Negative Space is the latest creation of the Belgian performing troupe known as Reckless Sleepers.
Formed in 1988 and taking its name from the painting of the same name by Belgium surrealist Rene Magritte, the company produce striking, visual, physical and rule breaking pieces of theatre. There is no one word to describe their performance style. They do not fit into any genre. And so to describe their style as surrealist is perhaps the most apt. They produce work which pushes boundaries and then breaks them completely; starting with an idea, their work is installed around that idea and given time to develop and mutate; and once there, they then make something which becomes challenging and uncomfortable - both for performer and audience alike.
‘’the man called Thomas Aikenhead, Who the f**k is that?’’ sings the ensemble to one of the many songs in this comedic tragedy musical. From the mind of James Robertson and with poetry-like lyrics by Simon Armitage, I Am Thomas is an energetic, fast paced comedy that follows in the same vein as Monty Python and Horrible Histories to tell the life of Thomas Aikenhead, who in 1697 was hanged for speaking against the church and would become the last man to be executed for blasphemy in Britain.
‘Into the Hoods’ is fresh, creative and innovative. Loosely based on the Sondheim musical ‘Into the Woods’ - this production blends a thrilling and adventurous storyline with the jaw dropping hip hop creations. Every part of this show exceeds expectations, it wowed audiences and made for a fantastic atmosphere by the end of the performance. ‘Into the Hoods’ has previously had a record breaking run at the Novello Theatre in the West End, being the first ever Hip Hop dance show in the West End and also being one of the longest running dance shows. The show has won a smattering of awards and performed at some of the world's biggest celebrations.
Protein Dance’s “May Contain Food”, performed in the absolutely breath-taking Compass Room in the Lowry Theatre, with huge windows overlooking the span of Media City, was not exactly what I expected.
It was professional, well-rehearsed, and visually interesting. The performers were all incredibly talented - both vocally and in general performance - and some of the physical theatre displayed by the dancers of the troupe: Sonya Cullingford, Carl Harrison, Saara Hume and Matthew Winston: was genuinely beautiful.
Miller’s musical magic moves Merseyside in this classic retelling of the life and soul of wartime artiste, Glenn Miller!
The plot offers the audience an overview of the well-known musician’s life in terms of his passion for orchestration, love and redefining the musical era in his own, distinct way. Miller was hugely influential to the music industry in the 1940’s and his gift of uplifting tunes acted as many a feel-good anthem during the war. Fuelled by an incredible live soundtrack, this piece of theatre was timeless and left many audience members standing on their feet in appreciation.
I purposely did not read any reviews before visiting this show; I was hoping to see a fantastic story through song on the Fab 4 rising to stardom but I was sadly to be mistaken.
There is no story line at all just 4 singers singing their way through as many Beatles tracks they could fit in.
The fab 4 consisted of: Paul – Emanuele Angeletti a singer in the Beatles tribute band The Apple Pies. In 2005 he was in the most successful Italian Beatles tribute band and was invited to record in Abbey Road’s Studio 2, the same studio in which the Beatles recorded many of their albums. In 2012 Emanuele opened ‘Let it be’ at the Prince of Wales Theatre and has since been involved in many tours, including Singapore and Europe.
I was thrilled to visit the club academy last night to see one of my favourite musicals 'songs for a new world'. The University of Manchester Musical Theatre society certainly chose a challenging musical to perform but one that portrays a strong link with us and the world. The musical's theme is orientated around the choices we make and the crucial moments when we make these choices which is a useful subject for this cast to explore being at that part of life where choices are the main thing they need to think about.
Written and directed by Naomi Summer, this play, despite its title and theme of marriage and (homo) sexuality isn't about that at all; it's about religion, and more specifically Christianity.
"...at the end of the day the church pays your wages. You have a responsibility."
There are certain churches, groups of Christians who are rather overzealous in their literal interpretations of the text. And just as the media at the moment is all too keen to seize the opportunity to highlight extremism in other faiths, especially Muslim, we are either unaware or choose to ignore, blatant Christian bigotry and extremism on our own doorsteps.
If I am honest I really didn't know what to expect with The Ale House but I wasn't sure it would be my cup of tea. How wrong I was.
It opened with the clever use of film and the song Neighborhood by Space which seemed to accurately describe all of the main characters in the play. From here we went straight into the pub, The Ale House, where landlady Lucy, played by Lindzi Germain breaks the forth wall with the opening monologue. Usually I am not a fan of this however Germain managed to make it feel like the audience were just regulars in the pub that she was talking to. It was incredibly effective and set the scene for the rest of the piece.
A forty minute one-act fairy tale with a difference!
Presented as part of The National Festival of LGBT History; a one day event of conferences, talks, music and theatre at The People's History Museum in Manchester, celebrating the LGBT community and its history.
This was the penultimate event of the festival and was performed in the Engine Room, a large space on the ground floor of the museum reserved for temporary exhibitions and conferences, and as such ideal for theatre too!
Blithe Spirit is a comic play by Noel Coward. Written in 1941, it reflects not only the fad for séances following the incredible losses of World War I but also serves to mock sudden death at the very time that bombs were bringing it to Britain at the outset of World War II. For over thirty years it was the longest running comedy in the history of British theatre.
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