REVIEWS Archives - Page 243 of 574

Introverts The Musical – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

3Apr

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Introverts The Musical – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Writer Amy Hawes, one third of Tandem Writing Collective, teams up with keyboard player Aaron McGregor to present a brand-new musical about Introverts. Still at workshop stage we are treated to a sneaky peek by a trio of fine actors: Kim Allen, Natalie Arle-Toyne and Betty Valencia, with scripts in hand. Toyne stands out as the neurotic, protective mother, trying to protect her anxiety filled, introvert daughter, Angela, played by Valencia, with Allen never far away as the side-kick imaginary friend. When Angela is given the chance of a free a course at the Introvert Conversion Centre (ICC) which has recently opened in Livingston, and her mum the commission to write about it, they both jump at the chance. It’s not long before Angela is transformed into an online celebrity with a host...

3Apr

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

2:22 A Ghost Story – Liverpool Empire

As Danny Robbins (writer) so accurately describes in his introduction in the programme, 2:22 has ghosts in it, and most of the text is about ghosts, but in reality, it is about trust. How would you as a believer react to a sceptically loved one, and vice versa? This play explores dynamics of relationships when your beliefs differ so widely, and this is what has truly made the play a success. When married couple and new parents Jenny (Fiona Wade) and Sam (George Rainsford) cannot agree on the cause of mysterious events in their new home, their trust in each other and strength of their relationship is stripped bare. Helped along by dinner guests Lauren (Vera Chok) and Ben (Jay McGuinness) the couple must prove (or disprove) the cause of the inexplicable happenings. Their beliefs differ on...

Little Shop of Horrors – Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

2Apr

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

Little Shop of Horrors – Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

The atmosphere in the main house at Theatre by the Lake is electrifying as Audrey Two takes centre stage for this energetic and magical production of the classic Little Shop of Horrors, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. The set designers need a shout out for their adaptable New York florist shop on Skid Row. The cast are really versatile and first class – quadruple threats of acting, singing, dancing and musicians. Opening this musical extravaganza is the trio of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette played by Janna May, Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos, and Chardai Shaw play along with the house band, Migdalia van der Hoven on Drums with Musical Director, Gabrielle Ball. The production hits the ground running, and it doesn’t disappoint. Oliver Mawdsley as the central character, orphan Seymour who...

Legally Blonde The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

1Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Legally Blonde The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

It does seem odd in what can seem like an endless conveyor belt of stage adaptations of hit Hollywood movies that Leeds Amateur Operatic Society are the first to stage Legally Blonde in this historic theatre where they have been putting on shows since 1890. The don’t judge a book by its cover trope is one of the classic musical theatre narratives, with the traditional happy ending always coming from the most unlikely of sources. In this version staying pretty faithful to the smash hit Reece Witherspoon movie, our unexpected heroine is sorority queen and fashionista Elle Woods, who wins a place at the prestigious Harvard Law School proving to have a sharp legal intellect beneath all her fluffy pink exterior as she wins the day. It's a high energy show with plenty of humour and some gr...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Theatre Royal, St Helens

1Apr

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Theatre Royal, St Helens

Easter half term is well and truly taken care of as Goldilocks rolls back into St Helens along with the biggest, most lavish circus in town. A magical world full of razzle dazzle, and lots of silliness in this thoroughly entertaining production which will get the whole family laughing and dancing in the aisles. Under the competent direction of Chantelle Nolan, an enthusiastic cast deliver stellar performances, whilst visibly having lots of fun. Goldilocks has it all, the porridge and some! An all singing and dancing extravaganza, laced together with cheeky innuendoes, familiar panto tropes, and topped off with plenty of physical comedy as well as some dancing doggy delights. Katy McKenna sparkles as Goldilocks, enchanting and engaging throughout. A steady calm amongst the chaos as he...

