REVIEWS Archives - Page 6 of 641

20Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Mousetrap – Floral Pavillion

There are few productions that carry the amount of theatrical baggage as The Mousetrap. The legendary production, into it’s 75th year, is touring the UK for the third time, ready to prove that, even now, it still can keep its audiences guessing. The success of the evening depends on which of two camps audiences fall in – those who relish the nostalgia of a good old-fashioned murder mystery or those who find the 1950s pacing and plot a bit too traditional and, dare one say, predictable. The Mousetrap is set in a remote guesthouse, Monkswell Manor, recently taken on by a young, married couple Mollie and Giles Ralston (Emily Laing and Jack Hardwick). A mix of guests battle the blizzard outside to stay at the manor, from the prissy Mrs Boyle (Susan Penhaligon) to the excitable Christ...

When The Fun Stops, Try Again? – Pleasance Theatre

20Oct

By Charlotte MansfieldNo Comments

London

When The Fun Stops, Try Again? – Pleasance Theatre

Described as 'part storytelling, part stand-up, part dream', When The Fun Stops, Try Again? is an interactive, audience-controlled show devised by Nathan Charles and Brightmouth productions. Drawing on his own experiences of gambling, Charles has created a show where the audience, guided by a PowerPoint presentation, goes through a series of stories and tasks exploring different forms of gambling and what it means to win or lose. The audience entered the space to see a screen at the back of the stage, various items on a table on one side, a microphone on the other side and what looked like rubbish covering the floor at the back - on closer inspection, this was made up of things like discarded lottery tickets and packs of cards. The audience waited in their seats in silence when the ...

Concerned Others – The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

19Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Concerned Others – The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

Concerned Others is an installation-style docu-drama, utilising live art, tiny models, puppetry, masks and even a treadmill to convey the hidden inner world of the addict and society’s unwilling attitude to look this problem squarely in the face. It is mesmerising with its real-life voice-overs and shocking statistics about the counter culture of substance abuse and crime endemic in Scotland. With Scotland’s statistics for 2025 standing at 21.4 deaths per 100,000 people (four times higher than in the year 2000), drug and alcohol-related deaths in Scotland out-performs the rest of Europe. The death rate in Scotland’s most deprived areas is fifteen times higher than the least deprived areas. Yet no-one, no class, is immune. The soundscape of this intriguing miniature theatre (which...

19Oct

By Prateek SonnyNo Comments

London

Faith Healer – The Questors Theatre

If ever there was a play that asked its audience to pay close attention to every word, it is Brian Friel’s Faith Healer. Directed by Roger Beaumont, this production consists of four monologues that weave a gripping tale of faith, memory, and the elusive nature of truth. The stage is set with a backdrop of a giant banner saying ‘The Fantastic Frank Hardy. Faith Healer. One Night Only’. The set changes before each monologue establish the characters’ respective spaces as they recount their versions of a shared past. The story follows Frank Hardy (David Lemkin), the titular faith healer, who travels with Grace (Sarah Sharpe), his ‘mistress’, and Teddy (David Erdos), his manager, across villages in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Frank performs supposed miracles for the locals, but whether he c...

19Oct

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Dog Mom – Southwark Playhouse Borough

Newly-divorced Sarita has been forced to downsize from a house in New Jersey to a tiny New York apartment. She's feeling vulnerable, unsure about her future and overwhelmed with the effort of the move. She just wants to be left alone to get on with her life, neatly ordered by lists. The last thing she wants at that moment is for a stray dog to turn up and refuse to leave. Sarita is definitely not a dog mom. She doesn't want to get involved in dog walking, poop bags, vet visits and the whole messy drama that a playful dog entails. When the dog shelter makes it clear that, as an older dog, it's unlikely that Foster would be rehomed as everyone wants puppies, meaning that Sarita's new friend would be euthanised. So the dog stays, and they become soulmates, to the extent that Sarita and the...

A Play, A Pie & A Pint: Contact by Jonny Donahoe – Traverse Theatre

16Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

A Play, A Pie & A Pint: Contact by Jonny Donahoe – Traverse Theatre

Contact is an hour-long exploration of unresolved pain, blame and a yearning for love amid the messy realities of today’s nuclear family. It is caustically funny, filled with bathos and yet heart-felt as we peel away the characters’ anguish. A dysfunctional parent-child relationship is adeptly presented by Blythe Duff (Mother) and Mark Barrett (her adult son). Duff’s depth of expression, conveyed with minimalist physicality and restrained vocal range is hugely engaging. She is cold, verbally acerbic and cruel, yet her tears of frustration and pain are heart-rending. Some might call her descent into grief contrived. Yet, it was moving. Barrett plays the adult child (who feels the urge to build bridges, but ultimately, is as cruel as his mother in a more nuanced way) with an uneasiness th...

16Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Sinatra The Musical – Aldwych Theatre

Charity Gala Performance in aid of Music Therapy Nordoff and Robbins Sinatra The Musical is continuing its run in the West End. This performance was in aid of the Charity Nordoff and Robbins; raising awareness of mental health and the benefits of music therapy. Sinatra is a staged biopic uncovering the ‘truth’ behind the man who captured the nations hearts and navigates the conundrum of his complex life. Supported by a talented cast, the story spotlights those who fuelled his meteoric rise to fame, as well as those who witnessed his turbulent downfalls. At its heart, the production portrays Sinatra as a devoted family man who remained fiercely close to his children—a narrative angle strongly backed by his daughter, Nancy Sinatra, who contributed to the show's development. The journey op...

16Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Gang Of Three – Richmond Theatre

The 1970s were a time of turbulence in British politics. The Labour Party, having held power during much of the 1960s, lost the 1970 general election and entered a period in opposition, struggling to define its identity in a changing world. This play by Robert Kahn and Tom Salinsky focuses on three major characters in that struggle: Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey and Anthony Crosland. It is a play about political ideas, but primarily about the personalities of these three titans of the Labour movement. They understand the importance of working together in order to create a united vision for the Labour Party, but their ability to support one another is undermined by their personal ambitions. One suspects that this is a universal problem with political egos and so makes much of...

16Oct

By Holly LilyNo Comments

London

Blind Spot – Bread and Roses Theatre

Fringe theatre is often compelling because it entertains through socially conscious narratives. Blindspot is no exception to this, cleverly and subtly touching on the prevalent topic of pregnancy, a woman’s body and the power she, her partner and society have over it. Written by Deanna Arthur and directed by Samantha Pears, Blindspot follows a couple, Sky and Noah (Deanna Arthur and Nathan Lwanga), as they take a pregnancy test and are forced to have a long-awaited conversation about the stage they’re truly at in their relationship. The play follows a non-linear structure and jumps between the past and the present, slowly revealing how no matter how much love there may be between two people, it doesn't guarantee their paths are aligned. Deanna Arthur has written a play with a ...

16Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Team Viking – HOME Mcr

SPOILER ALERT – the main character in this funny and profoundly moving monologue dies. Most of us when we shuffle off this mortal coil can expect a short eulogy, and possibly some curled up sandwiches at the wake, but not Tom who got a full fiery Viking Funeral thanks to his two best friends. One of them was James Rowland who in a one-hour monologue took the audience through an intense childhood friendship with Tom and his neighbour Sarah. They became a close knit team as their childhood games revolved around the classic 1958 Norse melodrama, The Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis as they acted out different roles from the movie. They agreed to a pact where when one of them snuffed it they would each get a Viking funeral where they floated away on a fiery longboat, whi...