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By The Waters of Liverpool – Waterside Arts

25Sep

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

By The Waters of Liverpool – Waterside Arts

Helen Forrester’s much loved million-selling novels which depict her difficult childhood growing up in post-Depression Liverpool have been popular with readers for decades. Born into a wealthy family and the eldest of seven children, Helen enjoyed a privileged existence filled with private education, nannies and servants. When her father became bankrupt following the economic crash of 1929, the family, now destitute, moved from their comfortable existence in the South-West of England, to Liverpool. This is where we meet Helen and family. Living in serious poverty, struggling to get by, living on parish handouts and credit; her parents seemingly unable to face the reality of their situation and take responsibility for their poor decision making. The weight of the situation falls onto ...

Strangers in Between – Golden Goose Theatre

24Sep

By Jennifer LaishleyNo Comments

London

Strangers in Between – Golden Goose Theatre

Strangers In between is a coming-of-age story set in Australia. The story follows young Shane as he gets settled in Sydney and the play follows his struggles with coming out and self-discovery. The cast bought this play together with well-timed comedy and strong acting. Tommy Murphy's play is described as a period piece in the programme, but it still has the power to resonate with younger audiences. The play has a very clear message and really would work as a piece of theatre to teach younger audiences about sex. Photo: Peter Davies Alex Ansell does a good job of capturing Shane’s youthful naivety. He uses his innocence to create allot of comedy and did a good job with sustaining the Australian accent, even during the more emotional intense scenes. Stephen Connery Brown has exc...

23Sep

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

New Generations – Hope Street Theatre

A warm and welcoming story of ‘Love, Life & Family’, laced with beautiful original music, plays it safe, in this heartfelt exploration into generational childbirth and parenting. Premiered as a one act play, entitled ‘Grandmother’ at the 2022 Liverpool Theatre Festival, this piece has evolved into a 2-act performance renamed ‘New Generations’. With original songs and writing by Ana Murphy, the development has so much potential but shy’s away from tackling its issues head on. Or perhaps Murphy’s aim is to show that families, despite their best intentions, can tend to brush difficult issues under the carpet. The jovialities of the close-knit O’Brian family fun nights of games, joking and dancing is brought to an abrupt end following the news of Becky’s (Clare Alexandra...

23Sep

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

North West

Compositor E – Omnibus Theatre

The play is placed in 1623 depicting the compositor’s battle with their own demons, aspirations, alongside the morality of meanings and desires to leave their own fingerprint (stamp) within the Folio book. The printing ‘shop’ scene is set by crazed printers obsessed with fingerprints and rewriting history based on their own experiences. Dupre’s focus here appears to highlight the importance and reference of this book, as the First Folio collection edition of Shakespeare’s dramatic texts, has its 400th anniversary in 2023. To mark the occasion Dupre’ showcases a retelling of events, in a Macbeth style, drawing on the influences of language and events in the print shop at the time the original Folio was produced. The scenes are tense fraught with egos and desperation. The scri...

23Sep

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

The White Factory – Marylebone Theatre

At a time when war rages in Europe, a play written by Dmitry Glukhovsky and directed by Maxim Didenko - both political exiles from Russia about the things that people can be forced to do seems timely. The White Factory tells the story of the Kaufman family living in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland under Nazi occupation from 1938 onwards. The family of five are the heart of the story, husband and wife Yosef and Rivka, grandfather Ezekiel and boys Hermann and Volf. Initially in the wrong place and forced to translate, Yosef is forced to give up all he believes and take increasingly desperate action in efforts to keep his family safe. The horror that it takes to survive such a horror. Adrian Schiller is exceptional as Jewish Elder Chaim Rumkowski, appointed to run the city by the SS, forced t...

Boys From The Blackstuff – Liverpool’s Royal Court

23Sep

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Boys From The Blackstuff – Liverpool’s Royal Court

A standing ovation was a given, and Alan Bleasedale here to enjoy it, but I've never seen individual scenes applauded before. It's an astounding piece about the bitter struggle between employers, employees (Dole Office sniffers) and unemployed; men, once so proud of their skills, engulfed by the darkness of poverty and despair. A grand scale tragi-comedy, filled with microcosms: the second half seems like a series of vignettes, monologues and dialogues: fraught scenes between husband and wife, father and son, etc. On the one hand: farce, Freda (Helen Carter) in her hallway, caught between Malloy (Dominic Carter) at the back door, Angie at the front, the phone constantly ringing. Then Yosser, seeking to discover the meaning of life from the churches at each end of hope Street. Th set is ...

Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)

21Sep

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Das Rheingold – Royal Opera House (Live Transmission)

When you put two geniuses together there is no guarantee that what they create will match the expectation; there is no such concern here as Antonio Pappano conducts Barrie Kosky’s bold new imagining of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the musical brilliance of the orchestra matched by an outstanding cast. This production marks the start of a new Ring Cycle for The Royal Opera and this is undoubtedly a prelude of exciting things to come from the wonderful pairing of Pappano and Kosky. Any new production of Wagner’s Ring has to remain faithful to its mythical origins but also needs to find a way to connect to its modern audience, but that balance is achieved and some in this vibrant theatrical production set at the beginning of time and of life. Rufus Didwiszus’s simple yet symbolic monochr...

21Sep

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Operation Epsilon – Southwark Playhouse

Operation Epsilon is concerned with a niche piece of 1945 history that may potentially find a wider audience due to the popularity of recent Oppenheimer movie. Thanks to Cillian Murphy’s turn in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic, suddenly everyone has an opinion on the ethics of scientific research and the uses of nuclear fission. The play is set after the fall of Nazi Germany, as the Allies carved up the Reich and sought justice and peace for the world at large. Except, it’s never that simple. At best, war creates moral ambiguities, and by its very nature, revels in murder and destruction. Ethics become very bendy once bombs start falling. In the post-war clean up, British and American intelligence services were keen to get the lowdown on the extent of Germany’s nuclear research. ...

21Sep

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Crown Jewels – The Lowry

Things should have gone so differently. A fantastic ‘stranger than fiction’ piece of British history; a vibrant, clever set; a stellar cast featuring some the cream of stage and screen, paired with a renowned TV comedy writer. This should have been a barnstormer of a show. And yet, tonight’s re-telling of an infamous 17th century heist to steal the Crown Jewels, by Colonel Thomas Blood and his accomplices, falls flatter than the St Edward’s Crown that Blood mangles with his mallet, so as to fit it into his loot bag. So, what has gone wrong? Blood’s story may not be as well known as that other treasonous tale, the Gunpowder Plot, but it is a fascinating one of how the royal regalia was nearly pilfered, it’s only protection a lone elderly custodian, Talbot Edwards, and a less-than-reli...

Leeds Playhouse becomes foodbank collection point for I, Daniel Blake

21Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse becomes foodbank collection point for I, Daniel Blake

As the world premiere stage adaptation of I, Daniel Blake comes to Leeds Playhouse they are turning themselves into a foodbank collection point. The film focusing on the struggles of people on the margins in our country has been adapted by actor and comedian Dave Johns, who won the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Newcomer at the EMPIRE Awards for his role in the film. The proliferation of foodbanks across the UK is a central theme in the play, so the Playhouse is becoming a collection point for South & East Leeds Food Bank, which is part of the Trussell Trust Network with distribution points in Harehills, Beeston, Gipton, Seacroft, Morley, Hunslet, Halton, Rothwell and Belle Isle. The South & East Leeds Food Bank supported more than 14,000 ...