My Perfect Mind, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre. Liverpool. (2013).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Hunter, Edward Petherbridge.

To have a giant of stage appear in Liverpool is not uncommon, it is almost taken for granted that at some point during the year the audiences will flock to one of the city’s great theatres and be bowled over by what they witness. Only London, for logical reasons, can surely make the same claim. Yet it still is very special when it happens and when it is in a production that wouldn’t have been dreamed or even conceived without the giant becoming very ill then the play takes on a special resonance, it becomes something greater than words. Such is My Perfect Mind and such was Edward Petherbridge’s performance.

My Perfect Mind, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre. Liverpool. (2013). full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Di Is Dead, Theatre Review. The Playhouse Studio, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Combine Robert Farquhar’s original and incredible ability to make a play of side-splitting genius from even the smallest of things and Francis Tucker’s seemingly unnatural and comic god like precision to go from the humour to semi tragedy in the spilt of second and the result is the fantastic Di Is Dead.

Di Is Dead, Theatre Review. The Playhouse Studio, Liverpool. full post

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

Quadrophenia, Theatre Review. Liverpool Empire, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media

Cast: Ryan O’Donnell, George Maguire, Jack Roth, Rob Kendrick, Sean Croke, Daniel Curtis, Lillie Flynn, Ryan Gage, Kirsty Malone, Brennan Reece, Iris Roberts, Tom Robertson, John Schumacher, Sydney Rae White.

In some critics’ eyes Quadrophenia is the definition of the era of the mod, cool clothes, good music and the spirit of rebellion that had been sadly lost. To others it was time when you saw the rise of the disaffected youth that blighted a generation and the odd sea-side town. From out of this small period came The Who’s Pete Townsend who turned his imagination and past experiences into one of the critically acclaimed albums of the last forty years.

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

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

Macbeth, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre. Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 26th 2012.

Cast: Harriet Barrow, Jamie Hampson, Richard Hand, Zoe Lister, Jack Lord, Shaun Mason, Jack Rigby, Michael Ryan, Adam Search.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Arguably Macbeth is one of the finest plays by William Shakespeare, it has been performed nearly all over the world and many times in the city of Liverpool.  However, it has to be said, never, ever, like this and for that it became one of the most spellbinding and startling productions of any of the bards works to have ever been devised.

Macbeth, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre. Liverpool. full post

(424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Swallows and Amazons, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 27th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Celia Adams, Akiya Henry, Richard Holt, Katie Moore, Sophie Waller, Stewart Wright, Greg Barnett, Francesca Bradley, Neal Craig, Adrian Garratt, Alison George, Hilary Tones, Jon Trenchard.

Every so often a production comes along that when all is said and done is nothing short of charming and brilliantly executed. Nothing more, nothing less! Arthur Ransome’s classic children’s adventure Swallows and Amazons is one such play.

Swallows and Amazons, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

White Christmas, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 30th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * * *

Cast: Aled Jones, Adam Cooper, Kerry Washington, Ken Farrington, Amy Ellen Richardson, Louise Bowden, Mark Dickinson, David Lucas.

Liverpool may not have had a White Christmas to end 2011; however there can be no doubt in anybody’s minds on how sumptuous and grand the performance at the Empire Theatre this year of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. The amount of joy it visibly put on people’s faces and even more so than the sight of a foot of snow outside your door on the big day.

White Christmas, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Tartuffe, Theatre Review. Liverpool Playhouse Theatre.

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 14th 2011.

L.S. Media Rating * * * * *

Cast:  Hiran Abeysekera, Joseph Alessi, Eithne Browne, Simon Coates, Annabelle Dowler, Ilan Goodman, Rebecca Lacey, Emily Pithon, Alan Stocks, Colin Tierney.

There is nothing like welcoming an old friend back into your life and in the modern stand out poetry of Roger McGough and the timeless humour of Moliere, the Liverpool Playhouse opened its new season to a play that was first viewed by local audiences as the city celebrated being the Capital of Culture in 2008.

Tartuffe, Theatre Review. Liverpool Playhouse Theatre. full post

(424 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Lennon, Theatre Review. The Royal Court. (2012).

Cast: Stephen Fletcher, Chris Grahamson, Daniel Healy, Adam Keast, Maria Lawson, Paul Mannion, Jonathon Markwood, Andrew Schofield, Nicky Swift.

In 1981 the Everyman Theatre staged a show that at the time could have been considered evocative and pouring oil onto a very raw and passionate flames. The timing couldn’t have been worse, coming soon after the worst riots to hit parts of the city in generations and so soon after Liverpool lost one of its famous, iconic and much loved sons. Looking back with the benefit of thirty years since the death of John Lennon, the musical has become more of a celebration of the man’s life, rather than the wake it would have been in 1981.

Lennon, Theatre Review. The Royal Court. (2012). full post

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

Wolf Red, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

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

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Elinor Randle.

Not all wolves wear fur, some are guised as men and it seems that sometimes a very exceptional woman can be unmasked as the wolf in woman’s clothing.

Wolf Red has to be considered as one of the most remarkable one woman shows to ever grace The Unity Theatre. From the moment the audience walks in and the mist swirls and descends around them, the thought of decomposing leaves and frayed sanity mingle together to reveal on a rotted stump Elinor Randle, hunched over and in the grip of perceived madness from there she delivers one of the most perfect opening monologues possible. It was eerie, certainly creepy and just on this side of exuding brilliance.

Wolf Red, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Misanthrope, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast:  Neil Caple, Simon Coates, Leander Deeny, Daniel Goode, Alison Pargeter, George Potts, Zara Tempest-Walters, Colin Tierney, Harvey Virdi.

For the third time, Moliere, Roger McGough and Gemma Bodinetz combined to make an evening at the Playhouse Theatre so anticipated and enjoyable. Heavily surrounded by a cast that adds that final burst of brilliance that makes The Misanthrope a play a distinguished and tremendous addition to the canon of Moliere plays to now have been performed on the stage in the city. 

The Misanthrope, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)