Category Archives: Theatre

Sherlock Holmes: The Sign Of Four, Theatre Review. Atkinson Theatre, Southport.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Luke Barton, Joseph Derrington, Stephanie Rutherford, Christopher Glover, Ru Hamilton, Zach Lee.

The parallels between our modern world and that of the dying days of the Victorian Era are not really so different for all the talk of enlightened sensibilities, of understanding the way we treat others and the hope of better interaction. Yet still the undercurrent of violence, of greed, and murder dominates our society with a stunning regularity, a world shrouded in fog, of questions, of a fractured system that sees half the country fearful of ‘the other’, of quick judgement and hanging on to a belief that we somehow have a right to deny another man or woman to believe they can be welcome in our country.

Sherlock Holmes: The Sign Of Four, Theatre Review. Atkinson Theatre, Southport. full post

(599 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

Maggie May: The Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Christina Tedders, Michael Fletcher, Cheryl Ferguson, Tom Connor, Paislie Reid, Katia Sartini, Sam Haywood, Oliver Hamilton, David Heywood, Barbara Hockaday, Matt Ganley.

Liverpool is more than just a city, a coming together of small villages under the umbrella of a larger conurbation, it is the collection of stories that have weaved its way through the psyche of anyone who’s feet have touched the ground in which by the running waters of the Mersey lay, that have been touched by the legends, the myths and the incredible personalities that have made the city of Liverpool the place in which Westminster fears and which secretly it wishes it could be.

Maggie May: The Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Blood Runs Deep, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Brandon McCaffery, Alice Merivale, Emma Vaudrey, John Schumacher.

It is the sins of the past that we inherit, perhaps shame gets sprinkled into the D.N.A., a dash of wickedness and a whole load of emotional turmoil, if we are fortunate it skips us, loses its power with each generation, and eventually the gene which causes us to contemplate such vile acts and misdeeds is eradicated.

Blood Runs Deep, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Fup, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Calvin Dean, David Mynne, Rachel Leonard, Jenny Beare.

Musician: Ben Sutcliffe, Zaid Al-Rikabi.

Falling in love is quite possibly the most beautiful, and most heart-breaking emotion, a human being can live through and endure, for some it happens easily, for others it is a long process which can only come about by first finding themselves, discovering their own sense of true-worth, whichever way it happens, love is, in the words of Liverpool’s Ian McNabb, a wonderful colour.

Fup, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(488 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Persuasion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Atkins, Ceri-Lyn Cissone, Siobhan Gerrard, Indigo Griffiths, Jason Ryall, Lucinda Turner.

In a past literary history that is dominated by men, many women stand above them for the sheer depth of human experience, the joy of wit, the penetration to the bones of fear and exploration of the subject; and whilst the names of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Tolstoy stand at the gates of greatness, it is too the scribes of women such as Charlotte Bronte, Agatha Christie and Jane Austen that we should acknowledge perhaps as the greater skilled writers and finer observers of the human condition.

Persuasion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(450 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

A Taste Of Honey, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Sharon Byatt, Sophie Coward, Chris Pybus, Jason Lamar Ricketts, James Templeton.

Adapting, or even directing, one of the modern theatre classics has always fallen somewhere between utterly compelling and deserved, and the brave choice which could be fraught with too high an expectation.

A Taste Of Honey, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(448 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

When Did You Stop Dancing?, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Rachel McBride.

We find ourselves constantly developing ways in which communicate with those in our lives that we love, that we occasionally get frustrated with, and every so often cannot fathom why they became cross and upset with us; communication is key, but when we find ourselves in silence, when faced with no interaction, when all we have become is mark in the credit score of life, then we find ourselves looking for other ways to express our souls, even at the cost of our lives.

When Did You Stop Dancing?, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(456 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

By The Waters Of Liverpool, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Roy Carruthers, Emma Dears, Stephanie Dooley, Lynn Francis, Emily Hughes, Maria Lovelady, Nathan McMullen, Mark Moraghan, Danny O’ Brien, Eric Potts.

If not for the glorious sweep of water, arguably the most beguiling and entrancing river in the whole of England, the city of Liverpool would not be same place, carry the same memories and influence its environment as it has since people first settled in the area; the songs, the stories, the lifeblood of the great city stems, ebbs and flows like a giant’s pulse because of the Mersey, and By The Waters Of Liverpool is where all our lives converge and become clear.

By The Waters Of Liverpool, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(532 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Beyond Belief, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Adam Davies, Elani Edipidi, Jennifer Essex, Charles Sandford.

It is a dream of many, a fantasy in which the body, the mind, lives on forever. The notion that we can somehow conquer time, that we can endure the ravages of disease, ageing, war and eventual death, and see the future unfold, all the advancements, the hope of peace, the continuing cycle of our offspring with no repercussions, just a state of bliss, the heart endlessly beating, the mind forever wondering.

Beyond Belief, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Lovely Bones, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Pete Ashmore, Charlotte Beaumont, Emily Bevan, Bhawna Bhawsar, Susan Bovell, Natasha Cottriall, Keith Dunphy, Karan Gill, Jack Sandle, Ayoola Smart.

The interpretation of what is a universally enjoyed modern classic to the lights and close-up inspection of the theatre can hinge greatly in the eyes of the audience on just how close it gets to the emotions they would expect to be portrayed, of the damage and the reconciliation they feel is appropriate in the modern world.

The Lovely Bones, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)