Tag Archives: Michael Starke

Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Michael Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Hayley Hampson, Danny O’ Brien, Andrew Schofield, Michael Starke, Leah Whiteside, Amera Bjorkhaug, Ashlyn Baker, Natasha Riley.

Band: Elliot Chapman, Jack Hymers, Emily Linden, Alex Smith.

Boris and Daisy, a Russian submarine crew member and a student from Liverpool, having found love in a cold climate and an odd pair of talking bears with a passion for ballet in Scouse of The Antarctic continue their romance in the hot desert of Egypt and in amongst the camels, the fezs and flies and in Fred Lawless’ latest comedy smash, Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, the spirit of the Liver Bird lives on in wonderful Merseyside fashion.

Pharaoh Cross The Mersey, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. (2015).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Danny O’ Brien, Andrew Schofield, Michael Starke.

The night is young, the perfume is sprayed with liberal application, the smell of the aftershave overpowers the testosterone emanating from the raw majesty that is the Friday night club and disco and the D.J., who might not save your life on the night but who will certainly play a few good numbers to get the girls up and dancing, is full of ready innuendo. If your names are not down though and you’re not ready to party with the best doormen around then the Bouncers, on behalf of the management, reserve the right to make you laugh long into the night.

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. (2015). full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Shed, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Michael Starke.

The humble British Shed, so loved by many, so bemusing too many more. A place where sanctuary is sought, where peace can reign and Time can be seen not to ravage but to almost stall, decay at a slower rate, to inspire growth and let thoughts take hold in a way that the outside world, almost insistent on the answers being forthcoming at the speed of knots, cannot comprehend. The shed is last refuge, be it six foot wide in all directions or built in the fashion that some might as well retire and spend their remaining days locked within and practise for the ultimate last days of potting and cutting dead leaves of a much valued plant.

Shed, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(468 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Scouse Of The Antarctic, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Helen Carter, Michael Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Hayley Hampson, Michael Ledwich, John McGrellis, Michael Starke, Ross Higginson, Jack Humers, Emily Linden, Alex Smith.

The Antarctic: A place where a person from Liverpool can be at one with Penguins, Polar Bears, a sarcastic snowman with a not just a carrot on his nose but a chip on a shoulder and a cob on his mind and where a man’s underpants can signify that you are truly the master of all you survey. Life it seems can be serene and peaceful as the Scouse of The Antarctic.

Scouse Of The Antarctic, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Danny O’ Brien, Louis Emerick, Michael Starke.

The 1980s nightclub, the big night out, big hair, cheaper beer, even cheaper aftershave and perfume sprayed on as liberally as showering underneath Victoria Falls for five days and then taking a dip in a swimming pool to get that real deep down scent. This was the time, depending on where you were living and your circumstances dictated in which Saturday night was the highlight of the week, the chance to meet the girl of your dreams, the man of your nightmares and all washed down with enough alcohol to drown an angel on a week-long bender on a Spanish holiday, all you had to do was get past the Bouncers on the door.

Bouncers, Theatre Review. The Royal Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(543 words, estimated 2:10 mins reading time)

Special Measures, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Eithne Browne, Paul Broughton, Stephen Fletcher, Jessica Guise, Colin Hoult, Adam Search, Angela Simms, Michael Starke.

St Jude’s Primary School has been placed into Special Measures, the universal, one size fits all term, to denote that somewhere something is not right with the system.

When Tory M.P. Thomas Winters feels the wrath of the P.M.s anger at being hit by a croquet mallet in a particularly painful constituency, he is dispatched to tick the right sort of boxes in a North of England school and make amends. The fall out, the so called oppressed kicking downwards is not new but for the Head Master and staff of St. Jude’s the fall of basic humility and understanding looking them in the eyes is one that is too much to bear.

Special Measures, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(499 words, estimated 2:0 mins reading time)

The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lynne Francis, Lindzi Germain, Jack Rigby, Angela Simms, Michael Starke, Charlotte Dalton, Stephanie Miles, Emily Trebicki.

Every science fiction story needs a hero, a man willing to put his life on the line in order to save the world and by doing so redeem his soul, a man who handles himself with courage, moral fortitude, bravery in the face of oppression…and a Tardis inspired wheelie Bin.  It’s the festive season but not as we know it.

The Hitchhikers Guide To Fazakerley, Theatre Review. Royal Court, Liverpool. full post

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

Sons Of The Desert, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Roy Brandon, Michael Starke, Lori Haley Fox, Penelope Woodman, Matt Connor, Jonathan Markwood.

The distinctive music, the sight of two comedy greats on stage giving the audience a laugh and great entertainment in two different settings and somehow transported in time from the golden age of Hollywood comedy to the 21st Century comedy central of the Royal Court in Liverpool. Such is how nights of class are made and in the iconic Laurel and Hardy film Sons of The Desert, recently given such status as warranting to be preserved forever in the American National Congress, they don’t come much bigger, then again, it can always be given a new lick of paint and introducing to a newer audience.

Sons Of The Desert, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Danny O’ Brien, Michael Starke, Mark Womack.

In the night time, in the sometimes unforgiving dark which is briefly punctuated by loud thumping music and neon lights enticing the weary, the foolhardy and the desperate, the bouncer is king of his domain. What he says, happens, if he tells you to sling your hook, you go, tail between your legs; if he orders you to laugh, cry and feel as though the night has been an almighty success, then you have probably seen John Godber’s acclaimed play, Bouncers at the Royal Court Theatre.

Bouncers, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre. Liverpool. full post

(515 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)