Thursday, December 5

Tag: Kathryn Chambers

Abigail’s Party – Hope Street Theatre
North West

Abigail’s Party – Hope Street Theatre

The Northern Comedy Theatre’s Abigail’s Party is another casualty of the closure of the Epstein. Relocated to the Hope Street Theatre, a tiny, intimate auditorium of just 85 cramped seats, located incongruously between a Masonic Hall, displaying the ritual paraphernalia of set squares and compasses, and the excellent Liverpool Arts Bar, the audience are projected almost on to the stage itself. Yet this only serves to foster the claustrophobic, pressure-cooker effect that this play demands. Devised in 1977 by Mike Leigh, the play observes the Classical Unities of time, action and place, depicting a drinks party thrown by the appalling Beverly (Kathryn Chambers) and her husband Laurence (Franklyn Jacks) for new neighbours Tony and Angela. Also present is Susan, who has been invited to ...
Doing Shakespeare – Hope Street Theatre
North West

Doing Shakespeare – Hope Street Theatre

The Northern Comedy Theatre’s Doing Shakespeare, written by David Spicer and directed by Shaun Chambers, is a farcical romp through some of Shakespeare’s best loved plays. A local village theatre company have taken the decision to perform Shakespeare but haven’t actually agreed which play to do. This might all work out if they hadn’t also taken the decision to perform the play as Shakespeare himself would have done with little to no rehearsal and lots of improvisation. As they’ve all learned different plays, stitching their individual parts together will prove to be quite a difficult task! The play opens with Jason (Elliot Bailey) running through his vocal warm up before launching into the opening of Romeo and Juliet. He is embarrassed when his enthusiastic rendition is seen by the comp...
Doing The Pub Quiz – Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live
REVIEWS

Doing The Pub Quiz – Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live

Following on from their live Zoom show ‘Doing Shakespeare’, the new addition to the Northern Comedy Theatre’s repertoire is ‘Doing the Pub Quiz’.  Once again, The Felching Players are together, but this time they are using their free time to enter a pub quiz.  Teaming up with writer David Spicer who wrote their previous Zoom Live ‘Doing Shakespeare’, The Felching Players are taking on other pub teams in a bid to be victorious.  Tom (Robert Stuart-Hudson) set up the team (apparently to get off the booze after his wife left him) and likes to be in the driving seat, organising everyone.  The imaginatively named ‘We are Smarticus’ pub team have got through the qualifying round and are now battling against 31 teams to be top dog of the pub quiz league; they just need to g...
Doing Shakespeare – The Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live
REVIEWS

Doing Shakespeare – The Northern Comedy Theatre Zoom Live

Established in 2015 by Artistic Director Shaun Chambers and Tom Platt, the Northern Comedy Theatre have been gradually expanding their repertoire and are now working with playwright David Spicer. The theatre’s previous plays include ‘The 39 Steps’, ‘Noises Off’, ‘Abigail’s Party’, ‘The History Boys’ and ‘Dead Funny’. The first of Spicer’s plays to be performed by the company was ‘STOP! … The Play’ and they then collaborated on a second Spicer play ‘Health and Safety’ which they are hoping to tour in Autumn 2020. In a play written for theatre online, this Zoom production once again crafted by David Spicer, uses the Bard as its subject or Shakespeare’s plays to be exact. The Felching Players are to put on a play written by good old Will, but no-one appears to have thought it important to ...