Hope Street Theatre Archives - Page 3 of 4

<strong>Snow White and the Scouse Queen – Hope Street Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Snow White and the Scouse Queen – Hope Street Theatre

Panto is a tricky beast to get right. Audiences come armed with expectations of organized chaos, cheesy jokes and lots of interaction. City Theatre have aimed to turn the formula a little bit on its head, modernizing the tale of Snow White (played by Molly Riley) and bringing it away from some unknown Fairy Tale kingdom, into the heart of Liverpool. City Theatre’s ethos is about opportunity for those with a passion for performing arts to have a space to develop their ability and confidence. This is evident in the show as we certainly have heaps of enthusiasm but a bit of a mixed bag in performance craft. Strong turns come from Elisha Mai Curry as Fairy Hope, with her powerhouse vocals, an energetic Denise Collins as Billy Shine and a warm, charming Lucy Walters as the ironically depr...

31Oct

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Doing Whodunnit – Hope Street Theatre

The souvenir programme should have been the first clue of how tonight’s proceedings were going to go. Stretched headshot pictures and typos hint at the lack of finesse that has undone what could have been an excellent concept for a parody of the classic ‘Whodunnit’. Developed from what was a very well-received online piece during lockdown, tonight’s show from the Northern Comedy Theatre is based around the premise of a world-weary acting troupe whose schtick of putting on murder mysteries for corporate teams and parties is starting to test everyone’s patience, especially when 28 of the expected 30 punters from a local conservatory installation firm have failed to show for the latest outing. Soon a genuine murder occurs and anyone and everyone is a suspect. Unfortunately, the transiti...

10Jul

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

The Great Gatsby – Hope Street Theatre

The Great Gatsby is an infamous tale of hedonism, debauchery and some of the most deeply shallow people ever created in American literature. While some people raised eyebrows over this burlesque version at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre, skilfully directed by Tom Martin, there probably isn’t actually a better story to inject with some sequins, ostrich feathers and the sophisticated glamour that burlesque brings to the stage. The play opens as it means to go on, with lots of dancing. Decadence is apparent from the outset with beautiful period costumes and shining masques concealing the identities of the revellers from each other, their husbands and wives, and the audience. The choreography is excellent, and the entire cast flawlessly come together as one group. Nick Carraway (Jordan Bar...

The Spitfire Grill – Hope Street Theatre

4Jul

By Daniel CoxNo Comments

North West

The Spitfire Grill – Hope Street Theatre

Liverpool Theatre School has been producing strong triple-threat performers in the heart of the city for many years. Supported by a strong faculty of teachers in all discipline’s graduates have gained and are continuing to gain a variety of credits including West End and more. From 29th - 30th June - third year musical theatre students at LTS have performed The Spitfire Grill directed by Freyja Winterson and with musical direction from George Strickland. The Spitfire Grill is an American musical based on the 1996 film, which tells the story of a young woman fresh out of prison finding her way in a small town in Wisconsin. Since the musicals first workshop in 2000 it has since developed worldwide in regional theatre productions and festivals including its arrival to the UK in the 2008 Ed...

25Jun

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Tick Tock – Hope Street Theatre

A new play was written and performed at Liverpool’s Hope Street Theatre called Tick Tock by Debbie Redcliffe (The Responder, Moving on). Before you ask, no I don’t mean the social media app where you can floss and lip Sync. This play Tick Tock, directed by Margaret Connell (Forgotten Voices and Blood Runs Deep). Follows the story of Sarah, Jenna and Pauline. Sarah (Debra Redcliffe) has dreams to be a mother, she was forever eating healthy, checking her temperature and when it was time to do the deed made sure her husband Danny knew about it. However, whilst trying it became clear that not all seemed right. The tests were negative, and hope was drifting away. Jenna’s life (Lisa McMahon) unfolded where she opened up about the miscarriages she had gone through. Whilst she had a family o...

10Jun

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Find Me – Hope Street Theatre

Based on the true story of Verity Taylor, a young woman with undiagnosed autism, and the family attempting to understand and support her in a system that could not cope with her challenging behaviour, one could be forgiven for thinking this powerful play by Olwen Wymark is a modern commentary on a system in crisis, failing those who need it most. Not the case, I’m afraid. Written in 1976, Find Me depicts a family struggling to cope as they are failed and misunderstood by educators, medical staff, Social Services and the Crown Prosecution Service, the result being the conviction of a 20-year-old woman, institutionalized since the age of 11 years and 5 months, and admitted to a Psychiatric unit at Broadmoor, unable to be released without the express agreement of the Home Secretary. Her crime...

The Canterville Ghost The Musical – Hope Street Theatre

27May

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

The Canterville Ghost The Musical – Hope Street Theatre

Every now and then a gem of a show comes along and leaves you thinking about it after like a dramatic hangover. This is that show. Unique, creative and hilarious, The Canterville Ghost – The Musical is based on Oscar Wilde’s renowned text. Be a fly-on-the-wall and witness the arrival of the brash, American Otis family as they arrive at Canterville Manor. Disrupting the peace of the Mrs Umney the housekeeper (Lizzy Paes) and the Butler (Luke Furlonger-Copeland), the Otis’ and their three daughters make themselves at home. Mr Otis (Omar Hussein) and Mrs Otis (Neve McLaughlin) are sceptical about warnings of the malicious Simon de Canterville (Jack Royens) ghost. Their mischievous twins, Stars (Frankie Fleming) and Stripes (Katie Moncaster) are also not fazed by the resident ghoul but t...

14May

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Mothers Ruin – Hope Street Theatre

Steve Bird’s worthy and sensitive biographical play about Gary Skyner who was one of the first British born people to be affected by the Thalidomide medical scandal, comes to the stage in Skyner’s hometown. The play documents the struggles that faced Skyner and his family in the early years and moves at a fairly good pace as we reach the present day. The use of a likable narrator (Tommy Tyler) is a clever idea in moving the story forward and the play almost has a feel of a documentary with the use of various multimedia which adds context and depth to this inspiring story. For me, the central and most powerful character of this piece is Gary’s strong and resilient mum Frances (Mary Savage) and how she deals, with amongst other things the breakup of her marriage to Gary’s father...

6May

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Dog/Actor – Hope Street Theatre

Steven Berkoff’s eloquent and evocative double bill performance of Dog / Actor is brought to the stage by Threedumb Theatre, and I have to say it is truly a masterclass in both physical and comedic theatre. Stephen Smith, who is also the artistic director for Threedumb, is the solo performer of this back-to-back double bill and he really excels in this challenging piece. In Dog, Smith portrays a racist foul-mouthed football hooligan with his companion pit bull Roy. Smith uses every part of the studio space to significant effect and provides the audience with a strong and ever-increasing sense of rage. It is without question an uncompromising and difficult piece for any actor to perform but Smith finds the right tempo throughout. Excellent lighting also adds texture to Dog. ...

11Apr

By Donna M DayNo Comments

North West

Sunset Yellow – Hope Street Theatre

Sunset Yellow is a collection of three short, dark comedy plays, written by Jamie Pye and directed by Pye and Kieran Kidd. The first play, The Campfire, is set on the campsite of four friends who have not seen each other for a long time. It has a nostalgic feeling as the four friends tells stories around their warm campfire. It quickly becomes clear however that something is amiss as Abby tells a fun story from her childhood and Jo reacts like a petulant child throwing camping paraphernalia around in the background and pulling bored and impatient faces. She rudely interrupts Abby’s story and her friends react badly to her rudeness, but they cannot anticipate where Jo’s behaviour will escalate to. This is an interesting piece with plenty of twists and turns but could be strengthened b...