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Charlie Bucket comes to Leeds Playhouse this Christmas

11Feb

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Charlie Bucket comes to Leeds Playhouse this Christmas

Over the last few years Leeds Playhouse have staged on a series of family festive extravaganzas and this year they’re staging the musical version of the beloved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Their reinvention of the West End and Broadway hit will be directed by their Artistic Director James Brining, adapted from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel by David Greig, with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Generations of fans have loved the magical tale as young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket ventures into a strange factor run by eccentric confectionary wizard Willy Wonka with five other winners for a wild ride through the imagination “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is such a special story, loved by generations of children and their parent...

American Idiot set to play Northwich Plaza

10Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews

American Idiot set to play Northwich Plaza

An amateur musical theatre society in Cheshire are currently in rehearsals for the little performed musical American Idiot featuring the music of American rock band Green Day. We spoke to director Louise Colohan ahead of their final weeks in rehearsal. You are back with Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company for a third time to direct Green Day’s American Idiot. Did it take long for the committee to convince you that you were the director for this show? Not long at all. I said yes immediately. This is a rare opportunity to create something innovative and special which can redefine how people see musical theatre in the area. Following the success of Evita and Sunshine on Leith I felt this was an amazing challenge for both myself and the society. For those unaware, can you briefly ...

Mikron Theatre Company announce productions for 50th anniversary

10Feb

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Mikron Theatre Company announce productions for 50th anniversary

Mikron Theatre Company announce productions for 50th anniversary tour Mikron Theatre’s four strong cast will take two plays via the company’s narrowboat and van to 130 venues to celebrate their 50th anniversary. One play is the premiere of Red Sky at Night which is Lindsay Rodden’s new play about the nation's obsession with the wild and wonderful world of weather. The other revisits their successful 2015 production of Maeve Larkin’s play about the Women’s Institute, Raising Agents. Mikron are based in the village of Marsden at the foot of the Yorkshire Pennines, and over the last 50 years have played to nearly half a million people as they toured 66 productions on board their vintage narrowboat spending over 34,000 boating hours on the inland waterways. ...

10Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Two Billion Beats – Orange Tree Theatre

Orange tree Theatre’s new show ‘Two Billion Beats’ follows two sisters who meet at the bus stop. Both tackling their secondary school experience in very different ways. Asha, the older sister and arguably the smartest in the school is inspired by the revolutionary figures of the past. Bettina, the younger is tackling a revolution of her own, against her bullies on the bus. We meet them at the bus stop, detention and the park as Bettina does her best to avoid being by herself but one day, she asks Asha for help and as their political beliefs and the cause and effect begins to unravel, we question the damage of our actions. Safiyya Ingar and Anoushka Chadha beautifully portray the sisters with such depth and humour, pushing each other’s buttons with rage and burning sisterly love. Their p...

10Feb

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

ENG-ER-LAND – Dulwich College

Given its centrality to the cultural life of this country, it is surprising that there are not more plays about football. ENG-ER-LAND, written and performed by Hannah Kumari, which has just started a 15 venue UK tour in the Edward Allen theatre at Dulwich College in South London, goes some way to remedying that deficiency. The tour is supported by the Football Supporters Association in order to promote inclusivity and combat racism and sexism in the game. It is very much a personal take on football based upon Kumari’s experience of growing up as a female, mixed race, football fan. Many of its themes will undoubtedly resonate with a wider audience since the play is more about the difficulty of forming an identity for those of mixed race then it is specifically about football...

10Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mamma Mia – Hull New Theatre

Those of a nervous disposition at the Hull New Theatre on Wednesday evening were warned, just before curtain up, that platform shoes and white satin trousers would be much in evidence on the stage, as feel-good musical Mamma Mia! came to town. Talented musicians got a packed theatre into the right mood, pre-show, by playing several of Abba’s hits, the Swedish super-group whose music is the backbone of this energetic production. As the curtain rose, we were all eager to hear the words “I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do”. Set on a beautiful Greek island, Mamma Mia! tells the story of taverna owner Donna Sheridan (Sara Poyzer), her 20-year-old daughter Sophie (Jena Pandya), and Sophie’s upcoming marriage to Sky (Toby Miles), to be held on the island. Sophie intrigued all of her life...

Mark Watson: This Can’t Be It – Unity Theatre

10Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Mark Watson: This Can’t Be It – Unity Theatre

We’ve all had some pondering to do about the fragility of life over the last couple of years but at almost 42, Mark Watson has it covered – he’s halfway through his life according to the life expectancy calculator app he paid 99p for and is ready to share his overthinking on what life is really all about in this ninety-minute stand-up routine (plus interval). For anyone in the entertainment industry, the pandemic has wiped out pretty much everything from audiences to venues and as Watson is keen to explain, online gigs don’t really work too well when you can only see one member of your audience. To these travails, add a messy divorce and the challenge of bringing up two children as a single dad and he has every reason to be on a downer but with his healthy dose of self-deprecating humou...

9Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

1974 Productions return to Hope Mill

Following their success with the 2019 tour of Ian Townsend’s multi award winning play All The Bens (sold out dates, Greater Manchester Fringe Award for Best Drama, Nominated for Best Actor, Best Revival and Oldham Coliseum Pick of the Fringe), 1974 Productions are proud to present Ian’s new full-length play My Favourite Place In The Whole Wide World. Longlisted for the 2019 Bruntwood/Royal Exchange International Playwriting Competition, this beautiful new play tells the story of Ruth (Claire Eden) and J (Ben Kenzie), two people in search of love and purpose in a world of confusion and loss. We watch Ruth and J grow from children to adults and see how they’ve been influenced by events and circumstances. Shot through with humour, My Favourite Place In The Whole Wide World is an engagin...

An Evening Without Kate Bush – Soho Theatre

9Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

An Evening Without Kate Bush – Soho Theatre

I discovered quite quickly that I was in a room full of super fans. Now, I’m a fan but mostly through my dad, who now and again will beautifully reminisce to Wuthering Heights as well as the heights of his vocal range. But as I watched a person enter the stage wearing a bird head piece, I knew I was in the hands of an artist who had carefully cherished her craft all of her life: her craft? Kate Bush. Sarah-Louise Young opens her arms to a bunch of strangers every night, but somehow gets us all on our feet and emotionally hand in hand by the time she’s done. Turning it around on us as we not only enjoy watching her have the time of her life but have that for ourselves too. After what seems like the most anxiety inducing and isolating years of our lives, it’s been a long time since I h...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – King’s Theatre

9Feb

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – King’s Theatre

Direct from London, this Elliott & Harper Productions, Catherine Schreiber and Leeds Playhouse show is an adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic children's book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, voted the nations favourite book in 2019. It's directed by Michael Fentiman (based on the original production of Sally Cookson) and stars Ammar Duffus, Robyn Sinclair, Shaka Kalokoh and Karise Yansen as Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, four children evacuated from London during the Second World War who find themselves transported to the magical world of Narnia and into the conflict between its ruler Aslan and its usurper, The White Witch (Samantha Womack). With its mix of fantasy and reality (transitioning through the titular wardrobe), this story demands a certain amount of imaginati...