Tag Archives: Liverpool

A Life in the Theatre. Theatre Review. The Actors’ Studio, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 25th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Andrew Schofield, Stephen Fletcher.

There is a realm of safety within the theatre called the dressing room where in theory an actor can relax, prepare themselves for the night ahead and be their true selves and away from the audience glare and the lights which can show every emotion.

Oedipussy, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 15th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast:  Aitor Basauri, Stephen Kreiss, Petra Massey, Toby Park.

You can sit there all night thinking of the best way to describe Spymonkey’s Oedipussy, scratch your head and explain what you’ve seen in words that are both fitting to the company and the creators behind one of the great adaptations of Greek theatre. What it all boils down too, is that the team behind Spymonkey are pure and utter comic geniuses!

Black T-Shirt Collection. Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. March 10th 2012.

L.S. Media * * * * *

Inua Ellams’ Black T-Shirt Collection is one of those rare moments of theatre where one person carries an entire production by himself and the result is nothing short of absolutely stunning.

As part of the Unity Theatre’s season of plays with Fuelfest, Inua Ellam’s play took the audience into realm of private enterprise and the shocking aftermath when a company that started with so many good intentions unravels and the people behind it see the world for its true, cruel, profit-making and inhumane ways.

A Streetcar Named Desire. Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 22nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Leanne Best, Amanda Drew, Annabelle Apsion, Russell Bentley, Stephen Fletcher, Matthew Flynn, Alan Stocks, Mandi Symonds. Sam Troughton.

Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is one that can cast dread into any Director charged with keeping the flame alive of one of the most accomplished American playwrights of his generation. In Gemma Bodinetz there is such a Director who not only has the honesty to go through every single pause, every full stop and understand how complex Williams and his writing actually was, but to install this attentive belief into the acting fraternity who are in the play.

Departure Lounge, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 3rd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Glenn Adamson, Jamie Barnard, Michael Fletcher, Joshua Meredith, Hayley Clarke.

Douglas Irvine’s 2008 tour de force Departure Lounge has to go down as one of the best musical comedies to have graced the Unity Theatre ever! Its premise of four lads embarking on a final fling of youth in Spain before heading off to University will resonate with those who went down the same wonderful and somewhat reckless path and greatly amuse those that didn’t.

Spamalot. Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 19th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Marcus Brigstocke, Jodie Prenger, Todd Carty, Robin Armstrong, Rob Delaney, Adam Ellis, Kit Orton, Eric Idle, Jon Robyns, Eric Idle.

You either love, some would say adore, Monty Python or you just don’t get it. For those that don’t understand the concept, there is help available. For those that love it, high tail it down to the Empire Theatre and take in the majesty of absurdity of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

Into The Woods, Theatre Review. The Black-E, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 18th 2011.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Jack McGraa, Elen Royles, Solomon Andrews, Elena Stephenson, Mark Rawle, Tash Hutchinson, Ellie Gray, Andrew Abrahamson, Sarah Brown, Stephanie Minshall, Camillie Machin, Jenny Martyn, Jack Malone, Jamie Barfield, Andy Godden, Frankie Burke, Rebecca Patterson, Shaun Holdom-Eyles.

Orchestra: Michael Bourne, Tom Sutherland-Grant, Tony Shorrocks, Sophie Patterson, Connie Hilton, James Warwick, Paul Fegan, Christian Ryan, Nicola Rossiter, David Mintz, Jonas Tattersall, Karolina Hentze, Misery Steele, Simeon Scheuber, Harry Leather, Matt Filer.

The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 4th 2011.

L.S.Media Review ****

Cast: Mike Idris, Alice Bunker-Whitney, Rebecca Riley, Carl Roberts, Jamie Stuart, Beatrice McEvoy.

Last year the Unity Theatre put on the stunning Christmas show, The Red Shoes; full of delicate and brilliant acting and brought to the audience’s attention the acting talent of Mike Idris. This Christmas period has seen the Unity Theatre bring back Mr. Idris amongst a superb cast that includes the delightful Alice Bunker-Whitney and the emerging talent of Rebecca Riley in a tale of intrigue, daring and puppets galore – The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

Little Scouse On The Prairie. Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media November 30th 2011.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Paul Duckworth, Stephen Fletcher,  Lindzi Germain,  Rachel Rae, Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Zeoi Cozens, Niamh  Fitzgerald, Kay Stanton, Sarah Walker.

Every great story deserves a sequel. Every drunk Irish Catholic Father who is best friends with four former gambling mad nuns and who escaped the island of Secosu merits the chance to have his story continued.

Calendar Girls, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. November 22nd 2011.

L.S Media Rating * * * * *

Cast: Ruth Madoc, Jennifer Ellison, Lynda Bellingham, Jan Harvey, Rula Lenska, Debbie Chazen, Joe McGann, Bruno Langley, Jane Lambert, John Labasnowski, Camilla Dallerup.

It takes a play of some magnificence to come back to Liverpool two years running, then again, they don’t come much more magnificent than Tim Firth’s Calendar Girls.  Based on a true story of a Womens’ Institute that took on establishment ideals and went on to become a global phenomenon, Calendar Girls reaches out to the audience’s soul and melts even the stoniest of hearts in its powerful, heart-breaking and supremely funny story.