Tag Archives: Liverpool

The Jungle Book, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Rachel Dawson, Diogo Gomes, Lloyd Gormon, T. J. Holmes, Ruri James, Avita Jay, Keziah Joseph, Chipo Kureya, Dyfrig Morris, Deborah Oyelade, Tripti Tripuraneni.

The life of a writer and their creation is often seen as being so intertwined that when the reader takes a more interested look, a more critical eye over what they are being implored to read, often the join seems to flush, that whatever the writer of the novel has written must be what they believe in their own hearts.

The Jungle Book, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

When Another Dragon Roars, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast Austin Hewitt, Lucy Fiori.

To hold the attention of anyone, let alone that of a young eager mind, the story has to be entertaining, it has to have the thrill of the imagination weaved through it, delicate threads pulling together to make one large pattern, a stitch here and there creating the picture in which the story unfolds, unfurls with a flourish and which when seen with the benefit of distance is still just as valued as the moments when you are so close to the action that you cannot but smile and be drawn in by those creating the drama and the story.

When Another Dragon Roars, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Grainne Duffy, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

When you witness a musician completely stun an audience with an awe-inspiring, almost transcendent, reading of an Etta James classic, then you know you are in the presence of someone who, if Time decrees, will take the hearts and minds of crowds to come that they might never have thought possible. That in this otherwise night of a sort of second homecoming for the main event of Sheffield’s Paul Carrack to a favourite venue in a city he obviously loves, that Ireland’s Grainne Duffy would come into the lives of the Liverpool audience and simply blow them away with her charm, depth and voice.

Grainne Duffy, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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

Dead And Breathing, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Lizan Mitchell, Kim Tatum.

Aside from yourself and your loved ones  being healthy and happy, all that you can ever hope for in life is either being part of history, having your name linked to the times you live and have your name roll off the extensive tongue as if attached to a medieval proclamation, complete with booming voice reading out your virtues and perhaps a heroic deed or two; or seeing history made, knowing you were alive when the Earth shattering, the amazing or the downright incredible happened and perhaps seeing someone else have their moment in your company…being witness to the most awesome of performances.

Dead And Breathing, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Two, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jake Ryan, Rachael Reason,

It takes Two to run a successful public house, it takes two to be in a relationship that can be steady as a rock or toss and weave on the seas and bubbles of the foam filled, short measured bitterness that comes with watering down the spirit and overcharging the customer; it takes Two to pull the beers, listen to the stories and see the world beyond the optical illusion. It takes Two to remember the reason why working together in such an environment is ultimately a thrilling piece of comedy and the heartache that is the flip side of such genuine laughter.

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

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

Phantom Thread, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps, Richard Graham, Camilla Rutherford, Harriet Sansom Harris, Brian Gleeson, Julia Davis, Nicholas Mander, Gina McKee, Philip Franks, Phyllis MacMahon, Silas Carson, Martin Dew, Jane Perry, Paul Leasley.

There are always going to be films that have the fashionable and the sense of capitulation, of strong wills colliding and the realisation that to many, clothes really do encompass the person’s every waking moment. It could be seen as a statement, that what we wear on the outside is a reflection of how we wish to be seen on the inside, our mood, our aspirations and dreams, our sharpness, our overall statement to the world is wrapped up in appearance and the clothes we dress them up in; there are always going to be films which deal with this motif but Phantom Thread tugs at its very core belief a bit more than others might dare.

Phantom Thread, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

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

Journey’s End, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Sam Clafin, Paul Bettany, Tom Sturridge, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, Robert Glenister, Nicholas Agnew, Miles Jupp, Theo Barklam-Biggs, Jake Curran, Andy Gathergood, Rupert Wickham, Jack Holden, Tom Ward-Thomas, Derek Barr, Jack Riddiford, Elliot Balchin, Alais Lawson, Adam Colborne, Rose Read, Harry Jardine.

It is not the battle itself, the moment when it all ends and the tears shed, it is the reassurance of existence, even in the most inhospitable of places, of the dirt, the mud and the endless torture of waiting for an attack, it is in the moments before, the quiet and the damned making themselves known and invading the final private thoughts of those who understand that the battle, but not the war, is lost

Journey’s End, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(571 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

Her Benny, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Peter Brindle, Janet Cowley, Lindzi Germain, John McGrellis, Elizabeth Baxendale, Daniel Cox, Georgia Chadwick, David Thomas, Owen Doolan, Molly Large, Danielle Gorle, Owen Newsome, Abigail Bradbury, Jack Brown, Catherine Devine, Elliot Hanna, Laura Hesketh, Molly Hurst, Joey Jennings, Lisle des Landes, Victoria Platt, Tony Prince.

Her Benny, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

A Pacifist’s Guide To The War On Cancer, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A Pacifist’s Guide To The War On Cancer. Photograph by Mark Douet.

Cast: Eva Alexander, Bryony Kimmings, Gemma Storr, Lottie Vallis, Lara Veitch, Elexi Walker.

There is always going to be an emotional stance when it comes to Cancer, we are all either directly or indirectly affected by this disease, almost impossible to not know someone who has been changed by the feeling of having something alien inside them, influenced in their thinking or who has in modern world sense, fought it. It is that very sense of the phrase fought that is the emotive part for some, and for Bryony Kimmings it is a word that doesn’t sit right, it implies perhaps fighting, war, taking up arms in a body of troubles and ultimately in a war, nobody wins, there are only casualties.

A Pacifist’s Guide To The War On Cancer, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(471 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Joe Brown, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are institutions, there are legends and then if you are lucky enough, if you have the fortune and interest of spirit coursing through your veins, then there are those to whom British music owes not just a debt of thanks, but a rather large cheque that can never be cashed or exchanged. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Take That, Bananarama, Atomic Kitten, Kate Bush, without the likes of Tommy Steele, Billy Fury and Joe Brown leading the way from the very start, arguably the British music scene would have looked an awful lot different.

Joe Brown, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(566 words, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)