Category Archives: Theatre

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. The Casa, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Nathan Benjamin, Bow Towers, Yahya Baggash, P.J. Murray, Michael Cavanagh, Helen Lanceley, Peter Durr, Pam Campbell, Laura Connolly.

There is a stark and simple truth, an element of wholesomeness and direct appeal that Burjesta Theatre bring to the stage; the stripped back but achingly beautiful way of producing their adaptive productions, be it dealing with great weighty historical novels such as War and Peace or the huge wonderful explorations of Greek tragedy theatre, all is given the reverence of the magisterial, the subtle timings of players performing for the enjoyment of the words and the greatness of the play.

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. The Casa, Liverpool. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Woman In Black, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Acton, Matthew Spencer.

A good ghost story never flinches in the face of modern day scepticism, if anything it can grow with stature, it can take on almost a life of its own, of becoming a haunting reminder of the world in between realities that shape and bend our perceptions of what is clear and unsullied and what is blurred, distorted and afraid to step out of the shadows. A good ghost story is one which you can feel the person next to you wanting to jump out of their skin, their creeping flesh tingle with nervousness and anticipation; there are many that have this effect but few capture the pure sense of emotion that is inherent as The Woman In Black.

The Woman In Black, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The Nether, Theatre Review. Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton, Ontario

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mary-Maria Bourdeau, Tim Funnell, Randy Hughson, Andrea Runge, Nigel Shawn Williams.

It is the reveal of who we are in cyberspace, the change we make to be someone we cannot or should not be, that perhaps defines us; it is one thing to create a persona that others would not recognise if they were to bump into us in the unconscious sphere, it is quite another to let that simulated version of us to do damage, to harm sexually or mentally, another human being with our base and destructive desires.

The Nether, Theatre Review. Theatre Aquarius, Hamilton, Ontario full post

(397 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Nina: A Story About Me And Nina Simone, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Josette Bushall-Mingo, Shapor Bastansiar, Shaney Forbes, Jair–Rohm Parker Wells.

Political thought requires The Arts to remind it of just what it is fighting for on occasion, the rest of the time Art is there to take on the degraded and the foolish who seek power without representation, who make those who seek to undermine a person by the colour of their skin, their age, race, gender, sexuality or their perceived ability to do a job, Art must strive to admonish, rebuke and sternly warn by any means possible but it also must hold the hand, caress the soul and give comfort that whilst the holders of such ideas are wrong, they at least can be changed.

Nina: A Story About Me And Nina Simone, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Our Will, Theatre Review. The Black-E, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Adam Mohoney, Kerry Wells, Emily Darley, John Rand, Ben Small, Dawn Geary, George Goetzee, Sue Fawkes, Glyn Edwards.

It is not always about what is perceived to go on within the confines of a stage that makes a particular stand out memory for those honoured enough to see it or take time out of their lives to watch it, it is the knowledge of how deeply personal it is to the cast and how incredibly hard they have worked in overwhelming circumstances to make it happen, the sheer will, the graft and the pleasure, it can only be a case of Our Will against those who fight against such positivity.

Our Will, Theatre Review. The Black-E, Liverpool. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Father O’ Flaherty Saves Our Souls, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Clare Bowles, Helen Carter, Paul Duckworth, Alan Stocks, Keddy Sutton.

An outpouring of respect should be shown to an actor who puts their life in the hands of an audience to the extent that their own inner thoughts, their own passionate affair with the boards and with language become so consuming that they write a play off their own back and present it to a crowd, ever hungry, ever in need of a new production to hold close to their hearts, and feel the sweat and possible damnation coming off the rehearsal floor for.

Father O’ Flaherty Saves Our Souls, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Spine, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Rosie Wyatt.

It is the mantra of the age, everything has its price and everything is for sale. This diabolical hymn somehow has managed to include the voice of the angry teenager and the most ingenious of weapons, the written word, it somehow had diminished both to the same level of inconsequence, of being nothing more than the leftover in the three for a fiver bin or the silenced dream of the less than irritated willing to put on a tie and a suit and become a nodding dog filled with false outrage.

Spine, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio, Liverpool. full post

(459 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Leah Brotherhead, Garry Cooper, Aruham Galieva, Guy Hughes, Amber James, Charlotte Mills, Dharmesh Patel, Fred Thomas.

William Shakespeare is arguably the pinnacle of the English language, the most brilliant observer of human behaviour and the writer of some of the world’s finest plays; from Hamlet to Richard III, from Macbeth to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and onto Henry V and Love’s Labour’s Lost, all are instantly recognisable and charged with experience. Yet even the Bard had to start somewhere, even Shakespeare had to grind out an initial play that even in modern times is under produced, labelled problematic and one that even the B.B.C. in its infinite wisdom has shied away from repeating more than once.

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(416 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

The Rivals, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Desmond Barrit, Nicholas Bishop, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Lily Donovan, Keith Dunphy, Henry Everett, Jessica Hardwick, Julia Legrand, Lee Mango, Shaun Miller, Rhys Rusbatch.

One of 18th Centuries Europe’s finest wits and tamer of words never truly gets the praise he deserves in modern society, it is to be enemy of Time when figures such as Richard Sheridan are venerated and applauded by 21st Century audiences and readers of his work but to whom never seem to see the plays due to the length of the production and the fear of producers to take them beyond the boundaries of London.

The Rivals, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(423 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ian Cook, Adam Davies, Eleni Edupidi, Jennifer Essex.

Like convenience food, happiness is pre-packaged, put on a shelf and marketed, it is what everybody desires, everybody grasps for, fights over and goes out of their way to show to the world that they have seen a fleeting glimpse of it as the show an endless parade of pictures of their life on social media; happiness is no longer a cigar, it is an emotion that becomes more flawed and cracked the higher life takes you, for like money, the more you have, the more you need to keep the thrill going.

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(375 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)