REVIEWS Archives - Page 321 of 548

20May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Bleak Expectations – Criterion Theatre

Based on the award-winning BBC comedy of the same name, Mark Evans' Bleak Expectations takes everything you think you know about Charles Dickens work, chucks it in the air and sees where it lands. There are some recognisable features of Dickens - foggy London, mistaken identities, legal intricacies, cruel headmasters. There the similarities deliberately end. Evans' hilarious comedy is narrated by Sir Philip Bin, who takes the audience through his life, introducing the characters who have shaped him. Known as Pip, Sir Philip's overwhelming motivations are to protect his family and find true love. This does not always prove straightforward; he survives the cruelty of a public school with its regular beatings and lack of edible food, his mother goes mad after Pip's father dies abr...

Greatest Days – Palace Theatre, Manchester

20May

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Greatest Days – Palace Theatre, Manchester

What a time to be a Take That fan! Just weeks after Take That’s incredible performance at the Coronation Concert; the bands own musical; Greatest Days arrives in Manchester, delivering a heart-warming story alongside those all important Take That hits. Greatest Days is so cleverly written by Tim Firth, it’s a story which is not only relatable, it’s emotional and moving without being far fetched or fantasy - it’s winning formula is that it’s about ordinary people, the fans and not about the stars themselves - and by doing this - you find yourself rooting for the cast throughout. Greatest Days is a refreshed version of the 2017 Musical; The Band which featured a TV contest; Let it Shine in the lead up to find the 5 boys to be in the band. This time around, it’s a different cast feat...

20May

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

Mustard – Arcola Theatre

Mustard, both written and performed by Eva O'Connor, is a one-woman show about Eva, a young Irish woman escaping the religious trappings of rural Ireland to London to study art. On a night out clubbing she meets a ‘smoking area man’, and after going back to his and discovering he is a professional cyclist, he is then known only as The Cyclist. O'Connor’s script is smart and zings, mustard being the only English ‘colonial’ item allowed in Eva’s home, lines about dipping Tayto and other moments leading to extra laughs from the knowing Irish in the audience. There are some lovely turns of phrase throughout including describing the caller id of her ex as ‘the letters and numbers that make him up’. O’Connor keeps the audience's attention throughout, a focused and measured delivery with lyric...

20May

By Anisha AnantpurkarNo Comments

London

At Birth – Baron’s Court Theatre

The stage is set with 3 stage-blocks, a couple of wine glasses, a bottle of white wine, and an assortment of stuffed animals neatly arranged in a corner. Sitting in an intimate setting watching Isaac (Ty Autry) and Anna (Thalia Gonzales Kane) work through an unplanned pregnancy was like dropping in on crucial moments of their life. The premise of the show is hilarious and intriguing– two best friends Anna, a lesbian, and Ty, a gold-star gay man, have sex. What starts off as a funny, light-hearted, and awkward piece, then explores the difficulties Anna faces after finding out that she is pregnant. Isaac and Anna, drinking wine, talking about past relationships, and feeling sexually frustrated but also too lazy to find other partners, express their desire to have sex. The first scene is l...

Murder in Play – Rainhill Garrick Society

19May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Murder in Play – Rainhill Garrick Society

If it’s farce you want it’s farce you’ll get and with Rainhill Garrick firmly established as the go to place, director Rick Young reinforces this reputation with his enjoyable romp of a production of Simon Brett’s wonderfully awful Murder In Play. Boris Smolensky’s (George Lowe) budget repertory production of ‘Murder at Priorswell Manor’ is looking decidedly shaky with the cast more interested in their egos than the play as his wife Renee (Jo Webster) spars with long-time rival Christa (Rosetta Parker) as well as her husband’s latest interest, Ginette (Alison Mawdsley) who herself remains admired from afar by Tim (Tom Nevitt). With Sophie (Sophie Brogan) waiting for her break and thespian Harrison (Michael Brennan) seeking out Dutch courage to stop himself from breaking, stage manager P...

Strictly Movie Musicals – Brindley Theatre

19May

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Strictly Movie Musicals – Brindley Theatre

You know when you get that box of chocolates, and you love them all and cannot chose which is your favourite – that’s what watching this performance was like. The cast of the Centenary Theatre Company put on such a spectacular performance that for every song they delivered either as an ensemble or as solo performances they made it impossible to pick a favourite – now that is a rarity in musical theatre! The Centenary cast opened their third instalment in the Strictly franchise with a bang. The director Dan Groes had designed the performance as 5 showcases, transporting the audience to different genres of the world of music. The cast covered the Golden Years of MGM, songs from screen to stage, animated musicals, musicals from books and finally musicals that had earned Oscars. Ea...

19May

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

A Chorus Line – Pendleton College

Many choreographers have failed in their attempt to put dance into the feet of this reviewer. It makes it all the more interesting to see how it all works and admire the speed with which proper dancers understand the language and translate it into movement. A skill I will never have, but this is the main premise of this 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. Of course, it is about much more than that and the show unfolds by telling the life stories of the auditionees. But first, life must imitate art and the students of Pendleton College will also have auditioned like the characters they now portray. Director Ian Bennett has put together a largely talented cast. He has also changed some of the narrative and characters to suit his cast and the ch...

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction – Shakespeare North Playhouse

18May

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction – Shakespeare North Playhouse

For a play where its most significant feature is being ‘off the grid’, using self-generated power and a touch of candlelight, the Playhouse, styled as a mini-Globe with slightly better seating, seems like the perfect setting for it. Tonight’s show, written by Miranda Rose Hall, and directed by Nathan Powell is an incredibly clever and fresh concept. The play tours, but not the people - everyone involved is from the local area. The strip lighting and sound that encompasses the stage is produced from the efforts of four very hardy onstage cyclists, with a digital display that shows the wattage they are generating. It’s a highly creative and fascinating experiment in sustainable theatre. The conceit is that one of the play’s actors has suffered a family emergency – her mother is dyin...

Once on this Island – Regents Park Open Air Theatre

18May

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Once on this Island – Regents Park Open Air Theatre

I arrived back at the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre to watch them kick off their 2023 summer season with a revival of Once on this Island. This 1990 original musical retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson version of the little mermaid tale, was set against the heat of the Caribbean sun, in the jewel of the Antilles. Once Upon This Island tells the story of the unending love of peasant girl Ti Moune for a boy Daniel. Where we will see if love can overcome death and settle a wager made by the Gods. The story and told through the staging of informing two young girls about their culture, within a fairy tale structure. Ti Moune is an innocent girl who longs for something more than the normal day to day life she lives “Waiting for Life”, she becomes the figure of interest of the G...

Anna Karenina – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

18May

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Anna Karenina – Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh

Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel Anna Karenina is brought to life in a modernised adaptation written by Lesley Hart and directed by Polina Kalinina. A novel seen by many as a classic romance story is brought right up to date with modern Scottish language allowing audiences unfamiliar with the book to better understand it. One thing I admire about this play as a whole is their step away from the ‘traditional’ idea of adaptation, the urge to write almost word for word what happens. Instead, Hart has crafted a story that holds a genuine theatrical charm, capable of retaining attention throughout. The story follows the title character, Anna Karenina, played by the fantastic Lindsey Campbell, as she travels across Russia to save her brother’s (Stiva, played by Angus Miller) marriage after he has a...