REVIEWS Archives - Page 4 of 569

13Mar

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Ballet Nights – Opera House

Ballet Nights’ first regional tour arrives in Manchester with a programme that celebrates the breadth of dance today, blending styles and artistic voices into an evening that feels both polished and joyfully eclectic. The format - a sequence of short works introduced by founder and artistic director Jamiel Devernay-Laurence - creates a lively atmosphere, allowing audiences to experience an impressive range of talent, from internationally celebrated performers to students making their stage debut. The programme offers a fabulous mix of traditional ballet, contemporary dance and tap, interwoven with pockets of live music that keep the evening feeling fluid and intimate. One highlight is the chance to relive the showcase dance “I Married Myself” from the Netflix series Étoile, danced by...

The Ladies Football Club – Crucible Theatre

11Mar

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Ladies Football Club – Crucible Theatre

The popularity of women’s football has grown exponentially recently, bolstered by England’s back-to-back European titles. And every good movement has a good origin story behind it. And if you are thinking, “I don’t know anything about football, maybe this one isn’t for me…” then give me a couple of minutes of your time while I try to persuade you otherwise. I am not a football fan, at all. It’s not something I grew up with, and it all feels a bit alien to me. But I am a fan of women being brilliant, women telling stories, and women supporting and promoting other women, and that is what you get here. The Ladies Football Club, written by Stefano Massini and adapted for this production by Tim Firth, takes us back to the first moments of women’s football. It is World War I. Most men are ...

11Mar

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Sugar Daddy – Underbelly Boulevard Soho

Some comedy shows aim simply to entertain. ‘Sugar Daddy’, written and solo-performed by comedian Sam Morrison, does something far rarer, it makes an audience laugh until their cheeks ache, and then quietly reminds them how fragile and beautiful love and life can be, it delivers a comedy punchline and at the same time, leaves an emotional wound. Performed at Underbelly Boulevard Soho, Morrison’s one-man show begins with the easy rhythm of stand-up. He has high energy levels, bounds around the stage with a burst of nervous enthusiasm, the kind that feels wonderfully unpolished and instantly human. You can tell early on that he is deeply connected to his story and wants to tell it. That slightly anxious energy becomes part of the charm of this piece. Morrison does not hide behind the safet...

11Mar

By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments

North West

The Constant Wife – Liverpool Playhouse

Take a step back into the 1920s with the Constant Wife which is based on the original play by W. Somerset Maugham and has been creatively adapted and revived by award winning Laura Wade and directed by Tamara Harvey. Despite being written nearly a century ago, Wade has beautifully written the play to maintain its original class, themes and sophistication; however, the play still feels surprisingly modern. An exploration of marriage, independence, and social hypocrisy. Meet Constance Middleton (Kara Tointon), well kept, organised, controlled, poised and who glides around stage with grace. The perfect wife and mother. However, all is not what it seems. Be prepared for a brilliant and comedic tale filled with surprise, wit, laughter, intrigue and an array of characters with wonderfully con...

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Hull New Theatre

11Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Hull New Theatre

I have a bone to pick with the cast of Hessle Theatre Company. Please have more consideration for the afflicted when you perform Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, as you did at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening. I was the afflicted in question. You see, I had a huge cold sore on the corner of my mouth, meaning every time you made me laugh - which was often - the pesky sore cracked painfully. Luckily for you, the pain was worth it, so you’re all forgiven. This local company continuously dishes out productions that wouldn’t look out of place on a West End stage and the venue was very well-attended on Tuesday. “Joseph” as it’s popularly known, was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), in 1967 and is still a favourite with theatregoers. ...

11Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Bacchae – The Studio

The latest touring production of The Bacchae by Euripides, presented by Company of Wolves at The Studio at Festival Theatre in Edinburgh under the umbrella of Capital Theatres, is a bold and strikingly modern interpretation of a play that is already more than 2,400 years old. Written and performed by Ewan Downie and originally directed by the late Ian Spink, this stripped back solo performance attempts something rather daring, to compress one of Greek tragedy’s most disturbing and philosophically rich stories into a highly physical, ritualistic piece of theatre. At its best, the production is undeniably compelling. Downie’s performance is intense and committed, shifting rapidly between narration, character and movement in a way that suggests an actor channelling a whole chorus...

11Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Salt – Riverside Studios

A bitter song for a bloody story, Contemporary Ritual Theatre brings a strange and slippery offering to Riverside Studios, weaving dance, song, and dialogue in a summoning circle of rope and sweat that ensnares its audience and holds them in a merciless grip well beyond the threshold of pleasure. The play’s brutal stranglehold on its audience is a testament to its enigmatic and often energetic performing corps comprised of veteran actor Emily Outred as the Widow Pruttock, Contemporary Ritual Theatre regular Mylo McDonald as her son Man Billy, and relative newcomer Bess Roche as Sheldis, the strangely seductive interloper in their squalid little life whose lascivious ways threaten to upend the little order they are able to impose in their chaotic sea ruled community. Composer and mus...

It Walks Around the House at Night– Southwark Playhouse Borough

10Mar

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

It Walks Around the House at Night– Southwark Playhouse Borough

When struggling working-class actor Joe (George Naylor) accepts a seductively well-paid job offer from an alluring and wealthy man, he is thrust into an increasingly nightmarish situation that has him questioning his sanity. It Walks Around the House at Night blends elements of psychological thriller, Gothic horror, and dark comedy into an atmospheric and entertaining thrill ride. Naylor gives a fantastic performance as Joe, supported by a very strong script from playwright Tim Foley. With a sardonic yet affable charm, Joe immediately wins the audience over, and as a result they are invested and gripped when he is placed into peril. Sometimes Joe’s characterisation is a little inconsistent – one moment he is naïve and credulous, the next he has near-psychic levels of insight – but...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Liverpool Empire

10Mar

By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments

North West

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Liverpool Empire

Glittering, joyous, and unapologetically bold, Priscilla Queen of the Desert bursts onto the stage as a dazzling celebration of identity, friendship, and resilience. Directed by Ian Talbot. Based on the 1994 Australian film of a similar name, this stage musical transforms the road-trip story into a vibrant theatrical spectacle packed with iconic disco hits, stunning choreography (Matt Cole) and exuberant costumes (Vicky Gill). A show absolutely NOT to be missed! The story follows three friends Tick (Mitzi) played by Kevin Clifton, Adam/Felicia (Nick Hayes), and Bernadette (Adele Anderson)—as they travel across the Australian outback in a battered old school bus named 'Priscilla'. Along the way, they encounter both hostility and kindness, forcing them to confront prejudice, pers...

Think of England – Glasgow Film Festival

9Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

REVIEWS

Think of England – Glasgow Film Festival

At the screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre during the Glasgow Film Festival, the festival director began with a small confession. Introducing a film called Think of England, he suggested, required a certain amount of bravery when standing in front of a Glasgow audience. It got the laugh it deserved, but it also set the tone rather nicely for what followed. Because Think of England begins with a premise that sounds almost like a joke, and gradually becomes something rather more thoughtful, and occasionally rather unsettling. Written and directed by Richard Hawkins, the film is set during the Second World War and built around a wartime rumour so improbable it almost feels invented, that somewhere within the labyrinth of British military bureaucracy someone proposed mak...