REVIEWS Archives - Page 204 of 548

15May

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

The Syndicate – Floral Pavilion

Have you ever wondered what it would be like, if you won a share of £24 million? For fans of the late, great Kay Mellor’s television series ‘The Syndicate’ this is the perfect chance to see a new version of the show, created especially for the stage. A story that follows previous series, but with different characters and twists along the way. We are introduced to Denise, Leanne, Jamie, Stuart and Bob who work at a local supermarket, that has just been bought out by a larger chain. In typical The Syndicate style, Stuart is late on his payments for the staff syndicate, and this is mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the first act. Brothers Jamie and Stuart are both struggling for money – Jamie for drug-related purposes and Stuart due to his expanding family. They decide to rob the ...

15May

By Annette NuttallNo Comments

West Midlands

Sister Act – Birmingham Hippodrome

When a show is running in London and on a national tour at the same time, you know there must be something special about that show. Based on the 1992 film of the same name, but with different songs, the lively and fun Sister Act musical arrives in Birmingham this week for a short run. This show tells the tale of wannabe singer Deloris Van Cartier. She inadvertently witnesses a murder and goes into protection in the most unusual of places, a church convent. Can she blend in with the nuns? Can anything improve their singing? The stage was filled with strong vocal performances throughout from every singer. These were only matched by the characterisation of every part, from the enthusiastic young nun to the reliable policeman and everyone in between. Landi Oshinowo was faultles...

Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) – Pleasance Theatre

15May

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) – Pleasance Theatre

Sharp Teeth Theatre and Marie Hamilton resurrect an age-old play and story, adding their own chatmates of satire, camp, and 18 original songs! Prepare to get bedazzled at the sheer variety of characters, costume changes and diversity of pitches four women belt out on stage. It's an impressive labour of love that evokes pathos, laughter and disdain for the bedfellows of patriarchy and imperialism. The first half paints the sordid picture of how women are treated, the petty fights between women to hold power, male attention and position. At points, the background score music is overarching the performers, and at some points, the different scales need to be heard clearly. The first half of the play probably stays truthful to the 1729 John Gay's banned sequel to The Beggar's Opera, 'P...

The Collie’s Shed – Festival Theatre Studio

15May

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

The Collie’s Shed – Festival Theatre Studio

This short and powerful play has made an appearance on Edinburgh fringe for the last two years. The Collie’s Shed now returns for a tour of Scotland’s central belt during the 40th anniversary year of the 1984 miners’ strike. Written and directed by Shelley Middler, the play focuses on four retired coal miners, all of whom lost their jobs when their colliery, Bilston Glen, closed in the 1980s following a bitter and violent strike which pitted miners against each other and against the police. Eight actors play four characters, with the action switching from 1984 to present day. Some of the striking miners of the time were arrested and imprisoned for their part in the violent acts on the picket line, and the narrative begins with news of a review by the Sco...

14May

By Anisha AnantpurkarNo Comments

London

A Song of Songs – Park Theatre

A ‘song of songs’ was developed by Berkley-based Ofra Daniel as a one-woman show in 2013. Originally called 'Love Sick’, It travels for its European debut to the Park Theatre supported by trained voices and dancing of Ofra Daniel, Laurel Dougall, Rebecca Giacopazzi, Shira Kravitz, Ashleigh Schuman, Joaquin Pedro Valdes and Matthew Woddyatt. The energetic four-women chorus superbly complements an orchestra that tugs at the heart with its sweet longing and tender overtures. Original songs written and performed by Ofra with an incredible diversity of instruments supported superbly by the sounds of the modern European Flamenco and Klezmer have the audience in raptures. It reminded me of an adaptation of the ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ with its youthful anticipation of marriage and community celeb...

14May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Idlib – Storyhouse Chester

Written and directed by Kevin Dyer, and produced by Laura Duncalf, Idlib started as a piece of prose as a prelude for a play that morphed into a short story before becoming the script for a monologue first performed online in 2021. Based on the story of a Syrian baker who wanted to return home, and real interviews with Syrian refugees and escapees across Europe, it tells the story of a woman (Anoush Kendrick) who has hope, but it is both the prelude to this tale and what follows afterwards as well that make this such a special experience, one that is a mix of conversation, an uplifting story of kindness, making bread on stage, drawing, and sharing personal memories of food and family, eating together and socialising. The making of bread itself is an act so simple and pure that it is ...

14May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Krapp’s Last Tape – Unity Theatre

Marking the welcome return of Graeme Phillips to Unity Theatre and the directorial chair, with the support of Assistant Director Izzie Major and Producer Peter Ward, Krapp’s Last Tape, written by Samuel Beckett, holds a firm place in Phillips’ heart. On his sixty-ninth birthday, Krapp (Nick Birkinshaw), as has become his custom, hauls out his old tape recorder to review one of the earlier years, and make a new recording commenting on the events of the previous twelve months. Whilst his younger self speaks to reveal an idealistic fool, will the passage of time reveal the kind of fool he has become? Almost seventy years since it was written, this one-act play remains as relevant – perhaps more so – in 2024, when we all more readily identify with its themes of isolation, reflection, and...

Twelfth Night – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

14May

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Twelfth Night – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Twelfth Night or What You Will is a little wishy-washy. Is it a girl or a boy? A grief comedy? A musical or a straight play? It is what you will make of it. The building blocks are all there. The humour, the grief, the ribaldry, and the bleeding heart, all come out to play. Owen Horsley’s new production lives its life to the fullest, making great use of the Open Air Theatre environment, breathing vitality into the too oft neglected queer imagery of the text, and taking full advantage of the Regent’s Park audience’s willingness to be delighted, transported, and even occasionally challenged. This is a production is a rarity among contemporary stagings of Shakespeare’s work in that treats its historical material with full reverence without taking anything in it for granted. Audiences overly f...

Madagascar The Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

14May

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Madagascar The Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

Get ready for an evening of fun, silliness and a spectacle that will leave you feeling like you want to move! Madagascar The Musical opens as a fresh and new take on the classic film that audiences know and love. With an exceptionally talented cast, fresh choreography and staging and an expertly achieved set, this show is a must-see for both children and adults. One of the most impressive parts of this production is the superb execution of the set. Clearly well thought out and planned by Tom Rogers, it is the centrepiece for the whole show and makes it difficult to take your eyes away from the stage. The outside of the stage and the wings are decorated with crates to foreshadow the narrative, but act as an excellent backdrop for each story location. Though the New Wimbledon Theatre has ...

14May

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

Blizzard – Soho Theatre

A subtle yet impactful combination of tender, wacky and surreal, Emily Woof’s Blizzard is a light yet deep journey of love, identity and existence narrated by her character Dotty. She is persuaded by her husband, a neuroscientist also called Dotty, to deliver a lecture on ‘Criticality, Connectivity and the Neuronal Avalanche’ in Switzerland as he is ‘indisposed’. Despite displaying her incomprehension of and disinterest in the subject, she decides to stand-in for him so that his life’s work does not go down the drain; the specifics of why her and not another scientist, and why not cancel or postpone the lecture are not given but they are inconsequential to the story. As Dotty journeys to Switzerland, she discovers and simultaneously invites the audience to discover the meaning of those dry...