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Best of Enemies – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

24May

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Best of Enemies – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The latest National Theatre Live production arrives at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse on Sunday 28th May and it’s a real political powerhouse, with stunning central performances from two superb actors at the top of their game. ‘Best of Enemies’ comes from the pen of James Graham, the prolific talent behind This House, Ink and Labour of Love, productions which manage to dramatise recent political British history in an entertaining and illuminating manner. Mining a similar seam to Peter Morgan in the Netflix smash ‘The Crown’, Graham takes real political events (Lib/Lab pact, Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of The Sun newspaper) and turns tinder dry history into unmissable drama. For his most recent success, filmed at the Noel Coward Theatre early in 2023, Graham has crossed the Atlantic and ...

23May

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

We need YOU at Edinburgh Fringe

It is that time of year again and Edinburgh Fringe is fast approaching playing across the Scottish capital from the 4th to the 28th August with the promise of 1000’s of shows to see at the most famous celebration of theatre anywhere in the world. Last year our team of reviewers who are based in the city or travelled up from parts of the UK to see shows for us managed to cover an impressive number of shows, but that was a fraction of the 3,334 shows performed. North West End UK are looking to make substantial additions to our team for the 2023 Fringe and it could be you! We are looking for people who love theatre based either in Edinburgh or who are travelling to Fringe this year. Whilst there is no minimum number of fringe shows we ask you to review, we have a minimum of 4 shows we a...

Witness for the Prosecution – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

23May

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Witness for the Prosecution – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Director Mike Shaw has delighted us with his production of ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ a play that has been adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1925 short story "Traitor's Hands". Shaw is no stranger to directing some of Agatha Christie’s having directed at least three others previously as well as other whodunnit and murder mysteries. I have not seen any of Agatha Christie’s greats, so I was entering the theatre as a novice and had no expectations of the play itself. The creative team have done a magnificent job on the staging as the set is that of an authentic court room creating the atmosphere of being in the chambers itself. It’s the atmosphere that they have created that makes this a very unique experience; the echoes of footsteps outside the chamber and the grandeur of the Old Bail...

23May

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

The Way Old Friends Do – The Lowry

"The Way Old Friends Do," written by Ian Hallard, is an engaging, light-hearted comedy that playfully straddles the line between homage to iconic pop band ABBA and an exploration of significant societal themes. Balancing the frivolity of a tribute band with weightier undertones of male friendship, homophobia, and familial relationships, the play invites audiences to a narrative filled with laughter and introspection. The story pivots around Peter (played by the writer; Ian Hallard), a middle-aged former librarian and ABBA superfan who reunites with his old school friend, Edward (James Bradshaw). Their coincidental reunion leads them to form half of a gender-reversed ABBA tribute show, alongside the prim Mrs. Campbell (Triyé Peterside) and the endearingly anxious Jodie (Rose Shalloo). Th...

Factory International to premiere stage adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ award-winning children’s book, Lost and Found

23May

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Factory International to premiere stage adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ award-winning children’s book, Lost and Found

Children and families are invited to experience the world premiere stage adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ award-winning children’s book, Lost and Found (Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 2005, Blue Peter Book Award 2006) as part of Factory International’s opening season at their flagship new venue in Manchester. Adapted and directed by BAFTA award-winning director Will Brenton (CBeebies, Coronation Street), the show will premiere on Friday 15th December this year and run until Saturday 6th January 2024. Lost and Found is a heart-warming, magical story of friendship and loneliness, following the journey of a little boy who one day finds a penguin on his doorstep. The official adaptation of the much-loved story will take to the stage for the very first time in Manchester. The show is produced...

The creatives behind The Beekeeper of Aleppo discuss its power and truth as it buzzes into Leeds Playhouse

22May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

The creatives behind The Beekeeper of Aleppo discuss its power and truth as it buzzes into Leeds Playhouse

The Beekeeper of Aleppo was a surprise hit novel but the stage version on its way to Leeds Playhouse began with just a feeling and a Facebook post. After volunteering at a refugee centre in Athens in 2016 – a decision prompted by her own experiences as a daughter of Cypriot refugees – bestselling author Christy Lefteri wrote on her Facebook page: ‘You wouldn’t believe what’s going on here.’ Leferi was too overwhelmed with her volunteering work to post again, but the seeds of the novel had been sown, and the hard graft of writing it down would soon begin. Despite the tales of devastation and destruction she had heard, the first scene that Lefteri wrote was one of hope - a man salvaging a pomegranate for his wife among a pile of rotting fruit. “Just from that one scene,” r...

Don Giovanni – The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

22May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Don Giovanni – The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

Mozart’s retelling of the Don Juan myth dates from 1787 and its tale of a serial, sexual predator sadly remains far too relevant some 235 years later. Don Giovanni (Peter Mattei) has seduced some 1,800 women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (Adam Plachetka), and he is looking to add another name with his attempted rape of Donna Anna (Federica Lombardi) that results in him killing her father, the Commendatore (Alexander Tsymbalyuk), and which her fiancé Don Ottavio (Ben Bliss) swears to revenge. Donna Elvira (Ana Maria Martinez), an earlier conquest, has come in search of Don Giovanni, although he is now trying to seduce peasant girl Zerlina (Ying Fang) on her wedding day to Masetto (Alfred Walker) and later attempts to rape her at his party. The next day, Giovanni forces Lepor...

Dear Billy – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

22May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Dear Billy – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Why is Gary McNair’s ode to master comedian, Billy Connoly, Dear Billy, excellent? It is the authentic voice of Scotland. It has perfect comic timing. Every man and woman portayed is distinct in characterisation. The words are all true - not a single piece of fiction. The idea is brilliantly simple while the execution looks simple, but is, in fact, brilliantly compiled, composed and performed - not simple at all. He makes it funny. I take my hat off to you, Mr McNair, and your team of story-gatherers. This is a fabulously funny, tender, and varied piece of theatre which had me in stitches, and I’m not a die-hard Billy Connolly fan, like some of the audience in this full-house. It is the breadth of commentary/recollections that makes this piece sparkle - stories of...

Your Body is a Wasteland – Brighton Fringe Online

22May

By Donna M DayNo Comments

REVIEWS

Your Body is a Wasteland – Brighton Fringe Online

Your Body is a Wasteland, is a multi-media online experience being released daily-ish. Written by Emma Maguire, this is a unique and thought-provoking journey into life with chronic illness and its life changing impact on everything that you do. Featuring a combination of video, text extracts, images and audio recordings, the piece takes full advantage of the online theatre medium to create something truly original and remarkable. There are two options to experience this piece. The Long Road allows you to explore the material in your own way. The Short Road relates the story in a linear way. Posts are still being added to the piece and this review is of the Short Road as it stands today, 20 May 2023. Maguire plays “the Wanderer”, who has chronic illness and is wandering through the w...

22May

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

Brokeback Mountain – Soho Place

Set in the wild Wyoming mountains during the 60s, Brokeback Mountain is based on Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story of the same name about two cowboys, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar working on a ranch who struggle with their feelings for each other in a hostile and unforgiving world. Most will be more familiar with the hit film adaptation starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Directed by Jonathan Butterell, the story is told through the perspective of an older Ennis (brilliantly played by Paul Hickey), depressed and drinking alone in a bedroom, looking back on his past life with the solemn ‘Don’t Let the Years Get Your Down’ playing on the radio. Hickey appears throughout the story, sorrowfully looking back at his younger self, softly reacting to painful moments and decisions that shap...