REVIEWS Archives - Page 443 of 549

Ellen Kent: Madama Butterfly – Floral Pavilion

31Mar

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Ellen Kent: Madama Butterfly – Floral Pavilion

Puccini may have been a philanderer and scoundrel, with a Hitchcock-like tendency to put his heroines through merry hell, but my goodness, he could write an aria. Madama Butterfly, one of the most widely performed operas in the world, boasts its fair share, and is deemed to be one of the most accessible to audiences. Set in one location - a hillside house in Nagasaki, Japan - we follow Cio-Cio-San, nicknamed ‘Butterfly’, the young bride of an American naval officer, Lieutenant Pinkerton, as her romantic ideals are tested to their limits when he seemingly abandons her, yet she still waits hopefully for his return. The sense of tragedy is embedded from the get-go, as we know as an audience that Pinkerton has no intention of coming back, seeing the match as a short-lived one until he can f...

31Mar

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Mamma Mia! – Liverpool Empire

Everyone is familiar with the ‘Mamma Mia!’ films but not everyone has seen the stage show upon which they’re based; I’m lucky enough to have seen it many times, the first time being the London premier in 1999 when I was blown away by the production, the songs and the energy of the cast. Based around the songs of Swedish pop legends ABBA, ‘Mamma Mia!’ is now a box-office worldwide musical phenomenon. The feel-good musical is presently playing in both the West End and Broadway and has countless touring versions performing world-wide. The show was originally conceived by English producer, Judy Craymer and written by Catherine Johnson, with director Phyllida Lloyd, these being the collaborative creative force behind what was to become an unprecedented commercial success; it premier...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Birmingham Hippodrome

30Mar

By Annette NuttallNo Comments

West Midlands

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Birmingham Hippodrome

The award-winning National Theatre Production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time comes to Birmingham, perfectly coinciding with World Autism Awareness Week. Christopher Boon has found his neighbour’s dog murdered, he decides to investigate what has happened and who killed him. This is very much outside of his comfort zone and the more he investigates the more he reveals, leading to some uncomfortable discoveries. From the start, it is clear that Christopher sees things differently to most people, his neurodiverse condition is never named but alluded to in the script. The novel (by Mark Haddon) on which this play is based, is written in the first person, which could be difficult to translate to the stage. However, by mixing live action with Christopher explaini...

30Mar

By Hazel BumbyNo Comments

North West

Sheila’s Island – The Lowry

Sheila’s Island is a sharp and charming new piece of comedy writing by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots) and is extremely funny and very well written… The Quays Theatre within The Lowry was the perfect setting for this one set play showcasing the talents of four very talented ladies. The set was simple yet very well designed and the sound and lighting never missed a beat. The cast were not wearing microphones but to be honest they didn’t need them. Projected and clear and not a word missed from the back of the stalls. Hair, make-up and costume were all on point for this present day setting. Now, a bit of background….. For Team C from Pennine Mineral Water Ltd, their team building weekend has well and truly been blown way off course. ...

Everybody’s Talking About Jaime – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

30Mar

By Beth EltringhamNo Comments

Scotland

Everybody’s Talking About Jaime – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

When you learn to except yourself for who you truly are and want to be, that is when the world will follow suit and accept you too, this is the message that this show communicates. Everyone’s Talking about Jamie is based around the true life and journey of drag star Jamie Campbell: one of the youngest drag queens of his time, taking up the art at just 16. Whilst drag is an important plot device do not get this show confused for a drag show; Jamie’s alter ego Mimi Me (or in real life Fifi La True) only actually surfaces once in the show and in its complete form this is via projection. The plot is actually about a young sixteen-year-old queer boy (Jamie played by Layton Williams) who dreams of being a drag queen yet fears the backlash he may get from his classmates, teacher (Lara Denning...

30Mar

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

The Other – Drayton Arms Theatre

Packing boxes and walls with scribbles draw the audience into a unique house as they enter. A sentence is written on the walls. It is then spoken aloud. The rest of the show then embodies it. Delicately presented with light moments of interaction with the audience, ‘the other’ is explored in its many forms and feelings. Tracing the journey of a family, as witnessed by the walls of the house they lived in, the show explores their relationships with each other and with their home. As they seek to find a new house, we are taken down memory lane of the bitter and sweet happenings over the years. The nuanced direction of Ariella Stoian brilliantly uses everyday objects to make meaning of people and their emotional journeys. The use of chalk, in particular, is a strong motif. It can be eas...

30Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Vagina Cake – Hope Mill Theatre

Making friends at university can be a risky business as four friends have found out as they run round the stage pandering to the unreasonable demands of an unseen ‘The Duchess’. In between Laura Harper’s warm, funny but very perceptive new work unpeels the power and complexity of female friendships as Fraggle, Dipsy, Mumps and Mary migrate from their relatively carefree twenties into the much choppier waters of their thirties. Harper has based Vagina Cake on extensive chats with women of different generations, and the regular gales of laughter from the mainly female audience proved she has nailed the inevitable changes in friendships that start when you are essentially still a big child. The first half centres around a disastrous wedding sketching out each of the women’s ro...

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – Opera House, Manchester

30Mar

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat – Opera House, Manchester

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first staged musical ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ arrives in Manchester. The iconic duo of Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice wrote this much-loved production back in 1986 as a school play… little did they know the sensation it would become. The brand-new production is a modern take on a timely classic: it is exactly the star-studded, colourful spectacle you want and expect. Alexandra Burke takes on the leading role of The Narrator, young talent Jac Yarrow takes the title role of Joseph and Jason Donavan returns to the show he once conquered, now as the heartthrob, Elvis-styled Pharaoh. Any musical theatre fan - if not, everyone in the UK - knows the music from this work of art, featuring songs such as Any Dream Will Do, emotional ballad Close Every Do...

30Mar

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

The Addams Family – Regent Theatre

The Addams family pay a visit to the neighbourhood of Stoke-on-Trent this week in all their darkest finery. Based on characters created by Charles Addams and with lyrics and music written by Tony Award nominated Andrew Lippa, it was evident from the opening that this kooky musical comedy was going to be something special. Directed by Matthew Wight, the story is essentially about ‘Wednesday’ (Kingsley Morton), daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams. She has fallen in love with the seemingly ‘normal’ Lucas Beineke (Ahmed Hamad). Lucas and his family are invited to dinner ‘chez Addams’ and spooky dark fun over a dinner ensues. Morton’s role of ‘Wednesday’ was outstanding. With vocals entirely suited to musical theatre she commanded the stage and stomped about being the angry daughter of ...

29Mar

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

Wales

Catch Me If You Can – Theatr Clwyd

Hollywood has landed in the rolling hills of Mold, with a comedy-thriller that boasts more twists and turns than the Welsh road network. Catch Me If You Can, written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, and directed by Bob Tomson, is an adaptation of Robert Thomas’s French play Trap for a Lonely Man. We meet Inspector Levine, called to a house in the remote Catskill mountains to investigate the disappearance of newly married Elizabeth Corban. But when Elizabeth suddenly turns up, her husband Danny swears blind he’s never seen her before, launching a chain of events in which nothing is what it seems, and no-one is as they appear. It’s no wonder this has been adapted for the screen three times over; it’s full of intrigue and conspiracy that will keep the most zealous of armchair sl...