Sunday, December 7

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Harm – Bush Theatre
London

Harm – Bush Theatre

Harm is a one-woman show, written by Phoebe Eclair-Powell and produced by the Bush Theatre, which explores the fickle nature of human relationships in the backdrop of social media obsession and the ends to which one would go to attain the #blessed life. Commissioned with the support of the UK Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, the show is a thrilling and sharp-witted commentary on the effects of social media and isolation. It was staged live at the Holloway Theatre which serves as the Bush's main space with all social distancing protocols being followed — reduced seating, separate entry points, mask on policy unless exempt – which was reassuring. At the centre of Harm is an unhappy estate agent, played by Kelly Gough, who finds herself stuck in a dead-end job with little to look forwar...
ABBA MANIA – Shaftesbury Theatre
London

ABBA MANIA – Shaftesbury Theatre

“You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life…!” There really are no better lyrics to sum up Shaftesbury Theatre’s grand re-opening after what has been a challenging and lengthy journey out of lockdown. The night kicked off with an emotional welcome from the theatre's CEO, thanking the audience for returning to the West End, and showing honest appreciation to his team for sticking with him during the pandemic. You could sense from everyone a real gratitude that we were back, and the words “thank you for coming” repeated throughout the evening holding a true sincerity and purpose. It was impossible not to start the evening feeling emotional and it provided the perfect foundation for what proved to be a lively and exhilarating experience for all.  However, that sai...
Play Up from Lantern Writers – St Lukes Bombed Out Church
North West

Play Up from Lantern Writers – St Lukes Bombed Out Church

It was a subdued Light Night Festival in Liverpool this year due to several days of constant downpour and the slow and cumbersome emergence from lockdown restrictions. Lantern Writers (a Liverpool-based playwright collective) staged eight short plays early evening at a small outdoor area in front of a small but hardy audience accommodated under a tiny cover and out-numbered by near-by drinkers. Child's Play. Written and directed by Mark Davoren With Natasha Hale, Chris Hird and Jen Morrow This piece relates some of the writer’s own memories as a boy growing up with two older sisters who conspire to exclude him from their games. The girl's mantra is 'I don't like boys' and he is the fall guy for their tricks with only occasional mediation shouted from an off-stage father. Clearl...
Full Programme Revealed For Inaugural Little LFT Event For New Works
NEWS

Full Programme Revealed For Inaugural Little LFT Event For New Works

A programme of 14 new works to be premiered at the inaugural Little LTF event in Liverpool this Summer has been revealed. Little LTF is a new strand to the hugely successful Liverpool Theatre Festival, which was staged for the very first time last September in response to an ongoing need for live entertainment during Covid-19. The outdoor festival at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church in Liverpool city centre was created by Liverpool theatre producer Bill Elms, who stepped in to bring entertainment back to audiences after theatres across the country were ordered to close their doors as part of the first Coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.  The festival was so well received last Autumn, that Bill was determined to take the event to the next level by introducing an open call for artis...
The Cher Show to tour UK & Ireland
NEWS

The Cher Show to tour UK & Ireland

A brand new production of The Cher Show will open next year, with book by Tony and Olivier Award-winning Rick Elice (Jersey Boys, The Addams Family, Peter and the Starcatcher), direction by Arlene Phillips (Saturday Night Fever, Starlight Express, Grease), choreography by Oti Mabuse (two-time Strictly Come Dancing champion) and costume design by Gabriella Slade (Six, In The Heights, Spice World 2019 Tour).  The tour will open at Leicester’s Curve on 15th April 2022 and will continue through to 1st April 2023. Arlene Phillips said of directing The Cher Show, “I have been a fan of Cher since I first heard I Got You Babe in the mid-sixties and cannot wait to direct her musical. I love stories about strong inspirational legends like Cher and I am proud to be joined in the creative team...
Rising star will take West End by storm as cast announced for world premiere of Lady Chatterley’s Lover at Shaftesbury Theatre
NEWS

Rising star will take West End by storm as cast announced for world premiere of Lady Chatterley’s Lover at Shaftesbury Theatre

Lady Chatterley’s Lover will be brought to life by a cast of experienced talent with new up-and-coming star Georgia Lennon (One Enchanted Evening, Glastonbury Abbey; Beauty and the Beast, Grand Opera House, Belfast) playing the role of Lady Chatterley. Lennon’s voice is not to be missed and this is the chance to catch her in the West End for a strictly limited run before she goes onto be a regular West End leading lady! Alongside her, the aloof and wonderfully sarcastic gamekeeper Mellors will be brought to life by Michael Pickering (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, London Palladium; Starlight Express, Germany). Lennon and Pickering will be joined by Zoe Rogers (42nd Street, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) as Hilda, Jake Halsey-Jones (Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre) as Tommy,...
Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley to star in Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club
NEWS

Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley to star in Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club

The Kit Kat Club in London’s West End will open its doors this November 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’. Inside the Kit Kat Club, life is beautiful. The famous setting of Kander & Ebb and Masteroff’s musical is brought to life with a capacity of just 550, to host a unique production of Cabaret, the likes of which audiences will have never experienced before. Director Rebecca Frecknall said today “It’s such a privilege to have the opportunity to direct Cabaret, a show that has always been dear to my heart. It’s thrilling to be able to approach this classic and important musical at a time when its them...
Herding Cats – Soho Theatre
London

Herding Cats – Soho Theatre

As I was not able to make the live performance, this review was conducted virtually.  Even though I was not in attendance at Soho Theatre, it was thrilling to hear the buzz of the audience as they found their seats, with a feeling that live theatre is once again possible.  To enhance this experience, Soho Theatre have used new technology to deliver the first of its kind, a transatlantic theatre experience with two actors performing live on Soho Theatre’s stage, while a US based actor performs live in a studio in LA.   To prepare us for this modern age experience, the staging has a backdrop of a large screen which will be used to beam actor Greg Germann (Saddo), virtually onto the stage.  The play begins with Justine (Sophie Melville) unpacking her shopping, onto...
Decades: Stories From The City 1990s/2010s/2020s – Leeds Playhouse
Yorkshire & Humber

Decades: Stories From The City 1990s/2010s/2020s – Leeds Playhouse

There is always a hum in any theatre before the lights go down, but tonight as creatives and an audience make that unique communion after months apart it feels like the air of expectation is off the scale as we uncomfortably sit in our masks. Typically, the Playhouse have not made it easy for themselves by offering returning theatre lovers six monologues that attempt to meld events from the seventies right through to lockdown with a potted social history of Leeds For me monologues are biggest of all challenge for the writers, performers and this audience who are just relived to be sat in a dark space at last.  It is like stand up with a script as there is no place to go if goes wrong, no-one to bounce off and if the writing is even marginally off it can be torture for all concer...
More shows announced as Everyman & Playhouse prepare for reopening
NEWS

More shows announced as Everyman & Playhouse prepare for reopening

An exciting new co-production, massive visiting shows, comedians and one night shows form part of the Liverpool Playhouse’s 2021-22 season, as the theatre returns to a busy schedule of live performance. Marking a return to collaborating with some of the UK’s best theatre-makers, Everyman & Playhouse will work with Leicester Curve and English Touring Theatre to present a co-production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (22 Sept – 2 Oct) at the Playhouse. A new revival of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, the production is directed by Anthony Almeida and is a blazing portrayal of what it takes to survive in a society where we’re all desperate to feel free. Kickass-pirational new musical Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (8 Dec – 2 Jan) puts women centre st...