Latest Articles - Page 590 of 686

20Jul

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Friend by Brendan Murphy

Even though it ended in 2004, Friends is one of those sitcoms that has captured the heart of a generation. Fun fact - Gunther (the owner of Central Perk) is the character that appeared in most episodes, outside the six main cast members. Performed by Brendan Murphy, Friend is a whistle stop tour of all 10 seasons of Friends through the eyes of Gunther. Murphy puts a whole new spin on the iconic character, and what could have been if Rachel chose Gunther instead of Ross. Impressively Murphy manages to take the audience from episode 1 where Rachel Green enters Central Perk after jilting her groom at the altar, right through to the final episode where Rachel gets off the plane. Murphy adds in a bit of audience participation and a couple of songs to mix up the delivery. My persona...

20Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Chatroom – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

What would you imagine to be on the agenda for teenagers chatting online? Rating current romantic crushes? How mean mum and dad are for not letting them out past 10? Whether the fat German kid would be more likely to win Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory over Charlie Bucket might not feature on your list, but it is the first vignette of conversation we’re presented with as we join our six teen stars of Enda Walsh’s one-act play Chatroom. Described as a chilling, blackly comic tale, Chatroom looks at themes of online manipulation, cyberbullying and teenage depression, as relatively innocent conversations dissecting children’s literature and pop music are punctured by the arrival of Jim, a young man struggling with suicidal thoughts. This show marks the first production by the Garric...

Leeds Playhouse announce Autumn/Winter season

18Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse announce Autumn/Winter season

Leeds Playhouse have announced their Autumn-Winter season including Wendy & Peter Pan as their blockbuster festive show. Families will be taken on an unforgettable trip to Neverland from 18th November to 22nd January as the cast fly around Ella Hickon’s adaptation of the J M Barrie classic retelling the story from the unique viewpoint of Wendy Darling. This year’s Leeds West Indian Carnival has been cancelled because of the pandemic, but the King & Queen event is still taking place on 27th August, and for the first time the Prince & Princess is staged a week before. Both shows will be a celebration of emancipation set to sweet sounds of the socabeats and steelpans as the carnival chronicles its 54-year history. Freedom Project from 10th – 18th September melds lived exp...

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...