Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Roger Allam, Richard Armitage, Anna Calder-Marshall, Rosalind Eleazer, Toby Jones, Dearbhla Molloy, Aimee Lou Wood, Peter Wright.
The annoyance of life is such that it only takes one diversion in the perceived day to day normality to throw us from the gentle walk to oblivion and into the realm of unfettered chaos.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Toby Jones, Henry Goodman, Stephen Rae, Maggie Steed, Peter Wright, Jamie Winstone.
Harold Pinter’s first major play, The Birthday Party, has either captivated or underwhelmed audiences since it first came to the stage sixty years ago. Even in 2018 as it was revived with Zoe Wanamaker, Stephen Mangan and Pearl Mackie amongst its cast, it left confusion in its wake, taken to heart by many, but leaving some distrusting of the playwright’s ultimate question which never truly gets spoken out loud.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Tom Bateman, Johnny Flynn, Claudia Jessie, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Ellie Kendrick, Robert Pugh, Charlie Rowe, Sian Clifford, Martin Clunes, David Flynn, Matthew Baynton, Monica Dolan, Patrick FitzSymons, Felicity Montague, Claire Skinner, Peter Wright, Toby Williams, Elizabeth Barrington, Richie Campbell, Frances de la Tour, Mike Grady, Anthony Head, Suranne Jones.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay, Angus Wright, Juliet Stevenson, David Rintoul, Barry Aird, Calum Finlay, Joshua Higgott, Elliot Barnes-Worrell, Marty Cruikshank, Amaka Okafor, Daniel Rabin, Luke Thompson, Peter Wright, Matthew Wynn.
There is always mileage in the heart of a universal play that means it never runs out of steam, it might falter and choke once in a while, it might be considered as bloated, overweight, have the wrong driver, be overwhelmed by passengers who contribute nothing to the aesthetics of the piece but on the whole it is one that often purrs along. The luxury on the outside replicated on the inside, the joy of seeing the production vehicle out on the road is a radiant sight and even when it is via the medium of television, the excitement and drama is one on which to celebrate.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn, Luke Treadaway, Roger Allam, Pam Ferris, Peter Wright, Virginia McKenna, June Brown, Simon Day, Alex Jordan, Harry Collett, Gillian Hanna, Duncan Wisbey, Karyn Claydon.
If we were all as fortunate, as happy in life as the parents of British artist, cartoonist and graphic novelist Raymond Briggs then the world would arguably be a happier place. In a touching, beautiful piece of animation, the celebrated artist’s portrayal of his mum and dad’s life from the first time they met to the day they both passed away was explored, visually described and heartbreakingly detailed with praise, attention and sheer craft in the feature length Ethel and Ernest.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael Elwyn, Leroy Osei-Bonsu, Beth Cooke, James Garnon, Danny Lee Wynter, Lloyd Everitt, Alan David, Trevor Laird, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Melody Grove, Penelope Beaumont, Peter Wright, Tim Barlow, Katherine Carlton.
There really is nothing quite like watching two of the most celebrated actors of their generation giving an audience an evening inside a theatre in which will be remembered for so long and for all the right reasons. When those two actors are the exquisite and commanding Vanessa Redgrave and one of the all-time greatest American actors in James Earl Jones and they are surrounded by a cast that just revelled in the performance, then The Old Vic was on to an absolute winner with their new stage production of Much Ado About Nothing.