REVIEWS Archives - Page 233 of 548

Shorts 3: Beyond Words – Summerhall, Edinburgh

13Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Shorts 3: Beyond Words – Summerhall, Edinburgh

Part of Edinburgh’s Manipulate Festival 2024, Shorts 3: Beyond Words is a great opportunity to see a wide and varied collection of animated short films from around the world, and to have your mind and imagination sparked by them. The third and final part of the animated film programme for this year. In the poignant and thought-provoking Sisters, by Andrea Szelesova, a young girl sullenly pulls a heavy load across a barren wasteland to the slumped body of a red skinned giant. She climbs up and grudgingly feeds bread and water to the giant, which rumbles and grows. Around the giant new flowers begin to sprout, their heavy heads tinkling in the breeze, the sound of tiny bells. The young girl resentfully continues to feed the giant, with the same results every day. One day she wakes up and ...

13Feb

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Self Raising – Soho Theatre

Self Raising is a moving account of the autobiographical story of Jenny Sealey, Funny, poignant, witty and intelligent. Using the memoir form she paints the significant moments, adults and photographs that have left an inedible mark on her life. The joy of being in a theatre with so many diverse patrons itself is Self Raising’s biggest achievement. Disabled members of our society do not have many venues that are accessible, productions that are sensitive or innovatively incorporate signing and live captions in their performance. When Jenny Sealey and her interpreter walk on stage encouraging the audience to continue talking, but no one does because she has our undivided attention. Jenny’s unfettered candour warmth and generosity make our curiosity and investment in her story grow with t...

10Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Tess – Traverse Theatre

Part of Edinburgh’s Manipulate Festival 2024, Tess is an ambitious retelling of Hardy’s famous tale, Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, through a feminist lens by the acclaimed UK circus theatre company Ockham Razor. The original tale was set in Victorian England, but there are plenty of moral and ethical lessons which translate very easily into today’s Britain. The story of a naïve young girl, forced into low paid work by poverty, and then abused and violated by a rich arrogant seducer, seems all too familiar. The fact that the abuse becomes her almost unbearable cross to bear and yet means little or nothing to him also speaks volumes. In this production there are two Tesses, actor Macadie Amoroso who speaks the tale and Lila Naruse who physically enacts it. They are joined on stage by five...

10Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Pickled Republic – Traverse Theatre

Part of Edinburgh’s Manipulate Festival 2024, Pickled Republic is advertised as an existential dip into the pickle jar of life from Glasgow-based creator/performer Rudy Cantir. Originally from Moldova, where apparently every food is pickled, this one-woman show sees Rudy morph into various pickled vegetables to highlight the universal themes of abandonment, being unfulfilled and unwanted, the fundamental need to be loved, or in the case of the pickled tomato, just eaten would be nice! It sounds zany and it is! Sound designer John Keilty creates an atmospheric, gastric gurgling soundscape and I assume also writes the witty songs which pepper this dish. But the real driving force behind this show are the consumes, which are fabulously conceived by Fergus Dunnet, and which takes t...

The Hills of California – Harold Pinter Theatre

10Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Hills of California – Harold Pinter Theatre

Jez Butterworth graces us with another play with depth and wonder, beautifully directed by Sam Mendes. The play currently resides at Harold Pinter Theatre in which the world is clear and grand as we walk into a house with a huge staircase, old wooden design and a little bar filled with very old alcohol. The staircase seems like it goes up and on forever, set in a hotel in the 80s which once in the past housed very many visitors but always 4 young girls and their mother. We switch from present day to past, now the mother is dying, the girls all await their eldest sister Joan to come say goodbye. In the past we watch the mother run the home, military style as the girls practice their singing and dancing with the biggest dreams of making it to the London Palladium. Their mother also, pushing ...

