Hundreds of empty beer and wine glasses hang from the ceiling in Ciaran Bagnall’s set design, foreshadowing some of the tales to be told during the evening. Underneath, a fussy carpet and wooden bar, a typical northern pub.
Beginning the night with the landlord and landlady serving quick paced drinks as they perform their nightly routine of serving the customers; with bickering, smiles for the locals and a free drink for a loved up couple thrown in for good measure. The classic ‘old married couple’ seems the norm, however, Jim Cartwright does what he does best and turns the mundane into the riveting.
"Camper than a row of tents on holiday at Butlins".
Priscilla Queen of the Desert the musical is taken from the 1994 movie of the same name and it follows the story of 3 drag queens on their journey through the outback of Australia on a bus named Priscilla to find a new venue for their act and along the way, find themselves.
This rather misleading title has nothing at all to do with a style of dancing, and even less to do with a water-faucet. The tap in question here is an acronym and the title means a double bill of one act plays by the students on the Theatre and Performance course at Manchester's Arden School of Theatre. (Hence the TaP).
Tonight’s performances were a showcase of some of the best contemporary dance companies in Europe, originating from the UK, Spain, Italy and Sweden; collectively known as the Dancing Partners. These companies have been collaborating for about seven years, taking it turns to host events which can take many different formats: outdoor street performances, community collaborations, improvisation and theatre showcases like tonight.
As you enter the auditorium four people sit motionless on wooden chairs all dressed in black apart from a splash of colour in the form of braces or bow ties. Each holding a lantern with only one lit they look deep in thought as the audience mills around, taking their places and reading the one page programme provided on every seat. There was something powerful about this piece even before it began.
What is ‘home’? How would you cope if you were suddenly displaced from what you considered home and all those you held dear? This double bill of performances from Theatre Ad Infinitum and students at the University of Salford attempted to explore these, and other, difficult questions, and the results were certainly thought-provoking.
A 65 minute long monologue written and performed by Marcus Hercules of Hercules Productions; it tells the story of two brothers, Clive and Mike whose parents came over from Jamaica in the 50s, and as Clive is sent to prison, he is soon followed by his younger brother Mike, who was actually innocent but once there learnt very quickly how to be a criminal. Despite his best efforts on his release to stay on the right side of the law, he finds himself in and out of prison finally becoming a drug addict. The toll of family responsibility weighing against him, and as he himself admits, there comes a time when you have to take things into your own hands, thing change, and you have to go with it, others are only there to guide and advise.
Beardyman’s self-titled performance was like an amalgamation of several different experiences; Darren Foreman is a notably beardless Beardyman who leads the evening as compare, improviser and musician. Although these are fairly complimenting skill sets, if felt as though they were applied in revolving turn of one another (albeit overlapping) instead of simultaneously.
“This tour de force starring Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding is like a warm bowl of soup on a cold night”
It’s January, we’re all trying to recover from the overspending and overeating of Christmas, we’ve been blighted by floods and snow, and the world is still in chaos. So what better than a bright, clever, stylish, gag-a-minute spoof to will take our minds off it all?
The hills were well and truly alive with the Sound of Music at the Regent Theatre last night as what was almost a full house for what can only be described as a truly enchanting evening.
The show opened with the nuns choir which was beautifully sung and set the scene for the whole show, the sets were just as beautiful with every bit detailed to complete perfection, the stunning stain glass in the Mother Abbess window was mesmerising. Talking of the Abbey the nuns were all vocally superb, every note hit made another hair stand up on the back of your neck. The person that quite frankly took my breath away was Jan Hartley as the Mother Abbess. Her rendition of Climb Every Mountain at the end of the first act left every audience member in awe of her performance. She was just charming to watch from an audience perspective, just brilliant! What made her performance all the more special is the fact she was the first ever person to play Maria on tour making the performance just even more perfect, her ovation at the end of show just proves how well she performed.
Every once in a while a show comes along that restores your faith in musical theatre and the ability of the British to produce the very best in the world. With jukebox musical after jukebox musical being rolled out and reboots of old classic shows it is refreshing to see a new kid on the block, and this kid is top of the class, maybe even Head Boy!
The story of the Calendar Girls is familiar to most. Following the diagnosis and subsequent death of John Baker (James Gaddas) from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1998 his partner Annie (Joanna Riding) and the rest of the Rylstone & District Women’s Institute came up with the idea of making a calendar to raise money to replace the tatty sofa in the visitors room at the hospital where John was treated during his illness.
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