Category Archives: Theatre

I Wanna Be Yours, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Emily Stott, Ragevan Vasan, Rachael Merry.

The search for mutual affection is a dance to which there is no instructional video, the discovery of a soul mate is that waltz or freestyle swaying pirouette through polite society and the odd incursion into the realm of misunderstanding, is one that leaves you breathless and at times declaring a submission, the foxtrot of love ignoring all the rules you may have learned.

Amélie: The Musical, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Audrey Brisson, Sophie Crawford, Faoileann Cunningham, Rachel Dawson, Oliver Grant, Nuwan Hugh Perera, Chris Jared, Charley Magalit, Caolan McCarthy, Samuel Morgan-Grahame, Emma Jane Morton, Kate Robson-Stuart, Josh Sneesby, Jez Unwin, Johnson Willis.

To live in a world which is delightful is perhaps everybody’s secret dream, one where kindness truly is its own reward and not a payback from the mealy mouthed who see it as recompense for their actions and who take advantage of the compassionate and gentle for their own amusement.

Jonathan Pie: The Fake News Tour. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The world needs satire more than ever. We have come to a crossroads in which the act of satire is decried by many as cruel, in which it has no place in a more caring society; and yet parody, wit and caricature have a place when it comes to expertly showing that the world, its political and spiritual leaders and every single one of us who inhabit this world have come to a point where we deserve to be sent-up.

Les Misérables, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Killian Donnelly, Nic Greenshields, Martin Ball, Katie Hall, Tegan Bannister, Bronwen Hanson, Harry Apps, Brian James Leys, Jordan Simon Pollard, Mary-Jane Caldwell Lee Ormsby, Jamie Birkett, Emma Warren, Jessie Hart, Megan Gardiner, Ruby Lyon, Helen Aylott Teleri Hughes, Eva Mairead Connor, Francesca Lidguard, Sadie Horwich, Sophie-Louise Dann, Ava Hope Smith, Lydia Jane Prosser, Eilish Mair Williams, Joseph Sheppard, Noah Walton, Dexter Barry, Leo Miles, Michael Burgen, Will Richardson, Aaron Pryce-Lewis, Shane O’ Riordan, Zac Hamilton, Danny Colligan, Ruben Van Keer, Keoni Blockx, Corrine Priest, Janne Snellen, Joseph Anthony, Nicholas Carter, Nicholas Corrie.

Under Three Moons, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kyle Rowe, Darren Kuppan.

Men get accused of not talking to one another, about their fears, about their lives, on a daily basis; however, sometimes the words don’t come easily, the possibility of rejection of their thoughts, even by women, can be enough for many men to skirt the issue completely, they just keep saying they are fine, and whilst the dialogue dice is loaded by those who say this is a symbol of toxic masculinity, it could also be a indication of absolute vulnerability.

Girls Don’t Play Guitars, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Molly Grace Cutler, Alice McKenna, Sarah Workman, Lisa Wright, Jack Alexander, Tom Connor, Tom Dunlea, Guy Freeman, Jonathan Markwood, Mark Newnham.

A throwaway line caught in the ether, a story that deep down nobody seems to remember and yet it did happen and it is one that rivals any of the stories held up to the legend of Liverpool’s music scene, and one so brilliantly captured and focused upon by playwright Ian Salmon.

Measuring Up, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Mandy Redvers-Rowe, Rachael Townsend.

Music: Craig Gamble.

Writing is often viewed as glamourous, seductive, an enticing call to a place which calls for awards and the possibility of being able to change people’s minds with a series of taps on a keyboard or a deliberated word which strikes the right note. The art of writing the meaningful prose has brought down governments, brought conflict and peace to lands and made a lover’s heart soar; and yet there are those who believe it is the easiest occupation in the world, for they don’t see the agony, the self-doubt, the moments where the words don’t arise and the long labouring battle that arrives unseen as writer’s block sinks the author of sentences into the abyss.

Knee Deep In Promises, Theatre Review. Royal Court Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Lewis Bray, Debbie Brannan, Sharon Byatt.

The sacred act of the promise is such that the one put under pressure to preserve their word can act as a conduit to a breakdown, the silence overwhelming, the bond unfairly skewed in the favour of the one whose secret acts like an infection, mutating, twisting, until it becomes unrecognisable. Not all promises are the same, however, the ones that dig into the psyche, the ones that precede a climatic, even devastating event, are the one that we feel are the ones where no one in the end comes out it with their self-assurance, intact.

Toast, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Giles Cooper, Katy Federman, Blair Plant, Samantha Hopkins, Stefan Edwards, Nicholas McBride, Alice Keedwell.

When we think of the autobiography, we tend to find ourselves in the realm of the adventurer, the sports personality, the political fixer, the musical star and the celebrity gossip; we are looking for a hero, for the individual to whom we might glean the clink of inspiration from in which our lives might not only improve, but in some we can bask in the glow of a reflected glory. However, the guide and influence does not always appear in such profound ways, sometimes it can be as simple as one who found their passion in another sphere, that the life they have led is just as pressured, they just found another way to rise to the top.

Lost Boys, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Louis Carrington, Floriana Dezou, Faye Donnellan, Tom Isted, Neve Kelman, Alexandre King, Charlie Knowles, Alex Meredith, Eion McKenna, Kwame Owusu, Jenna Sian O’Hara, Sam Ress-Baylis, Daryl Rowlands.

No matter what type of community you grew up in, the large sprawling metropolis, the neatly bordered and hedge-trimmed village or the new town with no discernible history, you either embrace its place in your own story or you run away from it, perhaps through the weight of expectation or because you have seen through its soul and wish to be somewhere else that you can call home. However, the chances are that whatever the place you reside there is a growing feeling of unease, of mounting anxiety amongst the young, and their belief that that they no longer recognise their place in society, or how to fix the despair that comes with toxic masculinity.