REVIEWS Archives - Page 8 of 428

Jack and the Beanstalk: What A Whopper! – Charing Cross Theatre

1Dec

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Jack and the Beanstalk: What A Whopper! – Charing Cross Theatre

For those who think pantomime is merely a children’s festive pastime, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk: What a Whopper!’ gleefully shatters all expectations with its unapologetically adult spin on the classic theatre genre. Written by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper and directed by Andrew Beckett, this production isn’t just sprinkled with innuendo, it’s flooded in wickedly clever humour and deliciously naughty smut, which keeps the audience roaring with laughter throughout. Photo: Steve Gregson From the moment the curtains rise it is clear that this is not your typical Christmas show. The plot, centered on Jack Trott’s (Keanu Adolphus Johnson) quest for something “truly giant”. Jack is poor, gay, and very horny, living 10 miles from the nearest Grindr user in the quaint Yorkshire Village of U...

Be More Chill – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

1Dec

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Be More Chill – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

SUPAS’ production of ‘Be More Chill’ demonstrates there is a strong future in the next generation of creatives, with the only question being left asked of them is to try and emulate more faith in their own abilities and a slightly enhanced focus to get them to the next level. Alice Bell’s direction of Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz’s text, based on Ned Vizzini’s novel, is good. Transitions tend to avoid interrupting the action and there is a strong sense of narrative peaks and troughs successfully struck upon. Although Daniel Brown’s set design is easy on the eye with its simple-but-effective approach, the play is proxemically stagnant and there is no great use of the abundance of depth and height there is to utilise. Bell tidies this up nicely, however, with some great texturing of scenes us...

29Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Spend Spend Spend – Royal Exchange

Viv Nicholson is a pretty obscure name in British popular culture nowadays, perhaps the odd fan of 80’s indie darlings The Smiths would recognise her as the brassy blonde staring out aggressively from the front cover of ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’, her real claim to fame having been gradually consigned to the dustbin of history. However, back in 1964, when she and her husband Keith won £152,319 (the equivalent of £4.3 million today) on the football pools, she could reasonable lay claim to have been as famous in the UK as The Beatles or Harold Wilson. This festive season, The Royal Exchange have mounted a joyous revival of ‘Spend Spend Spend’ the 1998 musical by the late Steve Brown and Justin Greene, exploring Viv’s rise, fall and redemption, and in a cracking return to...

Mother Goose: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd

29Nov

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

Wales

Mother Goose: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Theatr Clwyd

After almost two years, we are getting a sneak peek at a part of the Theatr Clwyd redevelopment with the first show back in the main theatre, this years Theatr Clwyd panto, Mother Goose. The rest of the building is not quite ready, with an exciting opening season recently revealed for early Summer 2025. Theatr Clwyd are back doing what they do best, bringing excellent theatre to audiences, some new but many returning year after year for the famous Rock n Roll pantos that Theatr Clwyd do so well. You could feel the excitement tonight as we enter the auditorium with new carpeting and brand-new chairs, a feeling of coming home but a home that has had a beautiful new makeover. Mother Goose is once again written by Christian Patterson and brings all the great jokes and innuendos we come t...

The Rocky Horror Show – Sheffield Lyceum

28Nov

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Rocky Horror Show – Sheffield Lyceum

The Rocky Horror show proves to be the culturally significant powerhouse it was destined to be following its initial ventures in the 1970’s. This production excels in revelry, debauchery, humour and liberation. Jason Donovan’s Frank N Furter is gorgeously eccentric, and though his animation seems slightly stifled and awkward (surprisingly Donovan doesn’t seem completely comfortable in heels), there is still a good fluidity and playful poise that, matched which is excellent stage presence, ultimately makes him very watchable. Connor Carson’s Brad and Lauren Chia’s Janet are excellent caricatures who’s stiff cliche is a perfect match for the unbridled chaos that surrounds them. They allow themselves to be engulfed, and by proxy we are swallowed by the raucous flamboyance. They are precise...

