Category Archives: Theatre

Chicago, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. july 3rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Ali Bastian, Tupele Dorgu, Stefan Booth, Bernie Nolan, Jamie Baughan, Alex Wetherhill, Chloe Ames, Daniele Arbisi, Karen Aspinall, Nick Blair, Claire Rogers, Ian Oswald, Gregor Stewart, Kate Morris, Genevieve Nicole, Melanie Cripps, Jennifer Hilton, Adam Salter, Dominic Lamb, Ashley Rumble.

Chicago – the very whisper of intrigue, scandal, murder, vice and jazz that’s stalks this musical sets audiences into one of those wild surges of expectation which can make or break every performances. The bigger the expectation can lead to a much bigger and dramatic fall.

Chicago, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(412 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

God’s Official, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published on L.S. Media. June 27th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: John McGrellis, Derek Barr, David Kennedy Jones.

God’s Official, the new production at the Unity Theatre, highlights for every fan the moment in the dead of night when the footballing gods have deserted the team you support, the sheer insanity and depraved lengths you would go to save them from sporting ignominy.

God’s Official, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(370 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live. Theatre Review, Liverpool Empire Theatre.

Originally published by L. S Media. June 19th 2012

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Simon Jones, Geoff McGivern, Susan Sheridan, Mark Wing-Davy, Stephen Moore, Toby Longworth, Andrew Secombe, Philip Pope, Samantha Beart, Roger McGough.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, so good that they returned to the format that broke all conventions and established rules of sci-fi comedy on the radio and turned into a live radio show.

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show Live. Theatre Review, Liverpool Empire Theatre. full post

(449 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Avenue Q, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Stephen Arden, Sarah Harlington, Arina II, Richard Lowe, Richard Morse, Jessica Parker, Etisyai Philip, Rhiane Drummond, Gracie Lai, Cameron Sharp, Josh Tevendale.

Life is complicated, life is not always a bed of roses, neither is it a series of petals that cover up a piece of human anatomy at a time; life, like Time, is brutal, funny, sarcastic and sometimes downright terrifying, we have no way to control it, we have no way to subject it to our own whims; when you share a planet with seven billion other souls, getting everything you want is impossible and for that life is so much more interesting than ever.

Avenue Q, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

The Norman Conquests, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. June 7th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Oliver Birch, Philip Cumbus, Tom Davey, Laura Howard, Emily Pithon, Sarah Tansey.

Liverpool audiences have had to wait for quite a while for an Alan Ayckbourn play to come to the city and then like the proverbial bus, three come along at once.

The special and almost unique thing with The Norman Conquests is that it is not just one show but three specially crafted, incredibly well directed and lovingly bought to life plays that demand more attention for their ample moments of generous laughter that Alan Ayckbourn insists must be within all his plays, even when the subject matter is dour, there is always room for laughter.

The Norman Conquests, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(469 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Betrayal, Theatre Review. The Harold Pinter Theatre, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, Charlie Cox, Eddie Arnold.

The act of infidelity is one that causes infinite pain, but also brings a state of war within the soul of the people affected, regardless of whether they are the instigator of the close-knit treachery or the one left behind, unknowing, blissful in their ignorance, loyal to the ideal that they have in their mind that their world is safe from such corruption.

Betrayal, Theatre Review. The Harold Pinter Theatre, London. full post

(482 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Waiting For Brando, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 23rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Paul Duckworth, Carl Cockram, Joe Shipman, Daniel Hayes.

The exceptional applause that rang out within the confines of the Unity Theatre’s studio two space said it all. From the exceptional performances by all the actors on stage, to the direction and the incredible writing of Mike Morris and Steven Higginson, Waiting For Brando was one of the most outstanding productions of our times.

Waiting For Brando, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(475 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Sister Act, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 23rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Denise Black, Michael Starke, Cynthia Erivo, Julie Atherton, Edward Baruwa, Gavin Cornwall, Gavin Alex, Jacqueline Clarke, Tyrone Huntley, Laurie Scarth, Daniel Stockton.

It is possibly the hardest job in the acting profession, to out act and outperform Whoopi Goldberg in possibly her most iconic role of Deloris Van Cartier from the hit 1992 movie Sister Act. In Cynthia Erivo, that was achieved with room to spare as she took on the role for the stage version of the film at the Liverpool Empire.

Sister Act, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Wild Flowers, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 18th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Des Flanagan, John Bradburn, John Mitchell, Josie Parks, Peter Highton, Jane Hill, Wendy Jones, Mark Jones, Dominic Pitt, Lee Gibson, Russell Parry.

There are not many cities within England that reflects on its past nor has much inspired and genuine hope for its future as Liverpool. The history is there for all to see and even on the most cursory of glances by a visitor to the city at any of the walls or historic monuments dotted around will see how the years have shaped the city’s heart.

Wild Flowers, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(481 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Mary Shelley, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 9th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Kristen Atherton, William Chubb, Ben Lamb, Flora Nicholson, Sadie Shimmin, Shannon Tarbet.

To take the life of one of Britain’s foremost radical and supreme female writers of the last 200 years and present it as a dramatic and inspiring piece of theatre takes incredible fortitude, guile, a cast of infinite quality and a writer whose work is undoubtedly amongst the best in the country right now.

In Helen Edmundson’s Mary Shelley at the Liverpool Playhouse, the audience was treated rather spectacularly to all of the above and then some.

Mary Shelley, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(414 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)