REVIEWS Archives - Page 2 of 641

2Nov

By Prateek SonnyNo Comments

London

The Revlon Girl – Park Theatre

Grief inflicted by tragedy, be it an inconspicuous accident or a disaster etched in history, always leaves the living to pick up the pieces. Directed by Maxine Evans, this Neil Anthony Docking play tells the story of bereaved mothers, months after the Aberfan disaster, as they struggle to cope and find a way to move on. The play opens with water dripping over the skylight suspended above the stage, with the set depicting a hotel function room. A young representative of cosmetics company Revlon (Antonia Kinlay) is invited to present products and offer beauty tips, hoping the women might begin to take care of themselves again. What she doesn’t anticipate is just how raw their grief remains, leaving her struggling to handle the situation. First, we meet Sian (Charlotte Gray), who is...

Opera North’s Rigoletto – Leeds Grand Theatre

2Nov

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Opera North’s Rigoletto – Leeds Grand Theatre

On the night before Halloween, the streets around the Grand Theatre belonged to the students: witches, zombies and the odd clown weaving from pub to pub in noisy packs. Inside, Opera North had a masked mob of its own. Femi Elufowoju jr’s production, first seen in 2022, is back with a largely new cast. Verdi’s 1851 opera tells of a court jester who mocks the Duke of Mantua’s victims for a living while hiding his own daughter, Gilda, from the world. Cursed by Count Monterone, a father the Duke has wronged, Rigoletto watches his worst fear come true when the Duke seduces Gilda. He pays a hit man, Sparafucile, £20,000 to kill the Duke. But Sparafucile’s sister Maddalena, herself seduced by the Duke, talks him into murdering the next stranger who comes to the door instead. Gilda overhears, a...

Nosferatu: Suitcase Stories – The Eastgate Theatre

2Nov

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Nosferatu: Suitcase Stories – The Eastgate Theatre

“Small is beautiful,” according to economist E F Schumacher, and indeed the inside of a traditional suitcase can be a beautiful vehicle for small stories. Freda O’Byrne’s suitcase tale of Nosferatu is simplicity itself. What elevates the tale is the original music by John Moore. It is perfect for setting the atmosphere and tone when all other elements are pared back to basics. Hand-sized wooden shapes represent people and houses, lolly sticks form fences, decorative bows are vultures/bats/birds of prey or even fairies, depending on your own imagination. It is a tiny sprinkling of old-fashioned, gentle, three-dimensional storytelling with a real human-being behind it rather than AI. In this era of computerisation, it is a welcome retreat into what makes us human. Aimed at children and...

2Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Memoriam – Southwark Playhouse Borough

How does our history get passed on and who is in charge of keeping them alive? Memoriam is a company buying real memories, extracting them and making them available on their software to experience. This is a full body sensory experience of any memory you choose be it childbirth, swimming with dolphins or even piloting a plane. But when the numbers are looking low for next year, top boss Chris (Ben Wiggins) looks to top buyer Rachel (Rachel Barry) for the ‘Premium asset’ she has within her own family. Memoriam is stark and brutal in the reflection of the human need for content and poses an important question: do we use VR to reflect the true nature of human history’s most horrific moments in order to feel the true scale of the event. Rachel’s grandmother Rivka (Beverley Klein) is the ...

2Nov

By Kevin EcclestonNo Comments

North West

Meet the Deans — Epstein Theatre

There’s nothing quiet about a Dean family reunion. In Meet the Deans, five grown-up children return to their mother’s house with plenty of baggage—and no intention of keeping it to themselves. Written, produced and directed by Kerry Williams, this lively Scouse family drama begins with the familiar chaos of relatives under one roof. Then a revelation close to home shifts the mood: tempers flare, secrets emerge and loyalties are tested. Broad comedy brings plenty of laughs, while a current of tenderness builds towards a poignant ending. Williams’ script moves between quick-fire jokes, physical comedy and quieter moments that reveal the family’s vulnerabilities. The humour and emotion sit comfortably side by side, and the cast makes the Deans feel like a family rather than a collection...

