The Damned United, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: David Chafer, Jamie Smelt, Luke Dickson.

Some people are born to be remembered forever, a few are so special in their chosen field that their very name is enough to evoke images far beyond what could be considered extraordinary, they talk a great game, they have the passion to back it up and they can command absolute love and attention from all quarters; they might be bombastic, deemed arrogant by many, however they are assured their place in history and for Brian Howard Clough, history is assured.

The Damned United, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(498 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

Absolute Certainty, Theatre Review. Tribeca Bar, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Dafydd Shalders, Benjamin Longthorne, Barney Thompson.

Stewart Campbell’s Absolute Certainty at the Tribeca Bar is part of the Manchester Fringe events. The venue is situated in the LGBT quarter around Sackville Street in Manchester. It is an urban tale of an 18-year-old Finn (Dafydd Shalders) who is finishing off his ‘A’ Levels under the watchful eye of his elder brother, the club surfing Dean (Barney Thompson) and his ever-present work mate Lee (Benjamin Longthorne).

Absolute Certainty, Theatre Review. Tribeca Bar, Manchester. full post

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

Ill Behaviour. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chris Geere, Tom Riley, Jessica Regan, Christina Chong, John Gordon Sinclair, Anjana Vasa, Sanchia McCormack, Mark Asante, Lorna Browne, Tom Bell, Simon Meacock, Andrew Bennett, Wendy Meredith, Kellie Blaise, Joey Akubeze.

Mortality and comedy can live together in a secret harmony, the gallows humour employed by many when they know they are under the sentence of death, be it at the hand of state or by their own body fighting a war against them, from within the enemy is the hardest to reason with and win over.

Ill Behaviour. Television Review. full post

(545 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Ripper Street: Occurrence Reports. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Jerome Flynn, Killian Scott, Jonas Armstrong, Anna Burnett, Anna Koval, Clive Russell, Matthew O’ Brien, Joseph Harmon, Lydia Wilson, Joseph Mawle, Patrick Drury, Kye Murphy, Kahl Murphy, Benjamin O’ Mahony, Matthew Lewis, Sarah Vaughn, David Dawson, Marko Leht, Jennifer Aries.

 

Ripper Street: Occurrence Reports. Television Review. full post

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

A Liability.

If I turned up at your door tomorrow, would you

think me broken, as we haven’t spoken

for a while, always the chin

held firmly, would you remember all

that I once did for you

or even the odd screw up, foul up,

because after all I am only human

and I have never labelled you perfect,

I have never seen you as the fixer

of the busted, the shattered or the ruined,

I have just seen you as the friend,

the final one who might just understand

A Liability. full post

(134 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Gig Review. Parr Hall, Warrington.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Rebel takes on many personas, many different guises and faces, it is the light that causes others to follow, it is the darkness in which the cause stands alone; the Rebel, the loner, the guiding spirit with the different outlook on life and who isn’t afraid to smile at the situation or take it on with a gentle sneer, the cold dagger eyes turning on a sixpence to the warmth of the embrace by the ones who know all the words and to whom the presence of the Rebel means the world.

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Gig Review. Parr Hall, Warrington. full post

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

The British Idles, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Nick Sheedy, Adam Nicholls, Callum Forbes, Faye Caddick, Samantha Walton.

There are two ways to look at the situation imposed on students graduating from University as we stumble headlong along the 21st Century road, one train of thought regarded by those who perpetuate the myth that education should be paid for in excess of debt by those receiving it and the more honest approach of those who understand that by burdening the individual with liability that far outweighs the gain, is utterly and irresponsibly wrong.

The British Idles, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(453 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Dunkirk. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Brannagh, Aneurin Barnard, Cillian Murphy, Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Damien Bonnard, Lee Armstrong, James Bloor, Barry Keoghan, Jack Lowden, Luke Thompson, Michael Biel, Constantin Balsan, Billy Howle, Mikey Collins, Callum Blake, Dean Ridge, Bobby Lockwood, Will Attenborough, Tom Nolan, James D’Arcy, Matthew Marsh, Adam Long, Miranda Nolan, Bradley Hall, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Brett Lorenzi, Michael Fox, Brian Vernal, Elliott Tittensor, Harry Richardson, Jochum ten Haaf, Johnny Gibson, Kim Hartman, Calum Lynch, Charley Palmer Rothwell, Tom Gill, John Nolan, Bill Milner, Jack Riddiford, Harry Collett, Eric Richard.

Dunkirk. Film Review. full post

(617 words, estimated 2:28 mins reading time)

Pain Relief.

Just that little nudge,

the everyday elbow

that sends you ever closer

to the final straw snapping

somewhere in the darkness.

Today I have a headache,

formed by the blood not flowing

properly and the neurons

firing at everything I am,

taking me downhill

like being ignored socially;

today I have a headache,

I keep rubbing my forehead,

almost violently, with the intention

to harm as my spine harms me,

my own payback

on the spite, my revenge

if you will,

Pain Relief. full post

(101 words, estimated 24 secs reading time)

1900 Voices.

1900 voices

in my head

saying nothing,

quiet

but not gentle, their silence

damning as they talk to each other,

whispering away,

laughing away

in the tranquillity of no noise,

no reached hand

to include, only

to ignore; these

1900 voices

in my head,

a pay for view

no attention

and I feel the turning away.

 

Ian D. Hall 2017

Permanent link to this post (63 words, estimated 15 secs reading time)