Madeline Appiah Archives - North West End UK

10Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Fences – Lyric Hammersmith

Fences by August Wilson “is a powerful family drama about racism, lost dreams, fatherhood, betrayal and the emotional barriers people build around themselves and the people they love”. This production is directed by Daniel Bailey and with Ray Fearon playing Troy Maxson and Madeline Appiah playing his wife, Rose. The time is the 1950’s America when Black working class families were trying to survive racial discrimination and generational trauma. The story centres around Troy Maxson, a Black man in his fifties working on the streets of Pennsylvania. What becomes evident early in the play is that Troy is a troubled man scarred by this past, trying to live in the future; but his demons uncover a deep abyss of loneliness. His actions towards his relationships with his wife Rose and his c...

17Sep

By Adam CraddockNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fences – Leeds Playhouse

Last night I had the delight of being invited along to the wonderful Leeds Playhouse to review the press night performance of “Fences”, a play by August Wilson directed by the brilliant Daniel Bailey. Fences is a brilliantly real story. Set in 1957 we follow the character of Troy Marxson and his family in a changing world. We see the ups and downs for the family, from Troy receiving a promotion to his infidelity getting discovered and all the emotional twists and turns in between. Photo: Tyler Fayose Ray Fearon leads the cast as Troy Marxson. Fearon is phenomenal in this role. He is wonderfully real, with real emotions manifesting themselves in real ways. He had just a touch of menace to his portrayal but completely appropriate for a father in this period. The monologues Fearon...

The Winter’s Tale – Royal Shakespeare Company

23Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Winter’s Tale – Royal Shakespeare Company

Yes yes yes yes yes yes! This is the type of production that makes you doubt the play has ever been better performed in the 400 years since it was written. A text often relegated to reluctant decennial repetition by repertory Shakespeare theatres, this “problem play”—only partially redeemed and abashedly esteemed for its “strong female characters”—is here staged so boldly that it not only asks but demands audiences to answer: what actually is so problematic about female strength? Why are men made so uncomfortable by powerful women? And what on earth are women supposed to do with that dangerous discomfort? Directed by Yaël Farber and dripping with the seductive intrepidity that coats her directorial tongue, this production is unmissable and unmistakable. It is contemporary not in the sen...

17Oct

By Sadie PearsonNo Comments

London

Toto Kerblammo! – Unicorn Theatre

Isolation in community, courage in adversity, the bravery it takes to feel – to love. Toto Kerblammo! is a tale from a furry friend which is deeply, tenderly human. Effy, played by Peyvand Sadeghian, is struck with tragedy. Sent to live with her aunt and uncle as her mother recovers from a nervous breakdown, in a flat block which doesn’t allow dogs. Little do her aunt and uncle know, however, that the ‘no-pets-allowed’ rules haven’t been followed. Using 3D binaural audio technology, the audience wear headphones to experience Effy’s world. Felipe Pacheco as Effy’s beloved dog Toto not only takes the stage but narrates Effy’s story through the headset directly into your ears, ASMR-like at times, demanding that to appreciate it all you must “really listen”. Audio performances from Ma...

Chisholm For President! – The Warehouse in Holbeck

18Apr

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Chisholm For President! – The Warehouse in Holbeck

It’s always risky when you see any work in progress which can often just be a series of vignettes that don’t really knit together, even if you can see the potential of the material being tested in front of a live audience. That was most definitely not the case at this taster session for Chisholm For President!, based on the life of the first black woman elected to the US Congress in 1968 and then the first woman of colour to run for President in 1972. Sitting in Slung Low’s cavernous newish home I was wondering why a brand-new musical, that is basically performers acting with script in hand and singing a bunch of original songs, seemed so fully formed. But then the penny dropped that this fledgling production has a very strong creative team behind it. Playwright Zodwa Nyoni has cr...