Wednesday, January 14

REVIEWS

Shed: Exploded View – Royal Exchange Theatre
16Feb Avatar photoBy Paul WilcoxNo Comments
North West

Shed: Exploded View – Royal Exchange Theatre

Back in 2019, in those halcyon pre pandemic days, Phoebe Eclair-Powell won the biannual Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and with it the opportunity to develop ‘Shed: Exploded View’ for production at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. Now, after an enforced hiatus of nearly four years, we finally get to see the startling and thought provoking theatre she produced, a piece of writing that will both challenge and engage its audience. The play follows the lives of three couples over a thirty year period from the mid-nineties to the present day as they negotiate the vicissitudes of married life, from the early promise of new love to the dark reality of a relationship breakdown, all the troughs and peaks are explored. We meet Frank (Jason Hughes) and Naomi (Lizzie Watts) in 1994, honeymooning ...
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The Gap – Hope Mill Theatre
15Feb Avatar photoBy Paul WilcoxNo Comments
North West

The Gap – Hope Mill Theatre

The small (but perfectly formed) Hope Mill Theatre in Ancoats has firmly established itself over the last decade as the place to see innovative and exciting musical theatre productions, their ability to produce consistently excellent shows during this time has seen this Mancunian gem showered with deserved praise and awards galore. That success looks set to continue into 2024 for owners William Whelton and Joe Houston, as in something of a theatrical coup they have secured the premiere of a new Jim Cartwright play ‘The Gap’, featuring bravura performances from two very familiar faces from stage and screen. Matthew Kelly and Denise Welch may be known to a large percentage of the population for their presenting roles on television shows such as ‘Loose Women’ and ‘Stars In Their Eyes’, but...
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WAKO – The Traverse Bar, Edinburgh
15Feb Avatar photoBy Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments
Scotland

WAKO – The Traverse Bar, Edinburgh

Valentine's night with the unpredictability of a  jazz band proved interesting and entertaining at The Traverse bar. Wako, Norwegian Grammy nominees, had several returning fans who saw them in 2020, on their last visit to Edinburgh.  I was joined by a Finnish gentleman, working in Edinburgh. It seems that while Jazz appeals to the older, more sophisticated crew on our island nation, it is very much a young, innovative musical style in Norway and Finland. The government funds music education, having invested its oil money with intelligence and now earning from past investments rather than oil itself. Norway is no longer investing in fossil fuels. It invests in its people and their creative talents. Hence, Wako is a band of four young men who make music together. A collaborat...
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The Full Monty – Opera House, Manchester
15Feb By Grace AnnabelNo Comments
North West

The Full Monty – Opera House, Manchester

On Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of watching the comedic triumph ‘The Full Monty’ at the Manchester Opera House. Our director (Michael Gyngell), the show’s designer (Jasmine Swan) and the producer (David Pugh) has immense shoes to fill, and certainly did not disappoint. Being incredibly familiar with the show, and having watched it previously in an amateur capacity, I was very much looking forward to this brand new adaptation, featuring some well-known faces.  The musical is cleverly adapted from the late 90’s British film of the same name, six unemployed Northern steelworkers, all low on cash, decide to present a strip act, for one night only, their local conservative club after seeing their wives' enthusiasm for a touring company of Chippendales. Danny Hatchard played the prot...
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The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium
14Feb By Kira DanielsNo Comments
London

The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium

Act normal. Wear a black dress or pinstripe suit. Paint your face and snap along. At the London Palladium it’s Halloween in February. Copious amounts of fog billow forth from the palatial stage and the theatre is bathed in purple light as audiences amble in, many dressed for the special occasion and already buzzing with excitement. The orchestra, unlike the assembled spirits of the dead, remains unseen but makes its presence known in a vigorous overture playing jauntily under conductor Andrew Hilton, and is energetically reinforced by a skilled ensemble dancing in choreography by Alistair David. Consistently visually interesting even as the plot stretches itself thin and tired jokes leave audiences groaning, this rendition of a mid-tier musical is nonetheless entertaining and well perfo...
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Bluebeard – HOME, Manchester
14Feb Avatar photoBy Paul WilcoxNo Comments
North West

