Tag Archives: Liverpool

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Static Gallery, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tony Irwin, Christine Heaney, Sally Fildes-Moss, Kevin Foott, Jack Spencer, Sophie O’Shea, Donna Ray Coleman, Dan Pendleton, Lee Burnitt, Shaun Roberts, Leanne Jones, Paula Stewart, Meera Bala, Alex Clark, Bradley Thompson, Sophie Kirby.

Within 12 months Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, arguably one of the towering stage works of the 20th Century, has been performed in Liverpool by two amateur dramatic companies. In both cases the play that has been seen by audiences has left them spellbound and lost for words. This particular version by Tell-Tale Theatre at the Static Gallery and Directed by Emma Whitley and produced by Leanne Jones is without doubt the finest production possibly seen on either side of the Atlantic in decades and something that the playwright would have salivated over and found disturbingly majestic.

The Crucible, Theatre Review. Static Gallery, Liverpool. full post

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

The Victorian in the Wall, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Will Adamsdale, Lyndsey Turner, Jason Barnett, Chris Branch, Matthew Steer, Melanie Wilson.

The thinkers guide to writing procrastination, or rather how to give an audience that one special night where everything comes together, comedy, drama, talking fridges and builders who belittle your confidence with their knowledge of art. Everything that can ever go right and wrong in the course of a week whilst your girlfriend is away is explored to its absolute best by Will Adamsdale in the superb and captivating comedy, The Victorian in the Wall.   

The Victorian in the Wall, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Union, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Even if you knew the fact, to hear Pete Shoulder say with more than a hint of apology in his voice that it was The Union’s first foray into the Liverpool’s music conscious was still more than a little surprising. With two members of arguably one of the great British Rock bands of the last 30 years, the soul affirming and musically forceful Thunder, in The Union, it seems almost remiss that the o2 Academy or any of the other vibrant venues in the city have not had the honour of hosting this exciting group.

The Union, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

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

BlackWolf, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Very few groups with the musical background of BlackWolf get the type of reception that this quality band received at their support slot to The Union at the o2 Academy. Liverpool rarely does the harder, more extreme side to rock, it is an area that usually gets left down the other end of the M6 Motorway in Birmingham and Wolverhampton or jets past and finds itself up in Scotland. So when the members of BlackWolf came on stage, it was with a gladdened heart that the crowd, still suffering with the cold that the Spring day had bought to them, took as readily as they did to the five piece and their blistering, head banging set.

BlackWolf, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

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

The Crucified Twins, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

There was an extra bonus for the fans that took a chance on turning up early for The Union’s debut gig in Liverpool on a very cold spring day and as bonus’ go they don’t come much better than The Wirral band The Crucified Twins.

The Crucified Twins, Gig Review. 02 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(360 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Roddy Woomble, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To watch Roddy Woomble on stage is to realise there are two different versions of the man who thrills so many people with his music. There is the one who is energetic and pumped full of adrenaline as part of the great Scottish band Idlewild, a man who throws himself into the action and who gives a charged performance that is exciting but also exhausting to watch. Then there is the man who gives off a relaxed air, a man in tune with his audience and the nature of his surroundings that he exudes class with air of solemnity. For the crowd at Leaf on Bold Street, on stage sat in a tranquil and cosy position was the latter and it was a gig that was just inspirational and powerfully uplifting.

Roddy Woomble, Gig Review. Leaf, Liverpool. full post

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

A Strange Wild Song, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound And Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Christopher Harrisson, Julian Spooner, Matthew Wells, Daniel Wilcox, Laila Woozeer.

There is a moment in A Strange Wild Song, a well written piece by Rhum and Clay, where the audience feels part of the action, the bombs being dropped from overhead planes that are falling around the near destroyed French village resonate and echo through 70 years and a couple of hundred miles and bring those in the auditorium face to face with one of the most inhuman parts of human history…and with one of the most interesting tales from World War Two.

A Strange Wild Song, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(343 words, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)

Borges And I, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast:  Grace Chapman, Sophie Cullen, Nicholas Pitt, Ellie Simpson, Joel Gatehouse, Kate Stanley.

Who controls the words you see? Who do the words that each and every human on the planet fortunate enough to read and enjoy, belong to each and every day? For those that lose the ability to see the words that have meant so much to them, the psychological damage can be devastating.

Borges And I, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Cafe Chaos, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Joanna Croll, Jamie Matthewman, Sam Parks, Sian Williams.

The humble cafe is the place where you get to meet the finest array of characters, all with their own peculiar stories of loves and their lives. It is the place where people meet and confess their deepest thoughts and fears and those that really run the establishments, the waiters and the chefs act as father or mother confessors to anyone who may pop in for a routine cup of tea and to tell someone their news. Such is Cafe Chaos; such is the scale of life.

Cafe Chaos, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Ronan Boyle, Gig Review. Elevator, Threshold Festival. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Ronan Boyle stands on the stage at Elevator and time almost stands still, the music he has created gives a huge nod to the acoustic folk/rock scene of the 1970s and the very gentle guitar playing hides a big personality and a very good lyric writer. Not that Ronan needs to hide behind his guitar, if anything it adds an air of mystique to the performance of a man who is so very good at what he does.

Ronan Boyle, Gig Review. Elevator, Threshold Festival. Liverpool. full post

(297 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)