Hull Truck Theatre Archives - North West End UK

7Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Of Mice And Men – Hull Truck Theatre

John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice And Men, very nearly never saw the light of day, as the first draft was eaten by his dog, Toby. Thankfully, the American writer persevered and since its first performance on Broadway in 1937, his work continues to entertain theatregoers around the world. On Thursday night I was privileged to watch a stellar cast of actors bring Of Mice And Men to life on the stage of the Hull Truck Theatre. This cosy theatre never fails to come up trumps where imaginative stage settings are concerned, and Thursday was no exception, thanks to set designer Jess Curtis (who also designed the costumes). There was no raised stage to speak of, just a small step-up at the rear. The floor comprised of wooden slats, as did the entire wall at the back which opened to rev...

Mary and the Hyenas – Hull Truck Theatre

13Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mary and the Hyenas – Hull Truck Theatre

Wednesday evening saw me heading to the theatre for the second time in a week, to review the life story of a woman who, to my great shame, I had never heard of before. Mary Wollstonecraft is her name, and six super talented performers brought her story to life at the Hull Truck Theatre, when it hosted Mary and the Hyenas. The crowds flocked in for this world premiere, written by Hull playwright Maureen Lennon with original music by singer-songwriter Billy Nomates. Born in London, in 1759, Mary’s childhood was spent in the market town of Beverley, a short distance from Hull, in East Yorkshire, after her family moved there in 1768. The show starts at the end of her life, in 1797, as she is giving birth to her second daughter, Mary (who went on to find fame writing Frankenstein). ...

Pilot Theatre’s new play with music Mary and the Hyenas tells the story of a pioneering feminist

3Feb

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Interviews

Pilot Theatre’s new play with music Mary and the Hyenas tells the story of a pioneering feminist

Pilot Theatre usually offer their audience plays with a contemporary cutting edge, but this time for Mary and the Hyenas they’re gone back in time to tell the story of a pioneering feminist from the 18th century. Born in Beverley near Hull, Mary Wollstonecraft worked as a schoolteacher, a governess and as a translator for a London publisher before publishing her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, in 1787. This was followed by the still influential her later work on the place of women in society published as A Vindication of the Rights of Woman five years later, which at its core is a plea for equality in the education of men and women. The Vindication is widely regarded as the founding document of modern feminism. Written by Maureen Lennon for this producti...

4Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Borrowers – Hull Truck Theatre

I loved watching The Borrowers when it aired on TV in 1992, and can well remember many of the antics of the Clock family, aka The Borrowers. Fast forward to today and the teeny family - mum Homily, dad Pod and daughter Arrietty - are still teeny and still just as entertaining. Hull Truck Theatre has the Clocks gracing its stage until early January 2025, and Tuesday night’s performance proved that size doesn’t matter where talent is involved. Of course, the Clock actors - Bea Clancy as Arrietty, Deb Pugh as Homily and Marc Akinfolarin as Pod - are all normal size, so in parts were shown as tiny puppets. Our first glimpse of the family’s underfloor home showed everyday items they had “borrowed”, including a matchbox used as a double bed by mum and dad. It’s Christmas in the ea...

2Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

How To Be Brave – Hull Truck Theatre

The Godber Studio was very well-attended on Friday evening, when Hull Truck Theatre hosted How To Be Brave. Writer Louise Beech cleverly intertwined the lives of the two main characters in this true-life drama - one a Merchant Seaman in the Second World War, the other a 10-year-old girl. And, despite the 64-year gap in their stories, the two had an undeniable connection. The Able Seaman, Colin Armitage (Jacob Ward), was Beech’s grandfather, and the girl her daughter, Katy. And it’s her storytelling to young Katy of Armitage’s horrific ordeal during the war that proved to be of huge benefit for her daughter, who had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes; helping her to accept and cope with her condition. Five very talented performers brought How To Be Brave to life, on the small s...

23Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Frankenstein – Hull Truck Theatre

A cast of six brought the world’s most famous monster to the Hull Truck stage on Tuesday evening with a thought-provoking adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. As the 1818 thriller, now set in the war year of 1943, begins its second major UK theatre tour, would its producers, Tilted Wig Productions, have a monster hit on their hands? Stage settings are always something to look forward to at this popular local theatre and Tuesday evening was no exception. Though dark, unfussy and dimly lit, with sparse furnishings, the interior of a wooden cabin perfectly set the tone for the well-known horror story. I found the theatre itself was very cold on the night, which, though uncomfortable, added to the atmosphere. The cabin’s shabbily-dressed occupant, Captain (Basienka Blake - wh...

3Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Guts! The Musical – Hull Truck Theatre

Hull Truck Theatre’s latest production, GUTS! The Musical, a world premiere, portrays the real-life struggle female fish packers at a local fish factory faced in their battle for equal pay. The stark stage setting of bare, “tiled” walls, soulless strip lighting and little else is what one imagines a processing frozen food factory to be like. The year is 1984 and the aforementioned workers are about to make and change history. Also making a bit of (theatrical) history of their own are the 57 members of the community who answered the call to bring this production to life. Space prevents me from naming them all, but what a fantastic job they each did. The factory in question, owned by a Mr Frank Fish (Andrew Clark) is based in Hull, with all the fishy business, historically, being...

Little Shop of Horrors – Hull Truck Theatre

24May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Little Shop of Horrors – Hull Truck Theatre

There was an air of excitement in the packed foyer of Hull Truck Theatre, on Thursday evening, as theatregoers entered in their droves to watch a production of Little House of Horrors. Taking our seats, we were faced with a stage setting showing a small florist shop, on Skid Row, in downtown New York, belonging to a Mr Mushnik. Customers are few and far between, with drunkards and drop-outs being the only passers-by. Mushnik (Andrew Whitehead) has two assistants - nerdy Seymour (Oliver Mawdsley), whom he took in as an orphan, and the lovely Audrey (Laura Jane Matthewson), regularly battered by her abusive boyfriend, Orin (Mathew Ganley). Things were much livelier outside the shop, mainly due to three characterful females - guitarists Crystal (Zweyla Mitchell Dos Santos) and Ron...

1Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Animal Farm – Hull Truck Theatre

When Snowball the angry, militant “pig” crept menacingly towards me, across the stage of Hull Truck Theatre on Thursday night, I began to think my front-row seat wasn’t such a good thing after all. I was at this popular local theatre to watch a powerful re-telling of George Orwell’s classic, Animal Farm - a book I had never read, but, it being a classic, knew the storyline of. Thankfully, Snowball (Samater Ahmed) spared me, directing his anger at the farm’s owner and his master, Mr Jones. The way Jones ran Manor Farm was not to the animals’ liking nor for their benefit, so they overthrow him, take over and create a new set of rules in which “all animals are equal”. However, it soon becomes apparent that the cleverest farm animals are the pigs - Squealer (Killian Macardle), Napo...

A Song For Ella Grey – Hull Truck Theatre

7Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Song For Ella Grey – Hull Truck Theatre

Before sitting down to write my review of A Song For Ella Grey, a production I watched at the Hull Truck Theatre on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 6th, I felt the need to reacquaint myself with the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, around which this play is centred. Orpheus, though invisible, features hugely in this darkly romantic tale and, never having read David Almond’s book from which this production is adapted, I had to ensure I understood proceedings before engaging my keyboard. As I took my seat on the front row, I was confronted by a stage setting of ceiling-high white voile curtains. Billowing gently, they draped over what appeared to be huge beds, again in white. Despite this abundance of white, Hull Truck itself was very dimly lit throughout, resulting i...