REVIEWS Archives - Page 6 of 636

6Oct

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Franz & Marie – Charing Cross Theatre

Franz & Marie is a tragic love story set in 19th-century Europe, where men are stationed on the front line and life is shaped by war, poverty and violence. At its heart is the relationship between Franz Woyzeck, played by Brenock O’Connor, and Marie, played by Jade Oswald, who have recently welcomed a newborn baby. Desperate to leave the front line and build a life with Marie and their child, Franz turns to medical experiments conducted by doctors to earn extra money. O’Connor is exceptional, portraying Franz as a vulnerable and increasingly traumatised man subjected to ludicrous experiments, including being forced to eat nothing but peas. As the production progresses, we see the psychological impact of war take its toll, with Franz’s mental health deteriorating before our eyes....

6Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mean Girls – Bradford Alhambra

Gangs of teenagers were eagerly posing with the publicity posters outside this historic venue keen to check out the theatrical version of Tina Fey's cult classic movie. It was refreshing to see so many young faces in the audience as some of them might be experiencing the same sort of high school pressures and teen angst that Fey’s witty book full of smart one liners so accurately captured, which was no doubt based on her own experiences. Home schooled Cady had returned from the wilds of Kenya to be plunged into a hormone driven jungle where different packs wander the corridors of an Illinois High School preying on each other. Top of the food chain were the Plastics led by Regina and her two sycophantic sidekicks Gretchen and Karen. Egged on by arty outsiders Damian and Janis, the sch...

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) – Buxton Opera House

6Oct

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) – Buxton Opera House

It’s the 1880s, and in Jane Austen’s classic romantic novel, the five Bennet sisters are seeking love and the security of marriage while navigating society’s rules, expectations and challenges. It is a story that is well known by most people – even if only through film or television – but it is a story that still resonates. A story of a young woman who knows what she wants, and that is to find love her way. That story is brilliantly told in this adaptation of Pride & Prejudice by writer Isobel McArthur, who also directs the production. Her goal was to make Austen’s novel more accessible, and she has absolutely done that. By promoting the use of regional accents, by weaving modern music and vocabulary into the script, and by providing a visual setting that is easily and quickly under...

The Pleasures of Fanny: A Murder Mystery Musical – Brick Lane Music Hall

5Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Pleasures of Fanny: A Murder Mystery Musical – Brick Lane Music Hall

Nestled in a Grade II-listed church in Silvertown, the Brick Lane Music Hall prides itself on being the “world's only permanent home for music hall”. Having never visited the venue before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the spectacle truly wowed me from the moment I walked through the door. Colourful decorations adorn every nook and cranny, with hand-painted signage and more than a touch of old-school British camp. You truly feel like you’ve stepped into another time, and the attention to detail is superb. As is tradition in music hall, all of Brick Lane Music Hall’s performances include a full meal within the very reasonable ticket price, making it great value for a light-hearted night out. The food was tasty, the bar well stocked, and the staff were great, although it would have be...

5Oct

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

The Farmer’s Wife – Theatre by the Lake

Set around the kitchen table in the farm kitchen, The Farmer’s Wife holds nothing back in telling her guests, the audience, just what life is really like living off the land on the Cumbrian Fells. Inspired by the memoir A Farmer’s Wife by Helen Rebanks, the new play by Hannah Khalil, The Farmer’s Wife, had its World Premiere at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick just a few miles from where Rebanks lives. Having read the book, I did wonder how they would incorporate the beautifully eclectic style of stories from the Rebanks family life, recipes, photos and letters. However, this was achieved superbly with the sharing of the baking and sorting of an old tin box. This is a story about the changing lives of women living and working on the farms. Three generations: daughter, mother, grandm...

5Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Brown Suite – Richmond Theatre

The Brown Suite where Soul Tells the Story: Six lives, One night, One dance floor. It’s 1970 in New York city and over the course of one night, the dance floor becomes a stage within the stage: a place “where friendships shift, new connections emerge and long-held tensions finally begin to surface”. Soul and dance theatre brings six friends together in a city where music is more than entertainment, it is identity, release and survival. Choreographed to the music from James Brown, Sam Cooke and Etta James. From the opening moments, The Brown Suite captures the pulse of a city that refuses to stand still. The atmosphere is charged with the spirit of New York's soul scene, where movement speaks as loudly as dialogue. The dancers don't simply perform the story; they em...

5Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Soho Electric – Phoenix Arts Club

There are few venues better suited to a night of unapologetically bold cabaret than the Phoenix Arts Club, and ‘Soho Electric’ feels completely at home within its intimate surroundings. Bringing together drag, burlesque, live music and variety performance, this is a gloriously eclectic celebration of cabaret with a distinctly rock-and-roll heartbeat. At the centre of the evening is Vanity Von Glow, who proves to be the perfect host. She is charismatic, quick-witted and effortlessly comfortable working the room to establish an immediate, somewhat naughty connection with the audience, and manages to maintain it throughout. With a voice seemingly built for a rock ballad, Vanity brings genuine power to the musical numbers, combining the theatricality of cabaret with the energy of a rock...

5Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Eurydice – Assembly Roxy Upstairs

There is something particularly satisfying about watching a young theatre company begin to find its feet. Earlier this year, I reviewed GUTTER.’s first production, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in this same upstairs room at the Assembly Roxy. I admired the ambition, enjoyed the show and suggested this was an Edinburgh company worth watching. Six months later, Eurydice represents another step forward. There is an interesting connection between the two choices. Stoppard takes two peripheral characters from Hamlet and gives them their own story. American playwright Sarah Ruhl does something similar with the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. We all know Orpheus: the great musician who descends into the Underworld to retrieve his dead wife, o...

Taming of the Shrew: A Kinky Retelling – Bread and Roses Theatre

5Oct

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Taming of the Shrew: A Kinky Retelling – Bread and Roses Theatre

Brush up your Shakespeare and begrime your mind ahead of time to wring all possible pleasure from this depraved and debaucherous play. Shrewd in its commentary on gender and power play but refreshingly earnest in its treatment of romance, this feel good bad boy adaptation is a delight to sink your teeth into. The bite of its unabashedly lewd and unrestrainedly hedonistic humour does little to shield the vulnerability at the story’s heart, that of two people who think they might be able to make something good together that neither one of them has alone. Unremittingly hilarious over the roughly hour-long runtime of raw hijinks, performers Zak Rosen (Petruchio) and Paige Hann (Katharina) nonetheless conjure moments of disarming beauty in the frenzy of arming, dismantling, subverting...

Barnum: The Circus Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

5Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Barnum: The Circus Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

Barnum a spectacular show that takes time to find Its rhythm. Matt Rawle is P.T. Barnum, and he is here to entertain you. This long-standing, iconic musical arrived in Wimbledon with plenty to impress, and to some degree, it really did. The production showcased some impressive and highly skilled acrobatics, alongside talented musicians and actors who brought considerable energy and ability to the stage. The staging was well executed, although it felt somewhat restricted by the relatively small scale of the venue. This was, of course, beyond the production’s control, but it did unfortunately limit some of the grandeur and magnificence that this musical is known for. Act One was long, and slow-paced and occasionally stilted. There were also moments when the performances seemed to lack ...