Rock band Green Day, who first charted in the Nineties, are well known for their frenetic live shows, and are often credited with reviving a mainstream interest in punk rock, have brought together their songs from the album Grammy award winning album American Idiot, as a sung-through stage adaptation. From the book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer, with music by Green Day and lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong, American Idiot loosely tells the story of three adolescent friends, (expanded from that of the concept album), who set out to flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions.
Pasha Kovalev became a household name through Strictly Come Dancing when he joined as one of the professional dancers in 2011. He won the glitter ball in 2014 with his celebrity partner, Caroline Flack. Sadly in the 2015 series, he was voted out quite early on with his celebrity partner, Carol Kirkwood.
This tour is part 2 of the "Life Through Dance" tour and is entitled "It's All About You". I was lucky enough to see part 1 last year and I thought it was spectacular.
Last night I watched Deborah Frances White at the Lowry. Although at first I was unsure what I was attending, it was a pleasure to listen to her story, which told of her search on social media to find her birth family.
Deborah Frances White’s show followed the story of her own adoption, beginning with her calling on audience members asking which family members they looked like and if any were adopted. She told the audience that she was always told she looked like her adopted mum and that she had had a very successful adoption. From all of these details given I thought her stage presence and interaction with the audience was amazing, as it was a topic clearly very close to her.
Making the impossible appear possible!
The Quays theatre at the Lowry Salford gave stage to 5 world class illusionists today, that mesmerised and astounded the audience with their trickery, illusions, deception and mystery magic that was truly mind-blowingly good.
Technical issues prevented the show from starting on time, however this just added to heightening the atmosphere and the sense of tension in the waiting audience, however once the show started it was easy to see that the intricate nature of the tricks performed must require a massive amount of preparation and so the short delay was soon forgiven.
If you remember the miner’s strike of 1984-5, you’ll remember the division, hatred and rebellion inspired in the working classes by the conservative government. In Tinned Good’s, Fiona Whitelaw’s character Sue proclaims, “This government is trying to starve us into submission.” Nowadays, many may think this kind of treatment from those in power is unthinkable, unheard of, cruel and something that might be expected of a policed state. But it happened just 30 years ago.
The Shepherds Life gives you a true insight into Cumbrian life in two and a half hours, capturing local shows, lambing time, all the seasons and even foot-and-mouth giving you an honest look at life as a farmer.
Based on the book, The Shepherd’s Life written by James Rebanks, Chris Monks has adapted it into a beautiful piece of theatre which captures the hardships as well as the highlights of life as a farmer without romanticising it. Based in Matterdale in the eastern Lake District, we are told the tale of James and his family who have farmed in the same valleys for over 600 years.
Every once in a while something magical happens. You attend the theatre making presumptions about what you are about to watch and literally get blown away by the story you are told.
Directing Hamlet is currently on at The Storey Institute in Lancaster. The auditorium space exceeded expectations and was the perfect setting for this performance. An incredibly well written piece by Michael Perlmutter and brought to life by director Karl Barnsley.
This was a one hour wordless piece of highly physical theatre presented by the acclaimed and award-winning 'The Ricochet Project', who in recent years have gone from strength to strength since being founded in 2007 by Cohdi Harrell, and their latest offering, Smoke And Mirrors sees Harrell team up with Laura Stokes and bring forth a visually stunning and physically exhausting set of vignettes.
Hotel Mondo - this is the title of the devised Musical Theatre project by students of The Arden Theatre School, Manchester. With book, music and lyrics written by the students themselves, and with even the choreography student devised, this really is THEIR product, and is a joyous celebration of their talents.
It is a one-act 55 minute non-stop romp. Taken ever so tongue-in-cheek, this pastiche, with inspiration taken from so many horror films using hotels as their setting, shows us the unfortunate goings-on at The Hotel Mondo where guests and staff alike are mysteriously ending up dead or disappearing. Enter two hapless defective detectives, Ben Dover and Peckett, who notice a small black mark on the end of the deceaseds' fingers, and conclude, just before they too are killed, that the murderer must be Mr. G. Reaper.
This performance is less a ‘show’ more of an emotive commentary on Muslim women and the challenges they face today. It has less to do with lingerie than its title might suggest, but it does a good job of exposing the private parts of the female Muslim mind.
The extremely colourful and diverse 50 minute monologue delivered by Fatima is a collection of thoughts and conversations of 6 women. Young and old, they illuminate totally different views on their heritage, culture, religion and relationships.
The Beanfield is an innovative and stunning piece of performance art. It is best described as a part play, part documentary which works surprisingly well. Performed at the intimate space that was basic yet perfect, this production excels.
The show recreates the story of 'The Battle of the Beanfield' in 1985. Travellers were confronted by 1000 police officers on their journey to the Annual Stonehenge Festival. The police used brutal force, bloody violence and arrested many, all of which weren't convinced. Nick Davies of the Guardian, who was present on the day, described it as “an act of organised bullying”. It’s now been 30 years since the day itself and memories and nightmares still haunt those involved.
Subcategories
Page 32 of 63
- You are here:
-
Home
- Reviews