REVIEWS Archives - Page 211 of 342

Our Town Needs a Nando’s – Everyman Theatre

25Jun

By Morgan EvansNo Comments

North West

Our Town Needs a Nando’s – Everyman Theatre

Teenage girls deserve epic stories. These girls certainly do. The young cast, many making their professional debuts, look incredibly comfortable on stage. Talented, charismatic, and appropriately self-assured, these girls *did* deserve an epic story. I’m sad to say unfortunately they did not find one in Our Town Needs A Nando’s. Samantha O’Rourke’s script has a great humorous sensibility which is delivered with expert precision by Nadia Anim, Chloe Hughes, Mali O’Donnell, Kalli Tant and Jada-Li Warrican. Its comedy is its strongest asset. Mocking the clichéd banality of GCSE Drama shows about drugs justly earns raucous laughter from the audience. However, whilst it may be funny, O’Rourke’s text is missing too many key components of story to hold our interest. The script meanders thr...

25Jun

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Tick Tock – Hope Street Theatre

A new play was written and performed at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre called Tick Tock by Debbie Redcliffe (The Responder, Moving on). Before you ask, no I don’t mean the social media app where you can floss and lip Sync. This play Tick Tock, directed by Margaret Connell (Forgotten Voices and Blood Runs Deep). Follows the story of Sarah, Jenna and Pauline. Sarah (Debra Redcliffe) has dreams to be a mother, she was forever eating healthy, checking her temperature and when it was time to do the deed made sure her husband Danny knew about it. However, whilst trying it became clear that not all seemed right. The tests were negative, and hope was drifting away. Jenna’s life (Lisa McMahon) unfolded where she opened up about the miscarriages she had gone through. Whilst she had a family ...

This Savage Parade – Manchester Collective

24Jun

By Clare ChandlerNo Comments

North West

This Savage Parade – Manchester Collective

The Manchester Collective continue to programme their seasons in a manner that seems remarkably prescient. This evening as inflation rises, industrial unrest unfurls, ice caps melt and war bleeds ever closer to home, they perform a set of ethereal music for voice and string orchestra declaring that ‘in a volatile world, sometimes you just need a good tune to hang on to’. There are many ‘good tunes’, enhanced by the atmospheric backdrop of Hallé St Peter’s, in this final offering of the season from the Collective. Manchester Collective concerts are always a little different, devoid of the pomp associated with classical music their shows feel democratic, and collaborative. Audience and performers meet in the space between the music – even when over exuberant attendee...

24Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

All Shook Up – Rainhill Village Hall

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the story is new and the hits are Elvis as Director and Choreographer Lucy Bradshaw takes us back to the summer of 1955 Midwest America in this heart-warming and feel-good musical, where we find Natalie (Sarah Johnson), a young mechanic, dreaming of love and adventure, without realising best friend Dennis (Ben Evans-Clarke) has a secret crush on her. But things take off when Chad (David Stevens), a hip-swivelling, guitar-playing roustabout, brings more than the jukebox to life in Sylvia’s (Julie Gould) Honky Tonk, putting a spring in the step of Natalie’s father, Jim (Bryan Dargie) and more than a sonnet in Miss Sandra (Dawn Wright). Can it get any better when Sylvia’s daughter Lorraine (Bláthíne Maguire) is told she’s beautiful by Dean (Toby Ab...

A Doll’s House Part 2 – Donmar Warehouse

24Jun

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

A Doll’s House Part 2 – Donmar Warehouse

A dark house lifts off the stage to reveal its interior, and we are drawn into the intimate space. The story follows on from Ibsen’s classic, presenting their world fifteen years later. Nora has found purpose as a famous writer under a pseudonym but returns home to settle pressing legal matters. The set designed by Rae Smith has a cool, clinical feel like it hasn’t been lived in as none of the characters are truly settled and its initial state is mysterious and bleak, like it holds a chamber of secrets. Noma Dumezweni’s Nora is controlled and meticulously crafted. With a fierce moral code and ideals, she is earthy and wise yet there is something indefinable about her. As Nora’s interacts with the other characters, she is fluid and playful yet grounded by her unswerving principles. ...

