Tag Archives: Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre

Hancock And Co: One Man, Many Voices, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: James Hurn.

There have been institutions of comedy that have had either the whole country tuning in to watch the latest episode, or which have captured the imagination of the television viewer to the point where upon even hearing their last name said out loud, the programme’s introductory music or just a simple but much loved catchphrase can have them smiling broadly. The memory of these special people is such that even after 50 years since their untimely passing, they still have millions of fans who regularly tune in to any repeat on the television or radio.

Hancock And Co: One Man, Many Voices, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Pinocchio: The Boy Within, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Catherine Devine, Kimberley Elizabeth Greenwood, Nick Wymer, Louise Gregson, Michael Newstead, Joe Matthew-Morris, Geraldine Moloney Judge , Lee Burnitt, Caitlin Harwood, James Stephenson, Charley McCafferty, Laura Jones.

There is a time when we must all look to those we may call father and take on the mantle of being grown up in front of them, that the facade of childhood and made up stories must cease, and we must find ourselves being the adult, we must cut the strings and stand upon our own two feet.

Pinocchio: The Boy Within, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Lennon’s Banjo, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Eric Potts, Jake Abraham, Mark Moraghan, Lynn Francis, Daniel O’Brien, Stephanie Dooley, Alan Stocks, Roy Carruthers.

Special guest appearance by Pete Best.

Memorabilia is big business, some of it only worth the money to the person that truly wants to covet it, to see it take pride of place in a darkened room and never let anyone ever see it again. The private collector to whom a piano played by Billy Joel, Elton John or Tori Amos is as valuable, if not more so, than keeping the instrument used to create art out of sight of millions; a type of dystopian pleasure, a greed that undeniably stokes the furnaces of ownership but also in which hangs tales of intrigue, of lost items and found loves.

Lennon’s Banjo, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2018).

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: James Templeton, Sharon Byatt, John Schumacher, Lucy Litchfield, Nick Wymer, Ed Barr Sim, Sam Donovan, Timothy Lucas, Chloe Taylor, Daniel Taylor, Lenny Wood, Neville Cann, Fra Gunn, Faye Griffiths, Emma Webber, Hannah Rankin, Lily Davies, James Ledsham, Luke Lucas.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. (2018). full post

(492 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Jack And The Beanstalk, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Ray Quinn, Lindzi Germain, Claire Simmo, Lewis Pryor, Michael Chapman, Mia Molloy.

The Pantomime is an institution, one of first experiences for many to whom the theatre is a haven to be preserved, of silliness and beauty, of hearing that loud series of giggles and laughter from younger audiences before they become self-conscious and trapped within the confines of fitting behaviour. It is when you see this in action during the Pantomime that it reminds you of what brought you into this fascinating and beguiling world in the first place, magic, the wonderful world of the delightful thrill, where anything is possible and the overall enchantment that the young mind grasps onto with relish.

Jack And The Beanstalk, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(399 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Peter Pan, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Dane Bowers, Claire Simmo, Lewis Pryor, Joanne Harper, Michael Chapman, Georgia Austin, Chris Barton, Eleiyah Navis, Adam Coyne, Alliyah Hennessey, Libby Sunter, Faye Keating, Rachel Heron, Libby Walker, Liv Baccino, Beth Baccino, Jacob Robinson.

Humanity needs more people who see the world through the same eyes, the same clarity of vision that author and playwright J.M. Barrie did when he created the characters of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Wendy Darling and Tinker Bell, perhaps then it might not be so centred on greed and destruction. Instead, as is always hoped for at this time of year, the pull of being decent, of holding out a hand to a fallen lost boy or fellow darling, is the right way to be. It is an ideal, of being brave in a world of adults, cutlasses and poison, of listening to your heart, of believing and one that Peter Pan flies high.

Peter Pan, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(462 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: James Templeton, Sharon Byatt, John Schumacher, Sophie Coward, Nick Wymer, Simon Willmont, Sam Donovan, Thomas Casson, Chloe Taylor, Daniel Taylor, Timothy Lucas, Neville Cann, Fra Gunn, Faye Griffiths, Emma Sellars, Emily Chesterton, Georgia Pye.

Something in the undergrowth stirs, a sense of magic is in the air and whilst all theatre productions, across every genre, should have this illusion and allusion readily at its disposal, there is always something incredible, a reason that is fanciful, that should be waiting for William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy and romance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(479 words, estimated 1:55 mins reading time)

Noises Off, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Kathryn Chambers, Tom Platt, Vikki Earle, Tom Cavendish, Danny Fahey, Lauren Molyneux, Liz Blake, Joey Wishwell, Alec Walters.

Noises Off is one of those gems of a production that an audience can never be introduced to enough, a true blend of British stoicism in the face of absolute charade, a play that revels in its mayhem and one that if you haven’t laughed at during spells doom for British theatre; in much the same way that the ravens learning they can leave the Tower of London would spell the end of centuries tradition, so to if not laughing at arguably one of the great comedies of all time would cause a rip in the curtain of the English language.

Noises Off, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(453 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Natasha Hamilton, Sean Smith, Jordan Davies, Mark Byron, Michael Chapman, Lewis Pryor, Lesley Butler, Tom Burroughs.

The Christmas pantomime, one of the great cornerstones of life and nowhere in the world really captures the point or the reason of it as much as the British, it takes sheer guts to perform so many shows to an audience to whom many are arguably having their first taste of theatre, of the slapstick fun that is at times extraordinarily paced and presented and the fun that goes with it. It is the possibly the finest of traditions and Aladdin at the Epstein Theatre is no different and one that is all too enjoyable, no matter the age of the person in the seat.

Aladdin, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Ball Of Fire, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Michael Hawkins, Ronny Goodlass, Michael Cullen, John Purcell, Sally Tryer, Adam Byrne, Katie King, James Ledsham, Danny Noble, Lisa Symonds.

At best Alan Ball was a world beater, a man to whom Pele described at the finest player in an England shirt, arguably the best player on the pitch on the day the country won the World Cup in July 1966, tenacious, a spirited player to whom Alf Ramsey made a hero of and to whom Don Revie discarded cruelly and without pomp and ceremony, at worst…well there was no worst, just dogged by ill fortune and personal disasters that would go hand in hand with the Lancashire’s lad’s demeanour and psyche for his entire life.

Ball Of Fire, Theatre Review. Epstein Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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