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Red Ladder are back with My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored

19Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Red Ladder are back with My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored

Radical theatre company Red Ladder are back with a new touring production My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored. It’s the debut work by 29-year-old Ghanian-English writer Nana-Kofi Kufuor interrogating black identity and posing a big question for our troubled times: if you see something you do not agree with, do you intervene? What happens if you’re a teacher, and the issue is with your student? What happens if you're outside of work, and see them stopped and searched and manhandled by the police? Do you run over and stop the act, or do you watch, and wait to find out all the facts? That’s the dilemma for Gillian Akwasi, a black twenty-something teacher who watches while her student, Reece Ofori, is roughly accosted by the police. The next day, he confronts her before locking them...

Tonight at the Coliseum: Rob Fowler & Sharon Sexton

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Tonight at the Coliseum: Rob Fowler & Sharon Sexton

Tonight is the penultimate concert in the live recording series ‘Tonight at the Coliseum’, produced by Take Two Theatricals in conjunction with Carter Dixon Productions and stream.theatre. This week is the turn of Rob Fowler and Sharon Sexton, who met when they were performing together in Bat out of Hell – The Musical. Tonight they shared some tracks from their debut album of duets, Vision of You, as well as singing some of their favourite songs. From the opening moments of Shallow from the film A Star is Born, Fowler and Sexton took us on a joyful and diverse musical journey, brilliantly arranged by Musical Director Steve Corley, who also played the piano during the concert. Supported by Mark Cox on Guitar and Nerys Richards on Cello, the pair sang solo numbers from shows that they hav...

Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home – Royal Festival Hall

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home – Royal Festival Hall

Filmed in London at The Royal Festival Hall in 2012, ‘Alfie Boe: Bring Him Home’ was not surprisingly a sell-out. Streamed as part of ‘The Shows Must Go On’ series, this is a performance not to be missed. Alfie Boe may be one very talented tenor, but this performance also showcases not only his powerhouse of a voice but also his charismatic stage presence. His personality is warm and engaging with the audience. With lots of audience ‘banter’, especially with a certain Matt Lucas in particular, he was instantly likeable and also displayed a very witty sense of humour throughout. He performed several duets with special guests including Matt Lucas, Mel C and Tom Fletcher from McFly. His performance of ‘The Impossible Dream,’ with Matt Lucas was impressive and was also interjected ...

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Imaginarium – Dazed New World Festival

This imaginatively named theatre is part of the Dazed New World Festival, put together by Applecarts Arts, based in East London. The festival will explore other themes of social injustice and mental health. A festival that aims to explore some of the more difficult conversations we’re having with narratives that challenge you to think out of the box and try to make sense of the current climate which is giving live theatre some of the biggest difficulties it ever has. It’s live streamed on Vimeo, and apart from a series of instructions received preshow there’s no indication of what to expect from tonight’s performance. Although it does say your bedroom will be transformed into a new playground which sounds very enticing. The creatives behind Imaginarium are Out of the Blue Thea...

A Christmas Carol announced at the Liverpool Playhouse this winter

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

A Christmas Carol announced at the Liverpool Playhouse this winter

Christmas is coming…and the Liverpool Playhouse is set to stage a festive treat for Liverpool audiences this winter, with an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ festive classic A Christmas Carol from 4th – 24th December. A small cast of actors will perform in Patrick Barlow’s (The 39 Steps) witty and joyous adaptation of the 19th century story, directed by Gemma Bodinetz in her final production as Artistic Director of the theatres. Featuring carols and songs, the production is a warm, witty and inventive gift for Liverpool audiences. Making the short trip down from the Everyman, Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto favourite Adam Keast swaps his flares for a nightcap and the Everyman stage for the Playhouse stage, to play Ebenezer Scrooge. Adam will perform alongside other local actors, maintaining social...

Tamsin Greig joins the stars performing Talking Heads in Yorkshire

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Tamsin Greig joins the stars performing Talking Heads in Yorkshire

Tamsin Greig is the latest big name to perform one of Alan Bennett’s classic Talking Heads monologues in Leeds and Sheffield. Tamsin will perform the dark Nights in the Gardens of Spain, directed by Marianne Elliott, joining Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake who also be performing their monologies at Leeds Playhouse and Sheffield Crucible. “I’m thrilled to be invited to perform Alan Bennett’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain at Sheffield Crucible and Leeds Playhouse after a very happy run at the Bridge Theatre,” says Tamsin Greig. Photographer: Zac Nicholson “It’s wonderful to be able to support and enjoy regional theatres especially during these extraordinary times for live performance venues. And how fantastic to perform these Bennett words in their region of origin.” In line...

Slung Low launches scheme to give every kid in their area a free book

18Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Slung Low launches scheme to give every kid in their area a free book

Theatre innovators Slung Low run a members club/performance space in the Leeds area of Holbeck and have launched a scheme to give every local child in Holbeck a free book. The company is renowned for both its theatre work and the work it does with its local community in South Leeds. During the pandemic they have been operating a food bank, co-ordinating a cultural community college, and managing the country’s oldest working men’s club. A part of their community work three of the Slung Low team spent a week at Holbeck’s Ingram Road Primary School reading their new book Emergency Story Penguin to the pupils ending the sessions by giving all 340 of them a copy. Emergency Story Penguin follows Lady Grace Thompson and her crew on an adventure around the secret underground tunnels t...

Leeds Playhouse is back with a new season and free ticket offer for NHS workers

17Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse is back with a new season and free ticket offer for NHS workers

Working with COVID-19 safety guidelines Leeds Playhouse have launched their Autumn/Winter season and are giving away 1000 free tickets to NHS workers for the revival of their critically acclaimed seasonal show A Christmas Carol. This time round playwright Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of the Dickens festive classic is upgraded to the flagship Quarry Theatre after recreating a warts and all Victorian England during their 2028 Pop-Up Season in 2018. Once again directed by Playhouse Associate Director Amy Leach it runs from 3rd December – 9th January and it will sell out. Another returning work is poet and playwright Zodwa Nyoni’s Nine Lives which debuted at the theatre in 2014. Presented by Leeds Studio this timely and intimate single hander combines humour and humanity in a deep...

17Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

The Fall – Dazed New World Festival

Coracle Arts’ The Fall, written and performed by Sarita Plowman under the direction of Alex Howarth, is a poetic and unique exploration about how we are shaped by tradition, particularly religion, and how this effects the place of women in the world. A simple set with one chair and a table represents the detailed, and often overwhelming, world that Plowman creates. The lyrical language of the piece is captivating from the beginning and emphasises Plowman’s switches between herself in adulthood and her childhood memories, which are emphasised beautifully by a change of voice and body language. Sound effects such as loud, but incomprehensible conversations, are also used to recreate the sense of being a child in an adult’s world, something which everyone is familiar with. Plowman’s...

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

14Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Les Contes d’Hoffmann – Royal Opera House (2016 Revival Production)

Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann is the most enduring ‘serious’ opera from a composer better known for his operettas and this 2016 revival of legendary film director John Schlesinger’s sumptuous 1980 production provides the perfect vehicle in which Offenbach’s story – in turn witty, erotic, and macabre – and highly melodious music come together to form a deeply and satisfying whole. Set in the 19th C, the great storyteller Hoffmann (Vittorio Grigòlo) is losing himself to drink. His rival in love, Councillor Lindorf (Thomas Hampson), claims that Hoffmann knows nothing of the heart, and so goads Hoffmann into telling the tales of his three great loves – each destroyed by a villain who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lindorf… First Hoffmann tells of his infatuation for the mechanic...