REVIEWS Archives - Page 402 of 427

Always on my Mind – The Living Record Festival

4Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Always on my Mind – The Living Record Festival

Always on my Mind is a short snapshot of life in lockdown written by Liam Alexandru and directed by Theodore Gray. Based on Alexandru’s 2016 play of the same name, this impressively compact piece captures the spirit of today’s world while telling the story of two very real and complex characters. Stacey (Lucy Syed) and Curtis (Charles Lomas) have been apart for six months and Stacey has reluctantly agreed to a video call. Their breakup was messy and both of them are still upset about it, particularly Stacey. The video call is of course awkward as the characters exchange mundane pleasantries about life in quarantine. We hear the characters’ thoughts through inner monologues presented by the same actors in the background, and old feelings are quickly aggravated as tensions rise leading...

Alright, Girl? by Maria Ferguson – The Living Record Festival

3Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Alright, Girl? by Maria Ferguson – The Living Record Festival

Alright, Girl? is a soundscaped binaural recording of a poetry collection by the same name written by Maria Ferguson and published by Burning Eye Books. The writings are a reflection of the author’s working class heritage whilst growing up in vastly changing urban landscape of the United Kingdom. The text, originally published in August 2019, is performed by Maria in an hour-long listening experience for The Living Record Festival. With sound design by Chris Drohan, who combines Maria’s intimate spoken word rendition of her writing with a subtle score that adds warmth and tactility to the words, this piece takes the audience through Maria’s lived experiences with class, gender and belonging. The text itself is deeply enjoyable to read; I often found myself hitting the rewind butt...

31Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Behind The Beyond – Online@The Space UK

At a time when a night at the theatre means sitting in front of our TV, laptop or phone, Edinburgh venue ‘The Space UK’ have stepped up to the plate for the second time to give us Season 2 of their online fringe theatre festival. Created by BMV Theatre Productions and adapted by Brian Cano during a 2020 lockdown, ‘Beyond The Beyond’ has been filmed for Zoom by the actors in their own home, and then edited to create a piece of theatre which exams the 19th Century ‘problem play’. ‘Behind The Beyond’ the play, delves into Stephen Leacock’s book ‘Behind the Beyond: And Other Contributions To Human Knowledge’ written in 1913, to give a satirical glance at this genre of play. The problem plays of the 19th Century gave playwrights the ammunition to use the stage to exam social issu...

31Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Musical Horrors – The Theatre Channel

This series of productions was put together in October 2020 and consists of a number of episodes divided into different themes. Following on from the introductory “Welcome to the Café” itself, episode 2 is subtitled “Musical Horrors” and consists of songs from some of the world’s best shows with a bit of a horror theme, including Young Frankenstein, Beetlejuice, Into the Woods and of course the Rocky Horror Show. The line-up of talent in this production was nothing short of spectacular with a cast made up of well-known performers from the world of musical theatre, ably augmented by the resident “Café Four” (Alyn Hawke, Emily Langham, Sadie-Jean Shirley and Alex Woodward) whose energy and enthusiasm perfectly complimented the lead singers. As there was only a small number of songs in this p...

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change – London Coliseum (Online)

29Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change – London Coliseum (Online)

Recorded during one of the toughest times for the theatre community, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is the perfect tonic we need in these tough times. Filmed on the stage at the London Coliseum and brought to us by Lambert Jackson Productions, the cast of four, Brenda Edwards, Alice Fearn, Simon Lipkin and Oliver Tompsett bring this hilarious and poignant show to our screen. It follows the highs and lows of first dates, loves, marriage, babies, in-laws and growing old together. Lipkin was brought in last minute due to the sad indisposition of Trevor Dion Nicholas. Lipkin has played the role before, rehearsed into the show for the afternoon and then immediately began filming. The show opens taking us through the beautiful interior of the theatre with eerie vocalisations and voice...

28Jan

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REVIEWS

‘On Record’ – Living Record Festival

It’s no secret that 2021 is going to be the year when audio dramas make a grand return. Given that theatres in the UK are likely to be shut until the early days of summer and the growing screen fatigue we seem to be collectively experiencing, theatre-makers are actively exploring performances that invite the audience member to engage their aural imagination, or simply put – to hear is to see is to believe. On Record, a 35-minute audio drama written by Cameron Essam & Ella Dorman-Gajic and produced for the ongoing The Living Record Festival, concerns the inner workings of a woman’s mind who struggles with her grasp on reality, grappling with personal demons of her own while helping another woman escape from theirs. With voice performances by Jesse Bateson, Louise Cornelia, Ella Dorma...

Janey Godley’s Big Burns Supper – Live Stream

27Jan

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Scotland

Janey Godley’s Big Burns Supper – Live Stream

As Janey herself said at the end, ‘Ah’m knackert.’ This was as crammed a 90 minutes as one could wish for in celebration of Scotland’s famous poet. His global appeal was reflected in the comments box overflowing with a never-ending stream of greetings and toasts, viewers logging in from every conceivable time-zone. In this Covid-enforced YouTube version of the extravaganza - that usually takes place each year in the town of Dumfries - performances came in from far and wide. KT Tunstall beamed in a performance of ‘Everything Has Its Shape’ from Los Angeles, Donovan a rogue-ish version of ‘Sunshine Superman’ from Cork, Camille O’Sullivan’s rendition of Nick Cave’s ‘The Ship Song’ reached us from a beach near Dublin and Dervish performed ‘The Ploughman’ from a beautifully candle-lit room i...

24Jan

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REVIEWS

Rock Musicals – The Theatre Channel

In another instalment of the Theatre Café Channels’ concerts, some of the best West End talent perform a catalogue of stagey rock tunes. The obvious and over-done songs were thankfully not chosen and the choices here were unpredictable and entertaining. We start off with Aquarius, where the “Theatre Café Four” welcome us into their space. The singers entice us in with pleasing harmonies and psychedelic editing. It’s great to see these guys pop up in the other performances and add some levels there too. Francesca Jackson (Million Dollar Quartet) gives a stellar performance of Forgiven, from Jagged Little Pill. The Broadway hit, that evolved from Alanis Morisette’s album of the same name, asks for raw and impassioned vocals that Jackson excels at. If it ever jumps over the pond then th...

All Together – The Living Record Festival

22Jan

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REVIEWS

All Together – The Living Record Festival

All Together is an online improvised comedy show by the UK-based improv troupe The Noise Next Door which was performed live as part of The Living Record Festival 2021. Using suggestions from a live audience on Zoom, the ensemble devised a 60-minute performance on the spot with quickfire scenes and oddball characters that had us laughing without a break. The show relies on techniques and methods of improvisational theatre (or simply improv, as some better know it!) which is a form of spontaneous storytelling based on suggestions by the audience, making it an interactive and immersive experience for those watching. Whereas typically you’d find the quartet, consisting of Matt Grant, Tom Livingstone, Sam Pacelli and Robin Hatcher, playing at comedy clubs and fringe venu...

21Jan

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REVIEWS

The 39 Steps – A Radio Drama

As a novel, John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) is famous for being one of the inventors of the man-on-the-run thriller and for being the source of multiple film, TV and theatre versions which are often better regarded as their own work than as adaptations of the book. Most versions agree on the very basic premise: Richard Hannay, currently bored and living in London, comes home to find a strange person in his flat talking about a conspiracy that will have adverse side-effects to both his health and world peace and necessitates him staying with Hannay for a few days. The ultimate consequence of this is a dead body in Hannay's flat, which leaves the police with a few questions for Hannay and the murderers with a few theories as to how much Hannay now knows, forcing him to go on th...