Liverpool Playhouse Archives - North West End UK

24Apr

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

The Kite Runner – Liverpool Playhouse

Settling into a packed auditorium, there was a palpable expectation. Another world class story has been taken to the stage and I was keen to see if it was going to work. Hanif Khan takes his place at the front of the stage. A hush descends, but the play is yet to start. Filling the space with sound, he plays his tabla drums with gentle tenacity, bringing the Liverpool crowd into another world. This musical intro is something familiar to theatre goers that can go one of two ways, either the performance that follows is over-acted to the point where our presence in this new world is glaringly false or where we are truly transported. I’m glad to say this performance is of the latter. Amongst frequent soundscapes made by performers, this production aptly delivers the essence of Khaled Hosse...

My Beautiful Laundrette – Liverpool Playhouse

28Mar

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

My Beautiful Laundrette – Liverpool Playhouse

Ignorance isn’t a religion, yet. My Beautiful Laundrette is based on the film from Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi of the same name. It is set in London during the Thatcher years and tells the story of Omar, a teenage British-Pakistani boy, who wants to transform his Uncle’s run-down laundrette inro the go-to place for locals. He runs into an old school friend, Johnny and convinces him to help with the laundrette and we get to see their coming-of-age story blossom. The film and play focus on topics of fascism, racism amongst other subjects, with an underlying love story. This comedic story is heartwarming, divisive and joyous throughout, almost an emotional rollercoaster, but there are definitely characters you root for and ones that are meant to cause the divisions. Omar is playe...

A Song for Ella Grey – Liverpool Playhouse

14Mar

By Coral MourantNo Comments

North West

A Song for Ella Grey – Liverpool Playhouse

Greek myths have had many reimagining’s as their moral narratives and fantastical characters will always intrigue an audience. Based on the novel by David Almond, this adaptation takes the old cautionary tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and places us in modern day Northumbria. A group of sixth formers recall the story of their friend’s untimely death, a tale that conjures up grief, longing and fears of fleeting youth. The whooshing sounds of the ocean and ethereal drapes of cloth adorn the stage, where the actors tell us of Ella Grey. This five strong cast take us from Bamburgh beach to the depths of hell, remembering their dear friend and her demise. Elusive Orpheus appears in the waters and captivates the youngsters with his music and otherworldliness. Using shadows of silhouette with...

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Liverpool Playhouse

6Mar

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Liverpool Playhouse

Unfortunate, a musical parody by Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx, has officially opened at the Liverpool Playhouse last night, telling the untold story of Ursula the sea witch from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. Now I must say from the off that is absolutely not a story for younger audience members. I imagine those who attended last night may have received a shock, especially the parents. So, to the synopsis of the story. This musical started out at the Edinburgh fringe with a huge success. Now it is touring, it is a story of Ursula (Shawna Hamic from Orange is the New Black) narrating us through how she came to be the evil sea devil she is known for. After falling in love with Triton (Thomas Lowe) and a few raunchy episodes in the bathroom Triton wishes to ask her to be his wife and...

Bumper Christmas Season at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse

25Feb

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Bumper Christmas Season at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse

Christmas 2023 proved to be another bumper season at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, with the annual Rock ‘n’ Roll panto Cinderella playing to full houses and standing ovations, while the West End hit The Woman in Black spooked audiences at the Playhouse. The theatres have already announced Rapunzel at the Everyman (16th November to 18th January), with Richard O’Brien’s global sensation Rocky Horror Show taking up residency for the festive season at the Liverpool Playhouse (3rd December to 4th January). Cinderella and The Woman in Black attracted a diverse audience of all ages, with performances enjoyed by over 45,000 people, a quarter of whom were children and young people attending as families, with schools and with youth groups. As the theatres share their plans for Christ...

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Liverpool Playhouse

14Feb

By Codie WrightNo Comments

North West

The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Liverpool Playhouse

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Judith Kerr’s classic tale of, well, a tiger who came tea, has been a bedtime classic for over 50 years. It was adapted by David Wood into a stage show, which is celebrating 12 years and several Olivier Award nominations. That said, (and I might be in the minority here), I just didn’t gel with this performance. I took my two sons, 5 and 2, to see this show, and I think we were a real spectrum of reviews between us. At one end, my 2-year-old, who joined in with such enthusiasm I’m tempted to ask for a cut of the profit. Although he seemed to enjoy the show, I have seen him more rapt in other shows (including Kerr’s Mog, the Forgetful Cat just last year) so it certainly wasn’t his favourite. My eldest son sat in the middle of the road. Very much a “meh” revi...

Casting announced for imitating the dog’s Frankenstein

14Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Casting announced for imitating the dog’s Frankenstein

imitating the dog’s two-handed version of Frankenstein will feature RSC actor Georgia-Mae Myers and Nedum Okonyia. This time Co-Artistic Directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright offer their trademark multimedia exploration of Mary Shelley’s timeless classic novel as a psychological thriller asks the eternal question – what is it to be human? In this version a couple confront their own fears about impending parenthood as they recreate a version of Frankenstein that erupts into life as everyday objects are transformed into glaciers, a ship at sea, a dissecting room, and a house on fire. Set and Costume Designer Hayley Grindle has created a transformative space j housing the digital tricks and video-mapping ...

The Woman in Black – Liverpool Playhouse

8Dec

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

The Woman in Black – Liverpool Playhouse

I never thought I would laugh so much at a ghost story. I am definitely a fully-fledged all-singing, all-dancing and everyone lives happily ever after type of person when it comes to theatre, fear and but there is something about The Woman in Black that has always intrigued me. I never got to see the run at the Fortune Theatre in London, so jumped at the chance to experience the story on my doorstep. The book was written by Susan Hill in 1983, and whilst it is set in the 1950s (and 1920s) it does feel like a timeless piece. It could be set any time if the dates weren’t mentioned. However, there is definitely something about a Victorian ghost, that gives it authenticity and makes it spookier. With two actors in the cast, they needed to be at the top of their game, as neither spen...

Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning – Liverpool Playhouse

25Oct

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Dracula: Mina’s Reckoning – Liverpool Playhouse

This play lends itself perfectly to the spooky season. Aberdeen Performing Arts and the National Theatre of Scotland have created a uniquely adapted tale from the late 19th Century. Dreamlike Scottish folk music swaddles you into the world of the play, where the audience held their breaths about what might happen. Scottish culture is not in the mainstream theatrical circuit, so it was educational as well as entertaining for the audience. The way that this production was adapted by Morna Pearson from Bram Stoker’s American story, with detail, humour and a real sense of world building, meant the audience really bought the world of Aberdeen’s hospital for women and the characters in it. Lighting (Aideen Malone) and sound (Fraser Mackie) were parts of the production that I really enjoye...

18Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Metamorphosis – Liverpool Playhouse

Originally written in 1915 as a novella Franz Kafka’s claustrophobic and deeply unsettling classic is brought to the stage by one of this country’s finest physical theatre companies, Frantic Assembly. Poet Lemn Sissay OBE has successfully adapted Kafka’s dark story of devilish transformation and its presented here in all its surreal and muscular glory. Kafka’s dark fairy tale is simple in its construct , telling the story of Gregor Samsa a travelling salesman who slowly turns into a gigantic insect much to the horror and distaste of his dysfunctional family. Given that the subject matter would be quite difficult to translate to either film or stage Frantic Assembly and Lemn Sissay have achieved some success in delivering an uncompromising and totally addictive piece of theatre. ...