Latest Articles - Page 5 of 546

Playhouse Creatures – Orange Tree Theatre

23Mar

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Playhouse Creatures – Orange Tree Theatre

In the intimate setting of Orange Tree’s theatre-in-the-round, the 1660s came visiting. Charles II is on the throne, theatres have reopened, and there is a new creature on the stage – a female actor. The theatre, we are told, was once a bear pit and people came in to watch dancing bears. Now they come to see the women. Directed by Michael Oakley, April De Angelis’ play about five actresses – who were among the very first women in the profession – brings to life real stories from the period. Some of the themes seem like lasting legacies of showbiz, like the way younger faces edge out the old, and pregnancy becoming a full-stop to vibrant careers. Mrs Betterton and Mrs Marshall rule the roost, playing myriad roles from Amazon warriors to powerful queens, before thickly packed audiences...

23Mar

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Men’s Business – Finborough Theatre

Men’s Business by Tony and Olivier Award winning playwright Simon Stephens has its world premiere this season. This 1972 version of Mannersache by Franz Xaier Kroetz, Simon Stephen’s translation is a love story set in a butcher’s shop with a cast of two and a dog and is the London debut for the acclaimed new production company Glass House Theatre from Dublin. From the opening scene, the backroom of a butcher’s shop Charlie and Rex appear in their work attire to the loud sounds of punk rock music, blasting, flashes of red as they assume their positions into what quickly transpires to be the only place the audience will see throughout this play. A small intimate theatre of benches which the audience can truly see, feel and touch the actors on set. Rex Ryan plays Victor the ‘boyfriend’ ...

Brennan Reece: Me Me Me – Royal Exchange

23Mar

By Kathryn GortonNo Comments

North West

Brennan Reece: Me Me Me – Royal Exchange

Playing to a sold out , home crowd of family , friends and fans of this extremely popular, highly likeable and extremely watchable home grown Manc comedian on a Friday night at the beautiful Royal Exchange was Brennan Reece. What a brilliant venue and I was interested how he’d play to the audience in the round but he absolutely revelled in it and worked every curve as he assessed his audience and fed off their laughter. With three supporting acts to open and warm up the crowd was the ‘ intense eyed ‘ Larry Dean whose manic expressions, quick patter and physical comedy, Norman Wisdomesque face pulling and self analysis of his Autism making him conclude that all his previous relationships were gas lighters had me howling. Next, was Tito Giacotto, an ex-professional Sicilia...

Portable Infinity – Edinburgh Traverse Bar

23Mar

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Portable Infinity – Edinburgh Traverse Bar

Crikey, this was good. Tight. Hot. Funky. At times it even rocked. Four master musicians with CV’s so long you’d need a telescope to finish reading. Accompanying central legend Benjamin Koppel on Alto Sax were Jacob Karlzon on piano, Scott Colley on double bass and Magnus Ostrom on drums and percussion (have a google). Making it work because they love, but more importantly, live, what they do. The setting of the bar at The Traverse lends itself well to these events, allowing just the right ratio of reverence to informality. As Benjamin announces, this will be one long set, no interval, but one is welcome to frequent the bar. The quartet recorded an eponymously titled album in 2023, (available from Cowbell Music, Bandcamp and most of the usual platforms) and this is pretty much what ...

23Mar

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Double Act – Southwark Playhouse

Two clowns enter the stage, their mission: to end their life tonight. We travel with them for the day as they quarrel over the best way to spend this final day. Representing one male, 28 and lost in what purpose his life might have, we meet strangers and exes on the way to the coast. Small gestures of kindness and connection breaks his mission to the cliff, giving him moments of doubt as he continues to question - what is courage? Is it to finally bring it all to an end or is it to keep trying? Written and performed by Nick Hyde, they play one side of the coin along with Oliver Maynard. Each of the pair double as other characters in this man’s life. The nosy neighbour, the ex and the unbearable finance bro from school. Each moment is relatable and hilarious, as we all connect over the j...

Quartermaine’s Terms – Churchill Theatre, Edinburgh

22Mar

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Quartermaine’s Terms – Churchill Theatre, Edinburgh

Presented by Edinburgh People’s Theatre, Quatermaine’s Terms gives a fly-on-the-wall view of a 1960s staffroom within an international school in Cambridge. Spanning over two years, we see the personal lives and relationships of the characters change and adapt, communicated to us by way of staff room gossip. We get a picture of love, death, and loneliness and the characters incessant need to keep it all to themselves - an all too real representation of the stiff upper lip British attitude which eventually leads to the breakdown of each character. The exception to this cycle of change is the Quartermaine himself. Having been with the school since it first opened, the Quartermaine, who seems almost glued to his staff room armchair, has begun to mentally deteriorate lea...

22Mar

By Johanna RobertsNo Comments

North West

Erocia – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

‘Dazzling’ was the first word that came to mind as Veronika Eberle played Beethoven’s violin concerto with the RLPO last night, but others, such as ‘breathtaking’ and extraordinary’ were not far behind. Despite an initially poor reception at its premiere in 1806, Beethoven’s concerto has since been acknowledged as one of the greatest pieces for the instrument. The orchestra, under Hindoyan’s direction, from the delicacy of the first five beats of the timpani to the final dramatic conclusion moved seamlessly from the tension of the rising scales to filigree lightness in the quieter sections, highlighting the relationship between orchestra and soloist. Eberle more than does justice to the music’s melodic lyricism with a tone that is both pure and warm and a virtuosity that, while demonstrati...

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

22Mar

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson is a brilliant piece of physical storytelling, at times funny, thought-provoking, and touching. It follows two boys, Ace (Natasha Roland) and Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice), who are scouts at the time of the Vietnam War. Through child-like inventions we see the world through their eyes, with the lines between playing soldiers at home and being soldiers at war are blurred. Photo: Morgan McDowell The strength of this show comes through its roots in physical theatre and clowning. Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, performers and co-creators, use this to evoke the child-like world of their characters. The extent of the ‘set’ is one large, black rubber tyre, but through clowning the two are able to produce so much from this one item: a piece of cover under enemy fire, t...

Murder, She Didn’t Write – Floral Pavilion

22Mar

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Murder, She Didn’t Write – Floral Pavilion

We embark on this evening with a little bit of a mystery of our own: do we have press tickets? Fortunately, we did, although not a press night. But no programme so that’s where I could slip up, getting the characters’ names wrong; just have to colour them in. For that matter, when is a review not a review? When a play is not a play. As this hilarious show is based on improvisation, it’ll be totally different every time, so we’ll just try and give you a taste of it. And for it. But while we’re nitpicking, the staging is rather odd; it may be intended to be versatile, a setting for no matter what venue, because that is chosen at random by the audience, along with various props (and choosing a card to pinpoint victim and villain), but it resembles an unsuccessful antique emporium, or a...

22Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Death of a Salesman – Festival Theatre

Arthur Miller’s iconic treatise on the American Dream, often studied, but rarely performed, is brought to glorious life tonight on the Scotland’s biggest stage in front of a packed and almost reverential audience. It is a simple enough tale of an ordinary man, Willie Loman, who has worked all his life to live up to his, and America’s, idea of what a man should be; strong, dependable, financially stable and unexceptional – an automaton – A Salesman. We enter Willie’s world just as he seriously begins to question his life and whether it has been a success. He has begun to have lapses of concentration which might point towards the onset of dementia, which are now even affecting his ability to drive safely and ultimately be able to continue working. A life insurance policy of $20,000 feels ...