REVIEWS Archives - Page 58 of 407

26May

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

The Windrush Warriors – Theatre Peckham

The Windrush Warriors begins its 25-date tour of the UK. Written by and starring Nicola Gardner, who appears as receptionist and narrator, regales us with tales of time gone by. She is joined by Sisters Johnson and Richards and Brother Leroy and Myers recreating for us banter that is equal measures funny and familiar and parts offensive. Ribbed with wordplay, it is refreshing to see senior women express their sexual wants and needs at centre stage. It's essential and fun to witness the yearning, curiosity and playfulness they embody. The characters are all familiar, which adds to their charm, and one would imagine that the rehearsals were a riot! However, widespread and outdated tropes make the jokes fall short like a fizzy drink without its fizz. The play does have several moments of good...

25May

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Disney’s Aladdin – Palace Theatre

Released at the peak of the Disney renaissance, Aladdin stormed the box office in 1992 and has remained one of the most well-loved animated movies of all time. Its success and enduring appeal is due in no small part to its award-winning music. The late, very great lyricist Howard Ashman was the man behind the original pitch. He worked with composer Alan Menken on the project until Ashman’s untimely death with AIDS. Tim Rice then picked up the lyrical baton and the final soundtrack is a work of genius. Given that, it was perhaps a surprise it took so long for the film to transfer to the stage. The Broadway production has now been running for a decade. This, though, is the first time the show has played in the North West. It is well worth the wait. This is a riot of joyous sound and...

Little Shop of Horrors – Hull Truck Theatre

24May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Little Shop of Horrors – Hull Truck Theatre

There was an air of excitement in the packed foyer of Hull Truck Theatre, on Thursday evening, as theatregoers entered in their droves to watch a production of Little House of Horrors. Taking our seats, we were faced with a stage setting showing a small florist shop, on Skid Row, in downtown New York, belonging to a Mr Mushnik. Customers are few and far between, with drunkards and drop-outs being the only passers-by. Mushnik (Andrew Whitehead) has two assistants - nerdy Seymour (Oliver Mawdsley), whom he took in as an orphan, and the lovely Audrey (Laura Jane Matthewson), regularly battered by her abusive boyfriend, Orin (Mathew Ganley). Things were much livelier outside the shop, mainly due to three characterful females - guitarists Crystal (Zweyla Mitchell Dos Santos) and Ron...

23May

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Rock Of Ages – Northwich Memorial Court

Knutsford Musical Theatre Company return to Northwich Memorial Court ready to blow the roof off with the incredible Rock of Ages. This jukebox musical is built around songs from the 1980s including Styx, Journey and Bon Jovi to name but a few. We follow the story of two dreamers on the Sunset strip, trying to become something more but hitting many obstacles throughout, meeting many interesting characters along the way. Narrated by Lonny, played by the hilarious Jon Hall, we follow numerous stories of possible demolition, the fight to save the Bourbon Room and in turn saving Rock and Roll and love stories in many different shapes and sizes. Hall shines in the role of Lonny and a standout in this production, keeping the audience in the palm of his hands, breaking the fourth wall to int...

23May

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Lady Dealer – Bush Theatre

Business is booming. Bass is thumping. Charly’s heart is beating a little too fast, the world is spinning a little too quickly, and someone might be getting sick on the carpet any second now. In this production of Lady Dealer by Martha Watson Allpress, the explosive Alexa Davies plays Charly, the “Lady Dealer” breaking the greenhouse ceiling on feminist drug dealing. A whip smart and poetically eloquent but socially stunted and economically frustrated young woman cusping millennial and gen z identities, Charly is a dynamo in bed rot. Jasmine Araujo’s costume design is convincingly sloppy and effectively evocative of an era of isolation all too familiar to us all. The “Lady Dealer” is not a covid avoidant recluse, but her lifestyle will be comprehensible to anyone who at one point...

The Music Man – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

23May

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Music Man – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Watching Fraser Grant’s punchy Edinburgh revival of this lesser known gem one can begin to see why Meredith Willson’s musical easily won out over West Side Story at Broadway’s Tony awards in 1958. Underneath it’s folksy exterior this entertaining and inventive show with its lively toe-tapping score provides plenty of opportunities for the large cast of SLO to shine. The story is set in 1914 in the sleepy Iowa town of River City. Con man Harold Hill sets his sights on persuading the locals to set up a boys’ band, complete with expensive instruments and uniforms, pocket the money, then skip town before his tone-deaf ignorance is revealed. What the fast-talking spellbinder forgets to factor in is getting his foot stuck on haughty local librarian, Marian Paroo. The book, music and lyrics...

22May

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Surfacing – Omnibus Theatre

A heartwarming starlit production. Surreal, evocative and empathetic Surfacing's preview run was an Evening Standard Top Pick of VAULT and earned it an Origins Award nomination, and it's previously been shortlisted for New Diorama Theatre's Untapped Award. The ASYLUM Arts is a company focused on improving the representation of neurodiversity and disability in the arts. Founded by Stephen Bailey in 2021, ASYLUM produces work, delivers training on neurodiverse inclusion and reinvests its profits in training for early-career disabled and neurodivergent practitioners. ASYLUM is a Barbican Open Lab resident company and was shortlisted for New Diorama's Untapped Award 2022. The show centers the story of neurodivergents / mental health experiences navigating a maze of a system that sounds l...

22May

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Dead Girls Rising – Traverse Theatre

The play opens in media res in a dark forest. At a pivotal moment in their lives, Katie (Helen Reuben) and Hannah (Angelina Chudi) accidentally summon The Furies Tisiphone (Izzy Neish), Magaera (Zoe West) and Alecto (Rebecca Levy), the Greek goddesses of justice. A life-time's obsession with murder (one in particular, literally close to home) has brought with it consequences and the two young women might need help. We follow them through a series of moments from childhood to adulthood, themed by reasons women and girls learn to fear men (here played by the cast in masks and androgynous/Michael Myers boiler suits) and linked with Riot Grrl-inspired punk songs written by Anya Pearson and performed by the Furies (plus drummer). At the start, the audience might get a bit caught in the middl...

22May

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

The Great Privation – Theatre503

Shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award, “The Great Privation” is a generous play filled with wit, vivid characters, and clever observations on systemic inequalities and the generational gap in African American experiences, which under Kalungi Ssebandeke’s direction sometimes lacks a little risk and finesse. Reminiscent of Bruce Norris' "Clybourne Park," this UK debut play for Harlem playwright Nia Akilah Robinson navigates a dual timeline in Philadelphia: one in 1832 in an African Baptist Church’s graveyard, the other in modern times at a cabin behind the same burial site. The story centres around Missy Freeman (Sydney Sainté) and her daughter Charity (Christie Fewry), who, in 1832, pray at the tomb of Moses, their husband and father, victim of a recent...

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Blackpool Grand

22May

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Blackpool Grand

As the title may suggest this is a modern take on the Disney classic ‘The Little Mermaid’ from the point of view of Ursula. But don’t be fooled, this is certainly not a family outing, from the offset the performance is very adult, in language and theme. It’s very crude in parts, my friend who came along actually said that it went too far on occasion. I really didn’t know what to expect this evening, as I had only watched a short trailer, but being a huge fan of Disney and the Little Mermaid I was really looking forward to it. I’m very torn about my opinion on this show, parts of it were strong and entertaining, whilst other parts were unnecessary, and I had lost interest. Throughout the evening, the balance of the sound wasn’t great, when the ensemble were performing with a leadin...