REVIEWS Archives - Page 6 of 569

5Mar

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Broken Glass – Young Vic

Unlike Arthur Miller’s heralded classics, Broken Glass is not a play that turns up on the syllabus or tests the skills of the nation’s amateur dramatic societies. As one of Miller’s later plays (1994), it’s not the best example of his genius. It’s a complex oddity that mixes history, symbolism and the challenges of identity into an itchy and overly ambitious psychodrama. The play was first performed in Connecticut in June 1994 and had its UK premiere in August of the same year at the Lyttelton Theatre. It bagged the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and was nominated for a 1994 Tony. The play has an undeniable history of mixed reviews, but this particular production drew curious anticipation thanks to the presence of director Jordan Fein. Young Vic scored a coup by getting F...

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts – Festival Theatre

5Mar

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts – Festival Theatre

With the first stage appearance of the famed detective, Inspector Morse - House of Ghosts is an original story inspired by Colin Dexter’s well-known character, this time penned by Alma Cullen and directed by Anthony Banks. A murder mystery staged live, this show intends to keep audiences thrown with red herrings and guessing the culprit until the last minute. In this new story, set in 1987, Rebecca (Eliza Tealer), dies suddenly during a performance of Hamlet. Thankfully for her, and the play’s plot, Inspector Morse (Tom Chambers) just so happens to be in the audience and quickly launches an investigation. What at first seems like a standard murder case quickly becomes a story of secret and deceit spanning Morse’s own life 25 years ago. Assisted by DS Lewis (Tachia Newall), Morse is left...

Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile – Grand Opera House York

4Mar

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile – Grand Opera House York

Oooooh la la, what a magnificent performance! J’adore Lucy Bailey’s portrayal of Agatha Christie’s renowned murder mystery ‘Death on the Nile’, a truly nail biting and explosive narrative well told, by none other than Hercule Poirot himself (Mark Hadfield). The famous who done it on stage, lived up to its beloved reputation and more, despite the familiarity of the story the anticipation and action still swallow you whole, slowly and then all at once, the same way that the moon encapsulates that last bit of sunlight at sunset. Lucy Bailey’s take, stays both quintessentially Agatha Christie and humble, unravelling the murder case but at the same time humouring the audience with the obviousness of the plot. Mark Hadfield playing Monsieur Poirot fascinated the audience in fi...

Legally Blonde The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

4Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Legally Blonde The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ took Sheffield Theatres’ stage by storm. An absolute tour de force, it is a hilarious, dazzling night of entertainment for all. Amber Davies stars as Elle Wood, the chihuahua wielding, pink-wearing, fashion-obsessive sorority queen who embarks on an adventure in pursuit of status and legitimacy (or what her ex-boyfriend Warner refers to as ‘seriousness’). Davies is remarkably adept in the role, possessing great comedic sensibility and offering a very precise and focussed portrayal of the unlikely, unlucky-in-love law student. She is excellently matched by George Crawford’s Emmett who provided an equally as pointed and complete performance. Adam Cooper’s Callahan is formidably authoritative and delightfully antagonistic. Jocasta Almgill’s Brooke is refreshin...

Jeffery Bernard is Unwell – Coach & Horses

4Mar

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Jeffery Bernard is Unwell – Coach & Horses

The tempting novelty inherent to this production of Jeffery Bernard is Unwell by Keith Waterhouse, is the fact it’s staged in Soho’s Coach & Horses pub on Dean St. This iconic boozer was once a magnet for bohemian artists, day drinkers and creative ‘characters’ such as the journalist Jeffery Bernard who worked for The Spectator. Bernard’s column, popular throughout the 1970s, was titled Low Life and described by Jonathan Meades as a “suicide note in weekly instalments.” Bernard was still alive when this play first hit the West End in 1989, and the production proved a hugely successful vehicle for Peter O’Toole in the leading role. The show returned a year later to the Old Vic, where it enjoyed a sell-out run and was filmed in front of a live audience. It’s hard to imagine a theatre ...

