REVIEWS Archives - Page 340 of 551

Great Expectations – Frodsham Community Centre

30Mar

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

Great Expectations – Frodsham Community Centre

We’re transported to the roaring 20s in this fresh modern art deco twist of a Charles Dickens timeless classic. Directed and produced by Yvette Owen, this labour of love grasps the opportunity to be playful and creative in its presentation. Great Expectations, like most Dickensian stories, still resonate today with many adaptations through the ages. Themes include love, heartbreak, class politics and identity and this famous story doesn’t call for further expedition as there is already plenty to talk about in this multi-faceted offering from the Frodsham Players. Featuring a cast of over 30 including a four-piece band and a chorus of singers, this self-assured ensemble gave solid performances, evidently relishing every moment. The shift between the younger versions of Pip...

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof – Royal Exchange Theatre

30Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof – Royal Exchange Theatre

Director Roy Alexander Weise brings his bold and original vision of Tennessee Williams' 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning play to the demanding environment of the spaceship stage of the Royal Exchange, resulting in a production that sheds new light on the superb writing, packing race, misogyny and sexuality into the steamy Mississippi brew. Considering it is widely regarded as Williams' defining work, 'Cat' has had surprisingly few appearances over the last twenty years, with some of his other writings gaining more exposure and subsequent critical praise. The fact he penned the play in the repressive Conservative atmosphere of 1950's America meant exploring the latent homosexuality of the central character Brick (Bayo Gbadamosi) - and the effect it has on his relationship with his spirited wi...

30Mar

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

West Side Story – Hyde Festival Theatre

It’s always a brave company that takes on a production of West Side Story. The musical that re-imagined Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for the 20th Century, has been subject to two Oscar-winning film adaptations and a myriad of critically acclaimed revivals on Broadway and the West End. Then there’s Leonard Bernstein’s earworm-inducing score, the iconic choreography learned and copied by theatre brats of every stage school known to man, and the need to find triple-threat actors to successfully land the show’s biggest moments. It’s a musical that sets certain expectations before there’s so much as a click of fingers. Those holding tickets to Hyde Musical Society’s sold-out production can breathe a big sigh of relief. The society, under director Daniel Oliver-Grant, have once again don...

30Mar

By Grace AnnabelNo Comments

Wales

Heathers the Musical – Theatr Clwyd

More often than not, I find that film-into-musical adaptations do not quite hit the mark on a number of counts, often seeming to have been created by piggybacking off an established brand for revenue purposes alone. Yet last night's performance of Heathers: The Musical felt fresh, vibrant and pleasing even to die-hard fanatics of the original 80s cult film. To borrow a quote from the musical itself, this show really was ‘Big Fun’. I had the pleasure of watching this show during its most recent UK tour, in one of my favourite venues, Mold's Theatr Clwyd. I felt this a very apt setting for the production - a space where the show’s filling set can be appreciated to its fullest on a slightly larger-scale stage, but which also offers an intimate ambience, allowing the audience to be involved...

29Mar

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Kinky Boots – Sheffield Lyceum

Croft House Theatre Company hit the heights once again with this stunning production of Kinky Boots based on the 2005 British film of the same name. The production is coherently Directed/Choreographed by Claire Harriott, has expert Musical Direction from David Burgess, as he conducts an 11 piece orchestra, and effective lighting and sound by Gary Longfield and Nick Greenhill. Inspired by true events, Kinky Boots takes you from the anything but glamorous 'Price and Son' shoe factory in Northampton to the dazzling catwalks of Milan in this sassy, vivacious and heart-warming tale of true British grit with catchy songs by Tony and Grammy Award winning eighties pop princess, Cyndi Lauper and a Book by Harvey Fierstein. Charlie Price is struggling to live up to his father's expectations to st...

29Mar

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

The Winston Machine – Unity Theatre

Brought to us by the critically acclaimed Kandinsky, we see a fusion of worlds decades different, but with mirrored tensions of grief, purpose and place. An awesome use of effects and controlled dialogue led to a crisp performance that I would watch again. The teamwork on stage was apparent and which led to an impressive and at times funny mode of storytelling. Unfortunately, I am unable to identify who exactly played on stage, but each performance lent itself to the quality of the work, with detail and precision used in each moment. The conviction and presence of the players was palpable. Their use of singing, swift accent changes and physical movement were again impressive. Together with an emotive soundtrack with modern flavours meant the audience were fully immersed in the performan...

Thatcher – Rite – Streatham Space Project

29Mar

By Marita MatarNo Comments

London

Thatcher – Rite – Streatham Space Project

‘What sort of country do you want?’ – Margaret Thatcher Tea, cucumber, a table and Margaret Thatcher. This is how people’s fate is decided. The performance starts with Margaret Thatcher played by Jack Boal, sitting in the middle of a table, looking at a projection screened behind her. It talks about nuclear families and gendered roles; the tone is already set. The character looked at the audience, the performance started. Thatcher – Rite written and performed by Jack Boal, directed by Lila Robirosa, revisits the political and personal legacy left by Margaret Thatcher. Verbatim and lip-syncing techniques, coupled with visuals of Margaret Thatcher herself, extracts of news and political shows, as well as written messages on the screen projection are vigorously explored by the techni...

29Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

One Minute – King’s Head Theatre

The Working Actors Studio have revived Simon Stephens 2003 play One Minute at the King's Head Theatre. 'One minute' refers to the time it takes 11-year-old Daisy Schults to vanish, and the play depicts five characters impacted by her disappearance. In part this is a police drama, with the two detectives, played by Frederick Lysegaard and Lee Lomas, leading the investigation into her disappearance, but later being left on their own as other resources are taken away due to their lack of success. But it is much more an emotional study of the interaction of the five characters. The story unfolds slowly through numerous short scenes, many of which are only tangentially linked to the actual events of the disappearance. For example, the two characters of Mary Louise and Catherine, played by Im...

26Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Steel Magnolias – Rainhill Village Hall

Robert Harling penned this play shortly after the death of his sister and it is very much based on real life experiences: after his sister’s funeral he noticed how the women who supported her came together to share stories and laugh in a way the men of the family seemed unable to do. Director Michèle Martin has remained faithful to the setting in Louisiana in the heart of the Deep South where the action unfolds in the singular setting of a small-town beauty salon with owner Truvy (Samantha Moores) welcoming the newly arrived but troubled young beautician, Annelle (Katie Griffin) to work with her. But this is more than a hair salon, it is a place of refuge that forges those that need it into ‘steel magnolias’ and where a group of local women come to share their close bond of friendship. ...

<strong>Unbecoming – Summerhall</strong>

25Mar

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Unbecoming – Summerhall

This deeply personal solo piece, by Anna Porubcansky of Company of Wolves, unmasks the artist’s windswept inner world in all its dreamlike complexity, through poetry, song and performance. The show opens with a lament. A melodic dirge about loss, death and mortality. Porubcansky’s clear, plaintive singing voice is perfect here, and there are some lines of poetry which will stay with me for very a long time. Here, and elsewhere in the show, Porubcansky uses technology to layer her vocalisations, drawing on repetition to create a richly meditative atmosphere. Porubcansky’s openness and vulnerability, as a poet and performer, is exquisite. This is not a work of fiction: all the content comes from Porubcansky’s personal experience. She really shows up, emotionally...