Category Archives: Theatre

Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Joanne McGuinness, Kirsty MacLaren, Francis Mayli McCann, Dawn Sievewright.

The potent mix of having too much time on your hands and not enough to do in the area is more than the headlong crash into certain temptation. For those whose young hormones rule absolutely it can cause the body and mind to depart and separate in ways that might seem unfathomable to many who have never experienced the deprivation of what a city life can offer.

Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Urinetown, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Photograph reproduced with kind permission by Andrew Ab.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Shaun Holdom-Eyles, Amy Murphy, Jak Malone, Franki Burke, Jamie Barfield, Julie Evans, Andrew Jones, Chris Brockelsby, Alex Williams, Trev Fleming, Megan Key, Tom Lox, Steph Scrutton, Charlotte Wilson, Lily Mak, Martin Ellis, Eugene Tan, Jen Ramage, Zoe Thirsk,Elan Barfield, Steph Longmuir, Taylor Henwood, Jo Vickers.

Musicians: Jonas Tattersall, Andy Weaver, Jonny Knight, Ben Knowles, Callum Clarke.

Urinetown, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Shout! The Mod Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Emily Chesterton, Sarah Folwell, Hayley Hampson, Miriam O’ Brien, Evangeline Pickerill, Katie Tyler.

Musicians: Elliot Chapman, George Francis, Arnar P. Stefansson, Alex Smith.

A time of Mini-skirts, of free love, of the start of the women’s movement as we know it, of responsibility and of great and lasting music; the 60s were where it began for many, Generation X was about to become arguably the finest age group yet and for those that suffered after post war austerity and to whom the new decade signalled social change. The 60s was a prelude for the melody and tunes to come and the shedding of the Victorian attitude which had damned previous generations.

Shout! The Mod Musical, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool. full post

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

The Complete Deaths, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Aitor Basauri, Stephen Kreiss, Petra Massey, Toby Park.

Not every death in Shakespeare’s cannon of work was memorable, not every murder grizzly or foretold by the fortunate chance happening of witches and perhaps not as impressionable to the romantic painters as the death of Ophelia, but there were lots of them, there were hundreds and not all of them on stage and not all of them as well affected as suddenly being pursued by a bear across a wild and abandoned coast line.

The Complete Deaths, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(372 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Cymbeline, Theatre Review. R.S.C., Stratford Upon Avon.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gillian Bevan, Bethan Cullinane, Oliver Johnstone, Hiran Abeysekera, James Clyde, James Cooney, Natalie Simpson, Temi Wilkey, Graham Turner, Kelly Williams, Marcus Griffiths, Byron Mondahl, Doreene Blackstock, Eke Chukwu, Romayne Andrews, Marieme Diouf, Jenny Fennessy, Kevin N Goldberg, Theo Ogundipe

During the Royal Shakespeare Company’s quest to perform all 38 of the great Bard’s plays over the coming years, audiences get to glimpse gems of his repertoire that are less often performed. This production of Cymbeline showcases one of Shakespeare’s later plays, and the play shows a maturity and complexity that is a joy to behold.

Cymbeline, Theatre Review. R.S.C., Stratford Upon Avon. full post

(363 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Footsteps In The Shadows, Theatre Review. The City of Liverpool College, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Will Smith, Harleyia Heffey, Adam Leyland, Chloe Ogburn, Phil Rayner, Murren McFarlane, Bryony Doyle, John Stephenson, Shannon Haugh, Dorcas Sebuyange, Ian Smith, Mikey Gordon, Jamie Forbes, Kate Bricknal, James Bibby.

There are just some people in the world to whom evil is not a strong enough word to describe them; that their very actions on this Earth are to be considered so vile, so despicable that it is impossible to show any remorse for them. To take them on as a character within a film or a play is almost to feel as if you are opening up a crack in life that should be left alone; however that then would detract from the story that must be told as a warning so others are prepared for the Footsteps In The Shadows.

Footsteps In The Shadows, Theatre Review. The City of Liverpool College, Liverpool. full post

(492 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Jonny & The Baptists, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Jonny Donahue, Paddy Gervers

Death is inevitable, the planet more or less will become more fragile and yes perhaps we have gone past the tipping point where extinction is possible, yet at the end of the day there is still time for comedy and satire; after all aren’t those who continue to put us in the mess we like to roll around in, worth it? The world may be on a collision course with the apocalypse, of irreversible climate change but there is still time to enjoy two men on stage take a light hearted but smack on look at what it actually means to be told The End Is Nigh

Jonny & The Baptists, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Joke, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Will Adamsdale, Brian Logan, Lloyd Hutchinson.

Ever feel that the Cosmos is having a huge laugh at your expense, that despite your best efforts and sincerity in making a difference in the world, eventually you will find out to the annoyance of your sanity that The Joke has been always on you. In a world of stereotypes, of labels and typecast ideas, The Joke is always one that become stale and flat; unless you have the genius of Will Adamsdale and his fellow actors on stage giving it the absolute sparkle needed to make 80 minutes become inventive, novel and wonderfully unsullied.

The Joke, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(402 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Going Viral, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Daniel Bye

The premise behind Daniel Bye’s latest show is a simple one; an aeroplane flies from India to England, everyone onboard is weeping. Everyone except you. There is a disease sweeping the world, it is incredibly infectious and it passes from person to person. Bye explores the issues of viruses and how they spread in his latest show Going Viral currently running at the Unity.

Going Viral, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(331 words, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

Error 404, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Daniel Bye.

The nature of the Philosopher, the very act of being, is one that is largely ignored and yet remains one of the most telling lines of all William Shakespeare’s plays. To be or not to be, the very nature of existence and the art of acting upon will or allowing events to be dictated to you, to feel alive, to need, to ache, to live, to feel, these are fundamental questions in which truth of reality is achieved and highlighted.

Error 404, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)