REVIEWS Archives - Page 29 of 548

Send in the Clowns: A Little Flop of Horrors – Hope Mill Theatre

17Sep

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Send in the Clowns: A Little Flop of Horrors – Hope Mill Theatre

Returning for their fourth outing at Hope Mill Theatre, the boisterous cabaret troupe behind Send in the Clowns: A Little Flop of Horrors once again delivered an evening of wickedly funny, musically sharp, and gloriously risqué entertainment. Having caught their last production (C*ck of Ages) back in May, I was curious to see if they could outdo themselves and they certainly rose to the challenge. The four-strong cast – Fatt Butcher, Blu Romantic, Dahlia Rivers, and Alanna Boden proved to be a powerhouse ensemble. Vocally, they were outstanding, effortlessly switching from the sultry tones of Cabaret to a comedic delivery of Dear Evan Hansen, and the playful belting of a song from Annie. Their mash-up medleys, including an inspired collision of Chicago, Oliver! and Les Misérables, were ...

16Sep

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Dagmarr’s Dimanche – Crazy Coqs

Hidden away beneath the streets of Picadilly, glitzy Art Deco venue Crazy Coqs provides the perfect venue for an anachronistic cabaret show performed by a vampire: Dagmarr’s Dimanche. Singer Hersh Dagmarr has absolute command of the stage. His voice is powerful and emotive, and he effortlessly draws the audience into the stories contained within the lyrics. With songs arranged by pianist Karen Newby, the eclectic setlist playfully jumps around from Édith Piaf to Kylie Minogue, via Cole Porter, Madonna, Sondheim, and the Pet Shop Boys. Dagmarr continually plays with the audience’s expectations, teasing one song and then performing another. A Kylie Minogue medley featuring riffs from ‘Willkommen’ and ‘Mack the Knife’ caught the audience especially off-guard, in the best possible way. My p...

16Sep

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Shotgunned – Riverside Studios

Written and directed by Matt Anderson, Shotgunned gained some very good reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and has now transferred to the Riverside Studios. It is an engaging 60 minutes of theatre. Cleverly written and excellently performed, it tells the story of a young couple, Roz and Dylan, charting their relationship from their first meeting at a party, through its highs and lows. The distinguishing feature of this production is that the story in not told linearly but in a series of short, some very short, vignettes in a seemingly almost random order. The fascination for the audience is piecing together from these fragments how the relationship has developed. This format presents particular challenges for the actors, who have to switch mood almost instantly during the s...

Cauld Blast Orchestra – Traverse Theatre

15Sep

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cauld Blast Orchestra – Traverse Theatre

Some reunions coast on memory, others roar into the present as if they had never left. Cauld Blast Orchestra’s return to the Traverse is firmly the latter. Born out of Communicado’s Jock Tamson’s Bairns more than thirty years ago, the band has always revelled in being unpigeonholeable. Folk, jazz, rock and classical sit in the same set, stitched with irreverence and played with virtuosity. Founding members remain the backbone. Karen Wimhurst, who first gathered the band together in 1990, is on clarinet for most of the evening, weaving intricate lines that remind you why this music still burns bright. Ian Johnstone dazzles with his versatility, moving between tuba, accordion and piano, each instrument sounding like it’s his true home. Steve Kettley, equally compe...

15Sep

By Zain RussellNo Comments

North West

Not Your Superwoman – Bush Theatre

Not Your Superwoman, stars Golda Rosheuvel and Letitia Wright; two powerhouse actresses who breathed life into Emma Dennis-Edward’s deeply moving play. The story follows a mother and daughter, Joyce and Erica, who have grown apart over the years as they mourn the loss of their family matriarch — “Mummy” to Joyce and “Granny” to Erica. At its heart, the play is about family ties strained by silence, grief, and distance, yet bound by love and memory. Using Guyana as its vibrant backdrop, Not Your Superwoman becomes more than just a family drama, it becomes a meditation on the importance of culture as both a source of identity and a bridge across generations. Through the music, the language, the food, and the rituals of remembrance, Dennis-Edward captures how culture is often the thread...

