REVIEWS Archives - Page 77 of 408

3Apr

By Emma WildNo Comments

North West

Cluedo 2 – The Lowry

Cluedo, the family favourite board game, celebrates 75years since it was first produced in the UK and America. This enduring game is filled with intrigue, mystery and fun. Did this show live up to the appeal of this classic game? Cluedo 2, a sequel to the hugely popular first play, which toured the UK in 2022, has a host of re-invented characters, a different, intriguing storyline and is set in a whole new mansion. Cluedo 2 has all the potential to be a sure fire hit, with the hugely talented director, Mark Bell (best known for directing The Play That Goes Wrong) and successful stage and screen comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. I was hoping for a night filled with laughter whilst acting the sleuth, however, I only chuckled a few times throughout the evening. Set in the ...

An Officer and a Gentleman – New Wimbledon Theatre

3Apr

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

An Officer and a Gentleman – New Wimbledon Theatre

Based on the award-winning movie of the 1980s and featuring a soundtrack with hits from Madonna, Bon Jovi, Cyndi Lauper and Blondie, An Officer and a Gentleman bursts into their tour run as a must-see, feel-good romance which will leave your heart fulfilled. This is the emotional story of Zack Mayo (Luke Baker), a young officer candidate with a dark past, and his captivating love interest Paula Pokrifki (Georgia Lennon), who bonded over their zest for life and fiery spirits. The plot also centres around Zack’s right-hand man on the Officer Candidate School (AOCS) course, Sid (Paul French) and his sweetheart Lynette (Sinead Long) navigating their newly formed romance. The set in this production immediately stands out and is hard to believe that it belongs to a tour production. Large m...

3Apr

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Holly Spillar: HOLE – Soho Theatre

Holly Spillar is obsessed with holes: the ones in your face, the ones in Warburton’s crumpets, and especially the ones in our pants. After being diagnosed with vaginismus (a condition that causes the vagina to suddenly tighten when something is inserted, making penetrative sex painful), she’s become particularly fixated on why her hole can’t easily welcome a pole. This quest to try and achieve the “basic, beige sex life of her dreams” is the premise of her one-woman show HOLE, playing at Soho Theatre until 3rd April. Accompanied on stage with nothing but a loop pedal and a microphone, Spillar takes us on a surreal musical and comic journey about her experiences of navigating a litany of gaslighting doctors, terrible one-night stands, and internal misogyny. Spillar’s deft use of the l...

Introverts The Musical – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

3Apr

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Introverts The Musical – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Writer Amy Hawes, one third of Tandem Writing Collective, teams up with keyboard player Aaron McGregor to present a brand-new musical about Introverts. Still at workshop stage we are treated to a sneaky peek by a trio of fine actors: Kim Allen, Natalie Arle-Toyne and Betty Valencia, with scripts in hand. Toyne stands out as the neurotic, protective mother, trying to protect her anxiety filled, introvert daughter, Angela, played by Valencia, with Allen never far away as the side-kick imaginary friend. When Angela is given the chance of a free a course at the Introvert Conversion Centre (ICC) which has recently opened in Livingston, and her mum the commission to write about it, they both jump at the chance. It’s not long before Angela is transformed into an online celebrity with a host...

3Apr

By Andrew LeeNo Comments

North West

2:22 A Ghost Story – Liverpool Empire

As Danny Robbins (writer) so accurately describes in his introduction in the programme, 2:22 has ghosts in it, and most of the text is about ghosts, but in reality, it is about trust. How would you as a believer react to a sceptically loved one, and vice versa? This play explores dynamics of relationships when your beliefs differ so widely, and this is what has truly made the play a success. When married couple and new parents Jenny (Fiona Wade) and Sam (George Rainsford) cannot agree on the cause of mysterious events in their new home, their trust in each other and strength of their relationship is stripped bare. Helped along by dinner guests Lauren (Vera Chok) and Ben (Jay McGuinness) the couple must prove (or disprove) the cause of the inexplicable happenings. Their beliefs differ on...

