Latest Articles - Page 231 of 645

20Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Crazy For You – Hull New Theatre

I love the sound of hordes of dancers tap dancing en masse on a theatre’s wooden stage. So, I was in my element witnessing just that when Hessle Theatre Company brought its production of Crazy For You to the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. Riverdance eat your heart out. I’d already had the privilege of watching this talented crew in their final run rehearsal, so had more than an inkling of what to expect. What I didn’t expect were the most glorious costumes reminiscent of Vegas showgirls - sequins, feathers and huge head-dresses, all in various shades of pinks, creams and turquoise. Crazy For You is a musical, set in the 1930s, so glitter and glamour should have come as no surprise; but it was the sheer beauty of the outfits that amazed me. The feel-good story centres aro...

Unravelling the Ribbon – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

20Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Unravelling the Ribbon – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

At a time when life in the real world presents significant strain, spending an evening at the theatre is seen by many people as an opportunity to escape the stress of their everyday lives. Therefore, ‘Unravelling the Ribbon’, a play dealing with a diagnosis of cancer and its effects on the lives of three women may seem a difficult subject with which to tempt people away from the comfort of hearth and home. However, should they choose to do so they will be rewarded with a production that both tugs at the heartstrings and tickles the funny bone despite its dark premise. Director Lou Kershaw takes the helm for the first time in the tiny Lauriston Studio and brings an intimacy borne of personal experience to the story of Rose (Caroline Giles), Lola (Alex Saint) and Lyndsey (Holly O’Malley) ...

School for Scandal – Theatre By The Lake

19Mar

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

School for Scandal – Theatre By The Lake

Style with great content arrived at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake as Tilted Wig brings School for Scandal to the main auditorium, writes Karen Molrey-Chesworth. This adaptation of RB Sheridan's comedy of scandal and gossip, written in 1777, is now set in the late 1950's early 1960s. And the costume department has really taken the brief and run with it. The styling of this production is second to none. The stage is set with three plinths holding three telephones, that are integrated into the spreading of society gossip. The luxurious deep red tones of the set create the background glamour to this high society tale. Sir Peter Teazle has recently married, after a long life as a dedicated bachelor. His new wide is the social climbing, money-motivated Lady Teazle. Joseph Marcell ...

Bradford panto legend Billy Pearce returns to the Alhambra Theatre this festive season

19Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Bradford panto legend Billy Pearce returns to the Alhambra Theatre this festive season

Pantomime will be making a magical return to the Alhambra Theatre this festive season as Bradford panto legend Billy Pearce returns for his 24th season, following a triumphant run as Buttons in last year’s pantomime Cinderella. Tickets go on general sale on Monday 25th March for Pinocchio which runs from Saturday 7th December 2024 to Sunday 19th January 2025. Billy Pearce first topped the bill of the Alhambra Theatre’s annual festive production in 1993, winning acclaim from critics and audience members alike, and has since solidified his reputation as the King of Yorkshire comedy. Side-splittingly funny, Billy will bring his trademark mad-cap comedy and boundless energy to the stage and will have audiences laughing in the aisles just like he does every year. The Alhambra Theatre ...

19Mar

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Sister Act – Palace Theatre

Arriving at the bustling theatre, where red carpet welcomed many an actor from the phenomenon that was Coronation Street, the evening started with fans in awe, the atmosphere electric and everyone ‘giddy’ with excitement for the show ahead. The Coronation Street actors had come along in their numbers to support their colleague the nominated favourite female soup star Sue Cleaver who for this epic show of female comradeship was playing the Mother Superior. Many people may know the film of Whoopi Goldberg played the husky blues singer Deloris Van Cartier desperate to make it big but in falling for a married mobster ends up, after watching this crook Curtis murder a gang member, is on the run for her own life. For this show, the threatened disco diva is played amazingly by Britai...

18Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Cold, Dark Matters – The Hope Theatre

It is said that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. It is also said that you shouldn’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, and that good advice is almost certain to be ignored. Cold, Dark Matters is a very curious play, and every aspect of its production at the Hope Theatre is morbidly satisfying. Altogether more thought provoking than it has any right to be, this fun, dark tale is neither cynical nor vapid, instead approaching its murky subject matter with a refreshingly forthright earnestness, much the way one might attempt to earn the respect of a particularly wilful horse, or an intimidatingly intimate crowd. Writer and performer Jack Brownridge Kelly doesn’t bother with charming the audience, he simply gets straight to work, and wins them over by be...

Comedy version of The Time Machine comes to Leeds Playhouse

18Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Comedy version of The Time Machine comes to Leeds Playhouse

H G Wells was not known for his comic genius but his Sci-fi masterpiece The Time Machine is played for laughs at Leeds Playhouse direct from a highly acclaimed season at London’s Park Theatre. The Time Machine - A Comedy stars Michael Dylan, Amy Revelle and George Kemp, and is produced by the team behind the hit comedy The Hound of the Baskervilles, Original Theatre. The trio take the audience on a journey of a lifetime as George tries to persuade the others to stick to the script he’s worked so hard on, as Michael attempts to explain time travel without the help of excessive props. Will Amy get to sing her Cher tribute and can these three clowns defeat the space time paradox If Amy was to somehow invent a time machine, she knows exactly which period she would go back to. “I would...

17Mar

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

American Buffalo – King’s Arms, Salford

As a reviewer, five star shows appear in many guises; last night I sat in the cavernous surroundings of Manchester Opera House with 1,919 other hardy souls watching Sir Ian McKellen give a bravura performance as Falstaff in a four hour adaptation of Henry IV. Now, less than 24 hours later a sold out audience of just 35 are privileged to witness a very different, but equally compelling production in entirely different surroundings. Lisa Connor combines the job of Director of the Greater Manchester Fringe with her role as owner of The Kings Arms in Salford, in the latter capacity she has pulled off something of a coup by tempting legendary Director David Thacker to stage a production of David Mamet’s ‘American Buffalo’ in the tiny theatre that nestles above this backstreet Salford boozer....

17Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Good Father – Riverside Studios

What are you doing for sex tonight? When was the last time you felt comfortable singing in front of someone? Who do you belong with, really? The Good Father poses all these questions and leaves plenty of empty space in its performance for you to spend the whole night coming up with your own personal answers. Directed by Mark Fitzgerald and written by Christian O’Reilly, this play is somewhat lacking in theatricality and sitting in the audience you get the sense that it’s only being performed live in front of you because there wasn’t enough budget to turn it into a proper film. Both actors’ performances are serviceable and occasionally attention-grabbing, but they have a lot of empty space to fill, and it is an intimate enough story that audiences feel more like interlopers than particip...

17Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Escaped Alone – Traverse Theatre

A play by Caryl Churchill (written in 2016), at age 86 arguably Britain’s greatest living poet and playwright. Known for her dramatisations of the abuse of power, for her support of Palestine, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes. Also central to most Churchill plays is a fascination with surreal deconstruction and non-naturalistic techniques which puts her firmly in the uncompromising postmodernist camp. Anyone coming to see a Churchill play will leave this one with a knowing smile, for those of us just coming to see a play, less so. The structure of the short 50-minute piece is simple enough; two storylines run side by side, in the first four post-menopausal women sit in comfortable chairs chatting in broken sentences and half-words in a sunny garden, in t...