REVIEWS Archives - Page 8 of 563

9Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Guidelines – New Diorama

The New Diorama presents ‘Guidelines’ by Pip Williams, directed by James Nash. Conglomerate debuts their first show and did not disappoint. We are met in a forest, overhead voices warn us of what we are in for. Starting as a warm and worried mother but slowly distorting and changing into something sinister. This feeling never quite leaves us, always feeling haunted or watched by something. This show explores growing up with the internet at your fingertips, the false promises of safety and how we never quite consent for what we are fed on our ‘for you page’. The setting is never quite clear however as we jump through time we meet a series of people who are all aware of ‘the video’. This town is grieving the loss of innocence for not only who were directly involved but for all the ...

9Feb

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show – The Lowry

Peppa Pig’s Big Family Show has arrived at The Lowry and delivers an utterly delightful, joy-filled theatrical treat for the whole family to enjoy. This charming live production captures everything that makes Peppa Pig so loved; the warmth of family life, fun adventures, and plenty of surprises, my little ones were hooked throughout and loved every moment. The story follows Peppa and her family as they prepare for the most exciting moment yet: welcoming Baby Evie to the world, a new character making her live stage debut that had the audience buzzing with excitement. From start to finish, the show is full of heart, bringing everyday moments to life in ways that feel magical and relatable for small children, some of which it’s their first experience of live theatre. P...

6Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

The Gambler – Coronet Theatre

This adaptation of The Gambler by Chiten Theatre is an interesting idea but unfortunately is an exhausting experience for its audience. Dostoevsky’s short novel is all about a cast of characters sucked in by the thrill and appeal of gambling and the pursuit of inheritance. Whether it is the central character Alexei (Takahide Akimoto) betting to win his love Polina or the grandmother winning and losing money at the roulette table, everyone seems to succumb to it. This adaptation pairs an absurdist, physical style with large chunks of Dostoyevsky’s complicated text (translated into Japanese). It’s a bold proposition, but sadly it's one that gets quite lost amid the sheer intensity of the production, which leaves the audience inundated. From the very first, the actors’ energy is through...

Ockham’s Razor: Collaborator – The Lowry

6Feb

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

Ockham’s Razor: Collaborator – The Lowry

Ockham's Razor, one of the best creative circus companies in the UK, are back at the Lowry with their new show Collaborator and Co Artistic Directors Alex Harvey and Charlotte Mooney are performing once more. Over the last few years, they have taken on a more directorial role within the company but here they once more work together to create and perform a show which takes an autobiographical look at their lives together. Having met twenty-four years ago while training a Circomedia in Bristol, they fell in love but also realised that the vision for how they wanted to show their circus skills was shared by both of them. The company Ockham's Razor came from that shared vision. Twenty years later, older and with a ten-year-old daughter, this retrospective of their re...

6Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Coffee With Sugar – Traverse Theatre

There are moments in Coffee with Sugar at the Traverse Theatre when the senses are so thoroughly engaged that conventional critical distance simply gives way. Smell, sound, movement and image collide in ways that feel genuinely intoxicating, even overwhelming, in a production that prioritises sensory immersion over narrative drive. The show forms part of the Manipulate Festival, one of the many festivals Edinburgh hosts throughout the year, and arguably one of the most consistently rewarding. Dedicated to visual theatre, puppetry and experimental performance, Manipulate reliably delivers work that foregrounds audio visual invention and formal risk taking, and Coffee with Sugar unquestionably lives up to that billing. The piece is led by Laia Ribera Cañénguez, who also created the wor...

The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley – Wilton’s Music Hall

5Feb

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley – Wilton’s Music Hall

Timing is everything they say. The Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley could have not come at a better time. Watching a play that asks "Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?", just days before the Super Bowl, amid conservative outrage over Puerto Rican Bad Bunny being "not American enough" to perform at this all-American cultural institution, and against the backdrop of renewed ICE arrests, makes the piece feel disturbingly real and urgently demanding. The play restages the famous 1965 Cambridge debate between James Baldwin, literary leader of the civil rights movements, and William F. Buckley Jr., America's most prominent conservative intellectual, who took place shortly after the Mississippi civil rights marches. Striking in its simplicity, the staging offers only chairs ...

5Feb

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

The Memory of Water – Octagon Theatre

Three women return to their family home, preparing for their mother’s funeral. What follows is an exploration of life and grief, love and pain, secrets and memory, all wrapped up in an unexpectedly laughter-filled performance. Witty one liners and perfectly written comedy did light up the subject material and reminded me that there is humour in every situation, even if it feels inappropriate or clumsy sometimes. From the moment I entered the auditorium, I was drawn into the home and life of this woman who had died. The set (designed by Katie Scott) frays at the edges, cleverly inviting you to be a part of the moment, rather than just an external observer. This was key in helping me feel engaged in the play throughout. This is a slow-release play. Even though the characters seem to pr...

5Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

The Ophiolite – Theatro Technis

Theatro Technis was founded in 1957 by George Eugeniou, a Cypriot actor who came to London to study drama. It has a long and strong history of creatively supporting local working class and immigrant communities. The pioneering Eugeniou died last year, aged 93. The theatre's new Creative Director is Kerry Kyriacos Michael, a second-generation North London Cypriot. He was previously Artistic Director & Chief Executive of Theatre Royal Stratford East. It's a fitting tribute to the founder and a return to the theatre's roots, that Michael would choose to launch the 2026 season by directing a new play by English/Cypriot writer, Philip de Voni. The Ophiolite is Voni's first full length stage play. Set in Cyprus and the UK, it looks at a family torn apart by grief and the consequences of e...

That’ll Be The Day The 40th Anniversary Show – London Palladium

5Feb

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

That’ll Be The Day The 40th Anniversary Show – London Palladium

That’ll be The Day is a three-hour bonanza of music and comedy with a reputation of longevity, showcasing the bygone era of 50’s to the 80’s rock pop and comedy skits. Now reaching their 40th Anniversary Trevor Payne takes it on the road for his farewell tour. This rollercoaster ride of hits takes you right back to the early days of Juke Box Jury, voting on the songs of Blue Moon, by The Marcels, My Guy and Walk like a Man from the Jersey Boys. A show supported by video footage projected on to a screen showing the old film reels that supported pop music through the decades; Top of the Pops, and Sunday Night at the London Palladium variety show first aired in 1955. It was nostalgia at its best for a generation who grew up with black and white showreels of their favourite ‘pop idols’. The Be...

4Feb

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

MÁM – The Lowry

According to the director and choreographer of this scintillating piece of art, Michael Keegan-Dolan, “A mám is a pass through the mountains. It’s a geographical structure that encourages people to go a certain way.” He goes on to say it can also mean an “obligation”, adding, “Sometimes as artists, you feel this obligation to do something, even if you can’t really say why.” This is an artistic endeavour of the highest quality. It is an imaginative combination of dance, theatre and music. Taking you on a journey through love, despair, longing, and joy. It is both intense and free, structured and loose, disparate and unifying. It starts with a devilish figure holding a concertina, facing a child. He takes off his mask, and the dancers start creating a beat, and the movement begins. ...