Bluebeard – HOME, Manchester

Lighter nights and the promise of Spring is in the air as I sit in Tony Wilson Place outside HOME, Manchester’s gorgeous arts venue, which is finally delivering on its promise of new and interesting devised work as well as the best in challenging theatre from the UK and beyond. ‘Bluebeard’, the new offering from Wise Children, the company formed by Emma Rice in 2018, certainly falls into the latter category and offers an evening of music, magic and bizarre humour with a hard-hitting message wrapped in sumptuous theatrical style. We are led into this world by Mother Superior (Katy Owen), resplendent in the eponymous beard of the title, relating the cautionary tale of Treasure (Patrycja Kujawska) and her two daughters Trouble (Stephanie Hockley) and Lucky (Robyn Sinclair) as they become i...
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Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening – The Lowry
14Feb By Adam WilliamsNo Comments
North West

Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening – The Lowry

The 90s were famous for a lot of things such as Britpop, Cool Brittania and the Teletubbies and casting an acerbic eye on the news at that time was an award-winning sitcom ready to take a satirical swipe at the great and the good of the day. Recorded close to transmission the gags were bang up to date and like Spitting Image and Have I Got News For You, it was must see TV for satire junkies. Aside from its topicality the show had a great bunch of misfit characters who were, like in any great sitcom, trapped together, in this case in a news station. It had a bumbling editor, George (Jeff Rawle), a womanising gambling addict, Dave (Neil Pearson), the attention seeking Damien (Stephen Tompkinson), perfectionist Helen (Ingrid Lacey) and the sociopathic Joy (Susannah Doyle). It was a workpla...
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The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Liverpool Playhouse
14Feb By Codie WrightNo Comments
North West

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Liverpool Playhouse

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr’s classic tale of, well, a tiger who came tea, has been a bedtime classic for over 50 years. It was adapted by David Wood into a stage show, which is celebrating 12 years and several Olivier Award nominations. That said, (and I might be in the minority here), I just didn’t gel with this performance. I took my two sons, 5 and 2, to see this show, and I think we were a real spectrum of reviews between us. At one end, my 2-year-old, who joined in with such enthusiasm I’m tempted to ask for a cut of the profit. Although he seemed to enjoy the show, I have seen him more rapt in other shows (including Kerr’s Mog, the Forgetful Cat just last year) so it certainly wasn’t his favourite. My eldest son sat in the middle of the road. Very much a “meh” revie...
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When You Pass Over My Tomb – Arcola Theatre
14Feb By Kira DanielsNo Comments
London

When You Pass Over My Tomb – Arcola Theatre

Finger-licking, or rather phalanx licking, good, When You Pass Over My Tomb by Sergio Blanco and adapted and directed by Daniel Goldman, is laden with content warnings (for assisted suicide, mentions of necrophilia, mental health, and blasphemous language) but where it might be expected to sink under the weight of its unwieldy themes, instead sails through increasingly murky waters with ease. Photo: Alex Brenner Neither linearly nor exclusively following the story of playwright Sergio Blanco himself as his fictionalized counterpart prepares to undergo assisted suicide and engages in flirtation with the convicted necrophiliac he plans to donate the majority of his body to, this three-hand play dips its toes into many different stories and traditions, including funerals, children’s gam...
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Shrek The Musical – Liverpool Empire
13Feb By Manda ElizabethNo Comments
North West

Shrek The Musical – Liverpool Empire

Once upon a time, in a land far far away... or just down the M62 in Liverpool depending on your postcode. Shrek The Musical landed in The Empire Theatre just in time for half term. Boasting a cast of International and West end stars, Shrek is certainly not one to miss out on this week. Opening with strong choreography and vocals from the ensemble in “Story of My Life” this was certainly a settle into your seat's moment as you begin to see the story unfold. Shrek, who is played by Anthony Lawrence has a big job on his hands which is to confront Farquaad (played by James Gillan) and reclaim his swamp, unbeknownst to him that he is on a far bigger path of defeating a dragon and claiming the princess from her tower. Light work? Or so he thought before he met his noble stead... A personal...
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