Latest Articles - Page 7 of 688

9Jun

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Follies – Liverpool Playhouse

An amateur dramatics company putting on a Stephen Sondheim show should be enough to send shivers down your spine – but Birkenhead Operatic Society Trust (BOST) really gave it their all – and it paid off! Follies opened on Broadway in 1971 and was written by Sondheim, James Goldman and Hal Prince, inspired by the former Ziegfeld Follies. It centres around Sally Durant Plummer and her husband Buddy and her best friend from their time in the Follies, Phyllis Rogers Stone and her husband Ben. We are introduced to their present selves in 1971 and their 30-year younger selves, at the star of the 1940s. It is set at the Weissman Theatre on Broadway, on the eve of its demolition. We mainly follow Sally, Phyllis, Buddy and Ben and their younger selves, but we also get to meet some of the other p...

9Jun

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Are You Watching – Royal Court

A ten-foot pool of blood spilling across a white-tiled floor is the final image in Georgie Dettmer’s professional playwriting debut at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. In it, two teenage girls are playing: they are reimagining the end of Gisèle Pelicot’s story. In the girls’ fictionalised version of events, Pelicot gets her revenge by shooting and killing her husband. They find their catharsis and go to sleep covered in blood. Are You Watching? follows a number of stories in vignettes, all of which have to do with voyeurism in some form. The stories look at sexual violence in the age of the Internet and AI — sometimes digital in origin, always physical and bodily in effect. A son finds deepfake porn, made using his own childhood pictures, on his father’s iPad; a famous ac...

The Wizard of Oz – The East Cheshire Musical Theatre Company

4Jun

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

The Wizard of Oz – The East Cheshire Musical Theatre Company

This is a very well-known story from the 1939 film starring Judy Garland taking the part of Dorothy in the tale of a young girl from Kansas who is magically transported to the land of Oz and her adventures along the way and the various characters she meets. Based on the original book by Frank Baum, it has become a popular show for theatre productions for many years, and it is nice to see East Cheshire Theatre Company join the long list of groups who have put on this production. The storyline centres around young Dorothy who lives with her aunt and uncle on a farm in Kansas along with her dog Toto. During a severe tornado, Dorothy and Toto find themselves whisked up in the air, finally landing in what turns out to be the magical land of Oz, where they are greeted by Glinda, a good which,...

4Jun

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Waiting for Godot – Arches Lane Theatre

In a place where time seems to have lost meaning, where memory plays games with the mind, two men wait endlessly under a barren tree. They talk, they quarrel, they make up, they are bored, but they dare not leave. This week, a new production of Samuel Beckett’s most popular play takes to the stage. Directed by Leo Bacica, it has Rich Allen playing Vladimir and Steve Broad as Estragon. Together, the men wait for the mysterious, unseen Godot. Between uncomfortable boots, pockets full of turnip, and kidney trouble, the two men kill their time talking about the mundane and the spiritual, the philosophical and the nostalgic. The monotony of their wait is broken by the rather disruptive entrance of Pozzo and his servant Lucky. Lucky has a rope tied around him, which is controlled by...

4Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Barnum – Hull New Theatre

Never was a standing ovation so well deserved as that given to the cast of Barnum, The Circus Musical after they thrilled a full-ish Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening. For over two hours we were entertained with sensational singing, dancing, acrobatics, magic tricks, music from multi-talented musicians - and Jumbo, the elephant circus owner Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) once advertised as “the largest in the world” in order to draw in the crowds. It was later discovered he had enhanced Jumbo’s skeleton after the animal had died, by packing it with blocks of wood and positioning its tusks to make it look extra massive. However, the huge elephant puppet on stage on the night was one of the best I have seen in any show, so hats off to its designers, Mervyn Millar and Tracy Wall...

2Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

2:22 A Ghost Story – Sheffield Lyceum

A ghostly entertaining, slick mind game of a production! With a sense of apprehension - due to a very active imagination - I convinced myself to review 2:22 A ghost Story on its opening night at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, and I survived the evening stunned but unscathed! Written by Danny Robins, the seven seasoned West End phenomenon which premiered in 2021 and went on to tour the UK and Ireland, has been seen in over thirty worldwide productions. I have to immediately note, that it is the writing by Robins that highly impressed me. The theatrical thriller is the near perfect exploration of doubt, belief and theories surrounding the controversial topic of Ghosts. It allows you to question your beliefs, your scepticism and learn some new theories to explain away the spirit world. All ...

The Good Life – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

2Jun

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

The Good Life – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The Altrincham Garrick Playhouse continues its impressive season with a feel good production of The Good Life this week, bringing Jeremy Sams’ wonderfully adapted stage version of the beloved television classic to life with warmth, charm and plenty of laughter. Set in suburban Surbiton, The Good Life follows Tom and Barbara Good as they abandon the rat race in favour of a self-sufficient lifestyle, much to the bewilderment of their next-door neighbours, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter. What follows is a hilarious clash of lifestyles, personalities and ambitions, packed with the gentle British humour that made the original series such a success. Directed by Garrick regular; Daniel Ellis, this production captures the heart and spirit of the much-loved sitcom. Jeremy Sams’ adaptation retains...

Dark of the Moon – Charing Cross Theatre

2Jun

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Dark of the Moon – Charing Cross Theatre

This new musical version by Lindy Robbins, Dave Bassett and Steve Robson is the latest in a long series of versions of this piece. It was first performed as a play in 1942 and a substantially revised version transferred to Broadway in 1945. It was produced in London at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1948 and the Ambassadors Theatre in 1949. The story has not been updated. It is effectively a fairytale about a rural Appalachian community who live in close proximity to a coven of witches in the nearby Smoky Mountains. One of the witches, John (Witch Boy), is enamoured with one of the human girls, Barbara Allen, and seeks to develop a relationship with her, to the dismay of both communities. Its theme is the clash between cultures with the boy/ girl relationsh...

The Marriage of Figaro – Festival Theatre

2Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Marriage of Figaro – Festival Theatre

There is a reason why Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro remains one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. More than two centuries after its premiere, this tale of lust, deception, privilege and revenge still has the power to delight audiences. The comedy remains sharp, the characters remain recognisable, and Mozart's music continues to provide one glorious melody after another. Scottish Opera's revival of Sir Thomas Allen's production arrives in Edinburgh following its run in Glasgow, conducted by Dane Lam and directed by Allen himself. It is a handsome, traditional staging that places its faith in the strength of Mozart's score and Lorenzo Da Ponte's story rather than attempting to reinvent either. The central plot remains as entertaining as ever. Figaro and Susanna ar...

The Taming of the Shrew – Traquair House

2Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Taming of the Shrew – Traquair House

All the world's a stage, wrote Shakespeare, and nowhere does that feel truer than at Traquair. On a glorious Borders evening, with peacocks calling in the distance, goats grazing unconcernedly nearby, live musicians leading the audience from scene to scene, and performers appearing from every corner of Scotland's oldest inhabited house, Shakespeare's comedy becomes something far more than a play. It becomes an event. Director Kath Mansfield's production of The Taming of the Shrew is playful, joyful and bursting with life. Every corner of the estate is pressed into service, from formal gardens and winding pathways to the magnificent terraces in front of the house. Traquair itself becomes a cast member, its ancient walls, mature trees and carefully cultivated landscape providing a backdro...