REVIEWS Archives - Page 377 of 453

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...

The Play That Goes Wrong – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

3Nov

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

The Play That Goes Wrong – King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

If I had to be absolutely honest, Cornley’s Poytechnic Drama Society’s performance of ‘Murder at Havisham Manor’ was about one-star at best, based purely on set design alone, but seeing as even that slowly disintegrated throughout the performance, this rating is dubious at best. You’ll therefore be glad to realise, reader, I was in attendance of Mischief Theatre’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, a carefully crafted physical theatre farce, where, unnervingly, everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did go wrong. ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ does what it says on the tin. The production framed through the narrative device of Cornley’s Polytechinic Drama Society’s latest production, which, thanks to inept planning and a lack of talent, goes very wrong indeed. It’s ram packed with every ki...

3Nov

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

SIX – Vaudeville Theatre

SIX, the feminist pop musical written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, which has taken the world by storm, has reopened at the Vaudeville Theatre. SIX focuses on the wives of King Henry VIII, Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Katherine and Catherine giving them the mic to tell their stories as a powerful girl group. The six women sing their hearts out about their shared experience being married to the monarch, arguing who had the worst time in a pop princess-inspired musical contest. Dressed in glittering Tudor-style outfits, each queen had their own opportunity to shine with solos inspired by modern musical stars and shine they certainly did. From emotional power ballads to head-bopping R&B tracks, SIX masterfully conquers a plethora of genres whilst re-imagining history in a fresh and enj...

3Nov

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

9 to 5: The Musical – Liverpool Empire

In 2009, nearly 30 years after the film's release, 9 to 5 made its debut as a Broadway Musical with new songs written by Dolly Parton. It then made its way over to the West-End where it premiered in February 2019. Since its UK premiere, 9 to 5 The Musical, has been seen by over half a million people at over 450 performances. This is its second national UK tour. I can remember watching the film 9 to 5 in the early 1980’s starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton and being blown away by it; straight from the start the music was gripping and of course the theme of feminism, equality and women’s rights was spot on. It was Dolly Parton’s acting debut, and she was fabulous as secretary to the story’s antagonist, exploitative boss. In a nutshell, the story is about three...