Epstein Theatre Archives - North West End UK

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Epstein Theatre

15Jun

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Epstein Theatre

There’s a bittersweet note to tonight’s performance, in the beautiful surroundings of the Epstein, knowing that the theatre will shortly be shuttering its doors permanently having failed to secure vital funding. Indeed, Bentley Operatic Society has performed here for around 100 years and, like our titular character, are therefore about to find themselves in temporary exile whilst they find a new home. Based on tonight’s performance of Joseph though, any theatre will be lucky to have them. The society have recently moved away from their previous offerings of Gilbert & Sullivan and other operettas to include mainstream musical theatre shows, and in Joseph they have found a one that plays perfectly to their strengths. Despite its exotic ancient Egyptian setting, Joseph – based on th...

14Feb

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Rita Sue and Bob Too! – Epstein Theatre

This comedy-drama production is based on the British film, ‘Rita, Sue and Bob Too’ which burst onto screens in 1987, adapted by Andrea Dunbar based on two of her stage plays, ‘Rita, Sue and Bob Too’ (1982) and ‘The Arbour’ (1980); the play was first performed with the strapline, ‘Thatcher’s Britain with her knickers down’. Set in Bradford, it tells the story of two teenage schoolgirls, Rita and Sue, who embark on a sexual threesome with a married man; the girls, both from working-class backgrounds, live on a deprived council estate and are finishing their final year at school. To earn money, they babysit for married couple Bob and his wife, Michelle who live in a modern house on an executive development on the wealthy side of town. Without his wife knowing, Bob enjoys sex wi...

<strong>Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Epstein Theatre</strong>

14Dec

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Epstein Theatre

I think I’m in love with a pantomime villain. We’ll come to the snake-hipped Von Vippemall in a moment. Firstly, an acknowledgement that in an absolute ocean of Pantos, it can be very difficult to stand out from the crowd. But Regal Entertainment’s offering, directed by Chantelle Nolan, has not so much raised the bar as smashed it into orbit with the perfect blend of music, slapstick and a few fantastic circus acts to literally put a new spin on a well-known fairytale. The familiar plot of Goldilocks gets dispensed with in about two minutes flat so that we can focus on a far more interesting tale – Goldilocks (played by the charmingly bubbly Olivia Sloyan) is now a circus entrepreneur with her mother, Dame Gertie (Britain’s Got Talent favourite, Mama G, from Dame Nation) with the thr...

<strong>The Haunting of Blaine Manor – Epstein Theatre</strong>

5Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Haunting of Blaine Manor – Epstein Theatre

Halloween may have passed, with thoughts turning towards mince pies and Maria Carey, but our ensemble tonight is not quite ready for us to completely escape all things that go bump in the night. Written and directed by award-winning writer Joe O’Byrne, ‘…Blaine Manor’ takes us back to the 1950s, introducing us to renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, (Peter Slater) famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums. He has been invited to a séance at the most haunted building in England, but it soon becomes clear that there are more demons lurking than just the ones that Blaine Manor claims to house. As a storm sets in, secrets and lies are ripe for revealing, as well as the manor’s more unearthly inhabitants. The Epstein is an excellent choice for tonight’...

6Oct

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Epstein Theatre

Now I’ve never been a person to like Shakespeare or even understand it but the beauty about this job is my mind is open to all theatre. So, I went to watch Macbeth (otherwise known as the Scottish play) at Liverpool’s Epstein theatre. It was a Daniel Taylor productions piece directed by Daniel Taylor himself. With local Liverpool actors and actress’s making up the cast. In case you are not familiar with the story. Macbeth (Tomas Loftus) comes in to contact with 3 witches/weird sisters (Gillian Hardie, Kaitlin Howard and Helen Jeffery) who tells Macbeth that he is to be King. When his wife Lady Macbeth (Tracy Spencer) hears of this tale she encourages Macbeth to kill the current King Duncan so that the tale becomes a reality. Which almost gave the impression that lady Macbeth is the v...