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Leeds Playhouse

28Nov

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Leeds Playhouse

Christmas is a magical time for most of us so a story that begins with a mysterious wardrobe that transports four traumatised children into another world should be the perfect festive treat. Leeds Playhouse have over the last decade offered a series of spectacular festive shows, and this is their second go at this C.S. Lewis classic so beloved of generations of children as goodies and baddies battle it out in a strange world. Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan Pevensie are evacuated from war torn London to Scotland where they discover a wardrobe that is a portal into a magical land called Narnia, ruled by the wicked White Witch Jadis where it’s permanently winter. The human children are the key to freeing Narnia’s motley collection of talking animals, who yearn to hear the roar of the myt...

Alice in Wonderland – Shakespeare North Playhouse

27Nov

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Alice in Wonderland – Shakespeare North Playhouse

A fabulous theatre, a story of marvel and magic, at a pantomime time of year and excitement in bucket loads, this being the ingredients to the opening night for the journey into fantasy, written with brilliance by Nick Land and directed with creativity by Nathan Powell that greeted the packed theatre this evening. To greet the full house, there were children dancing in the foyer and magical colour-changing potions to add to orange juice with the famous quote from the book itself ‘drink me’ (now pour me), that had us all entwined in the world of Lewis Carroll from the onset. As the play started, the playing cards greeted the crowd, waving excitedly at children dressed as Alice in pale blue dresses or as Mad Hatters who all waved back with beaming smiles. The 4 cards on stage realis...

Here You Come Again – Blackpool Grand Theatre

27Nov

By Paddy Darnell-WalshNo Comments

North West

Here You Come Again – Blackpool Grand Theatre

They say you should never meet your heroes. Kevin, a gay, forty-something year old, failing comedian, does just that in this new Dolly Parton musical. With his career at a standstill, living in the attic of his parent’s house during the Covid pandemic and his relationship coming to an end, Kevin’s life can’t seem to get any worse. Not knowing where to turn, he seeks support from his icon, Dolly Parton. Right on cue, she appears and offers him the advice he needs to get his life back on track. Having heard very little about this brand-new show, with a transfer to the West End imminent, I was excited to see how Dolly’s iconic numbers could be brought to life. However, it was certainly not what I expected. No large-scale cast, dance routines or set changes as we are so often familiar with ...

27Nov

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Cinderella – Festival Theatre Edinburgh

Yes, Sir, you can boo me - oh no, you can’t and all that jazz … Cinderella at the Festival Theatre is a feast for the eyes and a laugh-a-minute musical extravaganza. Featuring wicked stepmother, Grant Stott, endearing Fairy May (Allan Stewart), Jordan Young as a brilliant Buttons, Clare Gray and Gail Watson as Vindicta and Manipulata Fortuna, Amber Sylvia Edwards as Cinderella, Will Callan and his beautiful voice as Prince Charming and Iain Stuart Robertson as Baron Hardup, this line-up is a sure-fire hit. What a team! They delivered a fantastic evening’s distraction for the people of Edinburgh and beyond. The audience participation was wonderfully entertaining in the safe hands of Allan Stewart and the surprise elements were magical. The writing was a collaborative affair. It wa...

27Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Jungle Book – Octagon Theatre

When Walt Disney was contemplating adapting Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’ stories, he gave his writing staff a copy with the instruction ‘The first thing to do is NOT to read it’. The resultant movie, released in 1968, bore only a passing resemblance to the source material, but still became one of the best love films in the Disney canon. For this adaptation, writer Andrew Pollard has stuck closer to the source material and whilst the result is an engaging retelling of the tale with some excellent, original songs, it still sits in the shadow of its more famous celluloid cousin. Mowgli (Kiara Nicole Piliai) and his adventures as an abandoned baby growing up in the Indian jungle in the company of wolves, bears and panthers, pursued by the menacing Shere Khan (Rachel Marwood), is a fantas...