Tag Archives: Theatre Review. Unity Theatre

Pippin, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Chris Walsh, Pete Fendall, Matthew Sheffield, Tom Loughlin, Steph Scrutton, Heather Burns, Eilish Mulvihill, Thomas Wiggins, Eugene Chong, Megan Key, Andrew Abrahamson, Kate Rugen, Andy Walker, Lizzie Paes, Charlotte Wilson, Steph Longmuir, Lily Maketansky.

Musicians: Josie Conti, Mark Newberry, Amy Fazakerley, Holly Burrows, Abigail Morris, Chloe Farrington, Tom Crowley, Xana Davies, Joe Barnes, Laura Copestake, Ben Dyer, Jonny Knight, Luke Thomas.

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

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

Cartoonopolis, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Lewis Bray.

To compare the same play by the same performer two years apart is to open yourself up to folly and yet as audience member rose in appreciation at the end of Lewis Bray’s magical return of his play Cartoonopolis, as they revelled as one in the life of boy to whom cartoons are a special friend, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most exceptional plays crowds are likely to see this year.

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

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

Omnibus, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Alice Bunker-Whitney in Omnibus. Photograph by Brian Roberts.

 

Cast: Gemma Banks, Alice Bunker-Whitney, Eva McKenna, Joel Parry, Danny Burns, Eithne Browne.

It is always a cause for celebration when a production comes to the stage and truly brings an audience together in its humour and the way it showcases new writing, the positive ways it uses all the actors with equal clarity and the wonderful way in which it shows the genuine appreciation due its Director. When that celebration coincides with the soft re-opening of a much loved theatre after months of renovation and updating, then it is not just a case of bring out the decorations and congratulations, then it is the keen observance and salute that only an Omnibus can provide.

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

(408 words, 1 image, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Little Red And The Big Bad Wolf, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Natalie Campbell, Simone Lewis, Harvey Robinson, Luca Rutherford.

Every show at this time of year is special, it the one that can bring families together, that good will is truly spread with and the one that children get their first taste of the uniqueness of drama to express emotion, the much used phrase magic of the theatre is not wrong when it comes to this special time of year, as each wide eyed child, each grinning parent could attest to in the Unity Theatre’s fabulous show for 2016, Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf.

Little Red And The Big Bad Wolf, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Nina: A Story About Me And Nina Simone, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Josette Bushall-Mingo, Shapor Bastansiar, Shaney Forbes, Jair–Rohm Parker Wells.

Political thought requires The Arts to remind it of just what it is fighting for on occasion, the rest of the time Art is there to take on the degraded and the foolish who seek power without representation, who make those who seek to undermine a person by the colour of their skin, their age, race, gender, sexuality or their perceived ability to do a job, Art must strive to admonish, rebuke and sternly warn by any means possible but it also must hold the hand, caress the soul and give comfort that whilst the holders of such ideas are wrong, they at least can be changed.

Nina: A Story About Me And Nina Simone, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Ian Cook, Adam Davies, Eleni Edupidi, Jennifer Essex.

Like convenience food, happiness is pre-packaged, put on a shelf and marketed, it is what everybody desires, everybody grasps for, fights over and goes out of their way to show to the world that they have seen a fleeting glimpse of it as the show an endless parade of pictures of their life on social media; happiness is no longer a cigar, it is an emotion that becomes more flawed and cracked the higher life takes you, for like money, the more you have, the more you need to keep the thrill going.

Happy Hour, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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

The Diary Of A Hounslow Girl, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound & Vision Rating: * * * *

Cast: Ambreen Razia.

The Diary of A Hounslow Girl is the tale of a 16-year-old British Muslim girl in West London. From traditional Pakistani weddings to fights on the night bus, this play shows the challenges of being brought up as a young woman in a traditional Muslim family alongside the temptations and influences growing up in and around London.

Written and performed by Ambreen Razia the show is currently on tour around the country, with a one night stop at the Unity. This is Razia’s debut play and her performance is flawless, considering it is a monologue that lasts 85 minutes.

The Diary Of A Hounslow Girl, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(322 words, estimated 1:17 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)

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)

Jonny & The Baptists, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Jonny Donahue, Paddy Gervers

Death is inevitable, the planet more or less will become more fragile and yes perhaps we have gone past the tipping point where extinction is possible, yet at the end of the day there is still time for comedy and satire; after all aren’t those who continue to put us in the mess we like to roll around in, worth it? The world may be on a collision course with the apocalypse, of irreversible climate change but there is still time to enjoy two men on stage take a light hearted but smack on look at what it actually means to be told The End Is Nigh

Jonny & The Baptists, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

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