Category Archives: Theatre

Scottie Road, The Musical. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre (2014)

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Keddy Sutton, Gillian Hardie.

When Scottie Road, The Musical was first performed it was genuine piece of Liverpool humour delivered by two of the finest female talents around. One sequel later, a vast swathe of the population who make it their duty to support local theatre, no matter the size of the venue, left feeling enraptured and laughing so hard it would make an ice bun melt, the two stars of the show, Caz and Britney, take the audience back to where it all started, where the music first played and the threat of prison was something that came along on a really bad throw at Monopoly and just as then as it is now, the audience fell completely and utterly in love with it all.

Scottie Road, The Musical. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre (2014) full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Noises Off, Theatre Review. The Arts Centre, Liverpool

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Caitlin Clough, Jack Murray, Karl Falconer, Rhea Little, Sam Walton, Stewart McDonald, Abi Taylor Jones, Siobhan Crinson, Albert Hastings.

Quite simply you can never have too much of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off placed before you. It is a sumptuous comedy banquet that keeps giving and each serving is captured differently as the last. It is rightly regarded as one of the finest stage comedies of its time but it has to be captured right, one person miscast, one mistimed moment and the momentum goes completely. It is a play that is so giving and yet one wrong step, it can be a cruel mistress and leave the feeling of undiluted suffering in the audience and it takes real guts to even attempt to put it on. Thankfully PurpleCoat productions weren’t put off by the thought and gave a performance of high ability and virtue at the Arts Centre on Myrtle Street.

Noises Off, Theatre Review. The Arts Centre, Liverpool full post

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

Dreaming Of A Barry White Christmas, Theatre Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 9/10

Cast: Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Paul Duckworth, Gillian Hardie, Keddy Sutton, Lenny Wood.

Before a word is spoken inside the Echo Arena, before Andrew Schofield and Alan Stocks pass that wonderful look between them and the marvellous Keddy Sutton manages to bring her array of much loved admired voices to the table, just to know that these six amazingly funny and versatile actors are about to bring Dave Kirby’s work to life, there is already a broad smile on the audience who braved the December storms to watch Dreaming Of A Barry White Christmas.

Dreaming Of A Barry White Christmas, Theatre Review. Echo Arena, Liverpool. full post

(527 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Alastair Clark, Comedy Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

At 81 Renshaw Street, local comedian and University of Liverpool graduate, Alastair Clark brought an intelligent and ambitious hour of anecdotal stand-up on the theme of the difficulties and conflicts caused by opinions.

The show itself was a stand-alone project and a pre-cursor to his future endeavours which include an upcoming hour long Edinburgh Fringe show. His future audiences can look forward to a confident dead-pan delivery of extended deconstructions of unique political and social observations. One highlight was when he took a thread of Youtube user commentators to task for their misguided and hilariously knee-jerk argument on the page of The Doors’ classic song L.A. Woman (“At this point the web site user weighs in with their view- I’m sure we can trust that to be objective.”) He is at his best here when pitting his wearied rationale against the inane vacuous nature of bad lyricism.

Alastair Clark, Comedy Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool. full post

(284 words, estimated 1:08 mins reading time)

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Crissy Rock, Amanda Harrington, Paul Danan, Laura Gregory, Herbert Howe, Michael Chapman, Paul Quinn, Joe Cawley.

It is a story as old as Liverpool theatres, the young damsel in distress, hated by her vain and immoral step-mother, of witchcraft, of love and a man in various dresses making all laugh before him. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is a prime example of the British Pantomime giving all who make their way to the theatre at Christmas a good time, full of songs and cheer and that in the end good will overcome evil. The Epstein Theatre’s festive foray into the world of sparkly tights and vanity mirrors is a delight that kept giving.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(390 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Pied Piper, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Edwina Lea, Emma Hirons, James Michael Doolan, Nathan Smith.

The Pied Piper is one of those rare stories that can both enthral and beguile and disgust and terrify at the same time, it is no wonder it is such a firm favourite of lovers of fairy tales and that it is ripe for re-telling in as many different ways as you can imagine on the stage.

The Pied Piper, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(380 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Review. The Actors Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Gemma Broderick, Barrie Ryan English, Catherine Rice, Leroy Liburd.

If you go down to the woods today…you might meet a few characters from a classic fairy tale that don’t exactly fit the stereotype and certainly never behaved in such a way before. From a wolf with aspiration issues to a young girl in a red hood that’s far too small and who has changed from the sweet person of memory in a teenager whose concerns are now more to do with the embarrassment that her Karaoke loving mum causes, this re-telling of the story of Little Red Riding Hood at The Actors Studio is guaranteed to be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Review. The Actors Studio, Liverpool. full post

(368 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Aretha Ayeh, Marianne Benedict, Carla Freeman, Matthew Ganley, Lindsay Goodhead, Sam Haywood, Adam Keast, Sarah Moss, Griffin Stevens, Francis Tucker.

For Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton, the writers of the Playhouse Theatre Rock ‘N’ Roll Panto, the subject of Aladdin is one that they have revisited with pride a couple of times but never like this, not with the scale, the almost sense of the wonderful and wonderment all wrapped up in a festive feast that was exactly the production and performance that audiences could have wished for.

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(553 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

Pool (No Water), Theatre Review. Stanley Theatre, University of Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Dominic Davies, Jacob Lowman, Iona Campbell, Madeline Smart, Charlotte Parson, Bryony Holloway.

It can be argued that it takes immense courage or character of spirit to take on the writing of Mark Ravenhill, especially his play Pool (No Water) which speaks volumes of how art and artists are a breed that need constant nurturing. The work though  leaves so much to the interpretation of the brave director who has made it their life’s mission to try and go through the entangled genius and come up with something that tears at the mind and catches the emotions of the audience at their peak.

Pool (No Water), Theatre Review. Stanley Theatre, University of Liverpool. full post

(504 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lynne Francis, Lindzi Germain, Jack Rigby, Angela Simms, Michael Starke, Charlotte Dalton, Stephanie Miles, Emily Trebicki.

Every science fiction story needs a hero, a man willing to put his life on the line in order to save the world and by doing so redeem his soul, a man who handles himself with courage, moral fortitude, bravery in the face of oppression…and a Tardis inspired wheelie Bin.  It’s the festive season but not as we know it.

The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool. full post

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