REVIEWS Archives - Page 386 of 458

Do You Hear the People Sing? – Northwich Memorial Court

22Oct

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

Do You Hear the People Sing? – Northwich Memorial Court

It’s clear to see that theatres are delighted to open their doors again all over the country and the award-winning Knutsford Musical Theatre Company (KMTC) are one company who demonstrate this as they welcome audiences back to Northwich Memorial Court this week. This is KMTCs first concert since lockdown and in an evening that provides a wide array of songs from musicals, it was obvious that the intent of the evening was certainly to be an evening of celebration. There could be no denying from the opening number of Clare Moorhouse’s performance of ‘Tell me it’s not True,’ with the KMTC from the fabulous ‘Blood Brothers’ that the quality of the entire evening was going to be exceptional. As the evening unravelled it was hard to believe that this was amateur theatre as the energy from ...

21Oct

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

The Enemy – King’s Theatre Edinburgh

If you live in Scotland, you’ll know that we’re fiercely proud of many things, but few things can compare to the pride we have for our tap water. In our opinion, our humble council juice makes our hearts sing. That’s why The Enemy, Kieran Hurley’s brilliant reimaging of the classic Henrik Ibsen play, ‘An Enemy of the People’ is simply perfect. Not just because it resonates with a post-truth world but it’s perfect for Scottish National Theatre, a perfect for 2021 and perfect as a play performed in Scotland for Scottish people returning to our theatres. Scientist Kirsten Stockman (Hannah Donaldson) has discovered a life threatening bacteria in the tap water of a Scottish town that’s about to open a luxurious water park and become of the UK’s next hot tourist spots. Naturally this di...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Palace Theatre

21Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Palace Theatre

Bedknobs and Broomsticks arrives in Manchester this week, the first of a trilogy of Disney productions to play at the Palace Theatre with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King arriving in the next 12 months. Tonight’s show was truly a lesson in visual artistry with scene after scene making you question if your eyes really saw that? Countless illusions including a flying bed and fully functioning broomstick take centre stage alongside glorious puppets all illuminated by a stunning lighting design all knitted together with slick direction from Candice Edmunds. The shows website says “When the three orphaned Rawlins children are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price, they have no idea what adventures lie ahead. Upon discovering Eglantine ...

Epic Love and Pop Songs – New Wimbledon Theatre

21Oct

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Epic Love and Pop Songs – New Wimbledon Theatre

What do you call a musical that isn’t really a musical but sort of is a musical? And how do you explain it to people who might want to see the not-quite-a-play but not-quite-a-musical? Here is my attempt: Epic Love and Pop Songs is confusing; think Marmite but for your cultural tastebuds. The story explores the complex dynamics of teenage friendship; needing to find your tribe, wanting to belong and wanting to stick out at the same time, the politics of the secondary school hierarchy. It also looks at love, loss and tragedy - Doll and Ted are teenage friends, bound together by hurt and need, and their friendship will eventually be the making or the end of them both. From the off, the stage is cluttered and it’s not clear why, the basic props sort of work but I didn’t understand the c...

Chop Me Up or Let Me Go – Hen & Chickens Theatre

21Oct

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Chop Me Up or Let Me Go – Hen & Chickens Theatre

Among the things that we all have collectively experienced over the past year, one of them has to be the physical and mental limits we are pushed to in confinement (read: lockdown). This set-up is not unfamiliar to the dramatic world – being stuck in a place with nowhere to go and nothing to do – and has been aptly used as a narrative structure in this new production by the Albiston Line Theatre Company. Chop Me Up or Let Me Go is a terse two-hander written and directed by Lesley Ann Albiston that explores survival, obsession and human relations through the lens of its two characters. Thomas Reynolds, a famous actor, has been kidnapped by Astrid Barton, a researcher who swears she’s his biggest fan. Astrid’s motives for the kidnapping aren’t particularly clear but it’s evident that Thomas ...

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell – Liverpool Playhouse

21Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell – Liverpool Playhouse

The bad boy of ballet is back with a sultry, sensual tale of lonely hearts and hedonism in 1930s London. Delivered by Bourne’s New Adventures company, we’re introduced to a multitude of characters from the underbelly of Soho, who congregate at night in a local pub, the Midnight Bell, trying to escape the mundanity of their daily lives and connect with whoever may have them. Heavily inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton, each distinct personality dances straight out of the pages of his work, to present an often-bleak view of the very human desire for love and acceptance. A true ensemble piece, our dancers weave in and out of each other’s spaces and stories with wonderful fluidity and awareness of each other. Immaculate choreography and timing pulls us into each picture post...

The War of the Worlds – Liverpool Everyman

20Oct

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

The War of the Worlds – Liverpool Everyman

What a tangled web we weave, especially these days when the Internet ensures all kinds of information reach the parts that other sources can't get to. Fake news can make people belligerent or else scare them out of their wits, just as it did with the broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' years ago. Rhum and Clay, with Isley Lynn, proudly present their version of events, each cast member, pipe in hand, narrating as the multi-talented and multi-faceted Orson Welles. And on the starkest of sets, designed by Bethany Wells, there's nowt but a cumbersome old wireless, soundproof mesh walls with doors inset, and a radio studio at the back, but oh my, the lovely attention to detail: two dear little lamps like miniature spaceships, All brought to life by the Lighting Designers, Nick Flintoff and Pete...

20Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dirty Dancing – Hull New Theatre

Bloomin’ ‘eck! Michael O’Reilly, you have left me speechless. Let me explain. This fine figure of a man (nah, change that to sex on legs), is one of the stars of Dirty Dancing and it was mainly his actions on the stage of the packed Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night that left us in the spellbound audience shouting for more. O’Reilly plays the part of dancer Johnny Castle, a role made famous by Patrick Swayze in the 1987 movie of the same name. And he certainly does the role justice. All the action takes place at Kellerman’s Resort in the US. It’s the summer of 1963 and Frances “Baby” Houseman (Kira Malou) is on holiday there with her family. This innocent teen soon finds herself drawn into a world very different from the one she has been brought up in. Dancing to the resort ...

20Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dial M for Murder – Sheffield Lyceum

Dial M for Murder is billed as ‘The Genre Defining Thriller of All Time’. The play originally written by Frederick Knott in the 1950’s and made famous by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1954 film with Grace Kelly and Ray Millard. The play was first performed in 1952 and has since become a nationally, regular repertory production. This new production is eventually on tour after being on hold during the Covid times of 2020, the cast of 4 familiar faces from stage and television deliver a wordy, yet clever crime thriller littered with comedic moments to add just the required juxtaposition to this detective thriller. The First Act is a mammoth task of dialogue but is handled well, it is the Second Act that this play grips the audience. Thanks to Director Anthony Banks there are some surprisin...

19Oct

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Tell Me on a Sunday – The Lowry

Coming across an Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical which I’d never seen before was reason enough to see the new touring production of Tell Me On A Sunday at The Lowry Theatre...and seeing Jodie Prenger in the title role will be my reason to go back and see it again! This one-act production features just one cast member (Prenger) and the concept was originally conceived for television being the very first collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black, away from Tim Rice, with this in mind it has a very different feel to other Lloyd Webber shows, but has more emotion! It follows the young English girl; Emma and her romantic misadventures in New York in the heady days of the 1980’s with her search for love which sees her cross to Manhattan and California in search of love. The diffi...