REVIEWS Archives - Page 5 of 574

25Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Bradford Alhambra

Sometimes when a beloved sitcom gets tired and introduces daft storylines like Happy Days did it’s said to have ‘jumped the shark’. That’s something you can never say about Fawlty Towers which ran for just two perfectly formed series in the seventies. Monty Python legend John Cleese and Connie Booth’s masterpiece has regularly won the greatest ever British sitcom title, so the increasingly deranged antics of the world’s worst hotelier, Basil Fawlty, was always going to get a stage adaptation. Cleese has adapted his greatest solo work that was based on a torrid time the Python team had when they booked a stay with a very strange and rude hotelier. In many ways in our febrile political world the always rude Basil’s xenophobia, snobbery and misogyny seem to be back in vogue. Cleese w...

25Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Pomona – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

For the fourth instalment in its “Season of Manchester Drama”, Altrincham Garrick Studio opts for the unexpected. Alongside the more familiar Hobson’s Choice and A Taste of Honey, it is Alistair McDowell’s Pomona — a dense, disorientating work from 2014 — that proves the boldest programming choice. In Mark Goggins’ assured and imaginatively realised production, it becomes something close to unmissable. The programme’s content warning is exhaustive — violence, abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, suicide — and suggests an evening of grim endurance. Yet what unfolds is something more intellectually disquieting than viscerally shocking: a slippery, elusive blend of dystopian satire, urban noir and cosmic horror that owes as much to Black Mirror as it does to H. P. Lovecraft. The shock...

23Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Mythos: Ragnarök – Alexandra Palace

One, two, three, Thor! How many times can you watch a guy pick another guy up and throw him at the ground before you lose your mind? Photo: David Wilson Photography If you’re watching Mythos: Ragnoarök it’s well before Thor you’ll find yourself hooting, hollering, booing, hissing, cheering, and overall having a hel(l) of a good time. This play is performed by a cast of wrestlers so athletic, enthusiastic, and entertaining it’s impossible not to get caught up in the beautiful chaos they create. Overstimulating in the best possible way, Mythos: Ragnarök is both technically astounding and intellectually stimulating, with an emotional heart that keeps a steady pace for each storytelling beat. Writer and star Ed Gamester has created something truly special. Melanie Watson’s tremendo...

Vincent in Brixton – Orange Tree Theatre

23Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Vincent in Brixton – Orange Tree Theatre

A young lover, a religious zealot, or a tragic genius? Vincent Van Gogh is remembered almost exclusively as one of the above. One of the founding idols in the cult of artistic misery, his legacy is not an uncomplicated one. Vincent in Brixton is, on the other hand, simply marvellous. The play itself, by Nicholas Wright is a precise and thought-provoking incision into an underexplored segment of the artist’s life. Neither obnoxiously philosophical or politically apathetic the experience of watching it unfold is not unlike a night in with good friends, good food, and decent beer. The wonder of this production however is in its masterful direction and extraordinary cast. The Orange Tree Theatre, an already intimate space, is transformed by the utterly brilliant Charlotte Henery into a func...

The Dawn of Reckoning – White Bear Theatre

21Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Dawn of Reckoning – White Bear Theatre

Two women meet unexpectedly in the lobby bar of a small hotel in Bayswater at 3 am on a cold, foggy January morning. They recognise each other immediately: best friends at university they became estranged later as they sequentially married the same man, leaving a legacy of acrimony and guilt. They are both due to attend the reading of their former husband’s will the following day. Is this a chance meeting or has it been engineered, as they suspect, by their former husband or his agent? As they talk, initially in a spirit of confrontation and hostility, fuelled by alcohol obtained from the bar, home truths begin to spill and a degree of understanding, if not empathy, emerges between them. This is a two hander, no hotel staff appear. Ruth played by Jilly Bond hails from middle-clas...

The Complete Works of Jane Austen Abridged – Thingwall Players

21Mar

By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments

North West

The Complete Works of Jane Austen Abridged – Thingwall Players

Who needs to know Jane Austen's works to perform them? Certainly not Trevor (Kyle Jensen) when he unexpectedly throws himself into a performance of her complete works with two Austenites, or Janeites (depending on how big a fan you, yourself are). Determined to deliver their show Jessica (Bethany Cragg) and Charlotte (Meredith Clayton) enlist Trevor after the unforeseen resignation of the final piece of their original trio. Cragg was soft and spritely as Jessica, wrapped up in the love and triumphs of Austen's story. Clayton contrasted this character well with her more serious and grouchier take on Charlotte. My absolute favourite was Trevor as Jensen took on a variety of voices and roles fluid in both genders and had the audience in stitches. Extremely good physicality throughout hi...

21Mar

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Ruth – Wilton’s Music Hall

Ruth is a powerful musical based on the life of Ruth Ellis, who in 1955 became the last woman to be executed in Britain. The show dives deeply into her life, exploring her time as a nightclub hostess, the social and class pressures she faced, and the restrictive gender roles of the era. It is both a compelling story and a thought-provoking reflection on power, morality, and the consequences of one’s actions. Hannah Traylen and Bibi Simpson both deliver phenomenal performances as Ruth, portraying her at different stages of her life. The production is framed with Ruth confined in her cell, awaiting her execution. While she waits, she recounts the story of her life, from childhood to the events that led her to this tragic moment. These reflections are brought to life through flashbacks, wi...

21Mar

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

The Ladykillers – Church Hill Theatre

The Ladykillers, based on the 1955 film, is a kitchen-sink meets gangster comedy play written by Graham Linehan in 2011. While this adaptation is surprisingly a contemporary work, Edinburgh People’s Theatre captures all the dry, yet subtly slapstick, and indisputably British charm of the original film. Performing at the Church Hill Theatre this week, The Ladykillers showcases the typical domestic dramedy style that Edinburgh People’s Theatre seem to gravitate towards. And it’s no wonder why they often choose this style of play, as it certainly compliments their cast. Val Lennie plays the very proper, yet slightly befuddled Mrs Wilberforce, who has somehow managed to house and aid a gang of vicious criminals with no knowledge of it. Lennie is a strong lead, pla...

21Mar

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

Waiting for Godot – Liverpool Playhouse

Dominic Hill’s revival of Waiting for Godot, seen here at Everyman Theatre, reminds you why this play still divides audiences' decades after its premiere. Samuel Beckett’s writing can feel elusive and, at times, deliberately opaque - but in the right hands, it becomes something quietly powerful. The production opens on a stark, desolate set designed by Jean Chan. A fractured landscape stretches across the stage, dominated by the familiar solitary tree, here emerging from the wreckage of an abandoned car. It’s a world that feels worn down and forgotten, reinforcing the sense that time has stalled completely. At the centre are Vladimir and Estragon, played by George Costigan and Matthew Kelly. Their performances carry the production. There’s an ease between them that never feels theatr...

21Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Living -The Crucible Playhouse

Sheffield Theatre’s latest production ‘Living’ is the ambitious brainchild of local playwright Leo Butler, chronicling the life of a young family who move into the Burngreave suburb of the city and how politics shapes their lifestyle, relationships livelihoods and belief systems. It’s unflinching and bold, and this is a production long to live in the memory of those fortunate to see it. Sarah Beaton’s set design is simple yet formidable. There’s an impermanent quality to the wooden furnishing of the space that evokes the required domesticity needed for the play to operate within as well as a timeless quality that permits jumping between decades. Projection is used to establish time as well as more dynamic functions which are used with a careful consideration for their artistic merit and...