REVIEWS Archives - Page 376 of 443

7Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Leaving – Hope Street Theatre

This was the second night of a quartet of new plays written by Liverpool Scriptshop playwrights. Selected from many scripts submitted, Scriptshop wanted to present four of these new pieces as part of the exciting Liverpool Fringe Theatre Festival 2021. The theme, like the previous pair of plays, was all about leaving in one form or another. The third play in this quartet is Left Behind written and directed by Tom McLennan and centred around a couple Margie (Sarah Wood and Mick (Tommy Tyler Morgan) trying to come to some sort of agreement during a family crisis. The couple’s discussions alluding to both Brexit and the UK political landscape was quite sparky and their differing opinions and thoughts made for some good solid drama. We see their marriage unravel as the days lead up to...

7Oct

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Fritz & Matlock – The Pleasance Theatre

Fritz & Matlock is a new two-hander play by James Wallwork and Salvatore D'Aquilla that makes its way to the Pleasance Theatre’s autumn programming, after being written over Zoom during the pandemic. The show, produced by Part of the Main and directed by Jessica Millward, has been described as a contemporary 'Waiting for Godot’, an almost tongue-in-cheek reference to how its two titular characters find themselves trapped in a dingy basement, grappling with the consequences of an unfortunate incident, and are waiting to make their next move. These are childhood friends Carl Fritz (D'Aquilla) and Barry Matlock (Wallwork) whose vastly different outlooks on life are, perhaps, only exceeded by their considerably different approaches to the situation at hand. The story begins sometime mid...

7Oct

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Rock of Ages – Manchester Opera House

We were asked for proof of COVID vaccinations as we entered the theatre; those who couldn’t produce them were asked to take a temperature check at the side entrance. All theatre staff were wearing masks. The theatre was two thirds full: mostly with a 23-35 year old age group with a sprinkling of older theatre-goers. There was an air of anticipation as we waited for the curtain to go up. Once it did, two lone guitarists appeared beneath projected images of USA; the set was a nightclub, The Bourbon Room, with a small stage and a bar with tables and chairs. Rock of Ages doesn’t have much of a story, but for what there is, it is a typical love story, well three love stories really but the main story concerns a small town girl, Sherrie (Rhiannon Chesterman), who relocate...

Blue Remembered Hills – The Daneside Theatre

6Oct

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

North West

Blue Remembered Hills – The Daneside Theatre

After a long period of ‘resting’, the Congleton Players are back in business and begin their season with a Dennis Potter play. The ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ began its life as a television play broadcast in 1979, in the days when the BBC broadcast plays for the TV. Potter came up with the idea that this story of seven children should be played by adults, an idea that he first tried in his play ‘Stand Up, Nigel Barton’. Set in the Forest of Dean in the Summer of 1943, wartime lurks in the background and tells of the life of a group of children, trying to be young and carefree, but with the knowledge that their life has changed and the innocence of their youth is a mere reflection in the eyes of the adults inhabiting their personas. As we enter the theatre, the ...

6Oct

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Heathers the Musical – Palace Theatre

Based on the 1988 movie of the same name, Heathers ‘exploded’ on to the Palace Theatre stage this evening and gave us exactly what we needed after 18 months away from theatres. With killer vocals, perfectly slick choreography and a dark yet extremely comical storyline, Heathers really is a show not to be missed. The story is told via Veronica (Rebecca Wickes) and her ‘dear diary’ inserts. Veronica wants to fit it and be seen to be one of the cool kids, so she manages to get in with the Heathers, the leaders of the school ‘hierarchy’ and bully’s, lead by Heather Chandler (Maddison Firth). Once Veronica is part of the Heathers and popular, she falls in love with the new mysterious guy, JD (Simon Gordon), and together decide that they want peace and harmony in the school, but how far will ...

6Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Leaving – Hope Street Theatre

This was the opening night of a quartet of new plays written by Liverpool Scriptshop playwrights. Selected from many scripts submitted, Scriptshop wanted to present four of these new pieces as part of the exciting Liverpool Fringe Theatre Festival 2021. The overall theme of these one act plays was all about leaving, whether it be physically or emotionally. On this first night, Scriptshop presented us with the first two plays. Prayers for Albert written and directed by William Lee focused on a local family living and surviving through World War 1. Based upon actual events, the play was simply set and told the moving story of young couple Eileen (Catherine Fahy) and Albert (Luke Morgan). It was a familiar tale with one half of the stage set as the home front and the other half set as t...

5Oct

By Clare ChandlerNo Comments

London

Hamlet – Young Vic

Cush Jumbo is the big draw in this production of Shakespeare’s classic play, whipping up a storm as the tempestuous Prince of Elsinore. Cross gender, or gender blind, casting of this legendary protagonist is not a new fad, indeed the first ‘female’ Hamlet graced a London stage in 1796 - when Elizabeth Powell took on the role. There is also a 12th century Danish legend that states that he was in fact a she, and that Hamlet’s gender had been hidden by their mother to protect their claim to the throne. In Greg Hersov’s production Jumbo’s ‘unmanly grief’ is the undoing of Elsinore as Hersov’s edited text (which still runs at over three hours) aims for a mystery thriller flow to bring the piece alive for a contemporary audience. At its most successful the performance is an absolut...

The Lady in the Van – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

5Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Lady in the Van – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

In common with most people who love the theatre, I adore the prodigious output of plays, books and diaries that Alan Bennett has produced over the course of the last half century, however, I have never really subscribed to the view that he belongs in the pantheon of comfortable personalities that make up our 'National Treasures'. Bennett himself despises the term, and there has always been as much vinegar as sugar in his writing as he wryly chronicles the state of the nation, so to bracket him with as characters as bland as David Beckham and Joanna Lumley, is to give a somewhat distorted view of his place in modern Britain. His style is perfectly exemplified by his 1999 play 'The Lady in the Van', which started its week long run at the Garrick Playhouse in Altrincham this evening, in this ...

4Oct

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

REVIEWS

Going the Distance – Online Stream

We were all waiting for the musical and play adaptation of the Handforth Parish Council Meeting last year and it seems like Going the Distance will be the closest we will get for a while. March 2020 and the theatres have all gone dark. What happens to all those local theatres that rely on donations and local productions to get them through? Going the Distance takes us through how Matchborough Community Theatre plans to survive the global pandemic. We start with a familiar scene – the first Zoom meeting, synonymous with the ‘I can hear you, can you hear me?’ – and we are introduced to Frank (Matthew Kelly), Maggie (Penny Ryder) and Rae (Sarah Hadland). They discuss finances and ways in which they can continue to make money, despite the pandemic trying to have other ideas. They settle on ...

Dracula: The Untold Story – Leeds Playhouse

4Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dracula: The Untold Story – Leeds Playhouse

For over a century Count Dracula has been part of our popular culture so it’s smart of imitating the dog to make him a peripheral figure in his own play. Instead, they cleverly switch the focus to Mina Harker who in Bram Stoker’s gothic classic not only had her neck bitten but pulled together all the threads to create the myth of the immortal Transylvanian bloodsucker. They’ve also updated the story to 1965 as Harker walks into a London police station confessing a murder to two police officers, and we learn that she has used her immortal superhuman power for what she thinks is the greater good as the Count lurks around the piece as the embodiment of eternal darkness. As usual the team deploys a wide range of high-tech digital tricks, including two video cameras and stage side gree...