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Ideal 20th Anniversary Live Show – The Lowry

10Sep

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Ideal 20th Anniversary Live Show – The Lowry

Back in 2005, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, Doctor Who returned to our screens, and another show, with a budget not quite as large, started on BBC Three called Ideal. Set in Salford, it revolved around Moz (Johnny Vegas), a small-time drug dealer, and the weird and wonderful characters who came to see him to buy cannabis. It was lo-fi, a bit of a sleeper hit, and a cult classic beloved by its fans. Twenty years later, it has been resurrected for the stage, and it is silly, surreal and just fun. You know everyone is up for having a good time when the actors are applauded when they come on stage. It had a pantomime feel, not least in those moments when things went wrong. Audiences always love it when this happens, and it was very entertaining watching the actors try to improvise them...

A Chorus Line – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

8Sep

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

A Chorus Line – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

There are certain shows that feel timeless in their simplicity and power, and A Chorus Line is one of them. The Altrincham Garrick Playhouse’s current production, directed by Joseph Meighan, captures that magic beautifully, offering a night of theatre that is both dazzling and deeply human. The story, set in the world of Broadway auditions, follows director Zach Wilson (played here with presence and precision by Joseph Meighan himself) as he whittles down a group of hopeful dancers competing for a coveted spot in his new chorus line. The show strips back theatrical spectacle to its essence, focusing instead on raw storytelling with its mirrored backdrops and nothing else allowing the cast’s talent and truth to shine. What sets this production apart is the electric chemistry between M...

8Sep

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Don Giovanni – Lowther Pavilion Theatre

Whilst it’s not customary to review the same production, a couple of key cast changes, a new venue, and the omission of the supporting orchestra meant that director Sarah Helsby-Hughes would have to overcome some challenges with Flat Pack Music’s ingenious re-setting of one of Mozart’s most complete operas to La Dolce Vita of 1960’s Italy: she was not to disappoint. Don Giovanni (Richard Walshe) has seduced over two thousand women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (David Bicarregui), and he is looking to add another name with his attempted rape of Donna Anna (Carrie-Ann Williams) that results in him killing her father, the Commendatore (George Elson), and which her fiancé Don Ottavio (Joseph Buckmaster) swears to revenge. Donna Elvira (Helsby-Hughes), an earlier conquest, has come...

8Sep

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Can’t Complain – 53two

Described as “a new electropop audiodrama”, Can’t Complain is the brainchild of musician Sam Easton. The genesis of this show is not necessarily standard for new musicals. An original cast recording has been made and will be released this week. Two listening events of the album have now been held, in London and Manchester. An excerpt has been performed live. However, there have been no full live productions, as yet. Despite essentially being a playback session of a pre-recorded concept album, the Manchester premiere was still slightly theatrical. A dinner table set for four is centre of the 53Two stage. Three plates lie empty. One spaghetti bolognaise lies ominously untouched on the fourth plate. Behind the table, a large screen displays the visuals to accompany each track....

7Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Void – Hull Truck Theatre

My out-of-this-world experience on Saturday night came courtesy of the fertile imagination of writer Ryan Simons, creator and director of The Void sci fi horror story set in the year 2160. As we theatregoers took our seats, we were faced with a darkened stage setting that bore no resemblance to planet Earth - all bare metal, wood, leather with a central huge “porthole” giving us a tantalising glimpse of outer space, eight million miles from our blue planet. One man sat by this window to other worlds, answering and asking questions of Nova (voiced by Olwen May), an all-seeing AI. Dressed in loose-fitting beige coloured overalls, the one-eyed man, Flint, a disillusioned space ranger, sounded bored with his lot, until a distress call comes through regarding ageing space research ...

6Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

The Switchboard Project – Hope Theatre

It is 1985, and above a bookshop in King’s Cross, a small team of volunteers huddle around phones, scribbling notes, fumbling for pens, and trying to keep the lines open. For Lou, Joan, Nana and Jackie, it’s another evening at Gay Switchboard. But as the phones ring, their work becomes far more than routine, it’s a lifeline for a community under siege. Molly Byrne’s The Switchboard Project brings to life the often-forgotten stories of lesbian volunteers who played an essential role in building queer solidarity during the AIDS crisis. Drawing inspiration from real calls and interviews, Byrne has created a piece that is both dramatically rich and emotionally resonant, shining a light on the resilience and humour that powered these women through impossible circumstances. The writing is ...

6Sep

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Deaf Republic – Royal Court

Why do you go to the theatre? Is it to hear grand speeches? Perhaps it’s to witness spectacle. Whether your aim is entertainment or education, Dead Centre is going to complicate your experience and expose your complicity. Deaf Republic, a play blending spoken word, sign language, puppetry, and much more, is breathtakingly complex. Adapted from the poems of Ukrainian American author Ilya Kaminsky by Dead Centre and Sign Language poet Zoë McWhinney, this play is one of a kind. Photo - Johan-Persson In turns cruel and comforting to its audience but never careless, writer and director pair Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd handle the play’s many difficult themes with grace and gravity. Azusa Ono’s lighting design, Jeremy Herbert’s set design, Mae Leahy’s costume design, and Grant Gee’s vide...

6Sep

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Invasive Species – King’s Head Theatre

Based on the true story of writer and star Maia Novi, Invasive Species opens with a life-altering realisation: Maia wants to be in the movies. But not the low-budget Spanish movies that blare out of the tinny speakers at her local cinema in her homeland of Argentina. Maia wants to be in “big, American movies” like The Amazing Spider-Man — the movie that triggers this epiphany in her youth. Before she knows it, she’s caught hook, line and sinker by The Acting Bug (brought to gloriously creepy life by Harrison Osterfield, playing one of several roles), setting her on a path of unsuccessful stints at acting schools in France and London before finally getting into Yale School of Drama. Disaster strikes weeks before her all-important final year showcase, however: after seeking treatment f...

Soundhouse: Paul Harrison’s Trio Mágico & Guests: Encontros – Traverse Theatre

6Sep

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Soundhouse: Paul Harrison’s Trio Mágico & Guests: Encontros – Traverse Theatre

Launching their latest album, Encontros, Paul Harrison’s Trio Mágico graced the Traverse Theatre once again, bringing with them an evening filled with Brazilian-inspired jazz rhythms and grooves. From original compositions, to rearrangements of renowned Brazilian jazz pieces (many of which were taken from Brazilian jazz player and composer Egberto Gismonti) Paul Harrison’s trio is Mágico by name, and Mágico by nature. The first act hit us with high-energy, highlighting the beauty of Harrison’s chord harmonisation and bassist Mario Caribé’s enthusiastic and lively playing. Drummer Stu Brown keeps the trio rolling along with his relaxed approach - that is until the second act where he completely unleashes the full power of his playing. Brown’s kit is perfectly collated t...

A Toast Fae the Lassies – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

6Sep

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

A Toast Fae the Lassies – Pitlochry Festival Theatre

A widow, a mother, and a mistress walk into a bar—sorry, graveyard—to mourn the loss of the recently deceased Robert Burns. On seeing the other women there, the group soon end up reminiscing and sparring with each other over their relationships to the late poet and his proclivities. Generously peppered with well-known Burns’ songs, A Toast Fae The Lassies both celebrates Burns as a poet while reprimanding his behaviour as a man through the eyes of the women in his life. The songs are, of course, the highlight of this play, with musical direction and arrangement by Alyson Orr, who also plays Agnes Broun, Burns’ mother. Orr brings spirit to the stage with her charming arrangements, performed beautifully by herself and the rest of the cast. Chris Coxon accompanies the singing on the guitar...