REVIEWS Archives - Page 15 of 588

13Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Carmen – Richmond Theatre

Carlos Acosta’s Carmen isn’t the opera you know but you’ll recognize the music. Extremely danceable and performed by a highly competent company, Bizet’s famous score is in this case prerecorded and piped in to the Richmond Theatre offering a curious mixture of ecstatic dance and rather quiet song to theatregoers. Adria Díaz as Carmen and Alexander Arias as Don José both rise to the occasion and their dancing chemistry powers this performance forward with compelling turns by Paul Brando as Bull and Brandy Martínez as Zúñiga to compliment the molten core of sensuality at the heart of this piece. Music by George Bizet and arrangement by Rodión Schedrin is interspersed with additional music by Martin Yates, Yhovani Duarte and Denis Paralta fairly seemlessly. Set and costumes by Tim H...

Invisible Me – Southwark Playhouse Borough

13Apr

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Invisible Me – Southwark Playhouse Borough

Three individuals, turning 60 and leading solitary lives, starting to explore new horizons, eventually meeting up, may sound a bit of an artifice for a plot. But with a tightly written text by Bren Gosling and first-class acting and direction, it is a theatrical gem. We meet: Lynn, played by Tessa Peake-Jones. Divorced from her uncaring husband and now living in her late mother’s house, working as a cleaner in a Travelodge. A surprise encounter leads to an unexpected foray into the world of online "personal services". Alec, played by Kevin N Golding. A taxi driver, divorced with two adult children who he rarely sees. His tedious world interrupted by an encounter with a mysterious woman half his age. Jack, played by James Holmes. Still in grief over the death of his ...

13Apr

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Flyby – Southwark Playhouse Borough

Flyby at Southwark Playhouse is a new musical that explores love, regret, and the consequences of impulsive decisions. The story centres on Daniel and Emily, whose relationship is revealed through a mix of present-day narration and flashbacks after Daniel steals a spacecraft and disappears into space. This unusual premise works well as a metaphor, allowing the audience to reflect on what drives someone to run away rather than confront the realities of a relationship. At its core, Flyby presents a deeply relatable love story. The connection between Daniel and Emily feels authentic, capturing the highs and lows that many will recognise. Their dynamic moves naturally between affection, tension, and conflict, showing how small misunderstandings and emotional reactions can escalate into some...

13Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

A Doll’s House – Almeida

My first brush with A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen was in 1988. The play was a text for Theatre Studies ‘A’ Level. Our study of the Norwegian classic coincided with the Second Summer of Love. We were listening to French Kiss by Lil Louis on pirate radio, as E-fuelled Acid House swept the nation. Ibsen’s critique of the claustrophobic strictures of 19th century society, with its heavy sideboards and gloomy dialogue did not jive with the vibes of my fellow drama students. We yawned, eye-rolled and gurned, wearing smiley face t-shirts and muddy Kickers. In 2022, in the crazy throes of lockdown, Soho Theatre produced an online adaption of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. It was created, written and directed by Jen Heyes and starred the avant garde legend David Hoyle. HEDDA (after Ibsen), blew my mind....

10Apr

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Calendar Girls – The Forum Theatre

This is the story of an enterprising group of ladies who are members of their local Women’s Institute ( a very staid and traditional organisation), who decide to go against these traditions in an effort to raise funds to purchase a couch for the waiting room at their local hospital, where the husband of one of them is a regular visitor undergoing tests for cancer, which unfortunately turn out to be not only positive but with a terminal diagnosis. Having noticed a nude calendar in the premises of a local car mechanic, the ladies decide to attempt their own version featuring other members of the group in discretely nude poses featuring the more traditional activities of the WI, such as baking, jam making, knitting and musical activities and set about trying to convince the other members of t...

Here & Now The Steps Musical – Blackpool Opera House

9Apr

By Coral MourantNo Comments

North West

Here & Now The Steps Musical – Blackpool Opera House

A new British jukebox musical has arrived, and it’s ready to take its place amongst the best of them. Queen, Abba, and Take That have all had their own hit musicals, and now it’s time for Steps to stomp onto the scene. Directed by award-winning Rachel Kavanaugh, this heart-warming tale of friendship and love is bound to get your feet kickin’ and hands clappin'! At “Better Best Bargains” the prices are low, but the vibes are high as four friends make a pact to make their romantic dreams come true. They all need to take a chance on a happy ending, but when Caz’s love life turns into a tragedy, and the store that brought them together threatens to close, will the friends ever achieve their summer of love? The back catalogue of Steps’ songs and the backdrop of a British supermarket are a...

9Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mamma Mia! – Hull New Theatre

Even before the curtain rose on the smash-hit musical Mamma Mia! at the Hull New Theatre on Wednesday night, we in the packed venue were already singing along to a medley of Abba songs played by talented musicians in the orchestra pit. Mamma Mia! takes its name from the Swedish superstars’ song which appeared on the group’s third album in 1975. Written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, the musical is based around the music and lyrics of Abba’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and it’s their recognisable, singalong-to tunes that showered us in feel-good vibes from the off. Set on a Greek island paradise, the opening scene has bride-to-be, 20-yeer-old Sophie Sheridan (Lydia Hunt), posting wedding invitations to three men, strangers, whose names she has discovered in her mum...

9Apr

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

Wales

We Will Rock You – The Hammond

Zodiac Theatre Group return to the Hammond School this week and are transporting us to the iPlanet where Globalsoft have taken over, banning real music and instruments and turning everything computer generated, from music to the people who live there, dressing the same, listening to the same computer generated music. The Killer Queen is ruling the iPlanet, with the help of her evil assistant, commander Khashoggi. But the bohemians know that Rock n roll is still alive somewhere on the iPlanet, so when they come across the dreamer, Galileo, they do all they can to help him to find the hidden musical instruments hidden in the place of hidden rock. The stage is quite bare, with computer monitors, keyboards and other old electronics at the front either side of the stage, a rostra that runs a...

9Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Operation Mincemeat – Alhambra Bradford

Hamilton proved that a rap show about an obscure figure in the American revolutionary war could be an unlikely smash hit, and Operation Mincemeat proves a musical about a long-forgotten part of our nation’s military history can also win Oliviers and Tonys. This quirky and very funny musical is based on real life events in World War Two brought to life by five incredibly talented and hard working singers and hoofers playing an array of different roles. They tell the unlikely true story of how our secret service disguised the corpse of a dead tramp as a made-up naval officer who was supplied with fake documents. The fake officer's body was dumped off the coast of Spain and based on the fake contents of his briefcase Hitler’s spies convinced him that the Allies were going to invade Sardini...

The Railway Children – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

9Apr

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

The Railway Children – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

At the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse, opening night of The Railway Children, brought to the stage through Mike Kenny’s adaptation was met with eager anticipation from an audience ready to be transported into a timeless family classic. This much-loved story, originally written by Edith Nesbit, follows the lives of the Waterbury children, Roberta (Bobby), Peter, and Phyllis whose comfortable Edwardian life is turned upside down when their father is suddenly taken away. Forced to leave their London home, they relocate with their mother to a modest cottage called Three Chimneys in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside. Here, against a backdrop of rolling hills, wide skies, and quiet railway cuttings, the children begin a new chapter of resilience, discovery, and growth. Under the directi...