Monday, December 23

REVIEWS

Chatroom – Northern Comedy Theatre
REVIEWS

Chatroom – Northern Comedy Theatre

“You just need to know someone’s listening. That’s enough, isn’t it?” Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s chilling dark comedy ‘Chatroom’ finds its way to a digital adaptation presented by the Northern Comedy Theatre. Originally written in 2005, Chatroom delves into the lives of a group of bored and restless teenagers – William, Jack, Eva, Emily and Laura – who occupy the dark corners of the internet in anonymous chat rooms, swapping stories about dysfunctional families, discussing obscure pop culture and even attempting to solve the troubles that plague them, together. However, the light-hearted banter and the occasional jibes take a dark turn when a new member named Jim joins the chat and shares his thoughts about his struggles with depression, anxiety and suicide. As relevant as the day it...
Treason The Musical – Cadogan Hall
REVIEWS

Treason The Musical – Cadogan Hall

“Treason The Musical”, follows the story of the 1605 gunpowder plot from the perspective of the conspirators: Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Tom Winter and John Wright. Beautifully filmed at the dramatic Cadogan Hall, this concert presentation showcases the bones of the show, with key songs and moments linked together by rhyming narrative. With music and lyrics by Rickie Allan and book by Allan and Keiran Lynn, this presentation runs under an hour but packs in a real taste of the show. The creative team, including director Hannah Chissick have a clear vision; the show is clean, consistent in style and the story is confidently portrayed. The musical opens in 1603, where a dying Queen Elizabeth I is under pressure to name an heir with no children of her own. Life under Protestant rule h...
Gatsby A Musical – Cadogan Hall
REVIEWS

Gatsby A Musical – Cadogan Hall

A digital concert revival of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age tale brought to life, Gatsby – A Musical returns due to popular demand. Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is my favourite book, so I was excited to see the story adapted into a staged performance. The production stars an incredible cast of West End performers, including Ross William Wild (Million Dollar Quartet) as the title character Gatsby, Jodie Steele (Six) as Daisy Buchanan, Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill) as Nick Carraway and four-time Olivier nominee Emma Williams (Zorro) as Myrtle Williams. The plot mostly follows Steele as Daisy, seven years after the events of the book, as she revisits her memories with the mystical Gatsby by going to his mansion. The show jumps between different time periods, both in and out...
Love in the Lockdown – The Telling
REVIEWS

Love in the Lockdown – The Telling

Filmed and directed entirely on Zoom and by Performers on their mobile devices, Rachel Stirling and Alec Newman feature in this new topical online play with music. Presented by The Telling, written by Clare Norburn and directed by Nicholas Renton, ‘Love in the Lockdown’ follows Medieval Musician, Emilia (Stirling) and playwright, Giovanni (Newman) in the early stage of an intense lockdown relationship during the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emilia and Giovanni met at a mutual friend’s dinner party just before lockdown started. They are forced to continue dating over Zoom and as their relationship develops, and as the couple get closer romantically, they start to work on a writing project together. Their project is a musical/theatrical piece based on ‘The Decameron’ by Boccacc...
West End Musical Drive-In – Show 3
REVIEWS

West End Musical Drive-In – Show 3

This was number 3 in the series of West End Musical Drive-in shows which was recorded around September 2020 and brings live music from West End theatre stars to an outdoor setting whilst theatres are closed. These are now being streamed to view from the safety of people’s own homes. As with any outside broadcast, this was at the mercy of the weather which was not kind for much of this show and it was awkward for the performers having a microphone in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I know myself from first-hand experience how difficult it is to put on a show outdoors like this and the technical team involved deserve a huge amount of credit for their efforts in putting everything together. Thanks to them the quality of the sound was excellent. The show was opened, introduced and co...
Fables at the Kitchen Table – Stute Theatre/Tameside Libraries
REVIEWS

