Latest Articles - Page 292 of 662

18Oct

By Emma LambeNo Comments

North West

Peter Pan Goes Wrong – Liverpool Empire

If you haven’t already heard of Mischief Productions and their work, then look them up, they’re brilliant. You can find some of their TV work on BBC also. Writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Sheilds do a fantastic job at making a beloved classic work as a slapstick comedy production. Think lights flickering, props being misplaced, set falling apart and performers being injured. This is the kind of show that you could watch with friends and family old and young and they’re sure to love it. The concept for Peter Pan Goes Wrong is just like the title says, Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society presents J M Barrie’s timeless classic Peter Pan and things don’t go quite to plan. The show officially begins as the audience are still taking their seats. With actors weaving in and out of...

18Oct

By Ella CatherallNo Comments

Scotland

Pickled Republic – Assembly Roxy

Walking into the Assembly Roxy space to be greeted by a tomato with legs, I was a little suspicious of what I had gotten myself into with this show. However, ‘Pickled Republic’ a ‘surreal cabaret’/sketch show in which all the acts are vegetables played by Ruxy Cantir, is astoundingly good fun. As a solo show, the quality of the piece lives and dies on the strength of the performance and Cantir’s performance makes it such that this show is live and kicking. Her extraordinary physicality paired with the incredible costumes (Visual Design by Fergus Dunnet) that she swaps out between sketches makes this an unbelievably fun show to watch. Also impressive is the speed at which she’s able to get the audience on side while dressed as a tomato with legs. I can’t have been the only audi...

18Oct

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Musicals That Made Us – 53two

There is no denying that musicals are a guilty pleasure for many people. Whether you’re openly a musical theatre lover or there’s the odd one you can’t help but sing along to, musicals make us feel something deeply; joy, sadness, confusion, sorrow, and there’s something so thrilling about watching a talented cast sing, dance and act their way into an audience’s hearts. 53Two’s latest show, ‘Musicals That Made Us’ is a celebration of all of that. Current Manchester School of Theatre student, Nejc Lisjak, and recent graduates Megan Keaveny and Lara Rose Hancox take the audience on an exploration of musicals old and new in a cabaret style performance. Described as a production that “takes you through the mistakes they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learnt through the medium of musi...

18Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Metamorphosis – Liverpool Playhouse

Originally written in 1915 as a novella Franz Kafka’s claustrophobic and deeply unsettling classic is brought to the stage by one of this country’s finest physical theatre companies, Frantic Assembly. Poet Lemn Sissay OBE has successfully adapted Kafka’s dark story of devilish transformation and its presented here in all its surreal and muscular glory. Kafka’s dark fairy tale is simple in its construct , telling the story of Gregor Samsa a travelling salesman who slowly turns into a gigantic insect much to the horror and distaste of his dysfunctional family. Given that the subject matter would be quite difficult to translate to either film or stage Frantic Assembly and Lemn Sissay have achieved some success in delivering an uncompromising and totally addictive piece of theatre. ...

18Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Sweeney Todd – Waterside Arts

I always jump at any chance to see a show written by Stephen Sondheim, and as we approach the second anniversary of his death next month opportunities on both the professional and amateur stage approach thick and fast. Tonight, Sale & Altrincham Musical Theatre present 'Sweeney Todd' written by Sondheim and his long time collaborator Hugh Wheeler, a production that despite some excellent individual performances never fulfils its potential as the 'sensational horror show' that Sondheim conceived. Written at the zenith of his productivity in 1979, 'Sweeney Todd' is the tale of a tortured barber (played this evening by Richard Ross), escaping from transportation to Australia for a crime he did not commit, returning to Victorian London to exact his revenge on evil Judge Turpin (Jon Gard...

Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien brings his journey as a refugee to Leeds Playhouse

17Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien brings his journey as a refugee to Leeds Playhouse

Given how posh the arts are these days many performers easily graduate from public school to the stage, but Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien took a very different route. His family were displaced during the brutal Syrian civil war meant he spent six years in a refugee camp before this disability made him a priority for resettlement in the UK, and he came with his brother to the North East In his new show Penguin aided by some simple props in the rehearsal room, he conjures a vision of an idyllic village in Syria, a place with a backdrop of mountains, a river and a waterfall, and with caves. There are orchards where as a young boy he once stole lemons, and was shamed by his brother into giving them back. It’s also a place he lived with his parents, two brothers and three sisters, a...

17Oct

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

42nd Street – Opera House, Manchester

Timeless, famed, genre-defining: all befitting words to describe this classic backstage musical considering its screen debut ninety years ago, later followed by an 80s stage adaptation. Arriving in New York City, wide-eyed, budding performer Peggy (Nicole-Lily Baisden) has her heart set on stage stardom- and the right set of circumstances soon land her a spot in a new musical’s chorus line. As opening night approaches, an accident involving the leading lady then gives Peggy the unexpected chance to make it big. A paper-thin storyline matters little when outstanding tap numbers are in such plentiful supply. Exuberant and unremitting, the ensemble commands attention with their well-honed coordination. Dance sequences in We’re in the Money as well as the titular song make them unforgett...

The Turbine Theatre is ashamed to present The Nutcracker: A Very Adult Pantomime

14Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

The Turbine Theatre is ashamed to present The Nutcracker: A Very Adult Pantomime

Forget what you think you know about the Christmas classic, and this year be taken to distant lands (like Winter Wonderland…and M&M World!) by way of the Turbine Theatre. For a limited time, this Christmas, audiences will get to enjoy the very adult pantomime, The Nutcracker. Written by Joshua Coley (Elf The Musical, The Wind In The Willows), this new pantomime is, for audiences 18+, the perfect Christmas tale about learning to love after heartbreak …and seeking revenge. Carlie’s had a terrible year: her love rat ex has ghosted her, her father died in a collision with a Just Stop Oil protest and now her Mum is insistent on still throwing their annual festive party. A typical year in the 2020’s some may say, but thanks to a prezzie from her inappropriate, local drunk uncle - t...

Common Wealth stage a fashion show with a difference

14Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Common Wealth stage a fashion show with a difference

Fast, Fast, Slow is a unique performance that Common Wealth Theatre company says will explore the complexity of our personal relationships to fashion, fast fashion and waste. Presented as part of British Textile Biennial 2023, the show has been conceived with community members in East Lancashire, which is an area built on a now almost defunct textile industry where an online fast fashion distributor is now one of the major employers. Fast, Fast, Slow is presented on a full-scale catwalk constructed from used clothing bales in Blackburn Cotton Exchange, which was completed in 1865 to sell cotton grown and picked by enslaved labour from Africa in the plantations of the American South. The catwalk will come to life in this multi-media performance featuring video art, cinematic ...

The Nutcracker dances his way to Leeds Grand for a feast of dance

14Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

The Nutcracker dances his way to Leeds Grand for a feast of dance

Northern Ballet’s acclaimed version of The Nutcracker returns home to Leeds Grand Theatre this November after its hugely successful run last year. It’s the classic tale of Clara and her wooden Nutcracker doll that is much more than it seems. As the clock strikes midnight Clara finds herself being whisked away on a magical adventure through a winter wonderland filled with dancing snowflakes and a whole host of colourful characters. Photo: Kyle Baines The Nutcracker is the perfect introduction to classical ballet that has something for everyone, from the iconic dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy to an epic battle between the Nutcracker Prince and the villainous Mouse King. The ballet is set to Tchaikovsky's iconic music that is played live by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia. ...