Tag Archives: Liverpool

The Mousetrap, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Louise Jameson, Anna Andresen, Nick Barclay, Tony Boncza, Lewis Collier, Gregory Cox, Amy Downham, Oliver Gully.

Arguably Agatha Christie’s name will last in the annals of English Literature history as long as William Shakespeare’s and will always be as revered to her fans as the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is easy to see why, the cold calculating pace of her mysteries, the beloved nature of two of her famous creations so entrenched in television’s grasp that they sell world-wide with ease and the secrecy installed in a play that might never see the light of day beyond the confines of theatre; it is to that end that Agatha Christie’s name will always be celebrated and whispered, the mistress of crime and the bogeyman all in one terrific role.

The Mousetrap, Theatre Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Mark Thomas: Trespass. Theatre Review, Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The evening might not, in spirit, have been as dramatic as the last time Mark Thomas performed at the Liverpool Playhouse, nothing as spontaneous as a fire alarm and a public meeting by the old bandstand on Williamson Square to get the comedy juices flowing. Yet the air of supreme command of the English language, of taking an audience down the path of playful anarchy is in itself one that catches the night as if being hunted down and paraded through the streets of the cities of the U.K. for its absurd notions that we have allowed our green and pleasant land to become a haven for business to tell us where we can and cannot walk.

Mark Thomas: Trespass. Theatre Review, Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Miles Ahead, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Keith Stanfield, Christina Karis, Nina milow, Austin Lyon, Theron Brown, Jeffrey Grover, Joshua Jessen.

Maverick, genius, individual, eccentric and a rebel to the point of sheer musical indulgence; there are many touched by such unconventional thought but few perhaps that typify the very human nature that circles within us all as Miles Davis.

Miles Ahead, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Louder Than Bombs, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid, Amy Ryan, Ruby Jerins, Megan Ketch, David Strathairn, Rachel Brosnahan, Russell Posner.

All we are looking for is a connection, a reason to hold onto certain memories and recollections about our lives and those we hold dear to our lives. When that reason to have and hold is taken away in the blink of an eye, when Time reminds us with no quarter given, that all can be lost and shattered as easily as bones in an accident, then connection is frustrated and we have to make our own way, unguided and censured; the only companion is silence and it is one that is Louder than Bombs, more destructive than loneliness.

Louder Than Bombs, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Lamellar Project, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * * *

Cast: Emma Gibson, Gideon Turner.

The Unity Theatre is attracting more and more exciting new projects and bringing incredible talent into the city. It has showcased not only art installations, but hip-hop, performance poetry and multi media. It has produced such a variety of different approaches to theatre that its latest arrival in Unity One fits in perfectly with the ethos of the theatre.

The Lamellar Project, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(421 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

The Odyssey, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tahreen Kutub, Michael Cavanagh, Angela McComb, Ifan James, Gillian Paterson-Fox, Richard MacDonald, Peter Durr, Maria Hutchison, Kenny Lanceley, Yahya Baggash, Kaylee-Ann Meredith, Ian Gray, Pam Campbell.

The destruction of Troy has been assured for years yet for Odysseus the battle remains fresh in the memory as each day he is kept away from the island of Ithaca, his beautiful wife Penelope and son Telemachus, a plaything of the gods, a supplicant to the immortals, their whims and desires. For Odysseus the world has been against him and his men for two decades and all he wants is to be home, a home in which Penelope now is being courted by fresh suitors who abuse the hospitality and ransack the estate.

The Odyssey, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(449 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

The Golden Oldies, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ruth Alexander Rubin, Eithne Browne, Dennis Conlon, Annie Edwards, Greg Fossard, Hayley Hampson, Phil Hearne, Paul Kissaun, Olwen Rees.

It is a question of definition, of how your generation will be remembered, not by the politics it suffered or the times they live through, but by the music that they send up the charts and the beat they constructed in alleyways, clubs and bars. Music is the beat of the heart and if the heart keeps pumping then the music stays alive and in Dave Simpson’s gentle but absorbing musical comedy, The Golden Oldies, music is not just the food of love, it is the art that keeps all staying alive.

The Golden Oldies, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

ENO G, Gig Review. L.I.P.A., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The relief of being in a country where all forms of music are given a fair go, are to be congratulated for the feeling of exotic nature they bring to the ears of the local music lover, is to understand that the world is not to be confined to the borders of the North Sea, The English Channel or the coast of Wales and its mountain ranges casting their eye warily over the waters towards Ireland and the United States; music is after all above such petty things as borders and in the express train ride that is South Korea’s ENO G, the feeling of exotic is balanced out by the temptation of sound on offer in the best traditions of funk fusion and heartfelt lyrics.

ENO G, Gig Review. L.I.P.A., Liverpool. full post

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

Grace Eliza, Gig Review. L.I.P.A., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Paul McCartney auditorium may have been still and as quiet as a family of gently snoring mice as they snoozed under the duvet before the arrival on stage of Grace Eliza, however they soon joined in the loud appreciation for the young R&B singer as she blistered through a set at the L.I.P.A showcase with tremendous ambition.

It is an ambition that will serve her well in the coming years and it is one that also matches the depth of beauty that is very much in evidence as the audience almost scrambled to the front of the stage to get a full look at the raven haired songstress.

Grace Eliza, Gig Review. L.I.P.A., Liverpool. full post

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

Katherine Ryan, Comedy Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Wonderfully outspoken and a glorious acid wit, bundled together to make a woman of keen verbal desire; it’s possible that you might find many such outrageously verbose and sincerely talkative people on the comedy circuit but there are few like Katherine Ryan, there are even less that truly grab you by the short and undeniably curly in such a way as the comedienne from Sarnia in Canada.

Katherine Ryan, Comedy Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. full post

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