REVIEWS Archives - Page 19 of 346

20Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Indigo Giant – Soho Poly

“I will plant Indigo in your head.” Both threat and promise, this is the doom of a story’s characters and the hope of its audience in this touring production of Indigo Giant. Written by Ben Musgrave, directed by Gavin Joseph, and with production, dramaturgy & lyrics by Leesa Gazi, this moving play has been travelling between venues and currently finds itself nestled in the basement room of the Soho Poly, a somewhat cramped venue still in the midst of its renovation but steadily working its way toward re-emerging as a cultural and theatrical hub. Telling the story of the Bengali Indigo Rebellion, the plot begins shortly after the wedding of raiyat Sadhu (Diljohn Singh) and Kshetromani (Amy Tara), a young woman whose father was ruined by British planters exploiting both labour and la...

20Mar

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

Murder In The Dark – Richmond Theatre

After a car crash on a wintry, snowy night, Mrs. Bateman (Susie Blake), a local farmer, brings a fairly dysfunctional family back to her isolated farmhouse to shelter for the night before the trains start running again. It is New Year's Eve and everyone has better plans, but instead, they are left without food or wine along with plenty of acrimony. Danny (Tom Chambers) was a pop star once. Perhaps with a chance of making real music with his brother William (Owen Oakeshott), a hint of fame and fortune led him to leave his brother behind and join the teen pop group Dance Party 5. A string of hits and a jet-setting lifestyle saw him indulge in drink and drugs, leaving his wife Rebecca (Rebecca Charles) and young son Jake (Jonny Green) behind. Many years later, he crashes the car with his ...

20Mar

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Sunset Boulevard – Sheffield Lyceum

‘I am big. It’s the pictures that got small’. Norma Desmond’s famous line encapsulates all that is Sunset Boulevard, pure opulence from the scrumptious score to the dramatic and flamboyant performance. Based on the 1950’s film by Bill Wilder starring silent movie queen Gloria Swanson, the stage version; after many attempted and aborted musical adaptations; finally had its debut in 1992 with the book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and the music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Sunset Boulevard powerfully charts the decline of the silent movies and instead of celebrating the rise of the talkies such as the musical Singing in the Rain, it hovers moodily over the demise of the stars who were cast aside and ‘dethroned’. Told through the eyes of the struggling writer Joe Gillis as he...

20Mar

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

My Beautiful Launderette – The Lowry

For those of us who lived through the 1980’s much of the story told in My Beautiful Launderette is familiar. The need to achieve at all costs gripped much of society and some people gave up principles for the chance to get rich quick. There was a growing middle class, not least in people who settled here from different countries. It was also a time of advancing rights in the gay community despite the long shadow of HIV/AIDS. Put that lot together as Hanif Kureishi did in 1985 and you have a very successful movie on your hands which went a long way to explore Britain becoming a multi-cultural society, those who embrace it and those who resent it. The story has now been brought to the stage and once again we meet Omar as he seeks to make a success of his uncle’s rundown laund...

20Mar

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Karen – The Other Palace

Break-ups are always hard, but Karen’s Protagonist (Sarah Cameron-West, also the writer and producer) has just had a particularly rough one: it’s her 30th birthday, she’s at Alton Towers eating a Calippo, and she’s just been unceremoniously dumped by her long-term boyfriend, Joe. And if things couldn’t get any worse for our Protagonist, it turns out Joe has also been having an affair with her office nemesis, Karen. This very unfortunate event kicks off Karen, a laugh-a-minute, utterly shameless exploration of the messiest parts of heartbreak and self-discovery. For the next 60 minutes, Karen immerses the audience in the internal and external worlds of Protagonist, who often breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience as if they’re the other characters she’s interacting with. ...

20Mar

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Fat Chance – Theatre503

Rachel Stockdale gives a high-energy performance in this autobiographical and unapologetic confrontation with fatphobia’s entrenchment within modern culture and social attitudes. Consequently, the piece was full of provocations to challenge our prejudices. Clad in a silk robe, Stockdale became “Stocky the boxer”, a clever spin on the rhetoric of ‘fighting’ through weight loss. As she sang and danced and told us of her story, a trio of projector screens acted as windows into Stockdale’s past, displaying the dates during which she worked various jobs and the impact this had on her weight. This was also intercut with statistics to demystify BMI and highlight the great failings of diet culture. Ultimately, the numbers and facts were emphasised by a deep sense of personal indignation. There wa...

20Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Crazy For You – Hull New Theatre

I love the sound of hordes of dancers tap dancing en masse on a theatre’s wooden stage. So, I was in my element witnessing just that when Hessle Theatre Company brought its production of Crazy For You to the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. Riverdance eat your heart out. I’d already had the privilege of watching this talented crew in their final run rehearsal, so had more than an inkling of what to expect. What I didn’t expect were the most glorious costumes reminiscent of Vegas showgirls - sequins, feathers and huge head-dresses, all in various shades of pinks, creams and turquoise. Crazy For You is a musical, set in the 1930s, so glitter and glamour should have come as no surprise; but it was the sheer beauty of the outfits that amazed me. The feel-good story centres ar...

Unravelling the Ribbon – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

20Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Unravelling the Ribbon – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

At a time when life in the real world presents significant strain, spending an evening at the theatre is seen by many people as an opportunity to escape the stress of their everyday lives. Therefore, ‘Unravelling the Ribbon’, a play dealing with a diagnosis of cancer and its effects on the lives of three women may seem a difficult subject with which to tempt people away from the comfort of hearth and home. However, should they choose to do so they will be rewarded with a production that both tugs at the heartstrings and tickles the funny bone despite its dark premise. Director Lou Kershaw takes the helm for the first time in the tiny Lauriston Studio and brings an intimacy borne of personal experience to the story of Rose (Caroline Giles), Lola (Alex Saint) and Lyndsey (Holly O’Malley)...

School for Scandal – Theatre By The Lake

19Mar

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

School for Scandal – Theatre By The Lake

Style with great content arrived at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake as Tilted Wig brings School for Scandal to the main auditorium, writes Karen Molrey-Chesworth. This adaptation of RB Sheridan's comedy of scandal and gossip, written in 1777, is now set in the late 1950's early 1960s. And the costume department has really taken the brief and run with it. The styling of this production is second to none. The stage is set with three plinths holding three telephones, that are integrated into the spreading of society gossip. The luxurious deep red tones of the set create the background glamour to this high society tale. Sir Peter Teazle has recently married, after a long life as a dedicated bachelor. His new wide is the social climbing, money-motivated Lady Teazle. Joseph Marcell...

19Mar

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Sister Act – Palace Theatre

Arriving at the bustling theatre, where red carpet welcomed many an actor from the phenomenon that was Coronation Street, the evening started with fans in awe, the atmosphere electric and everyone ‘giddy’ with excitement for the show ahead. The Coronation Street actors had come along in their numbers to support their colleague the nominated favourite female soup star Sue Cleaver who for this epic show of female comradeship was playing the Mother Superior. Many people may know the film of Whoopi Goldberg played the husky blues singer Deloris Van Cartier desperate to make it big but in falling for a married mobster ends up, after watching this crook Curtis murder a gang member, is on the run for her own life. For this show, the threatened disco diva is played amazingly by Brita...