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean – Drama Studio, Sheffield

2Nov

By Nathan DunnNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean – Drama Studio, Sheffield

Sheffield University Theatre Company (SUTCo)’s exciting new season is in full swing, and taking to the stage this October is ‘Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean’ - a stage and screen classic from late writer Ed Graczyk and acclaimed director Robert Altman. The play jumps between 1955 and 1975 in a small Texan town, and the SUTCo cast split the roles between actors across the 20 year gap. 1955’s Mona, played by Bethany Collins, captures really well the fanciful, naive dreamer-like qualities of youth which is fantastically subverted in 1975’s Mona, played by Lilia Harnett who presents an edgier, more unstable and neurotic maturing of such innocent delusion. Imogen Eyre’s Juanita is strong and a great anchor in this production, and Max Preston’s Stella and Tilly Har...

2Nov

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Duck Pond – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Thrilling. Breathtaking. Magical. Single words formed mentally in a gasp of disbelief. Words alone are inadequate to describe the hair-raising sensuality and trust, the courageous heights and the most extreme, humorous and beautiful physical collaboration brought to the stage by Brisbane-based Circa in this acrobatic fusion of Swan Lake and the Ugly Duckling stories. The boundless precision and trust within this Australian circus troupe superglue to the memory in respect for the years of dedicated physical work each performer has devoted from the age of seven, eight, nine and upwards. The delicacy and explosive strength, the fearless acrobatics (in red high heels as far as the black swan is concerned) has such artistry, it is easy to see why this organisation has international bac...

2Nov

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

1984 – Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh

I first read 1984 in a philosophy class at high school. Back then I remember thinking how dystopian it was, one of those books that the teacher chose to make you think about how easily things could go terribly wrong, but in a way that still felt removed from reality. This new adaptation by Chris Hannan, directed by Dominic Hill, makes an interesting choice by bringing Orwell himself into the story. The play opens with the writer in a tuberculosis hospital in Scotland, where conversations with his doctor offer a glimpse into the political experiences that helped shape the novel. Jack Tarlton plays both Orwell and Winston Smith, moving between the real man and the fictional character whose world is slowly falling apart. I found this framing particularly interesting because it gives the...

29Oct

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Non-Ordinary Service – Coronet Theatre

Living in south-east London means that Notting Hill can feel as distant and awkward to access as Cornwall or the Shetlands. Even Carnival can’t tempt me these days, but you know what can? The Coronet Theatre. It opened in 1898. Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt have both graced its stage. It’s a bijou Victorian space, rather than grand, but it has the best theatre bar in the UK, maybe the world. Dimly lit, with a sloping floor, it’s a bohemian carnival of vintage charm and maximalist eccentricity. The theatre has an impressively experimental programme. A previous jaunt to The Coronet was to see the lovely Lemm Sissay read from a collection of poems. The streets of Notting Hill were once again witness to my presence due to a contemporary dance piece by a Chuang Po-Hsiang, a critically acclaim...

29Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Rollers Forever – King’s Theatre

The Bay City Rollers were a 1970s phenomenon hailing from Edinburgh. They had huge popularity with their catchy tunes, and the band travelled the globe selling an estimated 120 million records world-wide. Rollers Forever, written by Danny McCahon, is a light-hearted trip down memory lane. The story pivots around two women, Susan (Chiara Sparkles) and Jenny (Fiona Wood) who relive their teenage dreams of meeting and marrying Woody and Alan and upgrading their lives. Their dream never materialises but their happy fiction and their efforts to nab the boys before they get too famous and every girl on the planet wants them is recognisable to anyone who’s been a teenage fan or known one. It is a charming, witty, bright and lively musical. The leads are strong and the whole cast can sing an...