Latest Articles - Page 560 of 655

18Jul

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Tea Time – Bombed Out Church

G&J Productions’ Tea Time, written by Graham Edgington and directed by James Edgington, is a surreal dramatic comedy about three northern women on an apparently normal day, where the most important thing is getting tea cooked on time. The play takes place in Joan’s cluttered kitchen and opens with Joan (Denice Hope) reading a very upsetting letter from the courts. Her daughter April (Elise Carman) is having serious problems at work and when Joan’s friend Sharon (Samantha Power) comes around for a chat, Joan reluctantly tells her everything, with the repeated refrain that she really cannot say anything more. Sharon listens enraptured by April’s story, while steadily eating grapes as though they were popcorn, and drinking mug after mug of water which smells suspiciously like wine. ...

Unity Theatre, Liverpool announce more events in 2021 season

16Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Unity Theatre, Liverpool announce more events in 2021 season

Returning to Liverpool in the autumn of this year are critically-acclaimed companies such as Dibby Theatre, Paines Plough and Lung.Festival season also returns with events and week-long programme from Homotopia, BlackFest and DaDa.From midday on Thursday 15th July, audiences will also be able to book for the 10 new productions programmed through the second round of Unity’s Open Call.Applications also open for new producer training programme Level Up – part of Unity’s Creative’pool programme that provides over 300 Liverpool-based artists a year with training, opportunity and support.Available to book from midday on Thursday 15th July. Festivals, festive programme and the return of some of the UK’s favourite touring companies feature in the latest collection of productions announced by Un...

16Jul

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

This Skin of Mine – Bombed Out Church

As part of the little LTF (Liverpool Theatre Festival) season of new works for the stage Kai Jolley’s This Skin of Mine is a charming two hander that deals with a variety of issues including transgender equality, race, domestic abuse and care within a family unit. The subjects covered in this short play can be quite overwhelming and deep in context, but Jolley’s script has a light, intelligent and highly likable touch, veering as it does between outright high drama and dark comic camp. The two actors (Eden Jodie and Janelle Thompson) convey a deep understanding of their characters throughout and instantly connect with the audience. They both give clear and concise performances as the estranged siblings attending to an ailing mother in the family home. It is revealed during the...

16Jul

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Lava – Bush Theatre

Lava is more than just a play about race and identity – it is about a never-ending struggle to be acknowledged. Written by Benedict Lombe, the text was originally conceptualized in 2020 as part of the Bush Theatre's Protest Series, a digital artistic response to the murder of George Floyd. A little over a year later and after a historical conviction in the legal trial, a lot has changed for the global Black community but equally, a lot has not – case in point being the England football team’s black players being subjected to racist abuse and trolling just a few days ago in the aftermath of a Euro Cup loss. Lava is not only an urgent call to acknowledge this moment in time for the Black community but a frantic imploration to recognize the world’s complicity in the past and the present. A...

15Jul

By Eugene GriffinNo Comments

London

Pippin – Charing Cross Theatre

The Charing Cross Theatre was the perfect venue for this latest revival of Pippin. Written in 1972 with Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a Book by Roger O.Hirson. The piece itself is very interesting as it follows a mystery performance group who tell the story of Pippin who longs to find something to fulfil his life. This piece can be interpreted in different and interesting ways. Director Steven Dexter has placed Pippin in a 60’s, flower power environment, where you are immediately transported to somewhere in the middle of nowhere where the performance group are. As soon as you walk into the space you are engulfed by 60’s tapestries hanging all over the theatre walls. And incense burning which further transported the audience away from London in July to somewhere in America in ...

Cabaret announces transformation of West End theatre

15Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Cabaret announces transformation of West End theatre

The KIT KAT CLUB in London’s West End will open its doors on 15th November 2021 with the musical CABARET starring Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Tony and Olivier award winner Eddie Redmayne as ‘The Emcee’ and Bafta Nominee and British Independent Film award winner Jessie Buckley as ‘Sally Bowles’. • The Kit Kat Club takes over the Playhouse Theatre, transforming one of London’s most famous theatres with in-the-round auditorium and reimagined spaces. • Tickets go on priority sale at 8.00am on 19th July 2021 for both ATG TheatreCard Members and Underbelly Full Fat Members and at 12.00 noon for those who have signed up for priority booking. • There is still time to register for priority access from 12.00 noon online via www.kitkat.club • General on sale for the firs...

Mind The Gap turn A Little Space into a film

15Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Mind The Gap turn A Little Space into a film

Mind the Gap and Gecko Theatre have turned their joint production of A Little Space into a movie that is free to view online. Set in a bleak apartment block, A Little Space follows the lives of five people exploring what happens when they connect and disconnect from each other, whether through choice or through isolation. It draws on the performers’ own experiences becoming powerful piece of physical theatre when it first toured in 2019. The cast used movement, imagery, sound, and lighting to portray the needs, desires, and fears of the characters. The two theatre companies worked with award-winning Newcastle-based Meerkat Films to bring the piece to the screen and promise that audiences can expect ‘a mash up of theatre and film’. “Streaming has come into its own thro...

15Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Little Night Music – Leeds Playhouse

A hot July evening in West Yorkshire proved to be the perfect backdrop for a musical set at the Scandinavian midsummer, as the theatregoers of Leeds joyfully returned to a stunning adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's puckish, satirical operetta from Leeds Playhouse and Opera North. Written in 1973, during a golden period of his gilded career, 'A Little Night Music' shows Sondheim at the peak of his powers, utilising his tongue twisting lyricism and complex musicality to stunning effect, against the backdrop of a country weekend in 'fin de siecle' Sweden. Sondheim always chooses arcane subject matter around which to base his work, everything from a Seurat painting (Sunday in the Park with George) to homicidal pie making (Sweeney Todd), have been used by him as source material and 'Night Mus...

15Jul

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Twice Nightly – Bombed Out Church

Twice Nightly, written, directed by and starring Maria Lovelady and Michael Alan Bailey, is a fun comedy which explores the world of variety entertainment in 1931 and the impact of film on the theatre industry. Don (Bailey) and Madge (Lovelady) are down on their luck cabaret performers who are frustrated with their underappreciative employer and not being hailed as the superstars they deserve to be. Opening with a synchronised song and dance number, both Bailey and Lovelady demonstrate excellent musical theatre skills throughout the piece. Live music is provided by musical director, Jessica Dives, with fun accordion melodies giving the piece a feeling of the 1930s music hall. A mischievous song about being criminal masterminds is surprisingly followed by the arrival of a policeman (R...

Seeking Arrangement comes to the King’s Head

14Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Seeking Arrangement comes to the King’s Head

Whilst some questioned whether they could survive the pandemic and others wondered what to do during lockdown, Kitty Ball and Alexandra Hannant took control of their own destiny and set up Burning Brick Theatre Company, so it was a delight to catch up with them – and compatriot Phoebe Coop – to discuss their forthcoming production, Seeking Arrangement, written by Hannant, directed by Ball, and starring Coop. By day, Bolton lass Charlie struggles to make a difference as a UN intern, working to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of women across the world. By night, she moonlights as Sugar Baby Tamara, trading companionship and intimacy to survive in New York City. Assessing feminist ideas of ownership of the body while yielding it to a paying consumer, Seeking Arrangement follows o...