REVIEWS Archives - Page 378 of 456

Persephone – Oxford Playhouse Livestream

13Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

REVIEWS

Persephone – Oxford Playhouse Livestream

Oxford University students present their production ‘Persephone’ on the main stage at Oxford Playhouse, in what is the first production by their production company Jazz Hands Productions since the Playhouse re-opened. The mythical Greek tale of Persephone (Bethan Draycott), daughter of Demeter (Maddie Hall) (the goddess of harvest and fertility), and Zeus (Lorcan Cudlip-Cook). Persephone is an innocent young woman who loves nothing more than wandering through the woods and enjoying the natural world. On one of these walks, she is taken by Hades (Peter Todd), ‘God of the Underworld’, as he has fallen in love with her beauty and wants her to live with him as ‘Queen of the Underworld’. Demeter is heartbroken at Persephone’s disappearance; she had hidden her daughter away to kee...

13Nov

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Abigail’s Party – Park Theatre

What’s the word for when something just works? When you find a bag that perfectly matches your shoes, or you make every green light on your way to work, or you discover the perfect synergy of someone’s least favourite chocolate being your favourite, and vice versa, meaning that you can get rid of the underwhelming soft centres and enjoy all the toffee-filled goodness your heart desires. Whatever that word is, it’s how I felt about last night’s production of Abigail’s Party at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. The casting, the performances, the staging, the design – everything just worked, coming together to create a glorious night of theatre. I’d never been to the Park Theatre before but will definitely be back. Last night’s performance took place in the smaller of the spaces there wit...

Opera North: Trouble in Tahiti – The Lowry

13Nov

By Amanda HodgsonNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Trouble in Tahiti – The Lowry

Trouble in Tahiti is a one-act opera in seven acts, composed by Leonard Bernstein, who is perhaps best known for his musical West Side Story. It is one of Bernstein’s darker and more autobiographical works, based on the relationship between the composer’s parents, combining themes of domestic struggle and breakdown with operatic melodrama, performed here by Opera North at The Lowry in Salford. The opera is set in the 1950s, and opens with a jazz trio (Laura Kelly-McInroy, Joseph Shovelton, Nicholas Butterfield) singing about domestic bliss in an unspecified suburb in the form of a radio advertisement for the American Dream. The reality, however, is very different, as we soon follow the story of Sam (Quirijn de Lang) and Dinah (Sandra Piques Eddy), a young couple whose marriage is collap...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Alexandra, Birmingham

12Nov

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

East Midlands

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Alexandra, Birmingham

What a lot of scenery! If you like scenery this is the show for you! Acres it, yards of it flash by one after another - flat trees, flat doors, flat clouds, flat waves all causing this reviewer to wonder how they manage to store it all in the wings rather than consider the show. There really was a lot it… “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” is almost a Disney classic or if you work for Disney it’s a classic. It’s one step below “Mary Poppins” but quite a number of steps above “The Fox and the Hound” adapted from the novels by Mary Norton (who despite having invented the whole thing doesn’t seem warrant a credit in the programme…) and, of course, from the movie with Angela Lansbury. And like all good movies it moves and this stage adaptation from Michael Harrison attempts to move with the same vi...

The Seven Pomegranate Seeds – Rose Theatre

11Nov

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Seven Pomegranate Seeds – Rose Theatre

Fifteen years after it was commissioned and performed as a staged reading, Colin Teevan’s contemporary amalgamation of mythical stories receives a stunning production at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Directed and designed by Melly Still, the text brings to life the legends of female characters from Euripedes’ plays, namely Persephone, Hypsipyle, Medea, Alcestis, Phaedra, Creusa and Demeter, and situates them in the present-day UK. Each story touches upon different themes – rage, fear, vanity, obsession and more – and are tied together with a larger thread of motherhood, grief and loss. The show is backed by formidable performances by Niamh Cusack and Shannon Hayes who rely on rhythmic vocal delivery and effortless movement quality to bring out the best in Teevan’s text. Hayes’ embodimen...

11Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Boy Out The City – Turbine Theatre

Welcome back, to a time quickly forgotten but deep rooted- the pandemic, 2020. Oh yes, lurking in the corner is a time most of us dread to think about just yet but in Declan Bennett’s one-man piece exploring his 3 lockdown special, we move through time, through cities and through all the alcohol in the house. Immediately we are thrown into an underground theatre, blasting 90’s house and the scheduled timing of the overground tube. Declan enters the stage, Guinness in hand and face mask on- which he proceeds to take off with great difficulty once attached around his mic, as a glasses owner- I understand this. This was an honest re-telling of his time alone in a countryside home during Christmas, as we know, possibly the hardest lockdown for a lot of people. As his boyfriend’s success all...

11Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Carmen – The Lowry

Hard on the heels of 'Waitress' at the Opera House this week, another musical tale of female lust and empowerment comes to Manchester, with the arrival of Georges Bizet's 'Carmen' from Opera North playing at The Lowry. Unfortunately, whilst this production promises 'desire and hot-blooded passion', what we are served is a reheated dish that attempts to be innovative and succeeds only in being lacklustre and imitative. Carmen was hugely controversial upon its initial staging in 1875 with its story of immorality amongst the proletarian class of Andalucia; the eponymous heroine being both lawless, amoral and (spoiler alert) suffering a brutal on stage death at the denouement. Bizet died less than three months after the premiere of his final work, never getting to see it staged to internati...

10Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Milk and Gall – Theatre 503

2016, a woman giving birth and an election. This play follows Vera, (MyAnna Buring) trying to understand being a mother in a very hopeless climate, one she certainly didn’t wish for and one she may have even decided to not have a child in- if she could start again. We are with Vera as she experiences the first year of her child’s life, a very honest and open experience of what new mothers may experience with all the sharp edges and hidden corners. The struggles matched with the consistent worry of the outside world, the wanting to do more and fighting politics with her husband’s mother. Photograph © Jane Hobson. I thought this writing was fantastic, Mathilde Dratwa led us through this year beautifully well and never fell short to surprise us. Their view on this world is abstract a...

10Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Waitress – Manchester Opera House

In order to bake a perfect pie, it is necessary to have quality ingredients mixed in the correct proportions by an experienced baker; add in heat allied with perfect timing and a scrumptious pastry is produced. Just such a dish was served before the hungry and eager capacity audience at Manchester Opera House this evening as 'Waitress' begins a two-week residency in the city centre. The show arrives in Manchester in the midst of a UK wide tour, having been a huge Broadway and West End hit following its premiere back in 2016. The all-female creative triumvirate of Sarah Bareilles (Music & Lyrics), Jessie Nelson (Book) and Diane Paulus (Director) have crafted a warm and funny piece which simultaneously tugs at the heartstrings whilst also being unafraid to confront issues that women f...

10Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Parade – Sheffield Theatre Deli

Parade by Jason Robert Brown is probably one of the most underrated musicals ever written. It is totally captivating from beginning to end with a powerful score and gripping storyline, the only down side is that it is not performed very often in this country. The musical is a dramatization of the 1913 trial, imprisonment and subsequent lynching, of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia. Tonight, Cutting Edge Productions brought this story to Theatre Deli in Sheffield where it continues until Saturday (13th November). https://www.cuttingedgetheatreco.com/ The lead role of Leo Frank requires an accomplished actor to play him, and tonight Dylan Lambert shone. His attention to detail in the role was impressive, he portrayed an introverted character with an inner determination to get perso...