Category Archives: Theatre

Annie Get Your Gun, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Jason Donovan, Emma Williams, Norman Pace, Dermot Canavan, Ed Currie, Kara Lane, Yiftach Mizrahi, William Oxborrow, Lorna Want, Ste Clough, Matthew Dale, Natalie Day, Floe Fields, Sarah Galbraith, Jonny Godbold, Hannah Grace, Katie Marie-Carter, George Parry.

There is no business like show business…even when sometimes during a performance, for whatever reason, the tension in the actor’s voices, the verve and command of the piece feels a little flat, there is still nothing quite listening to an audiences reaction before the star of the show says a word and the adulation given at the end of the musical.

Annie Get Your Gun, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Danny O’ Brien, Louis Emerick, Michael Starke.

The 1980s nightclub, the big night out, big hair, cheaper beer, even cheaper aftershave and perfume sprayed on as liberally as showering underneath Victoria Falls for five days and then taking a dip in a swimming pool to get that real deep down scent. This was the time, depending on where you were living and your circumstances dictated in which Saturday night was the highlight of the week, the chance to meet the girl of your dreams, the man of your nightmares and all washed down with enough alcohol to drown an angel on a week-long bender on a Spanish holiday, all you had to do was get past the Bouncers on the door.

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tim Lynskey, Matt Rutter.

Monty Python may have sold its last dead parrot, served its last piece of Spam and finally insisted that he is not the Messiah, he is just a naughty boy but that’s not to say what has been bequeathed down the years has been forgotten, especially by the three men that make up Big Wow and arguably one of the finest pieces of comedy theatre that you ever likely to lay your eyes upon in  The Art of Falling Apart.

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote Of La Mancha, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Stephen Harper, Merce Ribot, Patricia Rodriguez, Maria Camahort.

To anyone who has ever taken the time to read arguably one of the great novels, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha or have even spent time in the beautiful medieval part of the city of Alcalá de Henares and looked upon Cervantes’ birthplace, then it is to know history. You can only ever wonder just what would make anybody want to even attempt to take it on a theatre piece; you would have to be as mad surely as Don Quixote himself to even try it.

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote Of La Mancha, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Scene Change, Revue. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

There are some things that you just cannot attach a rating onto because what you see before you is worth more than a few stars or an out of 10 score in the collective conscious of all that took part.

Scene Change, Revue. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(983 words, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

Three, Two, F*ck. Theatre Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Robert Hadden, Joshua Quigley, Craig McDonald.

When praise is duly served, when the press rave about you and proclaim you to be the next best thing, the only way to deal with life from there is realise that the dream is over; you have failed in the objective which was to change the world.

Three, Two, F*ck. Theatre Review. L.I.P.A, Liverpool. full post

(513 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Spunk, Theatre Review. L.I.P.A. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Grant Robert Keelan, Stuart Crowther, Morten Aamodt.

In an opening that could have had Monty Python’s Eric Idle applaud for the utter creativity employed in the many different words used to describe sex between two men, L.I.P.A.’s Stuart Crowther’s play Spunk was something of a revelation.

Spunk, Theatre Review. L.I.P.A. Liverpool. full post

(408 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Grace And The Sea, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Carl James Fowler, Carmel Skelly, Chris Douglas, Craig Sharkey, Dave Unsworth, Francesco La Rocca, Jim Welsh, Kirsty Taylor, Mike Mackenzie, Nicky Loftus, Pat Hart, Nathan Bates, Peter Bromilow, Rachael Reason, Rita Sharp, Robyn La Rocca, Steve Dagleish, Vera Farrell.

Musicians from the Halewood Choir: Maurice Wileman, Howie Blakeborough, Phil Dean, Pam Bovis, Jill Marquis, Joan Rutledge, Patsy McDonough, Hazel Brennan, Anne Dean, Liz Haygarth.

Grace And The Sea, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(495 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Monty Python Live (Mostly), Theatre And Cinema Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Michael Palin, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones.

There will be many who will never get what it was all about but for the multitude, Monty Python followed a natural path that had been laid down by The Frost Report, That Was The Week That Was and The Goons, the ability to send up Britain, the revolution of the way we looked at ourselves as a nation in the post war era and in how we finally were able to put two crafty fingers up to a hierarchy in which didn’t care.

Monty Python Live (Mostly), Theatre And Cinema Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T, Liverpool. full post

(446 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Glow Boys, Theatre Review. Queertet 2014. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Shaun Stanley, James Bray.

When Jack comes home carrying a Primark bag, Chris knows that Jack has got something on his mind; that their blossoming relationship, which has just gone through a civil partnership, may be in trouble. Is it another man, the problems of 21st Century living in which all are equal, all struggling along at the bottom due to the actions of Government and the way they have handled certain economic practises or quite simply that the need to express an artistic side, even if it means showing a bit of bottom as a male stripper, is enough for Jack to come home carrying home some exotic clothes.

Glow Boys, Theatre Review. Queertet 2014. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(382 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)