Fables at the Kitchen Table – Stute Theatre/Tameside Libraries

One of the most exciting innovations in our local libraries is they have become community hubs, including storytelling for young readers, and Fables at the Kitchen Table is Tameside Council’s attempt to keep those sessions going during lockdown. They’ve recruited experienced actor-musician Sophia Hatfield from Stute Theatre to rework three of Aesop’s famous fables delivered via an online link https://www.stutetheatre.co.uk/fables to local schools and children aged 3 to 8. So she becomes Soph who has travelled the world collecting stories to bring back to Greater Manchester, and she kicks off with the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, which remains the most famous of the Greek’s storyteller’s tales. Soph is an engaging performer who employs a bike helmet and a hat with floppy...
Recognition by 45North & Ellie Keel Productions
REVIEWS

Recognition by 45North & Ellie Keel Productions

“I want to be nothing in the world be except what I am. A musician.” This passing sentiment, felt by Afro-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor whilst on his deathbed in 1912 and remembered by Song, a Black composer working in present-day London almost a century later, is the quintessential throughline of the new audio drama ‘Recognition’ by 45North and Ellie Keel Productions under the Written On The Waves series that features 8 audio dramas created in partnership with Atticist, HOTTER Project, and The North Wall. Co-created by Amanda Wilkin and Rachael Nanyonjo with writing by the former and original Music from Cassie Kinoshi, this hour-long audio experience introduces us to the artistic journeys of two Black musicians – Samuel (voiced by Obioma Ugoala) and Song (voiced by Shiloh...
Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels – Finborough Theatre
REVIEWS

Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels – Finborough Theatre

Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels, written by Athena Stevens and directed by Lily McLeish, looks at relationships between women and how these are affected by their relationships with men, romantic or otherwise. A series of asides, presented as 28 separate episodes, it tells the story of 1 (Evelyn Lockley) whose boyfriend is best friends with A (Athena Stevens) and what happens after 1 sends him a topless photo which he casually shows to A. Due to the way the sound has been edited, it is beneficial to watch the piece with headphones. A subtitled version is also available. The piece opens with 1 looking at herself in the mirror and commenting on her appearance, including the faint wrinkles she has noticed have started to appear. A fan of presenting her ideal reality on Instagram, s...
Sherlock Holmes – An Online Adventure
REVIEWS

Sherlock Holmes – An Online Adventure

Written by Oliver Lansley and Anthony Spargo. Directed by Oliver Lansley and James Seager A classic Sherlock Holmes murder mystery creatively delivered through Zoom. Many of us have been using Zoom for our work and leisure since the lockdown and now Les Enfants Terribles in collaboration with LIVR have cleverly used the format to deliver an interactive murder mystery event, ideal for small groups. In the Case of the Hung Parliament, online sleuths have to collaborate with each other to solve the case of the murder of three senior cabinet members, the Foreign Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Lord Chancellor. Unfortunately, it isn’t the present cabinet but a Victorian administration from the days of Sherlock Holmes who has left the jovial Dr Watson (Ralph Bogard) to guide us th...
The Theatre Channel- Episode 5: The Classics of Broadway
REVIEWS

The Theatre Channel- Episode 5: The Classics of Broadway

Anyone visiting London for some musical theatre magic will have likely stumbled across The Theatre Café, the West End’s best-loved stagey coffee shop. In association with Adam Blanshay Productions, it’s now offering an access-all-areas peek behind the curtains as part of The Theatre Channel, a new web series brimming with all-singing, all-dancing performances filmed on location. Freddie Fox introduces Week Five- The Classics of Broadway- with excerpts from ‘Willkommen’ and ‘Money’ from Cabaret. He dominates the auditorium with an eerie presence: fitting choreography from Bill Deamer, also directing the episode, sees Fox crawling over the seats and making it rain from the Dress Circle. While his wide eyes and sinister grin replicate the original Emcee, his tattered outfit screamed ‘caugh...