Tag Archives: Liverpool

Assemble, Theatre Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Jackie Jones, Nuala Maguire, Marie Westcott, Sarah Keating, Becky Brooks, Sophie Smith, Josie Sedgewick Davies, Maggie Quinlan.

Four plays written, edited, practised and performed inside 24 hour whilst all the while at the back of the minds of all involved with Lady Parts Theatre the small nagging doubt that this perhaps can be a jump too far for all participating in the project. Assemble was the rallying call and assemble with flying colours they did, all present and correct, suitably attired and as a bonus were just magnificent.

Assemble, Theatre Review. 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool. full post

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

Ladies Day, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Eithne Browne, Lynne Francis, Roxanne Pallett, Angela Simms, Jack Lord.

The glitter, the finery, the new frocks and strange alien language truly known only by a smattering of people can only mean one thing; that Amanda Whittington’s play Ladies Day is in Liverpool and under starter’s orders to go down as one of the great feel good productions of 2013.

Ladies Day, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Last Five Years, Theatre Review. The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Helen Carter, Stephen Fletcher.

There are times when a production can simply not be bettered, it has the most fantastic response to it and lingers on well in the memory as one of the absolute highlights of the theatre year. That production is The Last Five Years, it was considered by all who saw it at the Actor’s Studio, a rip roaring accomplished piece of art from start to finish. That is where the two productions stop being comparable, as Stephen Fletcher, one of the finest young actors in Liverpool and the exceptional Helen Carter bought Jason Robert Brown’s play back to the stage for the second time and in one fell swoop made it a gleaming example of artistic beauty, of tremendous fortitude and belief and overall simple elegance.

The Last Five Years, Theatre Review. The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(445 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Lionboy, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Adetomiwa Edun, Femi Elufowoju Jr., Robert Gilbert, Victoria Gould, Lisa Kerr, Clive Mendus, Dan Milne, Stephen Hiscock.

There are many plays and productions that can make an audience sit up just that little bit higher in their seats and marvel at the spectacle, wonder with joy at the sheer leap in the imagination and be amazed at what the theatre company has managed to achieve in the time on stage. Complicite are no exceptions to this rule as they bring their superb adapted version of Zizou Corder’s acclaimed Lionboy to the Liverpool Playhouse Theatre.

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

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

Failure (And other opportunities for non-linear success), Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

How many dreams or unfulfilled desires do you still have left in your life? One? A few? Maybe there is whole list of wishes, a whole grasping of seeds in which you hope will all germinate and take root. Every success then will be yours…life though doesn’t work that way and in amongst all those seeds you might miss the one that will flower as you chase them all.  Mary Pearson explores how not to succeed, in other words how to grasp Failure.

Failure (And other opportunities for non-linear success), Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(375 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Floating, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There is a reason why the foundation of the country since the end of the Second World War is built upon the cornerstone, the epitome of decency that is the N.H.S. and it is down to doctors and nurses that put up with, laugh alongside, shed tears of agony, frustration and remorse in the midst of insurmountable daily pressure from the sick and the dying and from those trusted with its care who seem to want to destroy what makes the U.K. civilised.

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

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

Sherlock Holmes: The Death And Life. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Roger Llewellyn.

James Moriarty has long been the associated with being the ultimate nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, two sides of a coin, the yin and yang, one a force for peace, the other, the dark blackened contamination that spread its evil and chaos throughout London. Moriarty never showed his full hand until the two men fought at Reichenbach Falls and for a while the avid readers of the great detective’s work and the money men of the Strand magazine felt the shortfall in quality and income.

Sherlock Holmes: The Death And Life. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(564 words, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Stephen Langstaff, Gig Review. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool.

The applause builds up slowly and surely in heated anticipation before exploding with a feel of over- riding love as Stephen Langstaff makes his way on stage to give the huge crowd at The East Village Arts Club, something they have craved all evening, the sound and voice of one of Liverpool’s finest in full flow.

Stephen Langstaff, Gig Review. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool. full post

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

The Mono L.P.s, Gig Review. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The East Village Arts Club has already been creating a buzz since the doors re-opened a few weeks back. However much loved Masque was, the heady intoxicating nights in there were a by-word for some good music, inside the building now feels more homely, the sound more complete, lush and sensuous and there certainly could be no greater exponents of that overpowering sensuousness than the three acts that found their way there on the start of what is a busy Bank Holiday for the city.

The Mono L.P.s, Gig Review. East Village Arts Club, Liverpool. full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Caroline England, Gig Review. The East Village Arts Club, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To squeeze yourself between two acts, one on fire with their dazzling display and integration of cello and rock and the other a young man so on his game he could take on all comers in a World Cup tournament and still probably win before half time, takes a certain amount of desire and musical skill. In Caroline England, a woman not known to be fazed by anything that is put before her, 20 minutes was more than enough to show why her acoustic set is so highly rated and her voice can reduce a person’s heart to a quivering wreck begging for mercy.

Caroline England, Gig Review. The East Village Arts Club, Liverpool. full post

(309 words, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)