REVIEWS Archives - Page 222 of 549

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 was...

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 aro...

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 Britai...

18Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Cold, Dark Matters – The Hope Theatre

It is said that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. It is also said that you shouldn’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, and that good advice is almost certain to be ignored. Cold, Dark Matters is a very curious play, and every aspect of its production at the Hope Theatre is morbidly satisfying. Altogether more thought provoking than it has any right to be, this fun, dark tale is neither cynical nor vapid, instead approaching its murky subject matter with a refreshingly forthright earnestness, much the way one might attempt to earn the respect of a particularly wilful horse, or an intimidatingly intimate crowd. Writer and performer Jack Brownridge Kelly doesn’t bother with charming the audience, he simply gets straight to work, and wins them over by be...

17Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

American Buffalo – King’s Arms, Salford

As a reviewer, five star shows appear in many guises; last night I sat in the cavernous surroundings of Manchester Opera House with 1,919 other hardy souls watching Sir Ian McKellen give a bravura performance as Falstaff in a four hour adaptation of Henry IV. Now, less than 24 hours later a sold out audience of just 35 are privileged to witness a very different, but equally compelling production in entirely different surroundings. Lisa Connor combines the job of Director of the Greater Manchester Fringe with her role as owner of The Kings Arms in Salford, in the latter capacity she has pulled off something of a coup by tempting legendary Director David Thacker to stage a production of David Mamet’s ‘American Buffalo’ in the tiny theatre that nestles above this backstreet Salford boozer....

17Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Good Father – Riverside Studios

What are you doing for sex tonight? When was the last time you felt comfortable singing in front of someone? Who do you belong with, really? The Good Father poses all these questions and leaves plenty of empty space in its performance for you to spend the whole night coming up with your own personal answers. Directed by Mark Fitzgerald and written by Christian O’Reilly, this play is somewhat lacking in theatricality and sitting in the audience you get the sense that it’s only being performed live in front of you because there wasn’t enough budget to turn it into a proper film. Both actors’ performances are serviceable and occasionally attention-grabbing, but they have a lot of empty space to fill, and it is an intimate enough story that audiences feel more like interlopers than particip...

17Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Escaped Alone – Traverse Theatre

A play by Caryl Churchill (written in 2016), at age 86 arguably Britain’s greatest living poet and playwright. Known for her dramatisations of the abuse of power, for her support of Palestine, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes. Also central to most Churchill plays is a fascination with surreal deconstruction and non-naturalistic techniques which puts her firmly in the uncompromising postmodernist camp. Anyone coming to see a Churchill play will leave this one with a knowing smile, for those of us just coming to see a play, less so. The structure of the short 50-minute piece is simple enough; two storylines run side by side, in the first four post-menopausal women sit in comfortable chairs chatting in broken sentences and half-words in a sunny garden, in t...

17Mar

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Hide and Seek – Park Theatre

Touching on issues like identity, peer pressure, friendship and the negative impact social media culture is having on young people, Hide and Seek doesn’t feel like entirely untrodden territory. Written by Italian playwright Tobia Rossi and translated and directed here by Carlotta Brentan, Hide and Seek charts the course of an unlikely friendship formed by two boys, Gio (Louis Scarpa) and Mirko (Nico Cetrulo) under quite bizarre circumstances. Bullied and belittled by his classmates, Gio retreats to a cave to escape after leaving a final mark on social media. Mirko finds him, and the two bond over their shared role in sensationalising Gio’s disappearance to feed the ensuing media circus, resorting to some fairly drastic measures to twist the story and stay relevant. As their friendship b...