REVIEWS Archives - Page 266 of 548

Strangers in Between – Golden Goose Theatre

24Sep

By Jennifer LaishleyNo Comments

London

Strangers in Between – Golden Goose Theatre

Strangers In between is a coming-of-age story set in Australia. The story follows young Shane as he gets settled in Sydney and the play follows his struggles with coming out and self-discovery. The cast bought this play together with well-timed comedy and strong acting. Tommy Murphy's play is described as a period piece in the programme, but it still has the power to resonate with younger audiences. The play has a very clear message and really would work as a piece of theatre to teach younger audiences about sex. Photo: Peter Davies Alex Ansell does a good job of capturing Shane’s youthful naivety. He uses his innocence to create allot of comedy and did a good job with sustaining the Australian accent, even during the more emotional intense scenes. Stephen Connery Brown has exc...

23Sep

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

New Generations – Hope Street Theatre

A warm and welcoming story of ‘Love, Life & Family’, laced with beautiful original music, plays it safe, in this heartfelt exploration into generational childbirth and parenting. Premiered as a one act play, entitled ‘Grandmother’ at the 2022 Liverpool Theatre Festival, this piece has evolved into a 2-act performance renamed ‘New Generations’. With original songs and writing by Ana Murphy, the development has so much potential but shy’s away from tackling its issues head on. Or perhaps Murphy’s aim is to show that families, despite their best intentions, can tend to brush difficult issues under the carpet. The jovialities of the close-knit O’Brian family fun nights of games, joking and dancing is brought to an abrupt end following the news of Becky’s (Clare Alexandra...

23Sep

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

North West

Compositor E – Omnibus Theatre

The play is placed in 1623 depicting the compositor’s battle with their own demons, aspirations, alongside the morality of meanings and desires to leave their own fingerprint (stamp) within the Folio book. The printing ‘shop’ scene is set by crazed printers obsessed with fingerprints and rewriting history based on their own experiences. Dupre’s focus here appears to highlight the importance and reference of this book, as the First Folio collection edition of Shakespeare’s dramatic texts, has its 400th anniversary in 2023. To mark the occasion Dupre’ showcases a retelling of events, in a Macbeth style, drawing on the influences of language and events in the print shop at the time the original Folio was produced. The scenes are tense fraught with egos and desperation. The scri...

23Sep

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

The White Factory – Marylebone Theatre

At a time when war rages in Europe, a play written by Dmitry Glukhovsky and directed by Maxim Didenko - both political exiles from Russia about the things that people can be forced to do seems timely. The White Factory tells the story of the Kaufman family living in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland under Nazi occupation from 1938 onwards. The family of five are the heart of the story, husband and wife Yosef and Rivka, grandfather Ezekiel and boys Hermann and Volf. Initially in the wrong place and forced to translate, Yosef is forced to give up all he believes and take increasingly desperate action in efforts to keep his family safe. The horror that it takes to survive such a horror. Adrian Schiller is exceptional as Jewish Elder Chaim Rumkowski, appointed to run the city by the SS, forced t...

Boys From The Blackstuff – Liverpool’s Royal Court

23Sep

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Boys From The Blackstuff – Liverpool’s Royal Court

A standing ovation was a given, and Alan Bleasedale here to enjoy it, but I've never seen individual scenes applauded before. It's an astounding piece about the bitter struggle between employers, employees (Dole Office sniffers) and unemployed; men, once so proud of their skills, engulfed by the darkness of poverty and despair. A grand scale tragi-comedy, filled with microcosms: the second half seems like a series of vignettes, monologues and dialogues: fraught scenes between husband and wife, father and son, etc. On the one hand: farce, Freda (Helen Carter) in her hallway, caught between Malloy (Dominic Carter) at the back door, Angie at the front, the phone constantly ringing. Then Yosser, seeking to discover the meaning of life from the churches at each end of hope Street. Th set is ...

Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)

21Sep

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)

When you put two geniuses together there is no guarantee that what they create will match the expectation; there is no such concern here as Antonio Pappano conducts Barrie Kosky’s bold new imagining of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the musical brilliance of the orchestra matched by an outstanding cast. This production marks the start of a new Ring Cycle for The Royal Opera and this is undoubtedly a prelude of exciting things to come from the wonderful pairing of Pappano and Kosky. Any new production of Wagner’s Ring has to remain faithful to its mythical origins but also needs to find a way to connect to its modern audience, but that balance is achieved and some in this vibrant theatrical production set at the beginning of time and of life. Rufus Didwiszus’s simple yet symbolic monochr...

21Sep

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Operation Epsilon – Southwark Playhouse

Operation Epsilon is concerned with a niche piece of 1945 history that may potentially find a wider audience due to the popularity of recent Oppenheimer movie. Thanks to Cillian Murphy’s turn in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, suddenly everyone has an opinion on the ethics of scientific research and the uses of nuclear fission. The play is set after the fall of Nazi Germany, as the Allies carved up the Reich and sought justice and peace for the world at large. Except, it’s never that simple. At best, war creates moral ambiguities, and by its very nature, revels in murder and destruction. Ethics become very bendy once bombs start falling. In the post-war clean up, British and American intelligence services were keen to get the lowdown on the extent of Germany’s nuclear research. ...

21Sep

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Crown Jewels – The Lowry

Things should have gone so differently. A fantastic ‘stranger than fiction’ piece of British history; a vibrant, clever set; a stellar cast featuring some the cream of stage and screen, paired with a renowned TV comedy writer. This should have been a barnstormer of a show. And yet, tonight’s re-telling of an infamous 17th century heist to steal the Crown Jewels, by Colonel Thomas Blood and his accomplices, falls flatter than the St Edward’s Crown that Blood mangles with his mallet, so as to fit it into his loot bag. So, what has gone wrong? Blood’s story may not be as well known as that other treasonous tale, the Gunpowder Plot, but it is a fascinating one of how the royal regalia was nearly pilfered, it’s only protection a lone elderly custodian, Talbot Edwards, and a less-than-reli...

20Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

North West

Annie – Manchester Opera House

The story of orphan Annie originates from a 1924 comic strip called Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray, lyricist Martin Charnin approached author Thomas Meehan to write the book of a musical, a wise choice considering his many successes since, with awards for co-writing The Producers, Hairspray, also writing the books for the musicals, Elf, and Young Frankenstein amongst others. Meehan created Annie, using some of the characters from the comic strip, but added to them, using Charles Dickens’ orphan characters as inspiration, which worked well with the musical being set at the time of the Great Depression of 1929. Lyricist Charnin, would then work with composer Charles Strouse, using Meehan’s book as the framework for Annie. We join Annie (Sharangi Gnanavarathan) and her frie...

20Sep

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

I, Daniel Blake – Liverpool Playhouse

In 2016 Ken Loach’s groundbreaking film rocked the heart of the establishment, forcing politicians to speak of the issues it raised in parliament and for one to remark it was ‘a work of fiction’. Daniel Blake may have been a fictional character, but the powerful story was anything but fiction. People were trapped in the universal credit system and the poorest in our society were the ones who were forgotten and ignored. The actor who played Daniel, Dave Johns, has now adapted the screenplay for the stage and tiny dragon productions are touring it to appreciative audiences around the country. This play is still relevant and whilst the cost-of-living crisis hits once again the poorest in our society, the message that Daniel Blake is a human being who deserves respect reso...