Thursday, December 19

Tag: Andrzej Goulding

& Juliet – Opera House, Blackpool
North West

& Juliet – Opera House, Blackpool

Ever wondered what might’ve happened if Juliet hadn’t died? Well, there’s life after Romeo! With a hilarious script from David West Read (Schitt’s Creek), the story offers Juliet a new beginning, and a second chance at love, as it explores what might’ve happened if she hadn’t ended it all over Romeo. Intertwined with pop hits by song-writing juggernaut, Max Martin, & Juliet feels fresh, fearless and an awful lot of fun. The opening number, ‘Larger than Life’, set the tone for the evening. Everything about this show, indeed, felt larger than life! The set design from Soutra Gilmour was epic, using a very clever blend of moving furniture and projections to bring the stage to life. Video designs and animations, from Andrzej Goulding, were similarly superb. Paloma Young’s costume design...
Life of Pi – Festival Theatre
Scotland

Life of Pi – Festival Theatre

Life of Pi at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre is a treat for the senses. Based on Yann Martel's novel of the same name,  the action commences in a bleak, bare hospital ward where Pi (Sonya Venugopal) is hiding under the bed. The clever use of projection (Andrzej Goulding) and sound effects (Carolyn Downing) indicate time and place. It is set pre-computerisation, so letters appear on the wall as if from a typewriter with suitable tap, tap, tap reverberations. As soon as recollections flood the stage, this grey, sterile room transforms seamlessly into a verdant, noisy zoo in India; a colourful Bazaar; and a ship’s deck without effort - as if by magic. Before you know it, the transformation has happened: we are adrift upon an ocean with no land in sight and several dangerous animals for compa...
People Places & Things – Trafalgar Theatre
London

People Places & Things – Trafalgar Theatre

I’d heard the premise before going to see this. I knew it was about an actress with an addiction problem going to rehab, to get the paper that lets her get back to work. Yet it was much more than this - an intensive journey, from the excruciating detox to all the mental anguish, conceptualisation, denial, and the hopeful, desperate, desire to get better. It was a truly cathartic watch. Denise Gough’s characterisation was phenomenal, we saw all the nooks and crannies of this complex woman. Her visceral performance brought Emma’s story to life, and made the meta moments, the reminders that we are watching actors, even more trippy because her character was so embodied and real. There was a moment in the first scene where the back of the stage is ripped away, and throughout the drama, this ...
The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical – Apollo Theatre
London

The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical – Apollo Theatre

Based on the internationally best-selling novel, the romantically unconventional story, The Time Traveller’s Wife, opens as a new musical on the West End stage this Autumn. The story follows the life of Clare (Joanna Woodward), a talented artist and sculptor, who meets a remarkable man, Henry (David Hunter), who happens to travel through time, when she is a just a girl. Henry’s extraordinary genetic disorder allows him to pop up through the course of Clare’s life and eventually they fall in love, defying the unavoidable complications that a relationship involving time travel can bring. From the moment the show opens with a bang and strobe lighting, it is clear that the turning set and effects will be a big factor in portraying the magic of this story. Immediately the screen in front of ...
The Da Vinci Code – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

The Da Vinci Code – Sheffield Lyceum

The controversial 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has been adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel for its premier UK tour. Can we solve the greatest secret of last 2000 years? Well, it certainly helps if you are familiar with the book like 100,000,000 worldwide readers are or even the subsequent film starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon and Ian McKellan as Sir Leigh Teabing. Exquisitely directed by Luke Sheppard, the story is a complex and a heavily narrative one as it takes us on a pulse racing dash through Europe and the British Isles before leaving us firmly and more wisely at the Louvre in Paris, questioning the probability of a lifetime of deceit. The story starts with American Professor Robert Langdon delivering a lecture in Paris, he receiv...