REVIEWS
NORTHERN ENGLAND
This page
contains reviews at the following theatres:-
LIVERPOOL
THEATRES
SHEFFIELD -
Lyceum Theatre & - Crucible Theatre
MANCHESTER
THEATRES: Royal Exchange /Library Theatre /Trafford Centre / Palace Theatre / Opera
House
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE:
Northern Stage / Theatre Royal
West
Yorkshire Playhouse/ Quarry Theatre / Courtyard Theatre
YORK -
Theatre Royal
SCARBOROUGH
- Stephen Joseph Theatre
LYCEUM THEATRE
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Reviews by "The Whitfields"
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
CRUCIBLE THEATRE
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Sheffield Crucible Theatre
Sheffield Theatres present
ALICE
a new adaptation of Lewis
Carroll's
Alice in Wonderland by Laura Wade
with original music by David
Shrubsole
Now playing until Saturday 24 July 2010
For their summer family
show, Sheffield Theatres have put together a vibrant and visually exciting new
adaptation of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. Writer LAURA WADE has
given us a contemporary Alice, growing up in a suburb of Sheffield. The trauma
of her brother's death propels her into Wonderland and a journey of
self-discovery through encounters with the characters of Lewis' original tale.
There is plenty to enjoy
in this production, but it is not for the very young. Occasional
aspects of the language might be too strong for some parents liking, and
the dark edge given by the contemporary 'bookends' might make this a more
difficult watch for some.
ALICE, both in its'
original form and in this production, is essentially a series of
encounters between the central character and a succession of bizarre,
outlandish characters (or "mentals", as
this Alice describes them). As such there is little narrative drive. WADE
has attempted to provide us with story and motivation by giving Alice a
quest for "the heart", but this feels somewhat contrived and, at
times, extremely heavy-handed. Best to enjoy the language,
the visuals and the characters. Alice (RUBY BENTALL) is on stage
for practically the entire performance and is the glue that holds the
entire production together. It's a big ask. BENTALL looks the part and has a
nice mix of naivety and feistiness, but she sometimes struggles vocally in the
large Crucible space.
So,
to the highlights. The design - NAOMI
WILKINSON - is very imaginative, playful and fun. Plenty of
clever tricks and enjoyable moments which we won't spoil by describing here.
DAVID SHRUBSOLE provides highly enjoyable original music, performed by the
excellent 'Wonderband' (JACK BEALE, JOHN BIDDLE,
OLIVER BIRCH and GRAHAM O'MARA). We'd have appreciated seeing even more of
them. BEATIE EDNEY has great fun as the Duchess and the Mock Turtle and JOHN
MARQUEZ is excellent as Humpty and the Gryphon. The Children's and
Community Ensembles help to populate the Crucible stage and give
the feeling of a populated and busy world.
As
we said, much to enjoy. In
the spirit of the original, this production is an intriguing mix of the feeble,
the infuriating, the funny, and the fantastic.
Paul and Gertie Whitfield
Reviews by "The Whitfields"
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
CRUCIBLE STUDIO
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Sheffield Crucible Studio
Sheffield Theatres present
THAT FACE
by Polly Stenham
Now playing until Saturday 24th July 2010
THAT FACE by POLLY
STENHAM and directed by RICHARD WILSON is not an experience for the
faint-hearted! The play is a dark portrait of a wealthy family in deep trouble.
The play was first performed at the Royal Court in 2007 before transferring to
the West End. This is its' first performance at a British regional theatre.
This is an engaging,
gripping and intense performance in the intimate Studio space. All the
performances are compelling. At the heart of the play is the relationship
between Martha (FRANCES BARBER) and Henry (JAMES NORTON). BARBER's performance
is mature and assured. NORTON, as the kind, loving, loyal Henry genuinely moved
the audience. He proved himself to be a rounded and accomplished performer.
JAMES COTTERILL's design
is effective. The contrast between the cluttered nature of Henry's room and the
other environments helped the play.
THAT FACE is a difficult
play to write about in detail without giving away too much. To
be recommended if you want a powerful, if grim, evening at the theatre.
Reviewed by Gertie and Sophie Whitfield for
Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Reviews by "The Whitfields"
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE
St Anne's Square
Manchester
BOX OFFICE: 0161 833 9833
Web site: http://www.royalexchange.co.uk
CHARLEY'S AUNT
by Brandon Thomas
Now playing until 7th August
That quintessentially
English of all English Farces, Charley's Aunt, picks up her skirts and makes a
dash for it to the Royal Exchange, Manchester, where she will, no doubt, delight
the early summer audiences.
Braham Murray sets his
production some thirty years on from Brandon Thomas' original early 1890s
period but nothing appears to be lost here. We are still in Oxford where the
privileged upper-class students are waited on by college butlers, where
champagne and credit, girls and their young men, adopt a gay and carefree
life-style knowing that they can easily be bailed out by rich parents. All delightful fun. And in its day, the play broke all box
office records.
It is easy to see
why. Dated though Charley's
Aunt may be, and reflecting a by-gone period, it still holds a certain
fascination and charm. Thomas' play is engaging and witty, the characters
frivolous and the situations ridiculous. Confusion abounds as Jack Chesney and
Charles Wickham secure the reluctant help of their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberley, in
chaperoning the visits of Miss Kitty Verdun and Miss Amy Spettigue
to them; but for this to happen, he ends up wearing the costume of an elderly
lady (which was intended for a college amateur theatrical performance he is
about to give), in order to convince the young ladies that all is well and
proper. Needless to say his disguise is responsible for much of the farce in
the play, together with Miss Spettigue's guardian
having his own design's on Charley's Aunt, who has come from Brazil 'where the
nuts come from' and his rival suitor, Sir Frank Chesney who sees her, a rich
Brazilian widow, as able to sort out his
financial problems were he to marry 'her'.
