REVIEWS Archives - Page 29 of 555

The Importance of Being Earnest – Noel Coward Theatre

3Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Importance of Being Earnest – Noel Coward Theatre

When you see a cast list inclusive of Stephen Fry and the players of The Importance of Being Earnest, you know you are in safe hands. This production brings joy, silliness and exquisite delivery of an old classic. The witty puns and charm don’t disappoint, and the extravagance of the set and costumes throws you into high society elegance. This Oscar Wilde play first performed in 1895, is the last of his drawing room plays. It centres around two young men about town who in their mission to avoid their life of obligation and responsibility both take on the persona of ‘Earnest’, to gain the affections of two eligible young women. “Living a double live has its drawbacks” and amongst the mayhem this revised rendition brings sparkle and nonsense to the stage like you have never seen before. ...

3Oct

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

London

Tosca – Royal Ballet and Opera

Director Oliver Mears triumphs with this modern-day interpretation of Puccini’s full-blooded three-act drama of politics and power with its many allusions to global current affairs to the fore. In a war-torn Rome, Floria Tosca (Anna Netreba) and Mario Cavaradossi (Freddie De Tommaso) live for each other and for their art. But when Cavaradossi helps an escaped prisoner, Cesare Angelotti (Ossian Huskinson), the lovers make a deadly enemy in the form of Baron Scarpia (Gerald Finley), Chief of Police. At the mercy of Scarpia’s twisted desires, Tosca is forced into making a horrific bargain: sleeping with the man she hates to save the man she loves. Can she find a way out? Mears’ focus is very much on the darker elements at the heart of the piece, in particular the contrast in class b...

3Oct

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Bacchae – National Theatre

Nima Taleghani’s Bacchae is an explicitly pro-women reading of the Euripedes’ tragedy, if one that feels slightly dated (and not because of the Ancient Greek setting). It flips the focus of the play to its Greek chorus: the women of the Bacchae narrate, while the traditionally leading Dionysos, Agave and Pentheus become funnier, more ridiculous and more pitiable characters. The chorus of Bacchae is led by Vida, brought to gritty and sparkling life by Clare Perkins. Dionysos’ foster mother, she guides them through the mountains to arrive at Thebes, where they plan to liberate every woman from patriarchy, join their cult, and drink, suck and fuck to her heart’s desire. Indhu Rubasingham’s production and Taleghani’s script are both undeniably fun. The atmosphere in the Olivier is joyful...

3Oct

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Death on the Nile – The Lowry

Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, directed by Lucy Bailey at The Lowry, is a real masterclass in theatrical storytelling, full of intrigue and suspense. From the very first moment, the audience is swept into Christie’s world of glamour and danger, all delivered with precision delivery that makes this show a genuine five-star triumph! What strikes you immediately is just how slick and cinematic the staging feels. Mike Britton’s ingenious two-tier set design brilliantly evokes the cabins and decks of the Nile steamer, offering the audience both intimacy and grandeur in equal measure. It’s this clever simple staging that allows the story to unfold with a fast pace, while Oliver Fenwick’s atmospheric lighting and a subtle, evocative soundtrack add layers ...

2Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Top Hat – Edinburgh Playhouse

Irving Berlin’s Top Hat taps into the Edinburgh Playhouse this week with more sparkle than a sequinned gin palace, and, in a rare feat, manages to float for two and a half hours without ever feeling heavy. Not just that, the sound is also extraordinary, and for a venue sometimes dogged by poor acoustics, this is a revelation: sound clear as a bell, band fizzing with verve, and an audience leaning in from overture to curtain. For context, Top Hat began life in 1935 as an RKO film directed by Mark Sandrich, a vehicle for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with Berlin supplying the evergreen numbers, “Cheek to Cheek,” “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?”. The stage version we see tonight descends from the 2011 UK adaptation by Matthew White and Ho...

2Oct

By Sam JamesNo Comments

North West

Shake It Up Baby – Epstein Theatre

Have you ever wondered how The Beatles became THE BEATLES? If so, get yourself down to the Epstein Theatre for the fantastically toe-tapping 'Shake It Up Baby' written by Ian Salmon and directed by Stephen Fletcher. Dive into the 1960s on a musical journey which spans Liverpool, London and Hamburg. A multi-talented and creative cast take to the stage to delight and entertain you with outstanding vocals, a story of determination and energetic choreography (Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and WOW LIVERPOOL), making you feel that you want to get right up and dance with them. The characterisation of every character on stage was diverse and relatable, with many actors showing their wide range of skills by easily transitioning between multiple roles. Onto the main stars o...

Make England Great Again – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

2Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Make England Great Again – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Francis Beckett's new play takes the very topical theme of a right-wing political party having assumed power in the United Kingdom and speculates on its possible consequences. There is certainly plenty in our present political discourse to provide the raw material for such a narrative. The play starts with a dialogue between King Charles III and Max Moore, the Prime Minister of Briton's First, a recently elected right-wing minority government. Max is seeking a dissolution of Parliament even though he has only been Prime Minister for six days. We also meet the leader of the opposition, Pam Jones, denied the premiership because of alleged fraudulent electoral activities in a key number of the constituencies that she won. The fourth member of the cast is Max Moore's political adviser and p...

2Oct

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

The Book of Mormon – Liverpool Empire

What really shouldn’t work as a concept for a musical, really does. A musical based on the book that Mormons use, or even Mormons in general? And it was written by the duo who created South Park? Everything just shouldn’t work about this show, yet it has a huge following and is so funny, that you ache from laughing. Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s musical follows Elder Price – the top missionary in his class and his missionary partner, Elder Cunnigham, who is the bottom of the class. It follows them as they begin their missionary journey and not in the place that Elder Price was praying for. Nothing seems to go right for the duo and they try to covert a local village to become Mormons themselves. As with their partnership, it has varying levels of success. As someone who saw the origina...

2Oct

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

FIASCO – Vaulty Towers

FIASCO by Cryptids Improvisational Theatre is a longform improv show based on the tabletop roleplaying game of the same name. In the tabletop roleplaying game, players roll dice and consult tables to come up with a collection of storytelling prompts, linking characters together through “relationships”, “needs”, “locations”, and “objects”. This provides the framework upon which the players collaboratively tell a story, usually of normal people finding themselves drawn into increasingly violent situations the likes of which you might find in a Coen Brothers movie. Cryptids Improvisational Theatre have adapted and streamlined the general structure to suit a live improvised performance. The audience first votes – by cheering and general verbal consensus – on which of three general genre...

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Hull New Theatre

2Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Hull New Theatre

When C S Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he couldn’t have envisaged that the second in the series, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, would still be entertaining folk 75 years after it was first published. To celebrate the anniversary, this week Hull New Theatre plays host to the West End smash-hit production and, taking my seat on Tuesday night, I noticed theatregoers of all ages in attendance. Before curtain up we were entertained by a pianist, tinkling the ivories of an upright piano and dressed as a Second World War air raid warden, complete with steel helmet and overcoat. As the strains of We’ll Meet Again rang out, this first scene, on a darkened, misty stage, brought the Second World War years into focus. The story centres around the four Pevensie si...