MIDLANDS THEATRES - REVIEWS
REVIEWERS NEEDED TO COVER SOME OF THE LISTED VENUES ....AND MORE!
(to find a specific production use the
"find/search" facility on your Internet server, and enter the title)
Selected reviews appear
on this page for productions at: BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY COMPANY; BIRMINGHAM
HIPPODROME; THE ALEXANDRA THEATRE - BIRMINGHAM;
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE
COMPANY AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON; THE BELGRADE THEATRE, COVENTRY; THE
HAYMARKET THEATRE, LEICESTER; THE GRAND THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON, WORCESTER -
Swan Theatre; MALVERN THEATRES: DERBY THEATRES; NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE,
COURTYARD THEATRE, HEREFORD
BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY
THEATRE
BOX OFFICE: 0121 236 4455
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR
THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email:
GPowner@aol.com
THE ALEXANDRA THEATRE
BIRMINGHAM
BOX OFFICE: 0870 607 7544
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR
THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email:
GPowner@aol.com
THE HIPPODROME
BIRMINGHAM
BOX OFFICE: 0121 622 7437
www.birmingham-hippodrome.co.uk
Permanent Reviewer required for
this venue - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE
COMPANY
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
Box Office: 01789 295623
(open 9am - 8pm Mon - Sat)
KING LEAR
by William Shakespeare
Royal Shakespeare
Company, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Now playing in
repertory until June 21st
Just
as playing Hamlet is to the rising actor his defining achievement, so playing
Lear is to the established performer, seeking to set a crown upon his
lifetime’s effort. At the age of 56, albeit more than thirty years after
he first joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, Greg Hicks’ voice may
still be a little too young for the role, but he offers a coherent and
convincing interpretation, blending harshness and pathos, which justifies the
decision to include the play in this season’s RSC repertoire so soon
after Ian McKellen’s 2007 performance.
Jon
Clark’s lighting makes a striking effect as the play opens, giving a
feeling of fresh and subtle thought as a shadowy tableau forms itself, and
Lear’s independence and authority are established by his smilingly taking
his court by surprise in his first entrance, but, as more of Jon Bausor’s design is revealed, the overall shape of the
production becomes a little less satisfactory. Taking the line, as set out in
an essay by Rene Weis in the programme, that the play reflects a dysfunctional
state, threatened with disintegration in the post-Gunpowder Plot climate of
fear, David Farr sets it in a derelict warehouse with cracking walls and faulty
electrics (later adding the impression that Gloucester lives in a lock-up in an
industrial unit by flying in a rolled metal doorway). The central weakness of
this concept is that it cannot do justice to Shakespeare’s broader
insistence that the cruelties which Lear suffers are not just a reflection of
the frailties of the Jacobean state, but a part of the timeless human
condition, as the third act exposes him to the terrifying power of the natural
world. I would have valued more naturalistic approaches to the storm than the
localised shower pouring down on Lear and the Fool from a battery of
searchlights, and the lightning from flickering strip lights. The costumes run
through a range of periods, starting with medieval furs and leathers and ending
in First World War military, focusing in between on a largely Dickensian look.
While this widens the scope of the play, it also runs the risk of confusing its
statement.
But
the emotional heart of the play works its proper effect. Geoffrey Freshwater’s excellent
Gloucester is richly affecting, both in the blinding scene and in his
pilgrimage thereafter, and the Pieta-like image of Lear cradling the dead Cordelia is painful and pitiful. Both Freshwater and Hicks
give strength to the whole production, as does the androgynous figure of
Kathryn Hunter as the Fool, in traditional cap and bells, seeming somehow to
suggest a boy and an old man at the same time, and delivering the lines with
both subtlety and clarity. Darrell D’Silva
brings exactly the right qualities of strength and compassion to Kent, and
Kelly Hunter and Katy Stephens render passionately Goneril’s
and Regan’s relish of power and assertion of self. In spite of one or two
rather sketchier characterisations, it is a strong ensemble performance.
Reviews by Andrew Wihffin for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
GRAND THEATRE
WOLVERHAMPTON
BOX OFFICE: 01902 42
92 12
Website: www.grandtheatre.co.uk
THE HOBBIT
Now playing unti0l 12th march
When JRR Tolkien wrote
his fantasy story of an imaginary world, it seems unlikely that he would have
imagined the impact they would have had on the literary world in the years that
followed. The quest around Tolkien’s fantasy is concerned with the battle
between good and evil and how evil must be overcome to maintain a healthy
balance in society.
The action for The
Hobbit takes place in different parts of Middle Earth as Bilbo Baggins (Peter
Howe) and Thorin Oakenshield
(Andrew Coppin) and his small band of men, make their
way across many dangerous and strange lands in order to reach Erebor the exiled land of the Dwarfs.
Along the way many
creatures are met including Trolls, Goblins, Lakemen,
Wood Elves, Gollum a former Hobbit and Wolves not to mention the final frontier
when they came face to face with The Dragon guarding The Heart of Erebor.
Bilbo, Thorin and all the other good people of Middle Earth are in
safe hands as they are watched over and guided by sorcerer Gandalf (Christopher
Robbie).
Wonderful costumes,
lighting and special effects help to make this stage version of the story an
interesting and entertaining night out and for fans of Tolkien’s work the
show is a must see.
Mixed in with the drama
is a small amount of music and a rather strange but entertaining form of Middle
Earth line dancing!
The show runs until
Saturday 13th March.
Reviews
by Fran and Steve Onions for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
HAYMARKET THEATRE
LEICESTER
REVIEWER NEEDED FOR THIS VENUE - Please contact the Editor via e-mail:- GPowner@aol.com
THE BELGRADE THEATRE
COVENTRY
BOX OFFICE: (024) 7655
3055
REVIEWER NEEDED FOR THIS VENUE - Please contact the Editor via e-mail:- GPowner@aol.com
SWAN
THEATRE
WORCESTER
BOX OFFICE: 01905 27322
REVIEWER NEEDED FOR THIS VENUE - Please contact the Editor via e-mail:- GPowner@aol.com
MALVERN
THEATRES
FORUM
and FESTIVAL
Grange Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 3HB
BOX
OFFICE: 01684 892277
Reviews
by Rebecca Vines for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
DERBY
THEATRE
Theatre Walk
Eagle Centre
Derby
DE1 2NF
Box
office: 01332 255 800
DERBY LIVE
Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AE
Box Office: 01332 255800
Website: www.derbylive.co.uk
E-mail: boxoffice@derby.gov.uk
Reviews
by Mike Wheeler for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
CHESTER GATEWAY THEATRE
Hamilton
Place
Chester, CH1 2BH
BOX OFFICE: 01244 340392
CURRENTLY “DARK”
Reviews by Jonnie Woodall for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
LYCEUM
THEATRE
Heath Street
Crewe
Cheshire CW12DA
BOX OFFICE: 01270 537333
Reviews by Jonnie Woodall for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE
Wellington Circus
Nottingham NG1 5AF
BOX
OFFICE: 0115 941 9419
Minicom:
0115 947 6100
The Box Office is open
Monday to Saturday from 10.00a.m. - 8 p.m. and Sundays and Bank holidays 2
hours before any performance.
Book Online - www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Email - enquiry@nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Reviews by Elaine Peel
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
THE COURTYARD THEATRE
Edgar Street
Hereford
HR4 9JR
Box Office 01432 359252
Reviews
by Rebecca Vines for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
For more details or individual advice/help - email:
GPowner@aol.com