15Sep

By Zandra OdetundeNo Comments

London

Black Power Desk – Brixton House

Theatre has rarely felt this alive, urgent, and unapologetically Black. Black Power Desk, an original musical directed by Gbolahan Obisesan, is a searing, soulful exploration of sisterhood, grief, and resistance, set against the backdrop of the covert operations of New Scotland Yard’s infamous “Black Power Desk” in 1970s London. Loosely inspired by the Mangrove Nine, the play follows two sisters, Celia (Rochelle Rose) and Dina (Veronica Carabai), as they navigate love, politics, and survival in a Britain defined by racial tension and state surveillance. The result? An electrifying blend of theatre, live music, and political storytelling that refuses to soften its edges. The entire ensemble delivers powerhouse performances, seamlessly balancing individual brilliance with collective ch...

The Story of Jessie Gavin – Callister Gardens, Oxton, Birkenhead

15Sep

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Story of Jessie Gavin – Callister Gardens, Oxton, Birkenhead

Writer and director Pauline Fleming’s tale of Oxton’s very own Gentleman Jack in this original production from Depth Training CIC hints at the intrigue and suspense behind an array of secret relationships during the restrictive Victorian era but doesn’t really get beneath the surface of its two primary characters enough for my liking and their passionate, rule-defying romance. Jessie Gavin (Gabriella Tavini), an artist from the Wirral, escapes the expectations of her upbringing to pursue the freedom of artistic circles in London and Paris. When she falls in love with pioneering architect Eileen Gray (Alicia Brockenbrow), they create a life filled with creativity, defiance, and desire. But with the world at war, can their relationship survive societal conflicts and pressures. Comi...

12Sep

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Every Brilliant Thing – SohoPlace

Every Brilliant Thing is a one-person play that features different actors across its 14-week run. I had the chance to watch Ambika Mod take on this ambitious challenge, guiding us through the life of her character, beginning at the age of seven, when she is first confronted with her mother’s attempted suicide. This is a profoundly moving story that highlights the small joys around us and the little things that can make life worth living. From Club Penguin to the joy of sharing a book with someone and seeing them love it too, the play reminds us of the beauty in seemingly ordinary moments. Although technically a one-woman show, this production cleverly incorporates a great deal of planned audience participation. Each performance sees audience members randomly chosen to read out lines,...

12Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Consumed – Leeds Playhouse

Anyone who grew up in a large Irish family like I did knows only too well that every family gathering has the potential to kick off, but thankfully I’ve never experienced anything as grim as this birthday party from hell. Four generations of a Northern Irish family have come together for potty mouthed matriarch Julia’s 90th birthday lunch, presided over by her daughter Gilly who constantly seems on the edge of a mental meltdown. Gilly’s daughter Jenny has flown over from London with her woke daughter Murieannn who was born in England, but all four women have intergenerational trauma that comes out as they really take the gloves off. And there’s another ghost hanging over this feast that offers a delicious twist as the women batter each other emotionally as all their skeletons come...

The Great British Bake Off Musical – Carriageworks Theatre

12Sep

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Great British Bake Off Musical – Carriageworks Theatre

This musical has a slice of action, romance, comedy, tragedy, heartbreak and social diversity, Dean Patrick certainly thought of a story line that would hit close to home for any member of the audience. A show masked as a performance filled with puns and buns, certainly unveiled many more layers as the narrative ran through. The show brought a continued sense of modernity with a touch of tradition, complimenting audiences of all ages, but also giving the Victoria sponge the credit she deserves. With vibrant lighting and warm tones of pastel across the stage lit up delightfully, presenting a sense of togetherness just as the Channel 4 show does, although things got tangled in between the strudel, as a group of regulars the contestants came together as a bunch with many differences joined...