Little Shop of Horrors – Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

2Apr

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

Little Shop of Horrors – Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

The atmosphere in the main house at Theatre by the Lake is electrifying as Audrey Two takes centre stage for this energetic and magical production of the classic Little Shop of Horrors, writes Karen Morley-Chesworth. The set designers need a shout out for their adaptable New York florist shop on Skid Row. The cast are really versatile and first class – quadruple threats of acting, singing, dancing and musicians. Opening this musical extravaganza is the trio of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronnette played by Janna May, Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos, and Chardai Shaw play along with the house band, Migdalia van der Hoven on Drums with Musical Director, Gabrielle Ball. The production hits the ground running, and it doesn’t disappoint. Oliver Mawdsley as the central character, orphan Seymour who...

Legally Blonde The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

1Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Legally Blonde The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

It does seem odd in what can seem like an endless conveyor belt of stage adaptations of hit Hollywood movies that Leeds Amateur Operatic Society are the first to stage Legally Blonde in this historic theatre where they have been putting on shows since 1890. The don’t judge a book by its cover trope is one of the classic musical theatre narratives, with the traditional happy ending always coming from the most unlikely of sources. In this version staying pretty faithful to the smash hit Reece Witherspoon movie, our unexpected heroine is sorority queen and fashionista Elle Woods, who wins a place at the prestigious Harvard Law School proving to have a sharp legal intellect beneath all her fluffy pink exterior as she wins the day. It's a high energy show with plenty of humour and some gr...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Theatre Royal, St Helens

1Apr

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Theatre Royal, St Helens

Easter half term is well and truly taken care of as Goldilocks rolls back into St Helens along with the biggest, most lavish circus in town. A magical world full of razzle dazzle, and lots of silliness in this thoroughly entertaining production which will get the whole family laughing and dancing in the aisles. Under the competent direction of Chantelle Nolan, an enthusiastic cast deliver stellar performances, whilst visibly having lots of fun. Goldilocks has it all, the porridge and some! An all singing and dancing extravaganza, laced together with cheeky innuendoes, familiar panto tropes, and topped off with plenty of physical comedy as well as some dancing doggy delights. Katy McKenna sparkles as Goldilocks, enchanting and engaging throughout. A steady calm amongst the chaos as he...

Pansexual Pregnant Piracy – Soho Theatre

1Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Pansexual Pregnant Piracy – Soho Theatre

Get on board, baby. It’s Pansexual Pregnant Piracy at the Soho Theatre. Creators Eleanor Colville, Ro Suppa, and Robbie Taylor Hunt also make up three quarters of the four-person cast singing and dancing their way through the totally possibly true and occasionally even accurate life story of real-life eighteenth-century pirate Anne Bonny. Played with great aplomb and shimmering gravitas by Suppa, Anne is a solid lead audiences root for as easily as she uproots gender conventions. Colville’s panachefull presentation as Calico Jack is delicious and the joy of creative performance shines out of every porthole. Elizabeth Chu rounds out the cast in a practically perfect performance as “hot wet babe” Mary Read, and an even more transfixing interlude as an even wetter fish. Creator, perform...

Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear – Southwark Playhouse

1Apr

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear – Southwark Playhouse

Blackeyed Theatre’s Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear makes its Spring 2024 revival at Southwark Playhouse Borough after a successful run in 2023 across the UK. Adapted and directed for stage by Nick Lane, the play weaves two plots set in the past and the present with stylised, engaging storytelling (Joseph Derrington) and neat choral transitions transporting the audience to a different time where mysteries and adventures are the norm. The play opens with Holmes (Bobby Bradley) decoding a mysterious message signalling “danger” with Dr. Watson (Derrington) and Mrs. Hudson (Alice Osmanski) at the iconic 221B Baker Street. This leads the duo on an adventure to an ancient manor house further unravelling a distant narrative set in Pennsylvanian Vermissa Valley involving a corrupt gang and ...