Cheadle Players Archives - North West End UK

28Nov

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

God of Carnage – Cheadle Players

Written by Yasmina Reza, ‘God of Carnage’, a play that was originally written in French and translated by Christopher Hampton, graces the stage of the Players Theatre in Cheadle Hulme this week. Directed by Bruce Taylor, this was certainly an interesting performance choice from an amateur theatre company. Having been lucky enough to see Reza’s play ‘Art’ in London's West End in the late 1990’s it was exciting to see another of her plays. ‘God of Carnage’ was certainly a challenge to an amateur theatre company. Proud owner of a Tony Award in 2009, the story is set in a New York apartment. It relays the story of two couples, ‘Veronica’ (Sarah Howsam), and ‘Michael’ (Matthew Powell). The second couple, ‘Annette’ (Alexandra Severn) and ‘Alan’ (Christopher Billington) are invited to discuss ...

Private Lives – Cheadle Players

Amanda and Elyot have been divorced for five years. Now recently remarried… to other people… the play opens on the first night of their honeymoons as they discover that they have by chance booked adjacent rooms at the same hotel in the north of France. What follows is an excellent study into human nature, love and relationships, with a healthy dose of gender politics that still resonates now, despite having been written in 1930. It is very funny, which you would expect from writer Noel Coward. However, director David Burns has also managed to tease out moments of introspection, and almost vulnerability, which gave the exuberant characters a much greater depth of personality than I expected. The action was beautifully framed by the simple but elegant set, also designed by Burns, which...

Men are Dogs – Cheadle Players

Dr Cecelia Monahan is a New York relationship therapist with several relationship issues of her own. Her support group for divorced and single women provides the backdrop for much of the action in this 2003 play by Joe Simonelli, here being performed in the UK for the first time. The play provides an interesting – if slightly stereotyped – look at relationships of various types, and the ensemble cast perform it well. They get plenty of laughs, especially as the pace really picks up in Act 2. While I did find myself questioning – in 2022 – the need for a play that seems to emphasise that a woman’s happiness can only be found in a relationship, and specifically in a relationship with a man, I did enjoy the production. This has once again proven that the Cheadle Players Dramatic Society is...