REVIEWS Archives - Page 386 of 402

Tales from the Tombstone Tavern: Adam – Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd

26Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Tales from the Tombstone Tavern: Adam – Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd

Episode 2 of Tales from the Tombstone Tavern, the new six part podcast series written by Delmar Terblanche and directed by Jamie Boucher, continues with its analysis of different types of scary stories, with a brilliant example of science fiction horror narrated by Adam, Frankenstein’s Monster (Delmar Terblanche). This episode opens with a discussion about conspiracy theories led by Wolfgang the Wolfman (Percival Fagent). Wolfgang insists that Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining to apologise for his role in the faking of the Moon Landing which leads to more general conversation about which genre The Shining actually falls into. As Edith, the Wailing Woman (Anna Chedham-Cooper) insists it is a classic ghost story, Annie, the Mummy (Sena Bryer) falls back on Lovecraft, linking back to ep...

The Creepy Cabaret Cabin – Edinburgh Horror Fest2020

25Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Scotland

The Creepy Cabaret Cabin – Edinburgh Horror Fest2020

The Zoom/Skype/online world of Lockdown has provided ample opportunity for family members to wobble uninvited into our worlds of work and/or creativity and delivered unscheduled contributions. Thus it was as one sat down to review The Creepy Cabaret Cabin this evening, a collection (one says ‘a curation’ these days) of Drag, Burlesque and Circus performers undressing to various degrees spiced with blood, wine, food and scary stuff, the results alternately comic, stomach-churning and plain unsettling. ‘She’s drinking Irn Bru at breakfast!’ shouted my little one as Roxy Stardust opened with a tale of domestic shenanigans demonstrating that you should ‘ne’er underestimate yer Granny’. Sobering advice upon this evidence. And to the tune of ‘Hoots Mon’ by Lord Rockingham’s XI. Next up was...

25Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Stowaway – Liverpool Irish Festival

Liverpool Irish Festival was established to provide a permanent, annual event to celebrate the Irish contribution to Liverpool’s cultural identity and heritage, regularly providing a rich array of arts, literature, film, music, and drama. The current pandemic has provided a new challenge for the Festival to overcome with normally staged performances now transferred to Zoom and Barbara Marsh’s fifth play is no exception to the rule, with the romantic drama – written in response to a Scriptshop theme of ‘leaving’ – put together as a scratch reading under the direction of Zara Marie Brown. Ted (Steve Dean) works as a steward on a passenger ship with Paddy (Daryl Holden), and is bringing pregnant wife Annie (Mairi-Claire Kennedy) and teenage son Jimmy (Lew Freeburn) on the next sailing as a...

Clown-Hearted – Dazed New World Festival

25Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Clown-Hearted – Dazed New World Festival

ClodHopper Theatre’s Clown-Hearted is an exploration of mental health and self-care in the modern world, devised and performed by Leonie Spilsbury and Owen Jenkins. A dialogue free piece of original and funny physical theatre, the show is both surprisingly deep and deceptively poignant. The show opens with Spilsbury sitting on the stage in her pyjamas surrounded by cardboard boxes featuring labels of various emotions and mental health references. A ticking clock echoes and subtitles for the sound effect are provided, a feature which is present throughout the show. Spilsbury pulls the hood of her pyjamas up in an attempt to create a sense of safety and looks through the various boxes. Her facial expression is excellent and the reality of the boxes is increased through creating a sense...

Ramin Karimloo Live at The London Coliseum

24Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Ramin Karimloo Live at The London Coliseum

Whilst there is uncertainty of when we can view Live theatre in person. It’s events that are put on by stream theatre that really help us get through this challenging time. Prior to the show starting I must say it was a huge headache trying to log in to see the stream. Maybe this should be looked at if more shows are to be added. On to the concert itself. Ramin Karimloo is a giant in the world of musical theatre both on Broadway and in the west end. His debut was Les Misérables and in the show speaks of how great full he was to have this show in his life. He has always been a fan of the show and to have played Jean Valjean was an honour. If you haven’t seen him in shows such as Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera and Murder Ballad. You may recognise him on Tv Medical Drama Holby City a...

24Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

First Date: The Musical – Online

Lambert Jackson are the producers of the moment right now. With their numerous concerts and musicals being streamed over lockdown, they are giving the theatre lovers something to keep us going until we can return to our seats. We are extremely lucky that they have treated us to this witty American musical, with a top cast and some smashing vocal performances. First Date is exactly what is says on the tin. A musical about an explosive blind date between two people who endure awkwardness, arguments and annoying waiters in the quest to find love. The Crazy Coqs seems the perfect place to set it. There’s a bar, a place for dinner seating and a stage ready for an impromptu song. The team have cleverly utilised this space with a multi-camera set up and plenty of close-ups that pull the audien...

Death of a Salesman – Eugene O’Neill Theatre

24Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Death of a Salesman – Eugene O’Neill Theatre

In an unprecedented collaboration with Showtime and The Actors Fund, Goodman Theatre presents a free stream of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, starring Brian Dennehy, and directed by Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls. This production, featuring the Broadway cast at Eugene O’Neill Theatre, was captured on film in 2000 and has not aired since its original release. A tired salesman, 60-year old Willy Loman (Brian Dennehy), returns to his Brooklyn home and wife, Linda (Elizabeth Franz), following an arduous road trip in which yet again he has failed to meet his target. But Willy doesn’t want to face the reality of his situation and the outstanding bills when he can indulge in the illusion of success that he believes is ultimately gover...

Mrs Shaw Herself – Liverpool Irish Festival

23Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Mrs Shaw Herself – Liverpool Irish Festival

Started in 2003 to celebrate the links between Liverpool and Ireland, the Liverpool Irish Festival has always been a highlight of the city’s cultural calendar, bringing a range of arts, literature, film, music, and drama. However, it is unlikely that any year has been as challenging as this one, with venues closed, social distancing, and so on. Drama is one of the areas most affected by the restrictions, unless the company has access to the type of technology that has been used in the recent streaming for cinema of productions by, for example, the National Theatre and the RSC. However, the online performance of Mrs Shaw Herself, by the Wirral-born writer and musician Helen Tierney, who plays the harp in the change from one ‘scene’ to another, and co-devised with Alexis Leighton, w...

Tales from the Tombstone Tavern: Annie – Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd

23Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Tales from the Tombstone Tavern: Annie – Ameena Hamid Productions Ltd

Tales from the Tombstone Tavern is a new six-part podcast series featuring five iconic monsters from classic horror: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wailing Woman, Wolf Man and The Mummy. The five all hang out at the Tombstone Tavern, drinking and exchanging stories, when one evening they talk about how their brand of horror has become irrelevant and today’s scary stories are not what they once were. Directed by Jamie Boucher, the podcast opens with narration by Delmar Terblanche who also wrote the series. Their narration is excellent combining traditional methods of creating atmosphere with a self-mocking philosophical whirlwind about time and its role in life. From the opening the sounds of the pub are created and the atmosphere of a busy bar is created. The group sit good nat...

22Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Meek – Dazed New World Festival

“I’m just a woman who works in a factory, I don’t want any of this!”. These are the words of the heroine of this play, Irene, (played by Maria McColgan) and seemed to me to sum up what the play was all about. A part-time songwriter who is unwittingly drawn into a confrontation with the regime running the country when a love song she has written and performed takes social media by storm (somewhat of an obsession of the character) but is misinterpreted by the country’s religious leaders as a blasphemous attack on their devout beliefs, resulting in Irene being thrown into a prison cell, where the vast majority of the action takes place. Set sometime in the not too distant future in a country not too far from our own, the play centres around the conversations between Irene and her long-time...