Amy Leach Archives - North West End UK

9Mar

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Macbeth – Leeds Playhouse

Mesmerising! This show had my full attention from start to finish, the sinister atmosphere took full control over the full theatre and it’s fair to say the performance was a triumph to the Shakespeare play. Director Amy Leach has taken this traditional tale and put a modern twist on it, the set design was extremely fascinating and a creative tactic for refreshing a well-known story. With real mud and puddles spread across the floor of the stage, beams in positions like trees and the wooden floor that raised to create different dimensions, the audience had no choice but to be immersed within the action. For a small cast the energy was at a high, the first battle was extremely upbeat and the decision to endure the war with a modern tune in the background was really enticing and fresh. ...

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

22Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth as Leeds Playhouse bring back their acclaimed take on the Bard’s portrayal of a flawed man who will do whatever it takes to gain power and ultimately the throne. Hunter played Alexander Hamilton in the hit West End musical in 2018/19 before going on to star as Heathcliff in Emma Rice’s acclaimed production of Wuthering Heights at the National Theatre. His TV credits include Netflix mega hit Bridgerton, Alma’s Not Normal, Grace, The Trial of Christine Keeler and Death in Paradise. Jessica Baglow returns as Lady Macbeth who she played when the production was first staged at the Playhouse in 2022. She has worked extensively in theatre, film and TV since childhood, appearing as a series regular in both ITV’s Where The Heart Is and the BBC’s W...

Amy Leach talks about a new version of Lord of the Flies at Leeds Playhouse

12Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Amy Leach talks about a new version of Lord of the Flies at Leeds Playhouse

In the 70 years since the publication of Lords of the Flies it’s been a staple on the national curriculum as young readers have been entranced by schoolchildren going feral on a desert island. Leeds Playhouse's Deputy Artistic Director Amy Leach is directing a new version of William Goldman’s classic study of human nature as Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Simon and Roger battle to survive, or just stay alive. “We often think about Lord of the Flies as a reaction to the Second World War, but when I came back to the story as an adult, I realised it’s actually set against a background of nuclear war – a war of the future,” says Amy Leach. “It felt important to embrace that by setting it now, to find a new and interesting way to restage a classic story and make it connect with audiences in 2023....

9Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Macbeth – Leeds Playhouse

As the three witches circulate around the massive drawbridge that dominates the stark stage it's clear that Amy Leach’s latest attempt to make Shakespeare accessible will focus on the intrigue, blood and ultimately madness in arguably his most dynamic drama. Power couple the Macbeths are introduced as they mourn their dead child before the ambitious warrior muscularly played by Tachia Newall meets the witches who inform him he’s to be the King of Scotland despite the weak Duncan still being on the throne. Egged on by his wife, the brave general becomes the cowardly assassin as he takes the throne before turning on everyone around him as his hubris brings about his downfall. There is a subtle subtext of dynasty and lineage as Lady Macbeth loses another child, which helps explain he...

17Jan

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Cast announced for Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

Something wickedly good is coming to Leeds Playhouse as Macbeth makes its way to the Quarry stage with a diverse cast. Director Amy Leach’s teams up once again with Designer Hayley Grindle’s to offer a raw and visceral vision of Shakespeare’s thrilling tragedy as ambitious northern warrior Macbeth does whatever it takes to gain the throne. Tachia Newall, already well-known to Playhouse audiences from his standout role as Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet in 2017 and from appearances in Waterloo Road, Coronation Street and the recent hit movie Dune, is Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is played by Doncaster actor Jessica Baglow, who fans of the TV hit Gentleman Jack will recognise as lady’s maid Rachel Hemingway. The rest of the 11-strong cast include Adam Bassett, who was Asso...

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

21May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

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...

Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse

13May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Amanda Huxtable talks about directing Decades which reopens Leeds Playhouse

Leeds Playhouse kick off their 50th anniversary celebrations and reopen the doors with six short monologues written by a mix of new and experienced writers. Decades: Stories From The City takes a particular decade from across the Playhouse’s lifespan covering the 1970s to the 2020s, tracing how their home city has changed over that time. As this is their first set of shows after lockdown the Playhouse have also recruited a strong cast of directors, including Leeds Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining who is joined in the rehearsal spaces by Associate Director Amy Leach and RTYDS Resident Assistant Director Sameena Hussain, Evie Manning of Common Wealth Theatre and Theatre State’s Tess Seddon. The hugely experienced Amanda Huxtable directs Leanna Benjamin’s The Unknown...

Leeds Playhouse announce free theatre space offer for local creatives

25Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse announce free theatre space offer for local creatives

Leeds Playhouse today has announced the use of free theatre space and guaranteed technical support for local artists in their intimate Bramall Rock Void space. The free use of the recently refurbed theatre is being offered as part of Playhouse Connect which their ongoing response to the pandemic supporting reconnection and recovery within the City. “The Playhouse is a community resource used by many different people throughout the year,” says Artistic Director James Brining. “We’re very conscious that throughout the pandemic, despite the brilliant work we have undertaken engaging with vulnerable and isolated people through our Playhouse Connect programme, apart from 5 weeks in the autumn, the building itself has been under used. “I’m delighted that we have put the safety protoc...

A Christmas Carol – Leeds Playhouse At Home

22Dec

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Christmas Carol – Leeds Playhouse At Home

The Playhouse’s annual festive spectacular was just one of hundreds of productions forced to switch online just before curtain was about to go up and as good as this recorded version is it will always lack the yuletide magic of gathering in a shared space. This is a reworking of a production that began at Hull Truck Theatre, going on to be a big hit last year when the theatre’s ensemble brought it to life in the pop-up theatre used when the Playhouse was refurbed. The Playhouse’s associate director Amy Leach cleverly invokes the legend that every theatre has a ghost, but she deploys a team of them as they emerge from their offstage pods. They have gathered round the traditional ghost light that burns when a theatre is dark, and once they discover a puppet of Tiny Tim they decide to d...

Leeds Playhouse launch digital performances of A Christmas Carol

18Dec

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds Playhouse launch digital performances of A Christmas Carol

As West Yorkshire stays under Tier 3 restrictions the team at Leeds Playhouse have been forced to offer A Christmas Carol as a digital screening. They’re now unable to welcome people into its Quarry Theatre to enjoy their annual festive spectacular, so they’ve teamed up with Yorkshire based company Pilot Theatre to film the production, which they were already planning to show for free in care homes, schools and hospitals across Leeds. Now tickets priced from £10 for the first Playhouse At Home event are also being made available to the general public for five special online performances from 21st – 23rd December, giving audiences wherever they are a chance to safely see this adaptation of the Dickens classic by Deborah McAndrew. “Our vivid retelling of one of the best-loved stori...