Pansexual Pregnant Piracy – Soho Theatre

1Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Pansexual Pregnant Piracy – Soho Theatre

Get on board, baby. It’s Pansexual Pregnant Piracy at the Soho Theatre. Creators Eleanor Colville, Ro Suppa, and Robbie Taylor Hunt also make up three quarters of the four-person cast singing and dancing their way through the totally possibly true and occasionally even accurate life story of real-life eighteenth-century pirate Anne Bonny. Played with great aplomb and shimmering gravitas by Suppa, Anne is a solid lead audiences root for as easily as she uproots gender conventions. Colville’s panachefull presentation as Calico Jack is delicious and the joy of creative performance shines out of every porthole. Elizabeth Chu rounds out the cast in a practically perfect performance as “hot wet babe” Mary Read, and an even more transfixing interlude as an even wetter fish. Creator, perform...

Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear – Southwark Playhouse

1Apr

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear – Southwark Playhouse

Blackeyed Theatre’s Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear makes its Spring 2024 revival at Southwark Playhouse Borough after a successful run in 2023 across the UK. Adapted and directed for stage by Nick Lane, the play weaves two plots set in the past and the present with stylised, engaging storytelling (Joseph Derrington) and neat choral transitions transporting the audience to a different time where mysteries and adventures are the norm. The play opens with Holmes (Bobby Bradley) decoding a mysterious message signalling “danger” with Dr. Watson (Derrington) and Mrs. Hudson (Alice Osmanski) at the iconic 221B Baker Street. This leads the duo on an adventure to an ancient manor house further unravelling a distant narrative set in Pennsylvanian Vermissa Valley involving a corrupt gang and ...

1Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Animal Farm – Hull Truck Theatre

When Snowball the angry, militant “pig” crept menacingly towards me, across the stage of Hull Truck Theatre on Thursday night, I began to think my front-row seat wasn’t such a good thing after all. I was at this popular local theatre to watch a powerful re-telling of George Orwell’s classic, Animal Farm - a book I had never read, but, it being a classic, knew the storyline of. Thankfully, Snowball (Samater Ahmed) spared me, directing his anger at the farm’s owner and his master, Mr Jones. The way Jones ran Manor Farm was not to the animals’ liking nor for their benefit, so they overthrow him, take over and create a new set of rules in which “all animals are equal”. However, it soon becomes apparent that the cleverest farm animals are the pigs - Squealer (Killian Macardle), Napo...

1Apr

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

Je Suis Charlie – 53Two, Manchester

It only takes a glimpse of 9/11-themed musical Come from Away or Carly Wijs’ Us/Them to appreciate that theatre and terrorism is an atypical yet resonating combination, when handled tactfully. Rough Boy Mcr attempts to do the same with Je Suis Charlie, but this verbose one-acter fails to lift any sort of new, thought-provoking interpretations from its source material. A Grindr hook-up takes an unforeseen turn shortly after the timid and youthful-looking Mike turns up to satirical cartoonist Charlie’s home; the two roles are dutifully played by Ben Bradfield and Ben Rigby respectively. Putting aside its several distracting plot holes, the serious conflict in Je Suis Charlie is interrupted by frequent, formulaic comedy that rarely sits right in the context- though Rigby’s gags and quip...

Brief Encounter – Church Hill Theatre Edinburgh

1Apr

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Brief Encounter – Church Hill Theatre Edinburgh

Brief Encounter started as a play called Still Life before Noel Coward translated it to the stage with his immortal screenplay. Emma Rice’s highly rated re-adaptation of Brief Encounter for the stage meets both mediums somewhere in the middle. The original screenplay is pastiched beyond belief- even if you’ve never seen it, you will have seen at least one comedy skit. Married suburban mother Laura Jesson is passing through the train station when a piece of grit gets in her eye. Saved from potential blindness by fellow train traveler, the married Dr Alec Harvey, passions are ignited. The trouble is, it’s the late 1930s, and their burning love for each other is ruinous, so here their love story pans out against a motley crew of other travelers, clientele and servers in the train station c...