REVIEWS Archives - Page 309 of 548

Ballet Black: Pioneers – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

29Jun

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Ballet Black: Pioneers – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

For over two decades Ballet Black has nurtured their small plot in the vast landscape of ballet. Grafting together innovation and passion, building on their bouquet of diversity to represent crucial change for the benefit of their art. The company continues to lay stones along the path of intelligence and meaningful entertainment with Ballet Black: Pioneers. This show is by, about and thanks to pioneers. The opening act, Then and Now, set on a minimalist background against which each dancer takes their turn to showcase technique and talent while collectively giving body to the poetry of Adrienne Rich from her collection, Dark Fields of the Republic. The minimalism drives your focus to the life on stage, where the tightrope of dance, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s violin and Rich’s wor...

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (& Sonnet 104) – Barons Court Theatre

28Jun

By Gonzalo SentanaNo Comments

London

The Two Gentlemen of Verona (& Sonnet 104) – Barons Court Theatre

A friend betraying another friend to get their objective, and going to the farthest distance to achieve success, turning slowly into villainy. A story of morality, from Shakespeare to our days. This version of Shakespeare's work, directed by Evan L. Barker, follows its sell-out previews, and has a slightly different cast in some of the supporting roles. This is an adaptation by Barker of the well-known piece, setting into a high-school context. The roles of the two gentlemen are played by Hugo Papiernik as Valentine, and Paul Surel as Proteus. The two ladies with whom they fall in love and then fight for are Tor Leijten as Julia, and Lavinia Grippa as Sylvia. Completing the cast are Harry Rosa as Lance, Izzi McCormack-John as Lucetta/Thurio, Alun Rees as Speed/Host, Gemskii as Duke/Anto...

28Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Dear England – National Theatre

In 1996, Gareth Southgate stepped up to take the final kick in England's semi-final penalty shoot-out against Germany - and missed. That moment haunts Southgate, the team and the fans, exacerbating the "thirty years of hurt" and failure since England's World Cup win in 1966. James Graham's latest work explores the struggles of the England men's football team to turn failure to success, a metaphor for the plight of the country seen through the lens of football. Southgate, appointed manager of the England team in 2016, recognises that the team, while talented, are sabotaging their own efforts and brings in a psychologist to help them address their fears. One day, maybe, the nation would not be cowering behind the sofa in buttock-clenching terror every time an international match was de...

28Jun

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Verdict – Bradford Alhambra Theatre

Courtroom drama The Verdict is one of those great 1980s movies that has been somewhat forgotten, but it regularly features in the top movie lists of all time, with a career high performance by screen legend Paul Newman as alcoholic Boston attorney Frank Galvin who finds himself as he fights a seemingly unwinnable case. As producers look to turn celluloid classics then this tale of redemption in a courtroom is a natural fit as Frank takes on an incompetent judge, a shady defence attorney and the might of Boston’s Catholic Church, who are in this case are fighting off a medical malpractice suit in one of their hospitals that left a young mother in a coma. In David Mamet’s blistering original screenplay, Frank is a self-loathing failure who only sees life through the bottom of a glass t...

27Jun

By Gonzalo SentanaNo Comments

London

Stumped – Hampstead Theatre

How would a game of cricket with two Nobel prizes of literature playing in one of the teams unravel? In Stumped, we get to see a hypothesis about it, with touches of surrealism all around. In this play, written by Shomit Dutta, and directed by Guy Unsworth, the audience finds Samuel Beckett, played by Stephen Tompkinson, and Harold Pinter, played by Andrew Lancel, in a game of cricket and its aftermath, trying to get back home. The slightly outrageous situations that come up, including a ball in the head, and the fear to wait or be alone, make this play an interesting take on a non-naturalistic style of theatre. The stage, beautifully designed by David Woodhead, is like painting. This leads one to think that what we'll see will be a creation, no matter what. The walls on the stage ar...

27Jun

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Triominos! – Liverpool Philharmonic

Triominos! was a collection of piano, clarinet and bassoon trio music, spanning offerings from nineteenth century Ukraine to twentieth century Argentina. The first half featured a trio by Carl Frühling and a world premiere from Liverpool based composer, David Forshaw, and the second half was made up of a selection of Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words and Piazzolla’s Rivirado arranged by pianist, Ron Abramski. The concert opened with Frühling’s Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano Op.40. Frühling’s work is not well known or regular performed today and it was nice to see this Romantic piece of music performed which was chosen in particular for Frühling’s links with Ukraine. The first movement is haunting and enchanting, with the woodwind frolicking playfully over the piano. Slower section...

27Jun

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Strictly Ballroom – The Lowry

Baz-Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom first ever UK tour hit Manchester’s beautiful Lowry Theatre, full of glitz and glamour this visually stunning adaptation of the 1992 film by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce revolves around a rebellious Australian dancer Scott Hastings (Kevin Clifton). Directed and Co-Choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with Co-Choreographer Jason Gilkison the coupling has created a masterpiece of dance, glamour, passion, and excitement. Unfortunately, on press night after the opening number the creative team ran into technical difficulties resulting in the show being halted for approximately 10-15 minutes, which must have been very frustrating for them, and the audience did get a little fidgety by the lengthy delay. After the initial hiccup the show went on, telling the...

25Jun

By Ely KingNo Comments

London

Mrs. Doubtfire – Shaftesbury Theatre

If there was a musical equivalent of marmite, Mrs. Doubtfire is exactly that. Some audience members were crying with laughter, whilst others were shrinking in their seat with sheer discomfort. Mrs. Doubtfire, originated by Robin Williams, is an old family favourite film, telling the tale of how a divorce leads to immature Daniel Hillard dressing as a woman to deceive his ex-wife in order to see his kids. This is all done under the guise of him doing whatever it takes to see his children, but brushes off the manipulative, inappropriateness of his controlling actions. From the pre-show announcement, the distasteful tone was set, with a voice-over of Daniel (Gabriel Vick) flitting between impersonations to tell the audience to turn off their phones, with jabs at Prince Harry and Megh...

The Orchestra of Opera North: The Pearl Fishers – Hull City Hall

25Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Orchestra of Opera North: The Pearl Fishers – Hull City Hall

On a sweltering Saturday evening in Hull, members of the Opera North company braved warm stage lights when they performed The Pearl Fishers in the magnificent surroundings of the City Hall. The Pearl Fishers is one of Bizet's earliest operas, first being performed in 1863 and lambasted by the critics on its opening night. Well, 160 years later, here in 2023, this critic can't think of anything "lambastable" about the 24-year-old Bizet's efforts, or Opera North's production either for that matter. Mind you, the hall itself could not have provided a better backdrop, with its amazing 1911 organ - all, 5,505 pipes of it - beneath a colourful Baroque revival style ceiling. Arranged in front of this masterpiece were the tenors, mezzos, sopranos and basses of the Chorus of Opera North...

25Jun

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Punch – Hope Street Theatre

Punch, written and produced by Steve Bird, and directed by Elaine Louise Stewart and Bird, is a drama uncovering what happens when two families collide in a shock tragedy that will change their lives forever. Aiming to raise awareness of death and catastrophic injury from single punch injuries, the play uncovers a single example of how one punch can rock the foundations of family life. The set shows two family homes, one with crisp white tablecloths, and a graduation photograph and one with an overloaded clothes horse and a tacky fringed lamp. This serves to illustrate that the two families are from different social classes: one with “a house on the hill” and the other on an ill-reputed estate. These differences are highlighted in the beginning of the play where Charles (Ted Grant) bemo...