La Boheme'! At this point I have to confess my history with Puccini's impossibly romantic story of doo...

<strong>Sound of the Underground – Royal Court</strong>

27Jan

By SJ RobertsNo Comments

London

Sound of the Underground – Royal Court

‘Sound of the Underground’ by Travis Alabanza [BURGERZ, Before I Step Outside [You Love Me] and co-created by Debbie Hannan [Constellations, The Panopticon] is an angry, ambivalent, and vibrant call to arms in a crisis of money, dignity, culture and community. This brilliant two act evening of radical art, comprised of some of the brightest stars in the current grass roots drag scene, presents us with these problems and the/a solution- radical art and the rejection of commodification. After a review style introduction to the show (heavily featuring the excellently crass Midgitte Bardot), we are presented with a one scene play. Informed by the traditional theatre setting and location (the salubrious Sloane Square) the curtain rises to a modern kitchen box set. The play begins: beige,...

<strong>The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Jack Studio Theatre</strong>

27Jan

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Jack Studio Theatre

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886 will be familiar to many. However, in order to avoid impairing the pleasure of those who do not know the story I will be circumspect in this review about the plot. This one-man stage adaptation has been written and performed by Mark Stratford. It closely follows the plot and characterisation in Stevenson's original. The play starts with the investigating officer Inspector Newcomen explaining to the audience of background to the case and introducing the testimony of Gabriel Utterson, the lawyer and friend of Dr Henry Jekyll. Concerned by the strange behaviour and disappearance of his friend plus a strange will left in his keep, Utterson starts to investigate and soon comes across the st...

27Jan

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Touch – Unity Theatre

Becky Downing has carefully crafted a beautiful script that brings four people’s stories together. As they were playing to a sold-out crowd, there was high expectation for the long-awaited verbatim piece, and it was received with great warmth. Verbatim, for those that are unaware, is a theatrical device where the real words of people are used in the script. In this instance, it was handled well, and the language of those people was owned and honoured by those on stage. Set over one day, this play tells a lot more about the connections between four neighbours, and for me the best moments were when everyone was still. At times it felt that the movement in and around the space was scripted and not spontaneous, which distracted from what was being said. Using a wonderfully diverse ca...

<strong>Noises Off – Phoenix Theatre</strong>

27Jan

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Noises Off – Phoenix Theatre

Michael Frayn’s ‘Noises Off’ is 41 years old this year, and yet it still manages to hold the audience in stiches from start to finish. Even after all this time, it remains a highly entertaining and truly hilarious comedy. In the very unlikely event that the reader is unfamiliar with the storyline, it is a farce within a farce, following the comedic and highly energetic mishaps of a small time theatre company as they perform a fictional play, "Nothing On". Frayn’s expertly crafted script, filled with puns, innuendo, snappy one-liners, and physical comedy, keeps the audience in fits of laughter throughout, and this latest version’s pacing is spot-on, with expertly choreographed action, and impeccable timing of jokes, which is a testament to Lindsay Posner’s skilful direction and the bril...

Madama Butterfly – Manchester Opera House

27Jan

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Madama Butterfly – Manchester Opera House

What a privilege to be able to see one of Puccini’s most iconic operas, in one of auditoriums built for such a performance – at the Opera House in Manchester. I was so delighted to see this (even if it was on a school night!) and as it was a packed house so were a lot of people. The set was stunning, with the Japanese pagoda and trees across the stage and as the curtain rose we were taken to a mountain top village in Nagasaki, where life was simple, traditions obeyed and love was strong. Lieutenant Pinkerton of the American Navy, awaits his bride to be, the 15 year old naïve Cio-Cio-San, and is shown around his mountain top home by the marriage broker Goro. The American is joined by the American Consul Sharpless, who has adept knowledge of Japanese traditions and knowing that ...

<strong>Jersey Boys – Edinburgh Playhouse</strong>

27Jan

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Jersey Boys – Edinburgh Playhouse

Twelve months into an epic 18-month tour of the UK and Ireland, Jersey Boys splashes down at Edinburgh Playhouse. The lines are smooth as silk, the choreography is on point, hair is perfect, music is tight and the vocals – well… they are simply fantastic, and from the look of the packed audience, dancing, singing and whooping by the finale there is no denying this slick production is a hit. Having previously seen this musical 3 years ago, my expectations of being slightly bored by what I recalled as a somewhat formulaic juke box musical were quickly blown away by the sheer energy of this new cast with superlative acting and by the imaginative and brilliant staging. The two-storey scaffold set looked simple but with imaginative modelling and brilliant choreography the actors moved aroun...