REVIEWS Archives - Page 66 of 407

5May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Miss Brexit – Streatham Space Project

Presented as part of the Assemble Festival, Miss Brexit is a satire on the place of the migrant in post-Brexit Britain. Five contestants from various countries (Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy and Slovakia) are vying for one award of the right to remain in the UK, showcasing their credentials to be the one to receive this coveted prize and be crowned Miss Brexit. As they do so, their desperation to remain in the UK becomes ever more evident and bizarre, as they push themselves to become "British" in order to stay in the UK and integrate into the culture. Should they do that, or should they stay faithful to their roots and the culture they bring with them into what is a multicultural society? The actors are an international troupe, themselves dealing with the consequences of Brex...

3May

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

The Drifters Girl – Edinburgh Playhouse

Faye Treadwell was the manager, and driving force, behind the iconic American vocal group, The Drifters. Formed in 1959, the group’s hits included Hello Happiness, Saturday Night at the Movies, Under the Boardwalk, and so many more familiar numbers. Between the soundtrack, and the trailblazing lead character, the story seems to be made for musical theatre success. The line-up of the Drifters changed frequently during their history. We see members being drafted into the military, or fired by Treadwell and her husband George, or undergoing other personal tragedies. Sometimes – like Ben E. King (Ethan Davis), they move on to greater success elsewhere. In total, The Drifters featured 60 different vocalists during their history. This means a lot of multi-roling. Matthew Dawkins, Davis, Tarik...

3May

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

The Promise – Lyric Hammersmith Studio

This is Deafinitely’s first co-production between Birmingham Rep and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. It is a new play exploring a variety of themes including inaccessible healthcare for the deaf community and how families navigate a diagnosis of dementia. This show is presented with a combination of British sign language, spoken English and captions. The promise is the story of a family that has grown apart. We start with Rita (Anna Seymour) a teacher and champion of education in the deaf community who is retired and struggling with her memory. Her husband (Louis Neethling) recently passed away and her son Jake (James Boyle) has returned home for the funeral after years of estrangement. The reasons for his absence are unravelled throughout the dual timeline plotline of the play. This play...

2May

By Robert BartleyNo Comments

West Midlands

Love Never Dies – Wolverhampton Grand

When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom’-follow-up ‘Love Never Dies’ hit the West End in 2010, it opened to a critical mauling that led to the show being closed to allow significant reworking. The press still wasn’t too kind, with some jokingly retitling the show as ‘Paint Never Dries’. While the show never stood a chance of replicating the success of its predecessor, there is still a lot of love for it in theatreland, as showed by the standing ovations at the Drury Lane concerts last year. And now it’s time for the country’s amateur groups to have a bash, starting with the West Bromwich Operatic Society (WBOS), who are performing the show this week at the Wolverhampton Grand. Loosely based on the 1999 novel ‘The Phantom Of Manhattan’ by Frederick Forsyth, ‘Love Never Dies...

2May

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Sweat – Royal Exchange Theatre

Set in 2000 and 2008, both ends of the Bush Presidency, Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Sweat depicts life in Reading, Pennsylvania - a working class industrial town in the heart of America’s Northeast and Midwest Rust Belt. In this pre-Trump era we meet the locals who spend their down time and hard earned wages in a local bar and we follow their lives as they, the labour force, the working class community, are disenfranchised so significantly that the resulting anger led to reliable ‘blue’ states turning politically red and the Trump era began. When entering the unique theatre in Manchester’s Royal Exchange my initial thoughts always head towards design. What have they done with the space? I am always excited to go into one of the most thrilling theatre spaces in the U...

2May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

London

Carmen – Royal Opera House

Director Damiano Michieletto’s desire to get away from 19th-century Seville sadly results in the loss of more than a picturesque background with its relocation to a small town in a remote and rural Spain in the 1970s and I still can’t fathom why he has chosen to introduce the character of Don José’s widowed mother to the stage when she is only ever referred to in the libretto. Thankfully for the audience the performance from the two charismatic leads salvages some of the passion and intrigue mostly lost in this presentation of this dark tale. In an unnamed town, naïve policeman Don José (Piotr Beczała) falls head over heads in love with Carmen (Aigul Akhmetshina), a seductive and free-spirited girl working at the local factory. Infatuated, Don José abandons his childhood sweetheart, Mic...

2May

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Constellations – Drayton Arms Theatre

In the extremely intimate space of The Drayton Arms Theatre, Burnt Orange Theatre Company presents Nick Payne's ‘Constellations’ under the masterful direction and production of Rosie Thomas. The play delves into the intricate tapestry of human relationships through the stories of string theorist Marianne and beekeeper Roland, in a way that defies theatrical norms, intertwining multiple alternate narratives and exploring the complexities of love through the lens of quantum physics. Sounds complex, but through this beautiful and heartwarming production, audiences are swept into the lives of various characters as they navigate forwards, backwards and sideways, the vast expanse of human emotions, from profound love to heartbreaking loss. ‘Constellations’ is a truly exceptional piece of ...

2May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

London

Lucia di Lammermoor – Royal Opera House

Katie Mitchell’s controversial 2016 gothic dramatisation of Donizetti’s setting of Walter Scott’s novel returns to The Royal Opera for a second revival under Robin Tebbutt, but the real talking point is the exceptional performance of its leads. Fallen on hard times, Enrico (Artur Ruciński) has arranged an advantageous marriage for his sister, Lucia (Nadine Sierra), but Normanno (Michael Gibson) reveals that she is in love with Enrico’s enemy, Edgardo (Ioan Hotea). As Lucia and Alisa (Rachael Lloyd) wait for Edgardo, Lucia reveals a recent dream which Alisa interprets as a portent of doom. When Edgardo arrives, he explains that he has to leave on a mission and he and Lucia exchange vows. Normanno obtains forged evidence to suggest that Edgardo is involved with another woman and when E...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

2May

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

Based on the original screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, An Officer and a Gentleman the musical is here at the Manchester Opera House as part of its UK tour. Directed by Leicester Curve Artistic director Nikolai Foster, we are treated to a well-rounded piece of theatre which has been well thought out to keep it fresh and smooth with an air of familiarity about it. The story follows Zack Mayo and his fellow Navy recruits at their training camp in Pensacola, Florida, and their journey through a 12-week programme to try and become Navy Jet pilots. Through rigorous training, we see recruits struggle and fail, leaving the training programme, eventually bringing the other recruits closer together, pushing each other along to reach their final goal. But not everything runs smoothly, and we see...

1May

By Miranda GreenNo Comments

North West

Life of Pi – Liverpool Empire

To the reader, few adaptations of a beloved novel are as magical as the images we create in our own head, the scenes conjured in our mind’s eye. Life of Pi at the Liverpool Empire aims high and, boy, does it succeed. The seventeen-year-old Pi, leaving Pondicherry for a new life in Canada with his family and a veritable ark of zoo animals, is the sole survivor of the ensuing shipwreck. Adrift at sea for 277 days in the company of an adult Bengal tiger, improbably named Richard Parker and whom he must master or be eaten by, he must also overcome the hurdles of a ravaging hyena, hunger, lack of shelter and fresh water, the strictures of his own vegetarianism and, surreally, an island of cannibalistic plants. In the past 20 years productions such as War Horse and His Dark Materials...