Eithne Browne Archives - North West End UK

6Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Work It Out – HOME Mcr

“Five, six, seven, eight - step right, swimming motion, move like Jagger, turn and again!” Exercise is good for us. We all know that. It is beneficial not just because it helps to shed a few pounds, it also gives a much-needed boost to our mental health. Progress over perfection is the key to success. Writer Eve Steele has produced a play so full of heart you can hear it pounding like the ticker of an unfit beginner at their first exercise class. This finely judged play is polemical when it needs to be, veers on the right side of sentimentality and brings together a wonderfully disparate group of characters. Together they become their own little mini community. They all have their problems including drug addiction, alcoholism, hoarding and overeating. Damaged and defeated they com...

17May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Maggie May – Leeds Playhouse

There’s nearly a million people and their families in this country living with one of the 200 variants of dementia who have been mostly ignored by theatre makers. There would an outcry if a similarly sized group of people were being marginalised in that way, but Frances Poet’s bittersweet work tracing one woman’s dementia journey goes someway to addressing that in an unflinching, yet hopeful, new work that never sugar-coats what is happening to Maggie, but not for one second loses sight of her as a person. Maggie has been married to Gordon for over forty years and they have always retained their love of cheesy singalongs to their favourite hit songs that have been curtailed by his recent stroke, but as this feisty woman nurses him back to health, she is trying to hide something big f...

Maggie May change minds at Leeds Playhouse

28Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Maggie May change minds at Leeds Playhouse

In the UK there are nearly a million people living with dementia, and Leeds Playhouse’s new play Maggie May follows an ordinary woman’s journey through Alzheimer’s Disease. Like so many Maggie is devastated by her diagnosis trying to hide it from loved ones who offer support as she finds a way to live a fulfilling and rewarding life on her own terms. Given the sensitivities of the subject matter that impacts on so many families award-winning writer Frances Poet has worked really closely with people living with dementia to give Maggie an authentic voice as she makes sense of her new world. Our Yorkshire Editor Paul Clarke found out more from Brookside legend Eithne Browne about the challenges and joy of playing Maggie. Tell me a little bit about Maggie? She ran the school kit...

The Royal Court Selection Box – Royal Court, Liverpool

18Dec

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

The Royal Court Selection Box – Royal Court, Liverpool

Last night i was in a magical theatre known as The Royal Court Theatre Liverpool. If you haven’t been to the Royal Court, then well where have you been? It’s a must thing to do in Liverpool. Supporting local Liverpool writers, directors and actors the whole 9 yards while indulging in a theatre style dining during experience whilst the show that’s being performed for you. Understandably there’s been a lack of anything this year especially theatre, so it was nice to be in a room where magic is happening. The show started with a montage of news clips, empty streets and old Royal Court show memories. It was a sad yet lovely way to begin the show. From then on it was non - stop laughter and entertainment. The cast walked on portraying their new day jobs ranging from Uber Eats to B&Q. The...