Latest Articles - Page 537 of 644

1Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Salomé – Southwark Playhouse

Salomé written by Oscar Wilde, was originally written in French in Paris 1891, and was later translated into English. For many years, Salomé was banned from British theatres due to a censorship law forbidding the staging of scriptural characters. It wasn’t until after Wilde’s death in 1900, that a private performance took place in London (in 1905), and then later in 1931, the first public performance took place. Critics at the time believed that time had lessened the impact of such a play and were less than enthusiastic. Lazarus Theatre Company have taken up the challenge of staging this play, but in their own style. Their reimagining of classic tales brings a freshness to the telling of the stories and after performing Salomé previously at the Greenwich Theatre,...

1Sep

By Chris HanlonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Tell Me on a Sunday – Sheffield Lyceum

After a long 18 months, I finally had the pleasure of returning to the beautiful Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield to watch a musical that I was familiar with but up until tonight had not had chance to see! Well, I finally put that right and wow! Am I glad I did! Tell Me on a Sunday was excellent! For those unfamiliar with the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s classic, Tell Me on a Sunday is a one-woman show (or song cycle) that follows the journey of an English girl newly arrived in New York. Filled with hope and eager eyed, she sets out to seek success, friendship and, of course, love. But as she weaves her way through the maze of the city and her own insecurities, frustrations and heartaches she begins to realise that – in fact – she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places. J...

1Sep

By Angela KellyNo Comments

West Midlands

Grease – Regent Theatre

It maybe rapidly approaching Autumn but there are still a few Summer Nights to be had at The Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent this week. Directed by Nikolai Foster, Artistic Director for Curve, the musical classic ‘Grease’ and its infamous score are totally prepared to entertain audiences on stage with an all-new cast. For those very few individuals who may not have experienced Grease previously, it is essentially a 50’s High School love story, starring the leather clad, cool dude 'Danny Zuko' (Dan Partridge) and the innocent, girl next door, 'Sandy Dumbrowski' (Georgia Louise). They reunite in their final year at Rydell High. It may be a love story on the surface, but it is also very much a story about teenage friendships, peer pressure, sexual relationships and personal challenges. Pa...

1Sep

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Judas – GM Fringe Online

This quirky and off the wall satire on religion written and performed by BeeJay Aubertin-Clinton re-imagines the relationship between Judas and Jesus from a queer perspective. Aubertin-Clinton has written a clever and sometimes witty monologue that does not seek to offend, rather it highlights the broader issues of relationships and queer identity. All the religious tropes and stories about Judas and his special man are performed at a campy breakneck speed, occasionally stopping for very brief interludes of emotional depth, which sometimes seemed at odds with the comedic elements of Aubertin-Clinton’s dazzling and sharp script. The dialogue is crisp and fresh, and you are immediately drawn into Aubertin- Clinton’s warm and imaginative character, he holds your attention throughout and...

1Sep

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Dirty Dancing – Buxton Opera House

It’s been 21 months since I last had the pleasure of experiencing live theatre at the beautiful ‘theatre of the Peaks’ - Buxton Opera House. It’s charm and beauty hasn’t faltered one bit in that lockdown time and a trip to Buxton’s famous opera house is just as special as before, if not more so now! It helped no doubt by returning and seeing the ultimate feel-good Musical currently on tour, Dirty Dancing. I think most of us will have seen the movie, (if not, what have you been doing in this lockdown) and if you like the movie; you’ll love this show. The energy, the music, the romance - it’s a theatrical whirlwind which makes for the perfect live show experience! Any Movie purists can rejoice too as this stage adaptation stays very close to the film in terms of dialogue and scen...

31Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Magic Goes Wrong – Leeds Grand Theatre

Go on….admit it. One reason we still love magic shows is while we are intrigued by how the illusionists fool us, we also secretly hope it will all go horribly wrong. So, it is really smart of Mischief to create another one of their ‘goes wrong’ series around a camp, OTT group of hopeless performers, and it works much better than their mega successful am dram version as that world is just too a bit too serious to really parody. The premise is that the inaccurately named Sophisticato - played just on the right edge of hysteria by Sam Hill - has put together a tacky fundraiser for magicians killed or injured in the line of conjuring duties, including his father crushed by his stage props. But as with all Mischief productions anything that can go wrong does as the body count steadi...

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

31Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

When your Fringe comedy show partner in crime goes AWOL in extenuating circumstances, there’s only one thing for it, keep that show on the road come hell or high water. Poor Paddy Young delivers that blow with comic flourish and the audience isn’t to upset when he promises not one but two stand-in stand-ups. Keeping to the theme of Northern comics, Tom Little is the perfect tonic. With only about 15 minutes to keep us entertained, he dives straight into some cracking observational humour, remarking ‘there’s no time to connect it’ as he dives from his fear of a watermelon-based diet to the absolute audacity of dolphins. The humour is clever and strikes an amusing surrealist approach thanks to the time constrictions. Little is brilliantly witty, and it’s a shame that the audience me...

31Aug

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Hairspray – Empire Theatre

Bank holiday weekend, and the last week before kids are back to school and what better than a treat to see musical phenomenon Hairspray as it hits the stage in Liverpool! We arrived at the theatre in plenty of time but were greeted by a massive queue snaking around all the way to the entrance of the Lime Street Station. The queue, presumably due to the checking of covid status in addition to bag searches and tickets, was rather frustrating and after waiting 20 to 30 minutes to enter, we reached the front of the queue for 7.30pm by which time the show was already starting late (as half the audience was still outside), meaning a mad dash to find your seat and prepare. Not a great start I must say, but fingers crossed this can be much better organised for the next show in the run... Aft...

Interview with Oliver Senton of ‘The School of Night’

30Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Interview with Oliver Senton of ‘The School of Night’

After a long time away from the stage, the Fraters are set to return with their first shows being held at a rather unique location; the ‘Willow Globe’ in Wales. Following their inaugural gig many years ago at ‘Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’, it seems only fitting now that they return to a replica of ‘The Globe’, that was grown organically by planting willow in the shape of Shakespeare’s magnificent theatre. The School of Night’s unusual and eccentric type of improvising stimulates the literary appetite, whilst catching you off guard with their humorous sleight of hand. This event at the ‘Willow Globe’ is to be held on the 11th of September at 3pm and 7pm. To book tickets for this event go to https://www.shakespearelink.org.uk/productions/2021/9/11/the-school-of-night ...

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

29Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

Olivier award-winning comedy favourites, Mischief, today announce hit comedy Magic Goes Wrong is set to head to the Opera House Blackpool this November from Wednesday 24th – Saturday 27th November 2021. Mischief’s biggest and most daring comedy catastrophe to date, Magic Goes Wrong follows a hapless gang of magicians as they stage an evening of grand illusion to raise cash for charity. As the magic turns to mayhem, accidents spiral out of control and so does their fundraising target! The show premiered in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre in December 2019 and is set to resume performances in London this October. Created with magic legends Penn & Teller, the touring cast presents: Daniel Anthony (Mickey), Valerie Cutko (Eugenia), Sam Hill (Sophisticato), Kiefer Moriarty (The ...