Toby Olié Archives - North West End UK

9May

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

Spirited Away – London Coliseum

Faithfully based on the 2001 legendary animated film “Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away”, this Ghibli-backed stage production is a big bet that sometimes falls a bit short but will still delight most Miyazaki fans. Young Chihiro and her parents stumble upon a mysterious, deserted theme park. After her parents devour a seemingly abandoned food stall, they turn into pigs. Spirits appear and a young boy named Haku reveals to Chihiro that the park is actually a spa resort for supernatural beings tired from their experiences in the earthly realm. To save her parents from slaughter, she must now join the spirit world and get a job at the bathhouse. Fresh off its 2022 Tokyo opening and extended run throughout Japan, this adaptation by RSC’s honorary associate director, John Caird, is the fir...

Animal Farm – Liverpool Playhouse

In a feat of technical brilliance and creativity, this show makes the impossible possible through exceptional puppetry and characterisation. A contemporary re-imagining of George Orwell’s classic text, this adaptation does not disappoint. Charting the rise of a fictional revolution and its aftermath, the plot of Animal Farm is just as relevant now as it was when first published, if not more so. Adults and children over 11 years are best-placed to engage with this experience. This is not a tale for the feint-hearted. We begin with a bloodied farmer carrying carcasses across the stage, going about his daily business on Manor Farm. It quickly becomes apparent he’s not a pleasant character. The animals are scared when he’s around, treated as work units and considered expendable when they...

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – The Alexandra

If you want some adventure, then all you must do is open those wardrobe doors and step into the Alexandra Theatre where The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Tour has transported itself to town. This lavish retelling of the classic 1950’s novel by CS Lewis has had a revamp from director Michael Fentiman, whose theatricalisation of the time-honoured novel has been in rehearsal; this production itself is based upon Sally Cookson’s acclaimed stage adaptation that premiered in Leeds late in 2017 before finding a London home 2 years later at the Bridge Theatre. The book is a favourite for many and Fentiman brilliantly navigates the mythical, and magical atmosphere onstage. The production features an incredible ensemble who really took the phrase ‘triple threat’ to a whole new level. ...