Category Archives: Theatre

The Debt Collectors, Theatre Review. Liverpool Actors Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * *

Cast: Michael Swift, John Doull.

If you have ever wondered what kind of jobs out of work actors will do, then John Godber’s play The Debt Collectors gives you a good insight into just how desperate some people can be when looking for work. When a vacancy opens up for debt recovery, actors Spud (John Doull) and Loz (Michael Swift) think that they are the perfect pair for the role, with no hint of any acting work and broke to boot they throw themselves into demanding money from the good citizens of Liverpool. Along the way, they discover some home truths and are reminded of just how lucky they actually are.

The Debt Collectors, Theatre Review. Liverpool Actors Studio, Liverpool. full post

(340 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

North North North, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Martin Bonger, Margit Szlavik, Elisabet Topp.

There is nothing better feeling than coming out of the theatre knowing you haven’t just been entertained but also educated as well. It is like reading for example American Pastoral by Philip Roth and realising just how much you have learned about the art of making gloves or the inside knowledge of whales you find repeating when reading Moby Dick, theatre is another avenue in which to be cultivated and undeniably enlightened, especially when the play is North North North.

North North North, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

One Dream: The Beryl Marsden Story, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8/10

Cast: Francesca Davies, Gillian Hardie, Hayley Davies, Nick Sheedy, James Ledsham, Katie King, Danny Woods, Sophie Tickle, Mike Howl, Rob Boyle.

The Cavern in Liverpool is a place of dreams. Even today, long since its golden age and the days in which the Beatles gave all who made their way to the venue a glimpse of the future. It has the power to bestow a certain magic on the thought of artists performing there and the memories of long since departed audiences, the thought of music history forever encased into the walls is one in which visitors clamber over themselves to see.

One Dream: The Beryl Marsden Story, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Finding Joy, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre Liverpool (2014).

Liverpool Sound & Vision rating * * * * *

Cast: James Greaves, Richard J Fletcher, Nanou Harry, Sarah Hawkins

Finding Joy is a beautiful story about one woman’s decline into dementia and the people left behind to care for her. Created by Vamos Theatre, the story is inspired by true events and the show focuses on the relationship between Joy and her grandson. Vamos is unique as there is no script, rather all the drama is told through masks. For those who have never really seen this in a show before (it was a first time experience for me) it took only a few moments for the expressive masks and the physicality of the actors to work their magic and any doubt as to how this could work soon melted away.

Finding Joy, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre Liverpool (2014). full post

(337 words, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)

You’ll Never Walk Alone: The Official History Of Liverpool Football Club. Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10

Cast: Jake Abraham, Lindzi Germain, Howard Gray, Emily Linden, Mark Moraghan, Stephen Pallister, Rachael Rae, Daniel Ross, Francis Tucker, Lenny Wood.

The gentle voice of match day D.J. George Sephton greets the audience to the Royal Court as if he was welcoming all to a day on which Championships were being decided, trophies were being collected and the memory of a thousand greats were going to line up alongside the pitch and show the reason why Nicky Allt’s You’ll Never Walk Alone is one of the most important plays you will ever see performed in Liverpool.

You’ll Never Walk Alone: The Official History Of Liverpool Football Club. Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(648 words, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

Twelfth Night, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Neil Caple, Pauline Daniels, Natalie Dew, Paul Duckworth, Luke Jerdy, Adam Keast, Matthew Kelly, Adam Levy, Jodie McNee, Robin Morrissey, David Rubin, Alan Stocks, Nicholas Woodeson.

If…The stage and greasepaint, the drama and the laughter, the sorrow and the exceptional mirth bring you joy then let the theatre forever live on.

Twelfth Night, Theatre Review. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(559 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Ballad Of The Burning Star, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Nir Paldi, Orian Michaeli, Amy Nostbakken, Seiko Nakazawa, Stefi Sourial, Deborah Pugh, Pete Aves.

The tale of one boy growing up in the settlements of Israel, the history behind his family and the darkness that seeps through like an admission of youthful guilt is introduced not with the fading bell of entropy but with the sound of music, the reckless, wonderfully stirring style of Berlin in the 1920s and with the gaze of the a man pouring into your soul looking for understanding and a sort of forgiveness, not many plays have this at its heart, there is probably no play around that captures the soul in quite the same way as Ballad Of The Burning Star.

Ballad Of The Burning Star, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(552 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Private Peaceful, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Andy Daniel.

How would you spend the final few hours of your life if you had been labelled a coward after a hearing that would have lasted less than an hour, placed in a cell by yourself and far from home? Would you kick and scream, raging against a world that was off kilter to your actions and perception or would you spend it in isolation with your thoughts, all moments of transitory life flashing before you and the memories of happy times keeping you company till the dawn awoke in time to see you die?

Private Peaceful, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Echoes Of The First World War, Theatre And Interactive Review. St George’s Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of the Last Post forever plays each night as the sun goes down over a French field, paid for by a man who lost his son to a futile, inexcusable war and who signed a parchment called Common Form there by exonerating the Army and The Government for any injuries or deaths that might occur to those too young or seen to be too disabled once they got to the trenches.

Echoes Of The First World War, Theatre And Interactive Review. St George’s Hall, Liverpool. full post

(487 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Dial M For Murder, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Christopher Timothy, Kelly Hotten, Philip Cairns, Daniel Betts, Robert Perkins.

They say a murder cannot be perfect for somebody will always at least know about it, even if they are the ones who end up dead. However a homicide can be near perfect when presented on stage in the form of Frederick Knott’s outstanding play Dial M For Murder.

Dial M For Murder, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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