REVIEWS Archives - Page 345 of 548

10Mar

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

The Wolves – The Space Theatre

The one act play is a coming of age drama of a young American Female soccer team. Set around the gossip and warm up banter of nine adolescent female athletes it puts in spotlight issues of mental health, abortion, consent, teamwork and grief. The actors who have recently graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts have set up Orange Peel productions following the success of their graduation shows. The play reflects the spunky energy of The Space Theatre (Isle of Dogs) is aligned very well with the production and the actors' energy lends it to be as big as a football pitch and as tiny as a player's mind. The Physical theatre that combines choreography, dialogue and authentic performances by each of the actresses is very moving. Though the beginning felt like a heady garble of ...

10Mar

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

Ladies Day – Octagon Theatre

Ladies Day, a play by Amanda Whittington, is a delightful and engaging production that had me thoroughly entertained from start to finish. I had the pleasure of seeing the play at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, and it was an absolute joy to watch. The play tells the story of four women who work at a fish processing plant in Hull and decide to take a day off to go to the races. As they prepare for the big day, they share their hopes, dreams, and struggles with each other, forming a bond that transcends their working-class backgrounds. One of the things that struck me about this play was how well the characters were developed. Each of the four women had a distinct personality and backstory, and I found myself invested in their lives and rooting for them to achieve their goals. Their in...

10Mar

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Tosca – The Lowry

Opera North’s return to the Lowry this month is reason indeed to celebrate; even more so with the revival of Edwin Dick’s acclaimed production of Tosca being part of this year’s touring programme. Written over 120 years ago; Puccini’s Tosca is still just as thrilling, as captivating and gives you much more drama than anything you’d find on Netflix. The heroine is a renowned prima donna, her hero an artist, and the villain the corrupt head of the secret police. With everything from love and blackmail, to revenge and even murder… Tosca really will leave you questioning just how far you would go to save the ones you love. Giselle Allen returns as Floria Tosca alongside Ukrainian Tenor; Mykhailo Malafii as Mario Cavardossi, Both deliver powerhouse performances throughout with chemistr...

10Mar

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

Under The Black Rock – Arcola Theatre

Coming up on 25 years since The Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland still has many issues to face and strongly entrenched divides within its community. Thankfully, it no longer sees the violence and terror of the troubles and when there is violence it is condemned by the majority, including leading figures from each side of the division. Tim Edge’s Under The Black Rock looks back at a time when that violence and terror were a daily part of life in Northern Ireland. Set in Belfast, we meet the Ryan family and follow the main role of Niamh (Evanna Lynch, known for Harry Potter, is strong in this) who follows her father into the IRA. Many of the cast play dual roles, Flora Montgomery is excellent; first as a hard-worn senior IRA figure then slipping into the role of Sandra Ryan, desper...

10Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – The Lowry

Tonight Shakespeare met Tarantino, this was the bard seen through the lens of some kind of super-visual filmmaker complete with swear words and a dark, brooding attitude. What we have with this production is theatre as film, it could be said to have more style than substance. As a backdrop to the action there were projected flashy, incandescent and strangely beautiful images and video. They were bright, scintillating and imaginatively put together with great skill and creativity. The problem was that they were, at times, somewhat distracting. Above the stage top left and right were two screens showing feeds from two mobile cameras which were on stage. Given the conceit of Macbeth reimagined as a Tarantino film, set in an underground world of drugs and prostitution, Macbeth and his wi...

10Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Top Girls – Liverpool Everyman

It is forty years since Caryl Churchill’s play first hit the stage and with this anniversary production, director Suba Das has been allowed artistic licence to relocate some of the action from Suffolk to Liverpool 8. Marlene (Tala Gouveia) is at the top of her game as the new Managing Director of Top Girls Employment Agency in the glitz and glamour of 1980s London, with a stylised and surreal opening sequence seeing her host an extraordinary dinner party, assisted by a waitress (Kaila Sharples), to celebrate her achievements with five legendary women, some real, some imagined: Isabella Bird (Elizabeth Twells); Lady Nijo (Nadia Anim); Dull Gret (Sky Frances) of Brueghel fame; Pope Joan (Lauren Lane); and Griselda (Ailsa Joy) straight out of Chaucer, to draw upon their old world experienc...

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire

8Mar

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire

Thanks to years of experience in dance and choreography (and with an MBE to boot), you know any production with an affiliation to Matthew Bourne will pack a punch. And Sleeping Beauty is no exception. This show was expertly performed by New Adventures, a multi-award-winning UK dance-theatre group, who have become synonymous in the world of dance for storytelling with a unique theatrical twist. Sleeping Beauty – now in its 10th year – was the fastest-selling production in New Adventures’ history, and it’s easy to see why. Described as “a gothic love story”, Sleeping Beauty clearly has many an inspiration across film, TV and literature. The main inspiration for the story is less Disney and much more original folklore, as the story weaves narrative strands from different iterations of t...

The Comedy of Errors (more or less) – Shakespeare North Playhouse

8Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Comedy of Errors (more or less) – Shakespeare North Playhouse

A Shakespearean comedy set around two rival states and two sets of mismatched twins is brought back to life with its central theme of mistaken identity compounded by deliberate theatrical chaos and a cacophony of musical numbers from the 1980’s in this co-production from Shakespeare North and Stephen Joseph Theatre. An actor, Antipholus (David Kirkbride) arrives in a Yorkshire coastal town with his sidekick Dromio (Oliver Mawdsley) to perform his one man show, but there’s no audience as everyone has booked for a talent show across town starring the twin brother he’s never met, and whose sidekick is also named Dromio. The twin brother owes money but has promised his wife, Adriana (Alyce Liburd) a gold chain. With the Prescot brother falling for Adriana’s unmarried sister, Luciana (Ida...

8Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mumsy – Hull Truck Theatre

The end of Hull Truck Theatre’s 50th anniversary year is being celebrated with a comedy drama, set in the city and written by homegrown talent, Lydia Marchant. Mumsy tells the story of an unplanned pregnancy which causes friction between mum-to-be Sophie (Jessica Jolleys), her mum Rachel (Nicola Stephenson) and Rachel’s mum Linda (Sue Kelvin). The well-written script of this world-premiere production was delivered so realistically and naturally by all three on stage on Tuesday night that, at times, you could hear a pin drop in the fullish theatre. Even before “curtain up” I couldn’t take my eyes off the impressive stage setting of a huge tower block, its many windows, open and shut, plus individual window lights flashing on and off - just like a real tower block would be. It’s ...

Too Much World At Once – HOME, Manchester

7Mar

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

Too Much World At Once – HOME, Manchester

In many ways, Noble is a totally normal 15-year-old boy: his Dad works away, he fights with his Mum about pretty much everything and his close relationship with his sister is in pieces as she has moved across the world to study the future of various bird species. Totally normal – until one day he feels the world pressing in, too much to handle… and he becomes a bird. Able to fly, to be free, to reach his sister, to escape from the family and the home that are crumbling around him. This great new play from Billie Collins is produced by stalwart supporters of new writing, the Box of Tricks theatre company. It cleverly uses the breakdown of the family environment as a metaphor for the breakdown of our ecosystem, making a strong point: “we did see this coming,” but without bashing you round...