Coupled with the arrival
of the real Aunt, Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez, and her
'niece', Ela Delahay, with
whom Lord Fancourt Babberley
had previously fallen in love, the complications gather momentum.
Johanna Bryant's design
works well and provides college rooms (with a see-through door), and exterior
locations all suited to the feel of gay abandonment; the ladies' costumes, in
particular, are stunning.
Director Braham Murray
appears to give Oliver Gomm free reign in the role of
Fancourt Babberley which
throws up a few problems. The piece should work very much as an ensemble but Gomm's performance borders on self-indulgence: the mingling
with the audience, the exaggerated mannerisms, the plethora of squeaky voices
and absurd facial expressions appear, at times, to be out of control. He does
show, however, his skill as an actor in the concluding moments of the play with
his encounter with Ela Delahay,
when he drops his disguise and reveals the real Lord Fancourt
Babberley to be a charming and sensitive young man.
The playing between them is natural and effective and the strange creation Gomm had previously given us becomes much more humanised.
Murray is also guilty of
staging some set pieces which stop the action and flow of events in order to
provide some rather artificial and forced moments of comedy: Fancourt Babberley takes a run at
his dress, held up by his friends, and dives headlong through it to come out a the other side fully clothed at one point. It's the time
taken to prepare for this sequence that makes the event rather laboured,
alongside a piano sequence in which he mimes playing the keys as he is seated
far too far away from the piano, only to rise up from the stool and push the
grand piano to the stool rather than the other way round. It could all work well
if it appeared to be more 'spontaneous'.
The rest of the cast
give sterling performances - all attitude, airs and graces and indulge themselves in the mayhem with aplomb. The quartet of Jack
Farthing, Brodie Ross, Annabel Scholey
and Sarah Ovens prove to be particularly engaging, with Michael Elwyn and Malcolm Rennie's rival
suitors grand and blustering. Briony McRobert's Aunt, and Elizabeth Crarer's 'niece' are the elegant. Stephen Hudson's college
servant, Brassett, seems a little too disgruntled and
slightly malevolent.
As a fore-runner to the
tradition of British farce and the Whitehall comedies, Charley's Aunt remains
glorious entertainment. This production entertains, but finding the truth in it
a little more would certainly have provided more of the laughs and a sense of
satisfaction rather than a sense of irritation at times.
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet
Magazine
LIBRARY THEATRE
Central Library
St Peter's Square
Manchester
M2 5PD
BOX OFFICE: 0161 236 7110
web address: www.librarytheatre.com
Reviews
by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
NORTHERN STAGE
Haymarket
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 7RH
BOX OFFICE: 0191 230 5151
WEBSITE:
WWW.NORTHERNSTAGE.CO.UK
REVIEWER REQUIRED - Contact the
Editor via e-mail (see "Welcome" page)
THEATRE ROYAL
NEWCASTLE
REVIEWER REQUIRED - Contact the
Editor via e-mail (see "Welcome" page)
OCTAGON THEATRE
Howell Croft South,
Bolton,
BL1 1SB
BOX OFFICE: 01204 529407
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet
Magazine
LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN / PLAYHOUSE
Williamson Square
Liverpool L1 1EL
Sales and Information: 0151 709 4776
Minicom: 0151 709 0534
Reviews by Wendy Fairbank
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
OLDHAM COLISEUM THEATRE
Fairbottom Street
Oldham
0L1 3BR
BOX OFFICE: 0161 624 2829
Reviews
by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
THE DUKES
Moor Lane
Lancaster
LA1 1QE
BOX OFFICE: 01254 598500
REVIEWER
REQUIRED - Contact the Editor via e-mail (see "Welcome" page)
WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE
Playhouse Square,
Quarry Hill,
Leeds, LS2 7UP
Box Office: (0113) 213 7700
why not
visit West Yorkshire Playhouse's own website:- www.wyp.co.uk
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QUARRY THEATRE
COURTYARD THEATRE
REVIEWER REQUIRED - Contact the Editor via e-mail (see "Welcome" page)
THEATRE ROYAL
YORK
STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE
SCARBOROUGH
BOX OFFICE: 01723 370541
William Shakespeare’s
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Now playing at Stephen Joseph Theatre until 31st
July
Scarborough’s
Round Theatre is a deeply intimate, highly atmospheric space, which is
exploited to maximum effect in Artistic Director, Chris Monk’s, interpretation of ‘A midsummer Night’s
Dream’. I have seen grander, and indeed funnier, productions of this
play, but the gentle, understated tone is ideal for this space and, like a
dream, the play flashes past in a whirl of colour and
swift movement. A strong element of modern dance pervades the production and
there are magical moments when the actors are physically manipulated by the
unseen, ethereal characters. Puck, played by Clare Corbett, guides us through
the proceedings, delighting in the twists and turns of events and often rocking
with delight at the human’s discomfort. Particularly effective is the
scene between the four lovers, and the Mechanicals were convincing as a
‘little England’ am dram group. As with all Shakespearean plays, a
prior knowledge of the plot is helpful but this is a very successful, fluid,
low-key interpretation of the story, and one is happily carried along by the
irrepressible mood of mischief and silliness.
Reviews by Sue Casson for
Theatreworld Internet Magazine
GRAND THEATRE
33 Church Street
Blackpool
FY1 1HT
BOX OFFICE: 01253 290190
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
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