REVIEWS Archives - Page 351 of 417

How To Survive An Apocalypse – Finborough Theatre

1Oct

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

How To Survive An Apocalypse – Finborough Theatre

"No-one wins the end of the world." This just about sums up Jordan Hall's witty and timely rom-com-drama "How To Survive An Apocalypse" which tracks a millennial couple's sudden financial collapse and how this leads them to question their smart urban lifestyle and adopt a survivalist mentality. Realising that they are not at all prepared for a natural disaster or catastrophic failure of society, they start to learn what they will need to survive. They quickly find that Jen's skills of running a lifestyle magazine and Ben's coding ability have left them remarkably lacking when it comes to survival in a potential post-apocalyptic world of no food, water or electricity. They can just about buy bottled water and tinned goods with their maxed-out credit cards, but becoming hun...

The Mountaintop – Royal Exchange, Manchester

1Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Mountaintop – Royal Exchange, Manchester

In 2009, the Memphis born playwright Katori Hall was unable to secure a venue in the United States for her new play 'The Mountaintop'. Instead, she brought it to London, where it received huge acclaim for the portrayal of Dr Martin Luther King on the eve of his assassination in April 1968. Now Roy Alexander Weise, the new Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange, has chosen this blisteringly funny and timely play for his debut here, and launches the Autumn season with an absolutely stunning production. The difficulty Hall had with this play in the US, centres around her portrayal of Dr King; rather than the hagiographic figure of grainy newsreel footage, we see King as a fully rounded human being with all the faults and foibles that entails. He smokes constantly, is unfaithful to his wif...

Witness For the Prosecution – London County Hall

30Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Witness For the Prosecution – London County Hall

‘Witness For the Prosecution’ started its life as a short story called ‘Traitor Hands’. Agatha Christie herself thought the story wasn’t anything special, but her theatre producer Peter Saunders, thought he could develop the story into a courtroom drama for the stage. Christie challenged him to adapt the story into a play and he took her up on it. She dismissed his attempt but went ahead and wrote her own version which became one of her greatest achievements as a dramatist. The play received its West End debut at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1953 and the following year opened on Broadway. The setting at the London County Hall could not be bettered for its authenticity. The courtroom feel, fits perfectly with the play’s location at the Old Bailey, where the ...

Homebaked the Musical – Liverpool’s Royal Court

30Sep

By Blathine MaguireNo Comments

North West

Homebaked the Musical – Liverpool’s Royal Court

The doors of Liverpool’s much loved Royal Court Theatre are back open and tonight we witness a new show “Homebaked the Musical” which has been produced by Liverpool’s Royal Court alongside Red Ladder Theatre Company. Written by Boff Whalley, ‘Homebaked the Musical’, is a new piece of theatre based on the well-known bakery that borders Anfield and Everton. It celebrates the historic and heroic story of the Liverpool residents who fought to save their local bakery from demolition and evolves into a huge inspiring project that brings the whole community together. Boff Whalley has done a fantastic job in writing something funny, heart-warming and emotive. The music is both touching and humorous which blends perfectly into the script. I particularly enjoyed the choral sound of ‘we rise’, ...

30Sep

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

Beauty and the Beast – Liverpool Empire

Beauty and the Beast is a Disney classic, a staple of their dominance in the 1990’s when it comes to animated musicals. Coupled with one of the most successful composers of the modern musical, Alan Menken, and Beauty and the Beast has a sure-fire street to success. The play is the story of Belle (Courtney Stapleton), a young girl longing to escape from her dreary everyday life and see the big wide world (you can’t fault Disney for their recycling). Along the way she is captured by a hideous Beast (Emmanuel Kojo), whose only prospect of a return to normality is to love and be loved in return, but first he must learn to leave his selfish self behind. It must be said that in this production the Beast was not all that Beastly, as he still cut a lean, attractive figure throughout. The mar...

29Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Tokyo Rose – Southwark Theatre

‘Tokyo Rose was a legend, but Iva Toguri lived.’ It’s this simple yet decisive line, delivered just before its concluding musical number, which encapsulates the interplay between the personal and the political in this extraordinary production. Tokyo Rose is a powerful testament to the life and trials endured by Iva Toguri, an American citizen of Japanese heritage, who was accused of treason by the US Government in the aftermath of the World War II. The title refers to the nickname given to the female radio broadcasters trusted with spreading Japanese propaganda to the Allied Forces and prisoners of war captured by the Axis forces. Blending Iva’s personal journey of coming to terms with the duality of her heritage and upbringing as well as a larger socio-political narrative about the fallou...

Grease the Musical – Festival Theatre Edinburgh

29Sep

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Grease the Musical – Festival Theatre Edinburgh

This production can be viewed two ways; a successful adaptation combining the best of the original, visceral, 1971 Chicago show and the candyfloss of the 1978 film… or something that falls between the two stools of these contrasting affairs. Undeniably it was lively, but frenetic rather than kinetic. The constant movement made for a spectacle but parts of the script, including many of the caustic, witty, one-liners, were lost in the hustle and bustle, denying the audience a glimpse of the themes so vital when Grease first made its impact. The screen greeting the audience prior to the start promised much, decorated with small black & white TV’s, transistor radios, the most modern of things back in the 50’s, both devices carrying – amidst Elvis and Westerns - the advertising that propell...

The Rocky Horror Show – Alexandra Birmingham

29Sep

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

The Rocky Horror Show – Alexandra Birmingham

Let the Party and the Sounds Rock On! With all vim, vigour and verve of a lady half her age “The Rocky Horror Show” rocks up horrifically at the Alexandra Theatre and, with a well aimed stiletto, crashes through the stage door and struts her sassy chassis before the goggle-eyed, costume-clad, schlock-worshipping clan of the Rocky fans like the mothership returning home laden with every wicked vice and indecent indulgence your little earthling mind could dream of. Since it slithered from Richard O’Brien’s unfettered imagination somewhere back in the early seventies “Rocky” has evolved, expanded, regenerated and reinvented itself time and time again like an indestructible life form from those beloved 50’s movies it seeks to parody and continues to prove itself unabashedly brash, unasha...

29Sep

By Chris HanlonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Waitress – Sheffield Lyceum

Theatre is back and Theatre is booming! It is always a privilege to be at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield and the excitement was tangible as we awaited curtain up. And what a night it was as Waitress served us a huge slice of incredible pie! Embarking on its first ever UK tour, Waitress is proving to be one of the best new Broadway and West End exports of recent years! I have to say, it was superb from start to finish! The packed Lyceum house were treated to an absolute spectacle filled with laughter and tears in equal measure! Lucie Jones of X-Factor and Eurovision fame was stunning in the role of ‘Jenna’ - the Waitress who despite leading a far from perfect life at home, manages to keep her customers coming back for another piece of her famous pie! Her acting was strong, but it was h...

29Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Passagers – Hull New Theatre

This is going to be the shortest review I’ve ever written. Here goes: O.M.G! Well, as this is a UK premiere, my reviewer conscience won’t let me stop at just three letters, so I’ll carry on. On a rainy Tuesday night in Hull, a packed house marvelled at the antics of eight super-talented performers, male and female, who go by the name of The 7 Fingers. A short glitch at curtain up meant we were sitting looking at a dark stage for a couple of minutes, but things were soon rectified and from then on it was breathtaking action all the way. The theme of train journeys ran throughout - departures, arrivals and everything else associated with rail travel. Here, I must mention the amazing background scenes and atmospheric lighting and music that accompanied every movement on stage. ...