Category Archives: Theatre

Romeo And Juliet, Theatre Review. St. Helens Theatre Royal.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Nicole Anderson, Gemma Barrett, Gabrielle Dempsey, Kaiden Dubois, Zachary Holton, David McLaughlin, Georgina Periam, Eirik Bar.

It may be a romance, perhaps even the greatest ever written but for the two young lovers caught up in feud of epic proportions the relationship saw more destruction over an affair of the heart than almost anything else William Shakespeare could have conceived. For Romeo and Juliet their lives are so caught up in each other’s being that the consequences, the ramifications are not given much credence by the pair. All that matters is their young love.

Romeo And Juliet, Theatre Review. St. Helens Theatre Royal. full post

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

Finding Joy, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Nanou Harry, Sarah Hawkins, Simone Lewis, Mark Winstanley.

There are times when silence speaks louder than words can ever hope to do so. Whether in anger, contempt or in happiness, the silence, the lack of communication can be deafening and more acute than a random sentence thrown together in praise or sadness.

Finding Joy, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

MASC, The Actor’s Studio. Theatre Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Beckie Van Netten, Gary Power, Lisa Kenyon, Betty O’Brien, James Parr, Nancy Clarke, Emma Beldon, Joanne Vickers, Phil Birrs, Emma Devaney, Julie Connolly, Natasia Hodge, Faye Parkinson, Kiefer Lewis, Tom Oulton, Francesca Wright.

With Liverpool having an abundance of culture, music, both live and recorded, theatre and every other sort that most cities in the U.K. would gleefully grab hold with both hands the chance to attend even a tenth of what goes on by the River Mersey, the possibility of another troupe of talented artists forming another group that people want to go along to see could be a stretch, even for Liverpool.  However art is very much embraced in the city and when the company is MASC, even five minutes watching and listening is enough to convince the attendee that it is and that they sound great.

MASC, The Actor’s Studio. Theatre Review. full post

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

Down Our Street, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Micky Finn, Crissy Rock, Suzanne Collins, Lesley Butler, Lenny Wood, Lynne Fitzgerald, Roy Brandon, Lindzi Germain, Ruth Laird.

There may be a very wide river that runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead, perhaps at times it may seem like a gulf or a yawning chasm but the actual differences between the two sides of the Mersey are in truth very small. Birkenhead and Liverpool are communities, communities built upon tradition, hard work and friendship and in Brain McCann’s outstanding musical play, Down Our Street, the history of Birkenhead is explored to its fullest, from the founding stones of John Laird and the thoughts of a model town and the shipyard that still bares the family name.

Down Our Street, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

If The Shoe Fits, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre. Liverpool

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Charlie Griffiths, Jodie Nesbitt, Angela Simms, Donna Lesley Price, Richie Grice, Chris Crookall, Lesley Hughes, Trev Fleming, James William-Watts, Michael Swift.

To see how far an idea can go, to see it flourish and become part of a city’s conscious, you don’t have to go a long way from the centre of town to the Epstein Theatre to witness the power of a great play and the imagination to keep taking it one stage further. When the Unity Theatre staged Donna Lesley Price’s supremely funny play If The Shoe Fits, no one could surely have envisioned just how it would grow and take root. From the Unity to the Floral Pavilion on the other side of the Mersey and now to one of the heart-land theatres, If The Shoe Fits continues to blossom and be an outstanding piece of Liverpool theatre.

If The Shoe Fits, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre. Liverpool full post

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

Di Is Dead, Theatre Review. The Playhouse Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Combine Robert Farquhar’s original and incredible ability to make a play of side-splitting genius from even the smallest of things and Francis Tucker’s seemingly unnatural and comic god like precision to go from the humour to semi tragedy in the spilt of second and the result is the fantastic Di Is Dead.

Di Is Dead, Theatre Review. The Playhouse Studio, Liverpool. full post

(385 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Static Gallery, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tony Irwin, Christine Heaney, Sally Fildes-Moss, Kevin Foott, Jack Spencer, Sophie O’Shea, Donna Ray Coleman, Dan Pendleton, Lee Burnitt, Shaun Roberts, Leanne Jones, Paula Stewart, Meera Bala, Alex Clark, Bradley Thompson, Sophie Kirby.

Within 12 months Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, arguably one of the towering stage works of the 20th Century, has been performed in Liverpool by two amateur dramatic companies. In both cases the play that has been seen by audiences has left them spellbound and lost for words. This particular version by Tell-Tale Theatre at the Static Gallery and Directed by Emma Whitley and produced by Leanne Jones is without doubt the finest production possibly seen on either side of the Atlantic in decades and something that the playwright would have salivated over and found disturbingly majestic.

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Static Gallery, Liverpool. full post

(386 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

The Victorian in the Wall, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Will Adamsdale, Lyndsey Turner, Jason Barnett, Chris Branch, Matthew Steer, Melanie Wilson.

The thinkers guide to writing procrastination, or rather how to give an audience that one special night where everything comes together, comedy, drama, talking fridges and builders who belittle your confidence with their knowledge of art. Everything that can ever go right and wrong in the course of a week whilst your girlfriend is away is explored to its absolute best by Will Adamsdale in the superb and captivating comedy, The Victorian in the Wall.   

The Victorian in the Wall, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Tongues, Theatre Review. 81 Renshaw Street.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Helen Kerr, Paul Culshaw, Eddie Fortune, Dale Grant.

There are two sets of horror, the one that sets out to shock from the start, blood and guts everywhere, sometimes instruments of terror are involved and in the end it becomes a gore fest, certainly a jolt to the system but doesn’t leave much to the imagination. There is nowhere for the audience member to go to. The other type is explored by Grin Productions and Wes Williams’ dramatic, sometimes bestial, totally compulsive and mind wrenching production of Tongues.

Tongues, Theatre Review. 81 Renshaw Street. full post

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

Wild Flowers, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Russell Parry, Dominic Pitt, John Bradburn, Wendy Jones, Des Flanagan, Mark Jones, Ashleigh Barton, Josie Parks, Louise Clark, Tony Russell, Jade Oxby, Franny Conlin, Wayne Lester, Peter Highton, Ken Adderley, Mal French.

It’s hard to find a production these days that is professionally polished and smooth to watch but still retains its personal touch; the little feeling you get when you recognise a character or two from your own life. It is possible to see audience members forget they are watching the latest production of Wild Flowers from the company of the same name. However they are and with original tunes and such developed characters, what a production it is!

Wild Flowers, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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