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – Theatre Royal, Stratford East

24Jun

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – Theatre Royal, Stratford East

The brand-new pop musical, Fantastically Great Women is an inspirational and moving celebration of female empowerment. Set to an original, fun, and strong score, this musical demonstrates the importance of being yourself and discovering how you want to change the world. We are introduced to the inquisitive heroine of the show, Jade, who gets separated from her school group on a trip to the museum. She discovers the not yet open Gallery of Greatness, where she meets twelve influential women from history, who help her on her path to discovering who she wants to be. At only eleven years old, Jade is concerned she is running out of time to make a difference, but she soon learns that it is not about when you make history, just that you don’t ever give up trying to. The show opens with th...

24Jun

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dreamgirls – Leeds Grand Theatre

The tough world of showbiz has always been fertile ground for musical theatre and Dreamgirls puts the spotlight on the ruthless music industry. It’s a story as long as recorded music has been around when three young black women form a vocal harmony group performing in 1960s Detroit, and thanks to a ruthless manager find success before their friendship implodes as the money rolls in. If that sounds familiar it might be based on a certain girl group who reigned supreme in the 60s as the sound of young America. Effie White has the biggest voice and attitude in The Dreams, but shy bandmate Deena has the right image that hard charging former mechanic turned manager Curtis Taylor Jr sees has the biggest potential to cross over from soul to pop. He forces the vulnerable Effie out as ...

22Jun

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Singin’ in the Rain – Liverpool Empire

Don’t you know everyone wants to laugh? The stage production of what is arguably one of Gene Kelly’s most famous films, Singin’ in the Rain, is once again making its way around the UK once more and is continuing to entertain audiences, just as it did in the 1950s. With such a famous score, including the titular track, ‘Good Morning’, ‘Moses Supposes’ and ‘Make ‘Em Laugh’, to name but a few, the musical really does make the film come to life right in front of your eyes. In 1927, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are at the height of their fame as silent movie stars. Their latest movie is a massive smash hit, and they are about to start working on the next film, when news reaches them, about Warner Brothers’ next film – a talking picture. What can they do to maintain their stardom and what...

Calendar Girls – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

21Jun

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Calendar Girls – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The traditional view of that redoubtable British institution, The Women’s Institute (or WI to its friends), is one of middle-class ladies of a certain age baking and knitting in a cosy village environment, far from the struggles of the real world. Subverting this stereotype, a branch from Yorkshire decided to produce an ‘Alternative WI Calendar’ to raise money for a new sofa in the wait room of a local hospital, following the cancer diagnosis of a friend. The twist was that all the ladies appeared in various states of undress whilst posing in a variety of mundane activities. The idea was a runaway success, eventually raising over £3,000,000 for Leukaemia Research and subsequently spawning a successful play, film and this stage musical in 2015. Penned by Tim Firth (Kinky Boots, Neville’...

19Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

That Is Not Who I Am – Royal Court

"Just cos it's in your imagination doesn't mean it's not real." Dave Davidson's first (and possibly last) play is a conceit, wrapped in an enigma, inside just about every conspiracy theory on social media. Set in the style of those ever-popular true crime drama documentaries, the playwright acts as narrator, but he/she is also hiding in plain sight. Undercover due to alleged Government surveillance, writer Lucy Kirkwood (Chimerica, Mosquitoes) gives actor Priyana Burford the job of setting the scene and giving voice to the various possibilities of what actually happened. It's the account of Noah and Celeste Quilter, who meet on a blind date, banter, lie to each other, get married, have a much-wanted baby and then fall down the rabbit-hole of conspiracy theories, all while in the grip o...