Hallie Rubenhold, The Five: The Untold Lives Of The Women Killed By Jack The Ripper. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We are all guilty of playing the game one sadistic and evil man has managed to trick us into partaking, perhaps willingly as some have searched for answers to a 19th Century riddle, maybe in naïve conversation when we have been drawn into the media spotlight which routinely returns to the streets of Whitechapel, the chilling music reaching our ears, the sensationalist need for gossip but presented as a preamble into lively, even intellectual, discussion. In the shadow of Jack the Ripper we have all at some point ventured, and by doing so, we have created a smokescreen in which entertainment and investigation have become one and the same.

Hallie Rubenhold, The Five: The Untold Lives Of The Women Killed By Jack The Ripper. Book Review. full post

(696 words, estimated 2:47 mins reading time)

Captain Of The Lost Waves, Hidden Gems-Chapter 2: Circus Of Morality. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The hedonistic aroma of flamboyance and the fragrance of honest sawdust fills the surrounding air as you sit and reflect upon the grand treasure chest that has been opened with an enjoyable sweep of the arm and a gesture that pronounces with fervour that the parade continues, that in this second chapter of Hidden Gems, the Circus of Morality is one that truly lives up to its predecessor and deserves the big top moment to which it has been created for.

Captain Of The Lost Waves, Hidden Gems-Chapter 2: Circus Of Morality. Album Review. full post

(439 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Rosmersholm, Theatre Review. The Duke Of York’s Theatre, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Hayley Atwell, Tom Burke, Lucy Briers, Jake Fairbrother, Giles Terera, Peter Wight, Gavin Antony, Ebony Buckle, Piers Hampton, Maureen Hibbert, Robyn Lovell, Alice Vilanculo.

Love and grief go hand in hand, without one, arguably, you cannot have the other, both are so intrinsic to the human condition that our aspirations to find purpose, to propose revolution and swim against the tides and fears that are continuously placed before us, that threaten to drown us, are instead the welcoming release when all is lost.

Rosmersholm, Theatre Review. The Duke Of York’s Theatre, London. full post

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

All My Sons, Theatre Review. The Old Vic, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Bill Pullman, Sally Fields, Jenna Coleman, Colin Morgan, Sule Rimi, Gunnar Cauthery, Kayla Meikle, Bessie Carter, Oliver Johnstone, Theo Boyce, Ruth Redman, Russell Wilcox.

For those that seek the truth, the shame of it is that it ends in tragedy. If there is any 20th Century playwright to whom tragedy is a gift that deserves to be exposed into the broad light of day, it is Arthur Miller, an expert who saw the American dream as a symbol, not of goodness and righteousness, but of fear, perhaps corruption, of the willingness to do whatever it took to keep humanity locked in a cycle of calamity, of refusing to see that the recklessness of one simple action would be visited upon our children forever.

All My Sons, Theatre Review. The Old Vic, London. full post

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

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, Not Cricket/Iron In War. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

Cast: Rachael Stirling, Julie Graham, Crystal Balint, Chanelle Pelaso, Ben Cotton, Jennifer Spence, Luke Camilleri, Graeme McComb, Wesley Salter, Agape Mngomezulu, Aria Birch, Eric Breker, Primo Allon, Jesse James, Matthew Smalley, Trevor Lerner.

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, Not Cricket/Iron In War. Television Review. full post

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

Admissions, Theatre Review. Trafalgar Studios, London.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Alex Kingston, Margot Leicester, Sarah Hadland, Andrew Woodall, Ben Edelman.

We want the world to be a fairer place, the new demand for the 21st Century has to be in keeping with the way we reject the old established ways of doing things, the future is not all about the stereotypical white male view point that history has been defined by, it is about the best person being able to tell the story, regardless of creed, colour, orientation and gender. However, we also want the very best for our children, we arguably will sacrifice our noble intentions if it means we will look back on the moment in which they reach their potential with pride.

Admissions, Theatre Review. Trafalgar Studios, London. full post

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

Heart Of Darkness, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Keicha Greenidge, Matt Prendergast, Morgan Bailey, Laura Atherton, Morven Macbeth.

Heart Of Darkness holds a distinction in literature, arguably one that was perhaps unintended by Joseph Conrad as he delved into his own life and created, what would eventually become, one of the most iconic characters to dominate early 20th Century literature and further on, a representation of symbolism in cinema. There are few books that have been as dissected and scrutinised as Heart Of Darkness and there are few that are seen in the right climate that we exist in today that are now considered un-filmable.

Heart Of Darkness, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

My Fairfield Lady, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Helen Carter, Jessica Dyas, Julie Glover, Danny O’Brien, Michael Starke, Matthew Walker.

Whether we like it or not, we are not eternally assessed by our efforts or our accomplishments, our standing or our points of view, but we are judged by our accents and manners, the way we talk is immediately weighed and measured and for most of us this unfair conclusion keeps us in a place to which their no escape, we are immersed into a world which prizes the idea of class, even though we fight against it at every possible moment.

My Fairfield Lady, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

JOANovArc. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is more to life than the tales of men who have taken on dragons and quaffed in celebration, the regale of the story from manhood to which we openly admire even if we don’t question the single avenue of information to which we are being drawn; not every story, not every observation, has to be from the man’s point of view, quite rightly and with passion, women should raise the bar and show the world the fire, the warrior soul and the story teller, the mould in which the pious young French girl inspired an army with.

JOANovArc. Album Review. full post

(411 words, 1 image, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Savoy Brown, City Night. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To hold danger within your grasp and sniff the darkness as it settles around you, invading your sense of self as it clutches at the significance of metropolis, the noir and the steady beat which makes the City Night one of the more alluring and vulnerable aspects of living; to be immersed and aloft by the neon light as bars sing with the sound of sirens pulling in their clientele and steady stream of soft serenaded menace is to know that you are alive.

Savoy Brown, City Night. Album Review. full post

(386 words, 1 image, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)