DOM the play by Lloyd Evans is always funny, well performed and occasionally has some thoughtful things to say, though those thoughtful things are never really explored and the tone is always light. Almost every person depicted in the show is caricatured, from the Remainer North London couple having a ridiculous, childlike tantrum on the… Continue reading DOM the play
Month: February 2023
Annie
Never work with children and animals, they say. The ever-popular musical Annie does not heed this particular warning, featuring not only performers still in primary school but a dog (in this case, Amber with an understated performance as Annie’s adopted stray Sandy). Originally opening on Broadway in 1977, Annie boasts a Tony award-winning book and… Continue reading Annie
Theatre of Gulags
The lethal paranoia of the Soviet Union’s Stalinist regime sent millions of people to the gulags (labour camps) where many died due to the appalling conditions. A sizeable number were executed for the flimsiest of supposed crimes. Theatre practitioners were not exempt. Theatre of Gulags lets us glimpse the experience of four of them in… Continue reading Theatre of Gulags
Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo
Before Cavalli, before Monteverdi, in the beginning there was Emilio De’ Cavalieri. He was one of a group of Florentine aristocrats seeking to reproduce the combination of words and music that made up Greek theatre, and his La Rappresentatione, staged during the Rome Carnival of 1600, is acknowledged as the first opera, as we understand the… Continue reading Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo
Hamlet
As this racy, modern version of Hamlet demonstrates, Stratford Festival in Ontario is still the go-to location for high quality Shakespearean productions. Director Peter Pasyk’s vision of what many believe to be Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy and greatest play can be unconventional but is always satisfying. To start with, he updates the drama to the 21st… Continue reading Hamlet
La Vie Parisienne
“Parisian life—endless fun and games,” exclaims good-time girl Gabrielle. That seems about right for this glorious, frolicsome romp where it seems any time is party time. Offenbach wrote his burlesque comedy to cash in on the World Exhibition to be held in Paris in 1867. Gardefeu, a young man about town, wants to seduce a… Continue reading La Vie Parisienne
Judy & Liza on tour
A stage show charting the careers and relationship between Hollywood mother and daughter Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli is on a UK tour to Lancaster, Bolton, Lowestoft, Oldham, Barnstaple, Sale, Ulverston, Ilkley, Cheltenham, Milford Haven and Cardiff. It’s created and written by West End performer Emma Dears who appears as Liza Minnelli, with Francis Goodhand… Continue reading Judy & Liza on tour
Faye joins Ballroom cast
Dancing on Ice finalist and Coronation Street star Faye Brookes joins the cast of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom The Musical as part of a 10-month tour which comes to The Lowry, Salford June 26 to July 1. The musical, based on film of the same name, is directed by Craig Revel Horwood, who co-choreographs with Strictly’s creative director Jason Gilkison. Faye… Continue reading Faye joins Ballroom cast
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Ten years after the première of The Kite Runner, one of Nottingham Playhouse’s most successful productions, the theatre looks destined to repeat that success with its latest offering, The Beekeeper of Aleppo. The Kite Runner, Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel, played to more than 20,000 people in Nottingham. It toured the UK, had… Continue reading The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Dance Me – Music by Leonard Cohen
A compilation of Leonard Cohen’s iconic songs, poems, musings and a dance homage to the man who died 7 November 2016, but before he died, he approved the songs chosen for this tender dance memorial to an intriguing personality. He never got to see the finished product. Ballets Jazz Montréal from Cohen’s home town are… Continue reading Dance Me – Music by Leonard Cohen