REVIEWS Archives - Page 451 of 549

The Merchant of Venice – Shakespeare’s Globe

3Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Merchant of Venice – Shakespeare’s Globe

The current rise of antisemitism around the world gives extra resonance and relevance to Shakespeare's 16th Century play on usury, religious conflict, revenge and the manipulation of justice. Abigail Graham's direction packs a serious punch, with a stellar cast who draw out every nuance of the text. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is brilliantly heightened in this beautiful candlelit production set in the present day, but which could relate to any era. Young Bassanio is a spendthrift and hedonist, partying with his buddies and going through money as though there's no tomorrow. Needing cash to pursue his wooing of the rich heiress, Portia, he turns to his friend, the merchant, Antonio, who has bailed him out previously. Antonio agrees and asks Shylock, ...

After The End – Theatre Royal Stratford East

3Mar

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

After The End – Theatre Royal Stratford East

Dark, disturbing and incisive, Kelly’s apocalyptic play examines human nature and hostility like a thought experiment. Louise and Mark are the lab rats in this harrowing social commentary. Louise finds herself in Mark’s bunker as they shield themselves from a nuclear attack outside. With limited supplies and suffocating, rising tension, anything could happen. The two work colleagues, make for an unlikely pairing with Louise’s feisty, uncompromising strength and Mark’s dorky enthusiasm and rigidity. As a result, it is fascinating to watch their sharp back and forth dialogue. Nick Blood is particularly skilful at bringing Kelly’s idiosyncratic style of writing to life, catching its jerky rhythm. He is perfect as Mark, balancing his comical strangeness with his darker aspects which seep ou...

Made in Dagenham – Riley Smith Theatre, Leeds

3Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Made in Dagenham – Riley Smith Theatre, Leeds

A successful west end musical can have the most unlikely source material. Who would have thought that the story of 19th Century French politics (Les Misérables) or a book of T.S. Eliot poems (Cats) would be in the top ten list of most successful shows ever? Given this, it is less than surprising that a musical based on the seemingly dry subject of equal pay in a car factory in grey, late 1960's industrial Britain, became a surprise hit back in 2014. Now LUU Music Theatre Society brings their considerable talent and energy to this revival at Leeds University for the next four nights. The story follows Rita O'Grady (Ellen Corbett) and her rise from a modest sewing machine operator at the Ford factory in Dagenham, to spokeswoman for her gender, striking when asked to do the equivalent job ...

3Mar

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Footloose – Manchester Opera House

Hooray theatre land is beginning to get back to some normality after being hit hard by the pandemic, for the first time there was no need for Covid passes or compulsory wearing of masks. For that alone there was a heightened sense of excitement, and it was clear theatre goers are feeling more confident to mix as the Opera House in Manchester was packed to the rafters with barely one seat empty. Footloose the musical is the brainchild of Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobby with Music from Tom Snow it’s based on the 1984 film which starred Kevin Bacon as city boy Ren McCormack (played by Joshua Hawkins), who arrives with his mother Ethel (Geri Allen) in Beaumont from Chicago in a rebellious mood after learning of the town’s dancing ban. The ban came following an incident five years prior a...

But I’m A Cheerleader: The Musical – Turbine Theatre

3Mar

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

But I’m A Cheerleader: The Musical – Turbine Theatre

Based on the 1999 cult comedy film starring Natasha Lyonne and drag icon Ru Paul which has become a queer classic, But I’m A Cheerleader: The Musical, written by Bill Augustin and Andrew Abrams, has been a decade in the making. The show marks the first brand-new musical to be staged at The Turbine Theatre in London. Directed by Tania Azevedo, the show tells the story of Megan (Alice Croft), the all-American high school cheerleader who seemingly has the perfect life with her jock boyfriend and loving parents until she is shipped off to True Directions, a gay conversion camp after they suspect she is a lesbian. Spearheaded by the strict camp leader Mary Brown (Tiffany Graves), Megan undergoes a five-step programme with the hope that it’ll banish her sexual urges when she unexpectedly meet...

3Mar

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

Boot – Lion & Unicorn

A bright red sofa, comfy carpet and warm amber lighting welcome the audience into Karen’s intimate living room. The first and only guest here is a visibly anxious Emma (Kate O'Rourke), touching up her dress and make-up to possibly hide her internal distress. Enter Karen (Eliza Williams). One nervous energy is met with another awkward one. As the story unfolds, the reason for this tension gets clearer (rather, more complex). The two old friends are (seemingly) meeting each other after a long time but as the story unfolds, we see how intertwined their lives have actually been and how much more consciously connected they are about to be. Dramaturgically, Jen Wooster plays with the different levels of awareness in the room. Karen has information that she is desperate to reveal; Emma knows n...

2Mar

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Woods – Southwark Playhouse

David Mamet’s ‘The Woods’ has always been a topic of conversation in its fantastical and mythical approach to the question of heterosexual relationships, and with Southwark Playhouse’s revival it’s likely to continue to be. However, since being written in 1977, I’m not sure of the play’s relevance to today/ what we are questioning since the rapid change of thought regarding our classic male and female stereotypes. Mamet’s original question was to ask why male and female’s fail to get along and where our differences to natural desire to ‘nesting’ lies- in that classically males may dream of it but fear once it becomes reality and female’s may feel most at ease when their nest has settled. When watching, it’s very frustrating to see that not once is this couple on the same page and can fo...

2Mar

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Sheila’s Island – King’s Theatre

Tim Firth (Calendar Girls and Kinky boots) has been delighting audiences for decades with his productions. Now Sheila’s Island is an all-female reimagining of his earlier work, Neville’s Island is bringing his work to a brand new audience. Four middle aged middle management employees of Pennine Mineral Water Ltd, are on their annual outward bound team bonding weekend. Team leader Sheila has read the clues far too closely and her love a cryptic crossword has caused the ladies to end up in the middle of nowhere in the Lake District as the fog gathers in before Bonfire Night Weekend. As the days come and go, tensions rise, and communications devices fail. There’s not a crumb food in sight, just one sausage and relationships have become rather frayed. As Sheila (Judy Flynn) hauls herself...

2Mar

By Annette NuttallNo Comments

West Midlands

Fatal Attraction – The Alexandra

This well-known thriller based on the film of the same name, comes to Birmingham this week to bring a touch of romantic drama. Beth and Dan have a happy life until she spends a weekend at her mother’s and Dan goes to a bar. From here Dan (Oliver Farnworth) makes a series of bad decisions, the first being to have dinner with a beautiful lady in the bar, Alex (Kym Marsh). Will Dan be able to keep his weekend activities secret, or will Alex reveal the truth as she gets more desperate for him to stand up to his responsibilities. There is a tension throughout the play, partly because most people have an idea where this is going. There are audible reactions when there is mention of a pet rabbit and when a phone number is handed over. Adding to this tension the sound design keeps you on edg...

2Mar

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

The Glee Club – Theatre by the Lake

The wheels of the pit shaft create the backdrop for this coming of age play, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. Music has always been at the heart of mining communities - and the latest production at Theatre by the Lake takes us back to 1962 to join the five pitmen who aren't in the brass band but singers in The Glee Club. This is a beautiful ensemble of five actors who take us back to when coal was king and the men who dug it out, deep in the bowels of the earth, were hard-working, hard-drinking and resolved issues with their fists. The Glee Club is an outlet for emotion and sensitivity that appears on the surface to be missing from the lives of these men - and we get to enjoy some great singing. Under the veneer of laughter, the older men are still scared by their loss and experi...