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Men Don’t Talk – The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

28Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Men Don’t Talk – The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

New theatre writing is always welcome and Clare Prenton’s Men Don’t Talk, produced by Genesis Theatre Productions, tackles an interesting and topical subject: male suicide statistics and how men cope with life when it gets tricky: where are their support systems? How do you cope without turning to pub culture and liver damage? Men Don’t Talk is a one-act play supported by Creative Scotland Touring Funds. It blends tenderness, small talk, heartfelt revelations and huge dollops of laughter. The three actors, Billy Mack (Jimmy), Greg Powrie (Tom) and Dougal Lee (Ken) create a welcoming atmosphere as they interact with the audience, extending to sharing a cuppa as they “chat”. A scattering of sawdust to sop up spilled milk and the set would be perfect. It was perfectly apt that the s...

It’s A Wonderful Life – Old Fruit Jar Productions at Liverpool’s Royal Court and St George’s Hall

28Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

It’s A Wonderful Life – Old Fruit Jar Productions at Liverpool’s Royal Court and St George’s Hall

Time and tide wait for no man – so the saying goes – and it’s almost time for the angels at Old Fruit Jar Productions to get their wings with their production of It’s A Wonderful Life scheduled to premiere at Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio on 19th November through to 30th November before transferring to St George’s Hall on 10th December through to 13th December. For those who don’t know the original, it’s Christmas Eve, Bedford Falls and George Bailey, a down-on-his-luck banker, believes life has left him behind. But when his guardian angel appears, George is astounded to witness what life could be like without all of the good deeds he’s done. Maybe life wouldn’t be as wonderful without him… It was a delight to catch up with the team at their recent rehearsals where Artistic Director...

A Streetcar Named Desire – The Lyceum, Edinburgh

28Oct

By Tom ScottNo Comments

Scotland

A Streetcar Named Desire – The Lyceum, Edinburgh

This is a thrilling production of a great play by Tennessee Williams. It pulsates with raw energy and gripped the packed house at The Lyceum. The Pitlochry Festival Theatre production, directed with panache by Elizabeth Newman, has a stellar cast and an innovative creative team. When 30-something Blanche DuBois unexpectedly turns up at the small downstairs apartment rented by her younger sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley, she thinks she’s come to the wrong address. Blanche was expecting something better than this poky apartment in a poor area of New Orleans ironically called ‘Elysian Fields’. Blanche has been used to the grandeur of Belle Reve, the family plantation in Mississippi. But although Blanche has a trunk full of pretty clothes, she has to admit to Stella that ...

Gav Cross Storyteller: After Supper Ghost Stories – Norton Priory

27Oct

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Gav Cross Storyteller: After Supper Ghost Stories – Norton Priory

I love to be read stories – I think a lot of us do, something from our childhood- being read to by our parent or grandparents or those nostalgic back and white films, when a family sit in awe round the fire, listening to grandparents tell exciting tales of mystery and suspense. I adore the fact that at the wonderful Norton Priory , unique events are run that embrace the arts and theatre in a way that nourishes the soul and so, as I joined the full-house seats in front of the ancient atmospheric Victorian Porch of the museum’s Atrium (very fitting) ,I was as a child again waiting in anticipation for the intrigue to commence. Our ‘grandfather’ in this instance was Gav Cross - a true storyteller – the physique, the round end- of- nose spectacles and the roaring voice- inviting...

27Oct

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

North West

After the Act – Liverpool Playhouse

Breach Theatre have tapped into the extreme niche that is the verbatim musical (the only other that comes to mind is Alecky Blythe’s ‘London Road’). Directed by Billy Barrett, ‘After the Act’ illuminates the shockingly recent aftermath of Section 28, which prohibited the so-called ‘promotion of homosexuality’ in schools. Photo: Alex Brenner The narrative is replete with first-hand, personal experiences of the Section 28’s harrowing impact, and the wider political conversation, weaving artfully between the two. Given that the show is replete with historical information such as contemporary House of Lords debates and the prevalence of Haringey parents’ protests in the Act’s construction, I came out of the theatre feeling much more informed. Ultimately, the personal accounts are the mos...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Northwich Memorial Court

24Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Northwich Memorial Court

Ever since Gene Wilder invited us into a world of ‘Pure Imagination’ in the 1971 film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been a story for the ages; a morality tale of the honest and good being (eventually) rewarded and the horrid and greedy getting their comeuppance. With the popularity of other children’s fantasies, such as Matilda, being translated to the stage, this was an obvious candidate for adaptation. For those who’ve lived in Loompaland for all their lives and haven’t discovered Roald Dahl’s long-adored story, we meet young Charlie Bucket, living in abject poverty with his hardworking mother and four bedridden grandparents. He dreams of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory at the end of the road. Soon Wonka announces a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – those who find one o...

Joanna Carrick, writer, and director of The Ungodly at Southwark Playhouse Borough

24Oct

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Joanna Carrick, writer, and director of The Ungodly at Southwark Playhouse Borough

As we move towards winter with its dark nights; Halloween, or to give it its Celtic name, Samhain; is our first festival to celebrate ‘as the dead walk the earth’ according to ancient myths. Witches have become a part of this festival, undoubtedly due to the witch trials, and the many ‘witch’ deaths. The Ungodly delves into the mid-17th century era of the witch trials, focusing upon Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins’ stepsister Susan Edwards. North West End UK’s Deputy Editor, Caroline Worswick, discussed the witch trials with the play’s writer and director Joanna Carrick. The Ungodly begins its story in 1645, set in the village of Mistley, on the Stour Estuary. Can you explain how the Witch Trials were introduced into 17th-century England? It was a t...

Fly More Than You Fall – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

24Oct

By Amelia RoseNo Comments

London

Fly More Than You Fall – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Just opened at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant, ‘Fly More Than You Fall’ is a new musical by Eric Holmes (Book/Lyrics) and Nat Zegree (Music/Lyrics). We meet Malia (Robyn Rose-Li) a 15-year-old writer with big dreams of going to camp this summer and finishing her first book about a bird, Willow (Maddison Bulleyment) who will finally reach the top of the mountain despite her broken wings. Malia’s parents warn her that life isn’t always as positive as she experiences it right now and surely enough, her mother Jennifer (Keala Settle) is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer that summer and rather than spending it at camp, Malia must stay home and spend her last moments with her mum. Death is universal and everyone in the audience has some relation to it, one way or another. It is important ...

Stones In His Pockets – Octagon Theatre, Bolton

24Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Stones In His Pockets – Octagon Theatre, Bolton

When a Hollywood studio arrives in the quiet, rural backwater of County Kerry in the west of Ireland to film their latest big budget drama ‘The Quiet Valley’, there is much excitement in the local community. Told through the eyes of Charlie (Gerard McCabe) and Jake (Shaun Blaney), this tale of thwarted ambition and lost opportunity veers starkly between farcical comedy and dark pathos without really convincing in either genre, despite the extremely strong performances from the gifted cast of two. Written by Marie Jones in 1996, ‘Stones’ has come to be regarded as an iconic show in its native Ireland, winning acclaim for its tragicomic depiction of the differences between the cruel reality of Irish rural life and its idealisation in film and television. Charlie and Jake are initially bot...

24Oct

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Nowhere – HOME Mcr

Where do you go when the unbearable becomes persistent? This is just one of the initial questions asked by Khalid Abdalla in his profound and beautiful piece of theatre, Nowhere, currently playing at HOME, Manchester. It’s a question that, given the current situation in the Middle East, slaps you in the face and makes you pay attention to what is about to be said. What follows is a personal history of multi-generational activism; friendship, love and loss; personal and political protest; family legacy and our personal history. It is Abdalla’s own history that inspires this journey. The son and grandson of political prisoners, it is his involvement in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and the subsequent counter-revolution that shapes his journey. It is the stories of his forefathers and of...