Tag Archives: Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre

The Crowd, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision rating 9/10

Cast: Ross Almond, Natalie Barton, Ruby Bains, Leo Bertamini, Ellen Boyland, Erin Clarke, Stuey Dagnall, John Dixon, Olivia Dougherty, Joe Edwards, Georgie Evans, Spike Fairclough, Will Flush, Grace Fordham Bibby, Alisha Foriyire, Helena Harvey, Amber Higgins, Jake Holmes, Chloe Hughes, Esther Johnson, Connor Kelly, Neve Kelman, Luke Logan, Niamh McCarthy, Callum McCourt, John McGuick, Jack Malloy, Aimee Marnell, Chloe Nall-Smith, Joe Owens, Jamie Pye, Phil Rayner, Jess Reilly, Adam Rohan, Nathan Russell, Harry Sergeant, Kaila Sharples, Hannah Thornton, Ellie Turner, Laura Tryer, Natalie Vaughn, Tommy Williams.

The Crowd, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(555 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

The Cat In The Hat, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sam Angell, Melissa Lowe, Charley Magalit, Nana Amoo-Gottfried, Celia Francis, Robert Penny.

An acrobatic skill weaved around one of the most beloved children’s books and characters to come out of America in the last 100 years, a set of beautiful nonsense in exacting verse and perhaps the first pull of the magic that is theatre, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In The Hat is not just meant to inspire young minds, it allows them free range to see the world as a place in which the creativity that is possible goes hand in hand with anarchy and order, that learning can be fun rather than insipid, dull and routine.

The Cat In The Hat, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

A Christmas Carol, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Spymonkey’s A Christmas Carol at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. Photograph used with kind permission by the Playhouse Theatre and Johan Persson.

Cast: Aitor Basauri, Petra Massey, Toby Park, Sophie Russell.

Musicians: Ross Hughes, Marcus Penrose, David Insua-Cao.

A Christmas Carol, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(533 words, 1 image, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lisa Howard, Steve Huison, Suzette Ahmet, Matt Connor, Michael Hugo.

We are living in a time of farce, a period of political instability in which nobody understands the game anymore, and which is unravelling to the point of embarrassing absurdity; if it wasn’t so frightening, so tragic, and with the constant concern of extremist views being able to sit at the same table as common decency and compassion, then it would be funny.

They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay!, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Habit Of Art, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: John Wark, Alexandra Guelff, Matthew Kelly, Veronica Roberts, Benjamin Chandler, David Yelland, Robert Mountford.

Almost half a century on from his death, the writing, the conscious of one of Britain’s most revered poets, not only of the 20th Century, but arguably of all time, hangs over the nation like Banquo’s Ghost at the table, accusing in many ways the country of neglecting its soul, of pursuing a course of action in which poems such as September 1st 1939 have been forgotten in their entirety, the message of W.H. Auden becoming an almost whimsy-like fascination. It is perfectly acceptable for the poet to come to hate his own creations, become embarrassed by them, shun them even, but a nation should never forget the deep riches left by the fire, singed, but never completely turned to ash.

The Habit Of Art, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(527 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Persuasion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Matthew Atkins, Ceri-Lyn Cissone, Siobhan Gerrard, Indigo Griffiths, Jason Ryall, Lucinda Turner.

In a past literary history that is dominated by men, many women stand above them for the sheer depth of human experience, the joy of wit, the penetration to the bones of fear and exploration of the subject; and whilst the names of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Tolstoy stand at the gates of greatness, it is too the scribes of women such as Charlotte Bronte, Agatha Christie and Jane Austen that we should acknowledge perhaps as the greater skilled writers and finer observers of the human condition.

Persuasion, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Love From A Stranger, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Helen Bradbury, Sam Frenchum, Alice Haig, Justin Avoth, Molly Logan, Crispin Redman, Nicola Sanderson, Gareth Willams.

Despite being one of the few works by Agatha Christie which has not had the major investment by television and film and has which received perhaps less attention than most when it comes to being adapted by theatre, Love From A Stranger is a compelling piece in which the idea of the hidden psychopath is explored and manipulated to the point of the absolute style becoming of the Queen of British Crime fiction.

Love From A Stranger, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Last Ship, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Richard Fleeshman, Charlie Hardwick, Joe McGann, Frances McNamee, Joe Caffrey, Matt Corner, Anne Grace, Sean Kearns, Katie Moore, Charlie Richmond, Parisa Shahmir, Kevin Wathen, Marvin Ford, Penelope Woodman, James William-Pattison, Michael Blair, Susan Fay, Orla Gormley.

There have been many shameful periods in the history of the country, especially since World War Two ended and the thought of big Government in all its forms has risen its various ugly and uncaring heads to take on big organisations and labour.

The Last Ship, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(582 words, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

Hard Times, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Vanessa Schofield, Perry Moore, Suzanne Ahmet, Andrew Price, Howard Chadwick, Victoria Brazier, Anthony Hunt, Darren Kuppan, Claire Storey, Paul Barnhill.

It is often the case to congratulate Northern Broadsides when they come to Liverpool, a much loved theatre company to who much has always been appreciated and taken to the audience’s hearts, they have always given themselves the hardest of challenges by producing theatre that has struck a chord with the times we find ourselves in.

Hard Times, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(485 words, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

The Kite Runner, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8/10

Cast: Ravi Aujla, Jo Ben Ayed, Amiera Darwish, Raj Ghatak, Oliver Gyani, Rez Kabir, Hanif Khan, Soroosh Lavasini, Umar Pasha, Gary Pillai, Jay Sajjid, Karl Seth, Danielle Woodnutt.

This is the third time that Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of The Kite Runner has appeared on this stage. A co-production between Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse, it has enjoyed tremendous success in London’s West End since its premiere here in 2013 and is now on its second U.K. tour.

The Kite Runner, Theatre Review. Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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