Category Archives: Theatre

The Snow Queen, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Danny Burns, Lloyd Gorman, Barbara Hockaday, Nikita Johal, Adam Keast, Greg Last, Nicola Martinus-Smith, Jamie Noar, Lucy Thatcher, Francis Tucker.

Children of all ages always eagerly await the first drifts of Christmas snow, a winter picture postcard from our past never seems to fit right without the unique flakes falling against the backdrop of a street light and the crisp sound, that first exquisite crunch of Wellington Boot on the overnight gift that the turning of the year brings us, it may be a time of memory, of quiet solitude in thanks but as The Snow Queen knocks at the door, what cannot be avoided is the chance to laugh, smile till the face takes on a permanent position of glee, and to relax in the company of actors and extenuated by superbly played music and genuine affection to entertain.

The Snow Queen, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(477 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Give The Fans Sweet F.A., Theatre Review. The Studio At The Royal Court, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Adam Byrne, Mikyla Jane Durkan, Peter Durr, Maggi Green, Mike Howl, Frank Kennedy, Joe Matthew-Morris, Geraldine Moloney Judge, Claire O’Neill, Mike Sanders, Rosalie Sephton, Joseph Stanley, Kevin Thomas, Callum Wright.

Give The Fans Sweet F.A., Theatre Review. The Studio At The Royal Court, Liverpool. full post

(516 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

The Time Machine, Theatre Review. The Studio, Atkinson Theatre, Southport.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Stephen Cunningham.

It is all about Time, how we attempt to understand it, how it tempts, teases, and controls us, Time punishes the wary and the inquisitive alike, it finds ways to deceive us, to humble and humiliate us, get too close and it leaves scars, stay away from investigating it, from immersing yourself within its non-corporeal hold and it will tear you layer from layer, it will chew down on your soul and ravage you. Time is a beast, a friend, a lawyer, an advocate and one that must unravel slowly, the tick and the tock always reminding us that if we see into our own futures, that of our own species, the result could drive us mad.

The Time Machine, Theatre Review. The Studio, Atkinson Theatre, Southport. full post

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

They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lisa Howard, Steve Huison, Suzette Ahmet, Matt Connor, Michael Hugo.

We are living in a time of farce, a period of political instability in which nobody understands the game anymore, and which is unravelling to the point of embarrassing absurdity; if it wasn’t so frightening, so tragic, and with the constant concern of extremist views being able to sit at the same table as common decency and compassion, then it would be funny.

They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(502 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Rock Of Ages, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Danielle Hope, Luke Walsh, Kevin Kennedy, Lucas Rush, Zoe Birkett, Sam Ferriday, Rhiannon Chesterman, Andrew Carthy, Vas Constanti, Erin Bell, Alexander Day, Joshua Dever, Sinead Kenny, Adam Strong, Bobby Windebank, Saran Webb, Paris Green, Ryan-Lee Seager.

Rock Of Ages, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(512 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

To Have To Shoot Irishmen, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Gerard Kearns, Elinor Lawless, Robbie O’ Neill, Russell Richardson.

In our act of observance, of recording the facts of a certain situation so that if justice needs to be served, it is done so without bias, without favouritism and with impartiality at the forefront of truth, we can find ourselves in the unwarranted position of being accused of being involved with the crime at hand, or finding our name being labelled as a traitor. To observe, to witness history in the eyes of the pacifist is to know that death by other’s actions is always a possibility, it might just depend which side decides to pull the trigger.

To Have To Shoot Irishmen, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(504 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

The Habit Of Art, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: John Wark, Alexandra Guelff, Matthew Kelly, Veronica Roberts, Benjamin Chandler, David Yelland, Robert Mountford.

Almost half a century on from his death, the writing, the conscious of one of Britain’s most revered poets, not only of the 20th Century, but arguably of all time, hangs over the nation like Banquo’s Ghost at the table, accusing in many ways the country of neglecting its soul, of pursuing a course of action in which poems such as September 1st 1939 have been forgotten in their entirety, the message of W.H. Auden becoming an almost whimsy-like fascination. It is perfectly acceptable for the poet to come to hate his own creations, become embarrassed by them, shun them even, but a nation should never forget the deep riches left by the fire, singed, but never completely turned to ash.

The Habit Of Art, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(527 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Troilus & Cressida, Theatre Review. R.S.C., Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gavin Fowler, Amber James, Oliver Ford Davis, Adjoa Andoh, Andy Apollo, James Cooney, Suzanne Bertish, Jim Hooper, Theo Ogundipe, Daniel Burke, Sheila Reid, Andrew Langtree, Amanda Harris, Daniel Hawksford, Geoffrey Lumb, Daisy Badger, Charlotte Arrowsmith, Ewart James Walters, Leigh Quinn, Mikhail Sen, Gabby Wong, Helen Grady, Esther McAuley, Nicole Agada.

Advertised as Shakespeare meets Mad Max, this production of Troilus & Cressida by the Royal Shakespeare Company brings together more traditionally garbed Trojans with motorcycle riding, metallic Greeks, accentuating what is described in the programme notes as a play that embraces contradictions, rather than flattening them.

Troilus & Cressida, Theatre Review. R.S.C., Stratford-Upon-Avon. full post

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

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)