Salford Arts Theatre Archives - North West End UK

Ahoy! Ballad of the Time Kraken – Salford Arts Theatre

30Jul

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

Ahoy! Ballad of the Time Kraken – Salford Arts Theatre

A confusion of school disco music, playground lyrics, art room props, nativity choreography and dress-up box costumes make this poorly performed, barely-plotted absurdity of a musical unfit for performance in front of a paying audience in its current state. You wouldn't swab the poop deck with this two-and-a-half-hour shamble. ‘Ahoy! Ballad of the Time Kraken’ continues at Salford Arts Centre until 29th July with tickets available from https://manchester.ssboxoffice.com/events/ahoy-ballad-of-the-time-kraken/ Reviewer: Scot Cunningham Reviewed: 28th July 2023 North West End UK Rating: ★

Bright Lights City – Salford Arts Theatre

20Jul

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Bright Lights City – Salford Arts Theatre

When two people meet in a seaside café at the end of a pier on a grueling wet afternoon it can go one of two ways; either sulkily sit out the storm in a sad soggy state or stop for a moment and absorb what is actually going on around you and even gain a new perspective on life, love and latte. Laura Gender’s play introduces us to Woman (Marchia Brogan)– middle-aged, successful, demanding, rude, disappointed, angry, entitled and caught out in a storm. In the empty café in which she takes refuge she meets Waitress (Blue Blackburn) – sixteen years old, unambitious, open, funny, patient, tolerant, smart and ready to shut up shop for the day. In the unfolding drama we see two women, seemingly from very different places, whose worlds collide and clash but who find a way to connection, res...

SEVEN and a half YEARS – Salford Arts Theatre

15Jul

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

North West

SEVEN and a half YEARS – Salford Arts Theatre

Mark Glentworth experienced incredible success as a composer, and then his life changed. But not in the way that you would expect. This autobiographical one-act musical tells the story of what came next: it is a journey that takes Glentworth from the heights of his success to the depths of his despair and isolation, ending with his first steps towards a new start. The production makes the most of the simple set and lighting designs, and Glentworth moves around the space well. It is his authenticity that is most striking; it cannot be easy for him to perform this material over and over and relive the best and worst moments of his life. Glentworth is clearly an outstanding musician, and the music in the show – which switches seamlessly from prerecorded tracks to live piano and bac...

Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe

11Jun

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe

Award winning theatre company, Northern Rep, are returning to Greater Manchester Fringe Festival in 2023, this time with two original plays. One man show BOSIE, written and performed by Rik Barnett, tells the story of Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (Bosie), the illicit lover of Oscar Wilde and reminisces on the destruction left in his wake. After being forced into exile, Bosie is powerless and angry. Compelled to face his past and the persecution endured by his father. Battling his own tour de force of personal philosophies and deep reflection on how his actions led to Oscar Wilde’s disgrace and how he, Bosie a gentleman of Victorian high society is now trapped, degraded and alone. The scandal and outrage of this overshadowed character in Wilde’s downfall is finally examined throu...

12Jul

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Arcadia 87 – Salford Arts Theatre

In this Manchester Fringe Festival production in the heart of Salford, we’re transported back to an 80’s era Brighton Pier. Live a Little perform their debut show Arcadia 87. The company consisting of 5 MA graduates from The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA); 3 Brits and 2 Americans, who endeavour to create new, innovative devised theatre that connects their stories. The story sees 4 strangers brought together when a storm hits the pier: when they become locked in an arcade to hide from the rain, things move very quickly, and they find themselves spilling their deepest, darkest secrets in order to be released. The script is a bit rough around the edges, it lacks cohesion, moving rapidly through the plot whilst never giving enough to develop characters, relations...

28Sep

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Cock Therapy – Salford Arts Theatre

Mining therapy sessions for rich drama is not easy. Good stories require therapist characters to play the antagonist and progress the plot. However, in real life, counsellors are generally too passive and neutral meaning believable roles can result in dull tales. So, it's a definite risk for writer Joe Henry to set his first ever play on the psychiatrist's couch. For the most part, it's a risk that pays off. Roz (also played by Henry) believes he is a sex addict. After being dropped off by his dad, our lead enters with a reticence that anyone who has experienced doubts part way through a course of therapy will recognise. After a hilarious opening monologue, Roz is joined by The Therapist (Nicholas Eccles). Over the course of the next 50 minutes or so, layers of Roz's personality and...

Nathan Cassidy: Bumblebee – Salford Arts Theatre

26Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Nathan Cassidy: Bumblebee – Salford Arts Theatre

Being a theatre reviewer asked to write about a comedy gig is a tricky proposition. Does one deconstruct the jokes, analyse the structure and critique the persona of the main protagonist? In the case of ‘Bumblebee’, the new show from the self-deprecatingly titled ‘award nominee’, Nathan Cassidy, all such considerations are superfluous, just sit back and watch a very talented and funny man construct a jigsaw puzzle, where all the pieces neatly slot into place at the end of an hour in his company. The purported premise of ‘Bumblebee’ is the rash decision Cassidy makes following the burglary of his flat, to pursue the thief. To the strains of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’, he gives chase, and it is the random thoughts that occur to him during this pursuit form the real heart...

Subdural Hematoma – Salford Arts Theatre

4Sep

By Amanda HodgsonNo Comments

North West

Subdural Hematoma – Salford Arts Theatre

Eleanor May Blackburn plays Eleanor May Blackburn in ‘Subdural Hematoma’, a one-act play that appears to draw inspiration from Eleanor’s own experiences recovering from a brain injury. In doing so, she utilises solo verbatim, audio, and physical theatre to share with her audience the many ups and downs of recovering in hospital. Central to Eleanor’s recovery are her family and friends. With poignancy and insight, she notes that as hard as recovering from a brain injury was for her, it was just as hard for those around her. The moments of Harry Potter tales read aloud by her father added fun and universality. While, her mother’s voice, read as diary entries chronicling Eleanor’s recovery, helped the audience visualise Eleanor’s stay in hospital and feel the passage of time. Audio record...