REVIEWS Archives - Page 340 of 417

9Nov

By Johanna RobertsNo Comments

North West

Rajesh and Naresh – Unity Theatre

Seventy minutes, two actors, one set. That’s all that is needed to tell this touching story of how two men, with different backgrounds, different experiences, and different personalities, make a connection that changes their lives. The play opens with Rajesh (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana), who works in a financial firm in London, and Naresh (Madhav Vasantha), who makes cricket bats in Mumbai, sitting on chairs on separate halves of the stage – the one in London and the other in Mumbai. Their initial actions as they prepare for the day clearly and concisely convey their personalities. Rajesh – young, good-looking, and seemingly self-confident – presents a sharp contrast to the 42-year-old Naresh, who focuses only on what he considers to be his faults. The action continues to develop separa...

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

8Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

Writer Samuel Beckett wrote ‘Footfalls’ between March and December 1975. It premiered at the Samuel Beckett Festival in 1976 at the Royal Court Theatre, when he directed the play himself. From the amount of stage directions written for this play, it is clear that Beckett had a very strong vision of how these plays should be presented. ‘Rockaby’ was written and performed later in New York in 1981. The accurately titled ‘Footfalls’, is aptly titled. A woman called May is pacing the floor with a need to hear her footfalls as she paces. It’s as though the rhythmic sound helps her to make sense of her thoughts. We hear May’s mother’s voice in the background, talking and occasionally counting the steps before May wheels around and begins pacing in the opposite direction. Beckett stipulated in...

Boss New Plays (Saturday) – Royal Court Studio

8Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Boss New Plays (Saturday) – Royal Court Studio

Liverpool Lanterns’ annual showcase of up-and-coming writing and acting talent in Merseyside came to a close with five new pieces from some of Lanterns’ veteran writers. As these are short pieces and in varying stages of development, it’s unfair to ‘rate’ them but there is still plenty for us to get our teeth into as an audience. There’s no easing into tonight’s showcase with our first piece, Banter, written by Darren Anglesea. The moment the lights go down there is an explosion of swearing and scuffling, as we are introduced to Tony, an angry young man accused of assault, which he swears is just ‘banter’ that got out of hand. When he sees that his duty solicitor Martin is black, he makes it plain this is an issue and it’s up to Martin to help his client understand how much trouble h...

Boss New Plays (Friday) – Royal Court Studio

8Nov

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Boss New Plays (Friday) – Royal Court Studio

The Lantern Writers hold an annual showcase of new writing from semi-professional and amateur writers, at various stages of development. It is held over three night and the second night of new writing definitely stood up to the showcases’ name ‘Boss New Plays’. The first of the four pieces was ‘It's Not The Coughing That Carries You Off’, written by Mark Murphy. This is a comedy play, that uses a doctor’s surgery to bring comedy into everyday life. We’ve all been in a waiting room and overheard half of a phone conversation that could easily been misconstrued; or had that person next to us that can’t sit quietly for their turn and Murphy takes us to these moments and allows us to see the comedy in them. It is cleverly written and takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the ha...

The Girl Who Was Very Good at Lying – Omnibus Theatre

5Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Girl Who Was Very Good at Lying – Omnibus Theatre

The Girl Who Was Very good at Lying written by Eoin McAndrew is a quick, intelligent piece dipping into a moment of a young woman’s daily life but today was different- today she met an American man. Catorina lives in a small Irish town where she must come home every day and tell her mum everything that she’s done, listing the most mundane of tasks. She works in a pub; she likes watching TV and she likes to light matches. When this mysterious man walks in, very aware of the accent she forms a plan to guide him around the town- as she is obviously very interested in History and knows the story of everything in this place, or at least she’s very very good at lying about it. We follow the pair throughout the day, each lie getting more bizarre although you wouldn’t know with her confidence i...

5Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The Sugar House – Finborough Theatre

‘The Sugar House’ receives its first production outside of Australia after being nominated for ‘Best New Australian Work in the Sydney Theatre Awards after a showing at the Belvoir Street Theatre in 2018. The Finborough Theatre is renowned for breathing new life into old rarely performed plays or helping new writers to establish themselves. Alana Valentine has written a very powerful, thought-provoking play set in three different time periods. It begins in 2007, with Narelle Macreadie (Jessica Zerlina Leafe) looking around a posh flat in Sydney which was situated in a converted sugar factory. It becomes clear that this building stimulates old memories, and she begins to reminisce about her childhood, spending time with her father Sidney Macreadie (Patrick Toomey) who worked at the facto...

Boss News Plays (Thursday) – Royal Court Studio

5Nov

By Blathine MaguireNo Comments

North West

Boss News Plays (Thursday) – Royal Court Studio

Boss New Play’s is a three night long annual showcase from some of the most fantastic and ambitious artists in Liverpool who are best known as the ‘Lantern Writers’. This group are an eclectic mix of semi-professional and amateur writers, and tonight’s show brings us three new pieces of work at varying stages of development. In the first slice of this showcase, we see ‘Jigsaw’ live on stage, which has been written by Mark Davoren. In this Kafkaesque drama, two couples meet over dinner for what seems to be a fairly normal ‘life catch-up’ event. One couple, made up of Harry (Conor Burns) and Emily (Jennifer Morrow), look like the perfect pair with well-paid jobs and two children, they really seem to have it all. In contrast, Leah (Faye Draper) and Pete (Christopher James) are struggling a...

5Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

The Addams Family – Z-Arts

Not even the Addams Family are immune from Covid-19, however tonight at Z-Arts after nearly 2 years of delays they finally sat down for dinner watched by an excited audience, and it was well worth the wait. Manchester Musical Youth (MMY) Grads are back! If you are not aware of the story, it follows Wednesday Addams who falls in love with Lucas Beineke. Wednesday announces that the Beineke’s are coming over for dinner so that her extraordinary family can meet their ordinary one before announcing their engagement. What follows is a night of truth and revelations that could change the future for both families forever. I have to congratulate director Tom Jennings, not only has he brought this show to the stage in a fun and inventive way he also stepped in to play Gomez Addams with just a...

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) – Criterion Theatre

4Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) – Criterion Theatre

I don’t know what I was expecting walking into an all-female Pride and Prejudice, but I left with ready for a complete re-write of literature and Isobel McArthur to lead the revolution. The energy, commitment, enjoyment they had to be there was streamed through this theatre, it felt like a gift to witness. Isobel McArthur, writer and performer was commissioned to write a stage production of Pride and Prejudice for Tron Theatre four years ago after having never read the book. Since then she has been developing this play to finally land at the Criterion Theatre in London where 5 actors enter the stage as we enter our seats only to assure us that it hasn’t started yet- they just need to grab their rubber glove from the chandelier. Everything is very much in their gloved hands, as they r...

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Leeds Grand

4Nov

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Leeds Grand

The performing arts often attracts outsiders looking for a safe haven, so it is hardly surprising many musicals are about the plucky outsider finding their true selves against what seem like insurmountable odds. That’s true of this big-hearted musical that started life just down the road in Sheffield, before becoming a West End hit, and is loosely based on the real story of working class gay teenager Jamie Campbell who decided that only did he want to be a drag artist when he left school, but he was going to his prom in a dress. Here our Jamie New, supported by Muslim best mate Pritti, wants to do the same despite the school bullies, but is up against a bigoted teacher determined he will turn up to the big night in ’normal’ attire, provoking an unexpected response from his schoolmate...