Songs for a New World – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

10Feb

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

London

Songs for a New World – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

When you watch a musical production, it usually follows a known formula with a beginning, middle and an end. Not so with ‘Songs for a New World’ for this is what’s known as a song-cycle. That means rather than having one fully formed narrative, the show is an anthology; a collection of short stories that hang together with common themes. For me, I think the best way to describe this production is as an immersive musical show. You honestly feel as though you’ve stepped into the making of a musical and are part and parcel of the actual show, such is the intimacy of this performance. The venue aids this feeling enormously, and to be seated just inches away from the action is a real thrill. Unlike most shows, the band are not hidden away, they are clearly visible, on display and are inte...

Madagascar The Musical – Opera House, Manchester

9Feb

By Bo WarnerNo Comments

North West

Madagascar The Musical – Opera House, Manchester

‘Madagascar the Musical’, an all-singing-and-dancing adaptation of the hit 2005 film, is currently making its way around the UK & Ireland to the delight of children everywhere. 20 years after its release, it’s fantastic to see that this film is still being enjoyed by today’s generation enough that the draw of Madagascar can fill the Manchester Opera House. This is a colourful, high-energy and fast-paced production that doesn’t pause to catch breath. It was clear to me that the children in the audience were thoroughly enjoying the ride, and were engaged from start to finish, singing along and giggling as they did. Impressive set pieces by Tom Rogers were plentiful and rolled out often - I was impressed by how high budget and slick everything felt. I have to say, I didn’t care for ...

Pride and Prejudice – Shakespeare North Playhouse

9Feb

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Pride and Prejudice – Shakespeare North Playhouse

After their greatly received production of ‘Strange Tale’ at the same venue last year, Imaginarium Theatre’s latest performance was hotly anticipated. Though some may stray from this type of re-telling when they are unfamiliar with the original tale, Imaginarium, I’m pleased to write, has achieved a very good balance in terms of audience accessibility as it centres on the essence of the 19th century classic whilst incorporating many relatable quirks. The Bennet family are loud, colourful and a smack in the face for ridding any pre-meditations of Georgian England. Lily Kelly’s Elizabeth was the most grounded performance and countered humorously by Kim Bennett’s bouncy namesake Mrs Bennett. Fully of energy and verve, these Bennett’s were exactly what is to be expected of Imaginarium: a go...

Empower in Motion: A Ballet Inclusive – Sadler’s Wells Theatre

9Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Empower in Motion: A Ballet Inclusive – Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Shocking, illuminating, poignant, and triumphant, Empower in Motion is unbeatable ballet. Fundraising for Children Today, this informal gala presents itself without ostentation but packs an overpowering punch. Featuring ten acts over the course of two hours, the strength and diversity of its featured dancers never fails to captivate for even a minute. The program is contextualized by video introductions to each act describing the work done by Children Today and celebrating the inclusive dance efforts made by the event’s various other partners. Host, Grace Spence Green, gives an invigorating preamble to the procession of performances each of which awes in turn. The evening starts strong with a seamless performance by Joseph Powell-Main and Hannah Rudd excerpted from The Royal Ballet’s Sl...

Candace Bushnell True Tales of Sex Success and Sex and The City – London Palladium

9Feb

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Candace Bushnell True Tales of Sex Success and Sex and The City – London Palladium

Candace Bushnell now 65yrs old, the creator, entrepreneurial business woman and writer of the infamous Sex in the City books has come to the London Palladium to tell all, the real truth! She sets the scene in pink, from the apartment her retreat to her garnitures ‘shoes’ and the mini bar where she regularly sips on ‘cosmos’ cosmopolitan cocktails creating a true feel of Sex and the City life. Familiar names Mr Big, Carrie, Sam, Miranda, Charlotte all feature as she exposes the real truth behind the storylines with an audience participation game called ‘Reel or not Reel’. Candace explains why she chose the pseudonym Carrie Bradshaw, why she wrote her books about her single friends and their lives in New York; and what was happening at the time when the HBO series took off on the telev...