Shakespeare North Playhouse Archives - Page 3 of 5

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Shakespeare North Playhouse

15Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Nearly 40 years ago, a skinny and slightly geeky young lad nervously walked into a college classroom to begin his studies for an A level in Politics, noticing that the student was sporting a Billy Bragg T-shirt, the lecturer picked a dog-eared copy of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tressell from the bookshelf and handed it over, urging him to read it. As I write this review, I still have that copy next to me (sorry Mr Beech!), that single act of kindness sparked a lifetime of love for this wonderful novel. In 2011 Actor/Writer/Musician Neil Gore celebrated the centenary of its writing (although it wasn't actually published fully until as late as 1956), by turning the novel into a two-handed show. This gradually morphed it into a one-man version which he has subsequently p...

7Sep

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Shakespeare North Playhouse

What more apt way to celebrate a theatre company’s 30th birthday, than to deliver a production of Shakespeare’s most popular plays Macbeth internationally, and to start this amazing tour at the iconic Shakespeare North Playhouse in the heart of the Northern town of Prescot. This is exactly what the ETT theatre company did. We are all familiar with the 17th century tale of deceit, corruption and guilt. How Macbeth, an ambitious yet submissive man, with his narcissistic and controlling wife, murder King Duncan, as he sleeps. Who, then adding to this horrendous crime, also murder Duncan’s friend Banquo, to further clear their way to power. We know that these crimes haunt them throughout the play, torturing their tormented minds and souls but ETT have taken this tale into a new exhil...

ADHD The Musical: Can I Have Your Attention Please – Shakespeare North Playhouse

22Jul

By Daniel CoxNo Comments

North West

ADHD The Musical: Can I Have Your Attention Please – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD is a condition that includes symptoms such as being restless and having trouble concentrating. If you fancy concentrating (or not and simply getting lost in this production) for 70-minutes then why not check out ‘ADHD The Musical: Can I Have Your Attention Please’ as this new piece of passionate theatre embarks on its 2023 tour. Written and performed by Dora Colquhoun, ADHD The Musical tells the story of Dora’s exploration and challenges she faced as she gets her diagnosis as a neurodivergent adult. Touching on work, family, relationships and revelations that come in the form of a Lush Bath Bomb it follows the format of Dora answering the questions that would show signs of an Adult with ADHD. It is a piece of theatre that takes a moment t...

An Evening With: Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram’s North-West Mixtape – Shakespeare North Playhouse

3Jul

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

An Evening With: Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram’s North-West Mixtape – Shakespeare North Playhouse

Kicking off a series of conversations at the Playhouse, two of the biggest politicians outside of the Westminster bubble – the Mayors of Liverpool and Manchester - are here to (no surprise given the title) talk about the musical influence of the North-West. It’s no surprise that the evening is a little more freewheeling, inevitably spilling into politics, as well as football, railways and 70s/80s fashion, bookended by two up and coming music acts – Merseyside’s Ni Maxine, a striking and soulful jazz singer, and Manchester’s charming and funny Test Card Girl with a dreamy electro-folk/pop sound. Both Mayors are in a relaxed and chatty mood, with a clear friendship between the pair visible throughout – regular, comical jabs over football rivalries and which is the better city remain jo...

Richard III – Shakespeare North Playhouse

30Jun

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Richard III – Shakespeare North Playhouse

I was intrigued – as an avid Shakespeare fan, frequent visitor to the amazing Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescott and having an avid fascination of the venomous Richard III (as most people have), I was really looking forward to seeing Richard III a one person show in the intimate Brite theatre. To cover the unscrupulous story of Richard III - a King renowned for his deformed body as much as his villainous ways, (his notoriety recently escalated due to his remains being found in a Leicester car park), was, I would imagine be no mean feat. But the magnificent Emily Carding, who has performed this show internationally across the UK, Iceland, Prague (winning every single award at the Fringe), Edinburgh (winning the ‘Bobby award at the Fringe), Rome, Verona, Slovakia, Romania, Pakistan, St...

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare North Playhouse

15Jun

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare North Playhouse

So, for those that do not know what Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing (and many do ask!) the story is a comedic play by William Shakespeare about misunderstandings, love and deception. Benedick, Claudio and Don Pedro arrive at Leonato's house in Messina. Beatrice and Benedick bicker with each other and Claudio, a soldier, falls in love with Leonato's daughter, Hero. Don John, who is Don Pedro's evil half-brother, tricks Claudio into believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful. Meanwhile, Don Pedro and others plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together. Claudio accuses Hero of infidelity and refuses to marry her. Leonato is persuaded to pretend that she is dead. Hero's innocence is proven, and Claudio repents. He agrees to accept Antonio's daughter in marriage, and she turns...

Rubbish Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare North Playhouse

11Jun

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Rubbish Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare North Playhouse

“The course of true love never did run smooth” goes the line and never has a stronger argument been made than tonight’s raucous take on one of the Bard’s most popular comedies. And never before have we been able to settle that age old debate – do camels live in the woods? In the sunny surroundings of the Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden, and armed with a series of violently coloured wigs, water-pistols and wings that are most definitely not bedsheets, the Rubbish Shakespeare Theatre Company has brought its latest family-friendly production to the stage, channeling the sensibilities of pantomime, as our players mercilessly tease the audience throughout, whilst sprinting through the salient points of the well-loved tale. Just in case you weren’t paying attention during your English Lit ...

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction – Shakespeare North Playhouse

18May

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction – Shakespeare North Playhouse

For a play where its most significant feature is being ‘off the grid’, using self-generated power and a touch of candlelight, the Playhouse, styled as a mini-Globe with slightly better seating, seems like the perfect setting for it. Tonight’s show, written by Miranda Rose Hall, and directed by Nathan Powell is an incredibly clever and fresh concept. The play tours, but not the people - everyone involved is from the local area. The strip lighting and sound that encompasses the stage is produced from the efforts of four very hardy onstage cyclists, with a digital display that shows the wattage they are generating. It’s a highly creative and fascinating experiment in sustainable theatre. The conceit is that one of the play’s actors has suffered a family emergency – her mother is dyin...

16May

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

SHEWOLVES – Shakespeare North Playhouse

A call to action for the youth of today who may feel unseen, unheard and misunderstood. An uplifting coming-of-age comedy lovingly created for and made in collaboration with, young people. Derby teenagers Priya (Gurjot Dhaliwal) and Lou (Harriet Waters), the self-entitled Shewolves, are females surviving in the wild. After donning their retro ski suits, they attempt to break free and run away together from the constraints of their school and the disdain with their home lives, to find some freedom in the remoteness of the Peak District until Lou’s creative 3D printer design gets them hunted down. An unlikely friendship forms between the two girls both from different backgrounds, with Lou more financially privileged than Priya. Priya play’s up to her lack of...

5May

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Dirty Corset – Shakespeare North Playhouse

They say history has a way of repeating itself. Theatres may have been temporarily closed by covid in our lifetimes but, in 1642, it was the Puritan sensibilities that prompted a 20year ban on public acting. And so tonight, we are immersed into the end of that period, in the company of Bang Tidy Theatre, whose three performers are embracing the new style of Restoration theatre, a much more vulgar and libertine style than audiences were used to. Directed by Helen Tennison, it’s a chaotic, bawdy affair, melding 21st century and Restoration language (reminding all that spectacular swearing isn’t a modern invention). We meet Neil Hasbeen (Laurie Coldwell), Mary Moralless (Chloe Darke) and Isabinda McLovealot (Susannah Scott) seemingly happy to be back on stage with their play “A Lord Nam...