Tag Archives: Liverpool

Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sean McGinley, Donal Gallery, Ryan Donaldson, Iara McGowan, Chris McCurry, Marcus Lamb, Jonny Holden, Andy Kellegher, Paul Kennedy.

The lies and propaganda that was used to call up millions of men during World War One never seems to be anything but staggering, almost contemptible and yet those millions took the call to arms against people they had never met in a battle to preserve the status quo; as each county in the United Kingdom offered up more and more men to the front line, so too did the sense of belonging and camaraderie take hold in the trenches.

Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Raz, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: James Cartwright.

Poetry is not confined to the short poetic burst associated with lovelorn teenagers finding the prospect of double Maths with a wreck of a teacher a dull and boring distraction to writing early sonnets to the person who catches their eye, neither is it the sole preserve of the clever academic reaching the very pinnacle of their career as they accept another title, another seal of recognition. Poetry is in the everyday, it reigns supreme in the smallest of conversations or in the biggest of events and it something that the playwright Jim Cartwright proves with devastating effect in his play Raz.

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

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

The Nice Guys, Film Review. Picturehouse, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Gil Gerard, Margaret Qualley, Yaya Dacosta, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Lois Smith, Murielle Teilo, Daisy Tahan, Kim Bassinger, Jack Kilmer, Lance Valentine, Ty Simpkins.

Occasionally in life cinema offers you the perfect picture, the moment when the genre of your choice comes out of the gloom and shoves perfection up close to your face. You expect perfection when it comes to some films and performances, it is the reason the film was made in the first place but when it comes to the unexpected, when it comes to films such as Mad Max, the first Lethal Weapon or The Nice Guys, such a hit is to be more than applauded, it is to be seen as genuine and highly praised.

The Nice Guys, Film Review. Picturehouse, Liverpool. full post

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

James Wyatt, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It is easy to love James Wyatt, the young performer almost shyly stipulates such cool and terrific poise on stage that to not admire him, to not fall for the songs of bitterness, of despair and desperate longing in an unfair and charmless world, is to realise that your ears have long since given up the task they were appointed for, that this is music that sits very much in the same vein as some of the great performers at their most iconic and virtuous.

James Wyatt, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Studio 2, Liverpool. full post

(368 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

Esme Bridie, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Parr Street, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Being away from home does not stop people caring about you, it does not mean that you are able to shrink in stature or let the light of the song ever diminish; for by doing so, the light fades and allows darkness to fill the void. It is darkness that never once pokes its head above the trenches as far as the beautiful voice and song writing of Esme Bridie is concerned.

Esme Bridie, Gig Review. Strings And Things, Parr Street, Liverpool. full post

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

Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Joanne McGuinness, Kirsty MacLaren, Francis Mayli McCann, Dawn Sievewright.

The potent mix of having too much time on your hands and not enough to do in the area is more than the headlong crash into certain temptation. For those whose young hormones rule absolutely it can cause the body and mind to depart and separate in ways that might seem unfathomable to many who have never experienced the deprivation of what a city life can offer.

Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Urinetown, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Photograph reproduced with kind permission by Andrew Ab.

Photograph reproduced with kind permission by Andrew Ab.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Shaun Holdom-Eyles, Amy Murphy, Jak Malone, Franki Burke, Jamie Barfield, Julie Evans, Andrew Jones, Chris Brockelsby, Alex Williams, Trev Fleming, Megan Key, Tom Lox, Steph Scrutton, Charlotte Wilson, Lily Mak, Martin Ellis, Eugene Tan, Jen Ramage, Zoe Thirsk,Elan Barfield, Steph Longmuir, Taylor Henwood, Jo Vickers.

Musicians: Jonas Tattersall, Andy Weaver, Jonny Knight, Ben Knowles, Callum Clarke.

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

(456 words, 1 image, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Brian Wilson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

It is arguably impossible to calculate all the love in the world, you would be better off just trying to attempt collecting sand from a far off beach and turning into Cornish tin; some things are just physically impractical to do and hopeless to challenge.

Brian Wilson, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

(500 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Morfydd Clark, Tom Bennett, Jenn Murray, Lochlann O’ Mearáin, Sophie Radermacher, Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Fry, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Justin Edwards, Kelly Campbell, Jemma Redgrave, James Fleet.

Playing the action hero for so long can lead to unexpected issues within cinema. For many the sight of an actor in anything other than the expected, the fight scenes, the tense muscles quivering under the spandex or leather a precursor to the belief that in anything else you would not get the merit you deserve. It happens to so many and yet the trend does occasionally get bucked, it does bend and snap and what emerges is nothing short of fantastic.

Love & Friendship, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(413 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathway, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Lindsay Duncan, Leo Bill, Geraldine James, Andrew Scott, Richard Armitage, Ed Speleers, Timothy Spall, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Barbara Windsor, Michael Sheen, Paul Hunter, Siobhan Redmond, Paul Whitehouse.

Alice Through The Looking Glass, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

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