REVIEWS Archives - Page 157 of 545

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Pleasance Courtyard

17Aug

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Showstopper! The Improvised Musical – Pleasance Courtyard

Every night, the Showstoppers improvise a brand-new musical, based on a suggestion from the audience. It’s different every time. Tonight’s title is Blood Is Thicker Than Oil, and it is the story of a family-run oil rig. The opening number introduces the characters. The cast creates a catchy chorus that will be repeated later on and provide each other with backing vocals. The oil rig characters are in the middle of the stage: to one side is the band, and on the other, The Writer, who introduces the show and occasionally shakes things up if the rest of the cast are getting a bit comfortable. The Writer, the band, and the technician form a triangle, with clear lines of sight allowing nonverbal communication. Job ads often ask for candidates who can work individually and as part of a...

17Aug

By Coral MourantNo Comments

North West

Bring It On – Liverpool Empire Youth

It's all happening as the Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre return with another triumphant musical offering. Inspired by the noughties film which then went on to more success with multiple sequels, this Broadway hit takes the usual trope of high school romances and rivalries and adds a lot of cheer. The show focuses on Campbell, a seventeen-year-old cheerleader, who's world turns upside down as she changes school after finally achieving her dream of becoming captain. Not only is this school completely different, but it also doesn’t have a cheer squad! High- energy and relevant, this musical feels like a great choice for this talented group of youngsters. How refreshing to see teenagers actually playing teenagers! From the get-go, the show relies on its leading lady to guide it onwards. ...

17Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

South East

The Marlowe Sessions – Marlowe Theatre

Two years ago, I went along to watch the recording of Tamburlaine II, intrigued by this ambitious plan to record all seven of Christopher Marlowe’s plays in quick succession, here is the link to my interview with one of the cast members Alan Cox - https://northwestend.com/spotlight-on-actor-alan-cox-and-the-marlowe-sessions-at-the-malthouse-theatre-canterbury/, which sheds some light on this project. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) the poet/playwright, was controversial to say the least, his open homosexuality during a period of gay sex being outlawed, atheism, and his involvement as a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, are evidence enough of his unorthodox thinking. This spilled over into his plays, the blood thirsty Tamburlaine, the gay Edward II, and the ambitious necromancer, Doc...

The Hound of the Baskervilles – Theatre by the Lake

17Aug

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

The Hound of the Baskervilles – Theatre by the Lake

The audience at Theatre by the Lake are howling with delight at the new production of the Sherlock Holmes classic The Hound of the Baskervilles, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. This three-person production is a complete retake on the detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle. The fourth wall isn’t broken, it is demolished in this hilarious retelling of the popular tale. Adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, this hit West End production captures all the elements of British comedy - farce, physical humour and clever witty lines. This is a fast moving play that all the family can enjoy together. Sherlock is called in to investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, who died on the moors, after what is believed to have been an attack by a giant dog. Sir Henry has inherited the ti...

Ada Campe: Big Duck Energy – The Stand Comedy Club

17Aug

By Triona ScullyNo Comments

Scotland

Ada Campe: Big Duck Energy – The Stand Comedy Club

Award-winning cabaret star Ada Campe performs a few flights of fancy and a deep dive into some serious silliness in a show about hope, heartbreak, and finding your happy place.Described by the Scotsman as having a "magnetic presence and a ticklish way with words," and by Sandi Toksvig as "genius," I had high hopes for Ada Campe’s one-woman show, and I wasn’t disappointed. From her opening story about living in a "not yet up-and-coming area of London" to her final show tune, Campe takes us on a glorious trip through her early days on the cabaret circuit that is equal parts poignant and hysterically funny. Beginning with her first gig as one part of a Strawberries and Cream double act, hired by a funfair to open their evening show, Campe paints a picture of a budding performer with bi...

Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street

17Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Dusk: A Bite-Size Celebration – Greenside @ George Street

2023's Fringe sell-out Twilight parody, Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story, returns in a shorter one-hour format as the "roasting of Edwin and Bea", a collection of highlights from the 2023 show (and, by extension, of the most famous moments from the Twilight franchise), linked together by the couple's daughter Regina (or Renesmee in the Sacred Texts). To anyone not still living the green-tinged mouth-breathing life, this might be a little confusing as the show definitely expects you to know who everyone is - or rather, who everyone is replacing - but clearly this was not an issue for the audience of (mostly) twilight fans, who were howling with laughter throughout. All the more well-known aspects get skewered. One Bea's performance (there is more than one: we all need stunt doubles) i...

17Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Hamlet – Royal Lyceum Theatre

An international festival ought to end in carnival fashion, and this blended version of Hamlet did just that. It was an explosion of success, rejoicing, a knees-up and warm audience participation. Teatro La Plaza from Lima, Peru, has created a feast of a show using back projection (Lucho Soldevilla), music, thoughtful lighting (Jesūs Reyes), a simple set and a fabulous cast of Downs Syndrome adults. This adaptation of Hamlet is both funny in itself and wonderful as a piece of art for showcasing the unquestionable talents of a marginalised sector of society. Written and directed by Chela De Farrari, a founder of the company, the intention is to entertain as you ask questions which help us better understand the contemporary world and, in this instance, the world of the Downs person in...

17Aug

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

Scotland

La Clique – Underbelly Circus Hub

So the Edinburgh festival fringe may not be the hubbling, bubbling, hustling, bustling fest of the years gone by – post Covid it's quieter slower and not as hectic, but tonight we're at the circus! We’re down in the Meadows where two huge circus rings (one wooden one) sit before us in a multi-effusion of colour. We’re trap trap trap trapping to see what La Clique has added to their production, how their programme has developed and changed over the years. It’s three years since I was last under their canvas so I’m delighted to be here again to see it once more. What wonders will this wooden O hold? Tumblers, fumblers, bumblers? And a happy ending of course? Let’s wait and see … And what we're missing in weather is more than made up for in enjoyment, fun and excitement as the...

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

17Aug

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Sh!tFaced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing – Pleasance at EICC

Shakespeare is already a dramatic affair, especially when it comes to Much Ado About Nothing, but what happens when one of the play's leads is drunk? Sh!t Faced Shakespeare takes a cast of professionally trained Shakespearean actors and then gets one of them drunk leading to what can only be described as beautifully brilliant chaos. The cast must then attempt to perform a shortened performance of the chosen Shakespeare text whilst putting up with the drunken adlibs of their inebriated cast mate. To make things more interesting a different cast member will take on the role of the drunk each night along with a different character in the show, you are guaranteed that the show will be different every night of the run. The show is safe enough with the drunk being supervised at all ...

James Whale: Beyond Frankenstein – Zoo Southside

17Aug

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

James Whale: Beyond Frankenstein – Zoo Southside

James Whale is remembered today - if he is remembered at all in the mainstream - as the director of the two best classic Universal Frankenstein films Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), as well as The Invisible Man (1933) and, if we're feeling really fancy, The Old Dark House (1933). However, these were only part of a much longer career, one which saw a small-town English boy become a major Hollywood director in a time in which his homosexuality was illegal and his themes increasingly scrutinised under the Hayes Code. Written and performed by Tim Larkfield, this one-man show eschews the straightforward approach of having Whale be that one man, telling his own life story, in favour of a series of snapshots from the perspectives of a collection of professional and pe...