4Mar

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Fairytales ’26 – Traverse Theatre

IDS Theatre take us back to the dark roots of storytelling, in this work-in-progress sharing of three intersecting short plays. Each play is staged as a monologue, with one actor playing multiple roles. Cleo, My Little Baby tells the story of the “perfect woman”, an AI robot created to comply with men’s desires without asking for anything in return. Cleo escapes from Darren, a bullying creep who calls her mummy in bed, and sets out to discover her origins. My heart broke for Cleo, played with vivacious humanity by Samuela Noumtchuet. Personally, I am rooting for the robot uprising sequel. In The Ginger Girl, we meet Mark (Kieran Lee-Hamilton), a young washing machine repairman and committed misogynist. Mark is chronically online, finding community through the so-called “manospher...

4Mar

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Dear England – Liverpool Empire

As someone who can’t bear football, because it is forced upon them so much, I was as shocked as everyone to find how intrigued I was by the Dear England play. Euro ’96 is probably the first big tournament I remember and Gareth Southgate’s penalty being the prevailing moment. And I think that was what made me want to see him and cheer him on as he managed to turn things around over the last decade as manager of the England men’s team. The play starts with that missed penalty that knocked England out of the Euros in 1996. It then cuts to 2016 and Sam Allardyce ‘mutually deciding’ to leave the post with the FA, after being in charge for one singular game. We get to see Southgate being asked to become the Interim manager and follow how he managed to take the team to heights we’ve n...

Someone’s Knockin’ at the Door – Traverse Theatre

4Mar

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Someone’s Knockin’ at the Door – Traverse Theatre

Kicking off this season of A Play, a Pie and a Pint, is Someone’s Knockin’ at the Door. Written by Milly Sweeney, this play features grandparents Kathy (Maureen Carr) and Jack (Jonathan Watson) recounting to their granddaughter how they met music legend Paul McCartney in the rural landscape of the Mull of Kintyre. Moving between sit-down interviews with the couple separately talking to their granddaughter, to flashbacks of the couple’s camping trip in 1976, Someone’s Knockin’ At The Door evokes heavy nostalgia and sentimentality. Exploring not only the personal journey of the couple, but how the political landscape in Glasgow actively shaped their relationship. Sweeney has a knack for tackling a myriad of different themes without complicating the narrative or gleaning ...

Friends! The Musical Parody – Hull New Theatre

4Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Friends! The Musical Parody – Hull New Theatre

Friends graced our TV screens from 1994 to 2004, so you would surmise that many of the iconic moments from that period, acted out in Friends! The Musical Parody, which has been running since 2022, would be long forgotten. The show arrived at the Hull New Theatre on Monday as part of a UK and Ireland tour, and, judging by the audience’s reactions during the performance, there were many whose memories didn’t need to be jogged re the shenanigans of Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Monica - the friends in question. There is a long gap between the end of the original TV series to the 2021 Reunion TV Special, an unscripted celebration of the iconic show. But Friends is now streamed on TV, maybe spawning a new crop of fans. Photo: Pamela Raith Monday’s show revealed a stage se...

4Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Events – Traverse Theatre

There’s something quietly disarming about walking into the Traverse and finding the choir already in place. No theatrical reveal, just a community gathered on stage, singing, moving joyously, and dispensing hot drinks to the audience. Behind them, in a broad horseshoe, columns of stacked chairs rise like an improvised colonnade, orderly, architectural, faintly ecclesiastical. Later, those same chairs are winched into the roof, clattering against one another in a moment of metallic chaos, a striking image of rupture of ‘the event’ that lingers long after it settles. David Greig’s The Events, first staged in 2013 and winner of a Fringe First that year, returns here as a welcome re-emergence of a modern classic. Its revival demonstrates that it has lost none of its edge. If anything, ...