Category Archives: Theatre

1984, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mark Arends, Tim Dutton, Stephen Fewell, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Matthew Spencer, Gavin Spokes, Mandi Symonds, Hara Yannas, Richard Bremmer, Joshua Higgott.

To do justice to arguably one of the finest pieces of English Literature of the 20th Century on stage takes a team so immersed into what they are trying to achieve, that all else is secondary. To bring to life the horror that awaits Winston Smith from the spectre of Big Brother that is stamped like an impregnable tattoo all over the face of decency in 1984 takes a fantastic director, an adaptor of work who can make the simmering tension boil over again and again and two men you can believe in from start to finish to capture the spirit of a nation, of a world that has become the stuff of nightmares.

1984, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(480 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Scrappers, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: David Judge, John McGrellis, Ged McKenna, Molly Taylor.

The world is forever changing, no sooner have you got to grips with one situation than another comes along to take yet another swipe at you and push you to the brink. Such is the world of Scrappers and those living in a world in which is always under threat by new methods.

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

(478 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Nina Conti, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is something of the endearing quality to Nina Conti and her ventriloquist act that just makes the audience fall in love with her. The rather special talent that drives a person to perform with a sarcastic monkey or an eight year old inner child on their arms and get away with the most irreverent sayings all in the case of entertainment is one to admired and nurtured.

Nina Conti, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Mark Thomas, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Not even a fire alarm going off with the manner of absurd authority can challenge the influence that Mark Thomas has on his fans and followers, for a brief time the Bandstand in Williamson Square became his stage as he gave an impromptu talk on some of the laws areas would pass up and down the country if the people truly had their own manifesto. In other hands the slight turn of events could have been a painful but Mark Thomas is nothing but a man with a plan, a man who doesn’t let convention get in the way of a great radical thought and in his own way he turned a moment of audience despair into perhaps a brilliant act of dissent.

Mark Thomas, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

Statik, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Michael Lattin-Rawstrone, Rebecca Rogers, Simone Lewis.

It is sometimes overlooked that people under the age of 16 have opinions, their beliefs and thoughts are quite often more insightful that those in their 40’s, what they lack is just someone to listen carefully, the result, if heeded, could be surprising.

Action Transport Theatre revel in this approach and in Statik, the theatre group’s premise holds fast and makes the most of their interaction and questioning of the younger section of society on certain aspects of life. It is an approach that brings fascinating results and for that alone Action Transport Theatre should be applauded.

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

(340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

On The One Hand, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Illona Linthwaite, Sarah Berger, Tracey-Anne Liles, Kylie Walsh, Hannah Lambsdown.

All the world really is a stage and for The Paper Birds at the Playhouse Studio, the allusion to Jaques in Shakespeare’s As You Like It as he ruminates melancholically over the seven ages of man is more than a nod, it is a great big friendly handshake that captures the very essence of six of the ages of womanhood in their production of On the One Hand.

On The One Hand, Theatre Review. Playhouse Studio. Liverpool. full post

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

Stewart Lee, Comedy Review. Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Stewart Lee’s latest show boasts value for money as he delivered two hours and twenty minutes of largely new material, where he takes seemingly familiar subject matter to abstract and hilarious new territory.

Stewart Lee, Comedy Review. Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. full post

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

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Adam Best, Mabel Clements, George Costigan, Amiera Darwish, Chris Donald, Cate Hamer, Jessica Hardwick, John Paul Hurley, Jack Lord, Obioma Ugoala.

There are moments in theatre where the ugly head of jealousy might just rear up within an audience member and show the person what they could have achieved if they were so minded. The chance to write, direct or even perform in a production of Crime And Punishment that is so magnificent, so constant in its relentless look at the way poverty, crime and descending psychosis, that even to have pulled the curtain up at the start of the play would have been an enormous thrill.

Crime And Punishment, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Master and Margarita. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Joseph England, Simon Hedger, Jack Quarton, Olivia Meguer, Max Rubin, Modou Bah, Hannah Gover, Teresa O’Brien.

There are some works that are too good to keep hidden from those that would demean and diminish them. Some works may need to be spirited away in case certain people take offence and see the satire as a personal attack. However those in the very highest of offices do sometimes need reminding that they are they to serve the people, not the other way round. No matter how long it takes to get a novel published or someone to take it on as, what can only be described as riveting, in a theatre setting, at some point the message will get through, such is the fate of Mikhail Bulgakov’s work, The Master and Margarita.

The Master and Margarita. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(484 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Monkey Bars, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Philip Bosworth, Angela Clerkin, Jaquetta May, Christine Roe, Gwyneth Strong, Gordon Warnecke.

Taken from conversations held with 72 children aged 6 – 11 and from a diverse range of social and cultural backgrounds, Monkey Bars is an intriguing look on life that offers new light through old windows as to how the modern world works.

Chris Goode’s script is beautifully written and the adult cast in a wide range of roles, must feel as though they are themselves kids left to run riot through Hamley’s and the biggest Haribo factory in the world.

Monkey Bars, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre Studio, Liverpool. full post

(233 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)