Epstein Premiere For New Staged Production Of Masquerade

28Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Epstein Premiere For New Staged Production Of Masquerade

A brand new production of Masquerade – a play telling a powerful and emotional tale set in an iconic Liverpool gay club in the 1980s – is coming to the city’s Epstein Theatre this Autumn. Masquerade is a poignant tale of love and loss among Liverpool’s LGBT+ community. Following a successful run at the Royal Court Studio in 2019, the acclaimed play written by Laura Lees is back in a new electrifying and reimagined staging, with Liverpool’s queer history at its heart. The creative team has been announced, the full cast will be revealed shortly. Masquerade will run at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool from Tuesday 22nd November to Saturday 26th November 2022 for just eight performances. Tickets are priced from £20 and are on sale now. Masquerade is produced by Bill Elms (So...

The Show Must Go On For Something About George After Cast Injury

17Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

The Show Must Go On For Something About George After Cast Injury

In true show style and gusto, the show must go on for brand new show Something About George in Liverpool this weekend after its lead cast member sustained a serious injury. Something About George – The George Harrison Story comes to Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre (names after Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein) for two nights this weekend to coincide with Father’s Day, playing the city centre venue this Saturday and Sunday (18th and 19th June). However, lead cast member Daniel Taylor – who plays guitar throughout the show – has this week broken his shoulder when he fell while jogging. But in true showbiz style and after much deliberation, the show must go on with producers of the show bringing in musician Jonny Darnell on acoustic guitar to perform alongside a determined Daniel, t...

Bow & Arrow: The Ghost of Sherwood – Epstein Theatre

30May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Bow & Arrow: The Ghost of Sherwood – Epstein Theatre

There’s a saying in elite army regiments: big boys’ games, big boys’ rules, and tonight City Theatre stepped up to the big stage but sadly, despite passion and well-meaning, it didn’t come off. Set in the days of Robin Hood (Shaun Herr) and Maid Marian (Alex Rochford), we were almost halfway in before the plot was revealed with ghost hunters Bow (Rebekah Jayne Moreland) and Arrow (Johnny Sedgwick-Davies) having not paid their taxes to caretaker Sheriff Maxwell (Graham Lyne) who is supported by some oddball characters in Gob (Louis Cashin-Harris), Miss Thorn (Anna Chan), and Ursula (Dee Patricia). So far so bad but lining up for the goodies are King Lincoln (Leo Hewitson) and his niece Princess Elle (Lydia Pearl), yet still questions remain unanswered: will Friar Tuck (Sean Campbell) be ...

Jack and the Beanstalk – Epstein Theatre

18Apr

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Jack and the Beanstalk – Epstein Theatre

I was invited to watch the Easter pantomime at the Epstein Theatre last night, from the get-go it was full of energy, participation and pyrotechnics. Jack (Timothy Lucas) really fancied this girl called Jill (Maddie Hope Coelho) and wanted to ask her out. Jill invites Jack to her party but sadly he had school. However, she agrees to go to his school as long as he came to the party. All was not right in the land, as the Flesh Creep (Abigail Middleton) was tasked by the giant to capture the princess and something to eat. So, with this in mind she comes up with a dastardly plan to buy Jack’s old milk Cow Doddy. So that Jack could have the money to keep the farm his mum Dame Trott (Mark Two) and his brother Simple Simon (Lewis Devine) owns. Want to know more then you’ll have to see it, no spoi...

5Mar

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Orton: Fallen Angel – Epstein Theatre

A bill finally decriminalising homosexuality in England and Wales received Royal Ascent in late July 1967. Less than three weeks later gay playwright Joe Orton was murdered by his partner Kenneth Halliwell. Within days the life of closeted Beatles manager Brian Epstein would also be tragically cut short. How apt then that a play exploring Orton’s horrific killing has found a home at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre. Wes Williams' Orton: Fallen Angel looks back at the life and death of the Leicester-born author and his lover and asks the audience to imagine how Orton’s untimely demise could have come to pass. One gets a sense of the tone of the evening straight away. A near empty stage apart from four chairs, a couple of books and a leather jacket foreshadows the unapologetically stark dir...