Tag Archives: theatre review

Rutherford & Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Barrie Rutter, Nicholas Shaw, Andrew Grose, Sara Poyzer, Kate Anthony, Catherine Kinsella, Richard Standing, Gilly Tompkins.

Not for nothing was Githa Sowerby compared to Henrik Ibsen, the father of theatre realism. Her play Rutherford & Son was a powerful statement in a world where the writing of a female playwright was not expected to be as bold, so groundbreaking in its fury at a world that put male pride and arrogance before the thought of the family. The absolute realism she bought to her characters, especially that of the bombastic and near tyrannical father John Rutherford, the anguish and near heart breaking life of his daughter Janet and that of the stranger to the house, the woman who makes the Faustian-like pact with her father-in-law when all else around her goes awry, the woman whose head for business sees her keep a roof over her head, the young Mary.

Rutherford & Son, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

A Wondrous Place, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Kathryn Beaumont, Joshua Hayes, Sally Hodgkiss, Adam Search.

From 18^th century novels through to turn of the last century and the black and white kitchen sink dramas produced after the war and on to stereotyped and cliché ridden mass produced television, the idea of the north is one that can be hard to dispel, to make some of those that live in alleged splendour somewhere past the Watford Gap. Not all is grim up north and the harshness that is fostered upon the area is usually one that is made by those who are jealous of the rich tapestry of life that the northern half of England holds dear.

A Wondrous Place, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Blue Remembered Hills, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: James Bolt, Phil Cheadle, Tilly Gaunt, Adrian Grove, Joanna Holden, David Nellist, Christopher Price.

It may not be considered as the pinnacle of Dennis Potter’s career as a playwright, that surely goes to the plays Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective but Blue Remembered Hills is certainly a Potter classic and one that shows that cruelty is not just confined to the adult world in which the backdrop of the Second World War rages but resides within us all from birth.

Blue Remembered Hills, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(420 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Pam And Ann On The Pisste, Theatre Review. The Liverpool Actors Studio Theatre.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Lesley Hughes, Veronica Kelly, Richard Helm.

There is no better way to spend bingo winnings than by taking a small holiday abroad and trying something new such as skiing and enjoying breakdancing with a close friend. The long expectant journey filled with word play and the fragrant smells that emanate and waft from all the fellow passengers that share the travelling with you. Or in the case of Pam and Ann, abroad is Aviemore, breakdancing is of the Scottish variety and the toilet and shower are out of order and as for the smell from the passengers…All in evening’s work by comedy duo Undercover Blondde and their play Pam and Ann On the Pisste.

Pam And Ann On The Pisste, Theatre Review. The Liverpool Actors Studio Theatre. full post

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

Mind The Gap, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Rachel Worsley, Rik Melling, Errol Smith, Jag Sanghera.

The London Underground is an architectural wonder, an amazing structure that is complex, sometimes overcrowded, dirty and yet a thing of beauty. Poets have written many an ode in their love for it, millions use it every single day and during World War Two it was home to those escaping the nightly bombing raids over England’s capital city. Yet somewhere along the line, the reason to talk to someone on the tube, to make contact with a fellow human being, someone sharing that journey with you was lost. No more reason to find out about someone and their life, now it is papers up, stare straight ahead and do not converse with anyone less it causes trouble.

Mind The Gap, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(491 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

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)