REVIEWS Archives - Page 7 of 636

What The Animals Say – Finborough Theatre

4Oct

By Prateek SonnyNo Comments

London

What The Animals Say – Finborough Theatre

What The Animals Say is the first play written by David Ireland. This production is directed by Harry Burton, and stars Robbie Martin as Eddie, a star footballer, and Matthew Blaney as Jimmy, a struggling actor. The play opens at a ferry station, where the two await a ferry to Belfast. They begin to reconnect after recognising each other as classmates from their younger days in Northern Ireland. The script explores themes of sectarianism, masculinity, class and identity through conversations about football, films, goals, aspirations and the contrasting opinions of its two characters. Jimmy is an intellectual, seemingly progressive modern man, while Eddie is the stereotypical brawny lad. Both actors bring an explosive energy to the confrontation. Martin plays the bull-headed celebrity fo...

4Oct

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

Othello – HOME Mcr

This striking co-production between Northern Stage, HOME Manchester, Citizens Theatre, and Royal & Derngate delivers a stark, modernised vision of Shakespeare’s Othello. Director Anthony Almeida transports the tragic downfall of the Venetian general to early 1980s Britain against the backdrop of the Falklands War, reimagining Cyprus as an isolated, high-strung military outpost. The period shift proves remarkably effective, demonstrating how effortlessly the play’s core themes of jealousy, manipulation, and social performance translate across centuries. Natasha Jenkins’ sparse, metallic set creates a hard-edged, sterile arena devoid of softness or warmth, perfectly mirroring the cold calculatedness of the narrative. Erin Guan’s background video design further amplifies the emotional ...

4Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Noises Off – The Questors Theatre

Making theatrical chaos look effortless requires extraordinary control and skill, but The Questors’ production of Michael Frayn’s ‘Noises Off’ delivers precisely that. This is an evening of gloriously escalating disaster performed with such assurance that it ranks among the very best versions of this well-known play. Hilarious from beginning to end, it is a remarkable demonstration of what a cast can achieve when everyone works together. Frayn’s comedy follows a touring company attempting to stage ‘Nothing On’, a farce whose precarious progress is undermined by backstage relationships, professional frustrations and increasingly disastrous misunderstandings. As the action exposes the machinery behind the performance, the distinction between the company’s fictional troubles and its actual...

1Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Terminal 2 – 53two

There can be few settings better suited to contemplating life’s bigger questions than the strange limbo of an airport departure lounge. In Terminal 2, written by David Payne, that familiar mundanity becomes the backdrop to something altogether more poignant. The simple set consists of little more than airport seating and a screen charting the interminable delay to George (Allan Nicol) and Lynda’s (Janice Fryett) flight. The pair are already waiting as the audience enters, immediately establishing the sense that we have simply stumbled across two ordinary people in transit. And ordinary they initially seem. Their conversation wanders entertainingly through everything from Al-Qaeda, Viennetta to Russ Abbott, to the supposed similarities of Grindr and Sky+, with occasional witty bar...

1Oct

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Jane Eyre – Waterside Arts

Jane Eyre is unarguably Charlotte Bronte’s most successful novel. First published in 1847 it is a hugely popular book and currently a recommended school’s text. At the start Jane is ten, orphaned and ends up being taken in by her maternal aunt but is mistreated and neglected. Eventually she is sent to Lowood School and remains there initially as a pupil for the first six years and the last two years as a teacher. At eighteen, Jane leaves Lowood and begins working as Governess to young Adele Varens at Thornfield Hall. Appointed by the housekeeper Mrs Fairfax, Jane does not meet Adele’s guardian Edward Rochester until sometime later. Over time Jane’s feelings for Mr Rochester grow and eventually she confesses her feelings only for him to admit he feels...

The Anastasia File – Theatre Royal, Windsor

1Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

The Anastasia File – Theatre Royal, Windsor

One of the twentieth century’s most enduring historical mysteries provides rich material for ‘The Anastasia File’, Royce Ryton’s drama exploring the extraordinary story of Anna Manahan, the woman who spent decades claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, the supposedly murdered daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Following the execution of the Romanov family in 1918, the play moves to Berlin two years later, where a traumatised young woman is rescued from a canal and subsequently placed in an institution. Gradually, details emerge that suggest she may be the surviving Anastasia. From there, questions of memory, identity, trauma and inheritance begin to intertwine as those around her attempt to establish whether she is a survivor of unimaginable brutality or an extraordinarily convincing im...

Paranormal Activity – Grand Opera House York

30Sep

By Adam CraddockNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Paranormal Activity – Grand Opera House York

Last night I had the pleasure to be invited along to the press night for the UK tour of “Paranormal Activity”, the new play by Levi Holloway inspired by the Paramount Pictures movies. I love a horror play, I think the dim lighting and cold air of a historic theatre is perfectly suited to an unnerving horror experience and Paranormal Activity more than delivers on these expectations. We follow an American expat couple James and Lou, recently moved to London for James’ work, as they deal with some mysterious happenings from an unwelcome spirit in their house. I won’t spoil any major plot points but more generally I have to say the way the supernatural elements were delivered in this production were quite frankly masterful. For me this is the gold standard of horror theatre that I have seen.&...

Murder Before Evensong – Watermill Theatre

30Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Murder Before Evensong – Watermill Theatre

There is something particularly satisfying about watching a production that understands exactly how to use the theatre it inhabits, and ‘Murder Before Evensong, the world-premiere stage adaptation of Reverend Richard Coles’ bestselling novel, feels completely at home at the Watermill Theatre. Intimate in scale but remarkably expansive in execution, this is a beautifully constructed, wonderfully performed production that manages to make this tiny auditorium feel, at times, like a full-scale West End stage. Adapted by Paul Hart and Shaun McKenna, and directed by Hart, the story takes us to the seemingly idyllic village of Champton in 1988, where parish politics, long-standing relationships and simmering tensions surround St Mary’s Church. When murder intrudes upon this comfortably familia...

Pride and prejudice* (*sort of) – Theatr Clwyd

30Sep

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

Wales

Pride and prejudice* (*sort of) – Theatr Clwyd

The outrageously hilarious Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) comes bursting on to the Moondance stage at Theatr Clwyd with an impressive set, wonderful costumes and a group of five incredible women who take us through this story, playing all the roles and leaving the audience on their feet. Written and directed by Isobel McArthur and based on the Jane Austin novel, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) starts with the servants ‘cleaning’ in the auditorium, interacting with the audience, the sound of the bell ringing occasionally. The servants realise they are at work and the show begins. The servants are central to the story, reminding us that even though they are never seen, they are always there. With another ring of a bell the cast jump in to action and with a quick costume change (extrem...

29Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Jersey Boys – Hull New Theatre

Having seen the musical Jersey Boys several times now, both as a reviewer as well as a paying theatregoer, this recent production at the Hull New Theatre shows just why the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is still filling theatres, 20 years after it was first staged. The group’s music needs no introduction - hit followed hit with the likes of Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man, My Eyes Adored You, Beggin’, Rag Doll and many more. And on Monday night in Hull, we in the full-ish theatre were treated to all these songs with plenty of their other hits thrown in. Classed as a “musical biography”, we were not only treated to the most wonderful music and singing, but also to the story of where it all began - in Noo Joisey, oh sorry, got carried away there, I mean Ne...