Home

Leeds Playhouse – until Saturday 10th November 2018

Reviewed By Dawn Smallwood

5*****

Partition, a radio based drama, premiered in 2017 and marked the 70th anniversary of the division of India and the formation of Pakistan. Written by Nick Ahad, a radio presenter, the production returns to the Leeds Playhouse’s Pop-Up Theatre and tells the story of a British Asian couple and the partition of India. This is a significant piece of history which is not as widely known and a painful but an important one to be shared. The partition had an impact on the Indian Sub Continent then and today with generations from families who had been torn apart following it and the ongoing issues.

Partition is set with radio microphones lining up at the front and also at some seated props and one of the stage managers (Lucy Bradford) is on stage to assist the cast who recite their parts. Partition is introduced with a radio news broadcast (from Luke Walker) about the partition of India itself and a cast of four perform singular and multiple roles and the audience is introduced to the couple; Saima (Mez Galaria), a Muslim, and Ranjit (Sushil Chudasama), a Sikh, who are planning their wedding. The horrors of the partition and the religious divisions that it brought are never far away when Saima’s mother, Amina (Balvinder Sopal), painfully recalls the train journey she and some of her family had to take to then the newly formed Pakistan. Ranjit’s grandfather, Rajpal (Chudasama), is unable to share until now his painful story.

The drama has a gradual build up with touches of humour and personality and before it is time for both Saima and Ranjit to get married, the fateful stories by their family members have been fully shared with the audience. This includes the social and religious divisions and the impact it had not just in India and Pakistan but across both Asian communities worldwide particularly towards intermarriages. The poignancy to what had happened has certainly brought hate, divisions and pessimism among many however there is a hope of love, unity and optimism as shown in this drama.

Partition is sensitively and thoughtfully written and well put together. The partition of India is such an important and significant story to be shared especially as it hasn’t been thoroughly well known until now. The audience has an opportunity to get both a social and political insight into both countries, past and present, and the relationships this country have with India and Pakistan. It is very painful but it is a story that needs to be told particularly with its fateful journeys of millions affected however there are hopes for the future of community cohesion and unity.

The cast and creative team, under the direction of Stefan Escreet, have put together a poignant but an excellent production and the story will now be shared far and wide on stage and crucially in schools. Afterwards a short question and answer session is hosted on stage which gives the cast and creative team opportunities to share their involvement and insight into Partition. It makes one appreciate Partition even more and how important the story should transpire further beyond the stage.

 

Hull New Theatre – until 10th November 2018

Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams

4****

Bill Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita is a sumptuous affair, full of exquisite costumes, stunning scenery and soaring music. The audience at Hull New Theatre last night was thoroughly spoiled by the spectacle of this show.

This production of Evita feels very fresh and it is hard to believe that Evita had its first stage production in 1978. The production starts in a cinema in 1952 when the death of Eva Peron is announced and we then see her funeral at which Che (Glenn Carter) starts to take us back to the 1930’s when Eva is just starting out. We then follow her rise to fame and subsequent death.

Che is the narrator throughout the musical and Glenn Carter does a superb job as the storyteller, with a tinge of scorn to his story telling and contempt for the tale he is telling. His version of High Flying Adored was particularly heart felt.

Lucy O’Byrne is a powerful and believable Evita. Her portrayal of Evita in her illness was outstanding and totally believable, I felt her pain. Her quiet and pained delivery of Don’t Cry For Me Argentina was spine tingling. Mike Sterling as Peron is the perfect foil for Evita.

The music throughout was superb and huge credit needs to go to the Musical Director Anthony Gabriele and his very talented musicians. The music together with the scenery and the very effective lighting added wonderfully to the experience, I particularly enjoyed the smoky atmosphere of the Tango Club and Oscar Balmaseda’s wonderfully smarmy tango singer Magaldi.

Unfortunately there were some niggles with the sound as when the songs required layers of music from the principals and the chorus, it was often very difficult to hear the principals, particularly it seemed the end of words. The changing of scenery was also not quite as smooth as it should have been at times, I really don’t expect to see a member of the stage staff disappearing off the stage in a production of this calibre. I have to admit to also being a little upset that when taking their encore none of the cast directed applause to the musicians.

Niggles apart, this is a high quality production that would grace any West End stage, a feast for the eyes and the ears.

The Theatre Royal Glasgow – until 11 November 2018

Reviewed by Linda McLaughlan

5*****

‘OUTSTANDING COMEDIC PERFORMANCE’

This is the story of a Diamond Robbery (Heist) in the making. Prince Ludwig of Hungary is coming to Minneapolis USA on a state visit and will bring with him the crown of the royal jewels a 300 carat diamond. Which is planning to be stolen by several crooks in Minneapolis!

The stage props take you straight into the setting of a jail cell where the prisoners are planning a jail-break in order to steal the diamond. Mitch Ruscitti (played by Liam Jeavons) a hardened criminal and cell mate who unwittingly enlists the help of a Prison Officer Neil Cooper (played by David Coomber) who has also enlisted other Prison Officers who in turn have enlisted the warden. An argument breaks out in the cell which allows the prisoners and Neil Cooper to escape whilst locking the prison officers and warden in the cell.

As the prisoners escape the backdrop changes to the Minneapolis Bank where we meet Ruth Monaghan (played by Ashley Tucker) who has worked at the bankers a clerk for over 10 Years, Warren Slax (played by Jon Trenchard) who at 67 years old is still an intern at the bank and the Manager, Robin Freeboys (played by Damian Lynch). Mr Freeboys is a skinflint who is reluctant to promote or give his staff a raise. He is in the process of getting the diamond off Prince Ludwig to his bank by having the vault upgraded and approved by the FBI who send Officer Randal Shuck (played by Killian McArdle) who is a bungling idiot.

As the bank is being inspected by the Officer, Sam Monaghan enters (played by Sean Carey). Sam is a small time crook who is the son of Ruth who is trying to get her son a job at the bank but he is busy pick-pocketing the unsuspecting customers.

The production takes the audience through the escapades of the bungling crooks and has us in fits of laughter through out with some tongue in cheek moments.

This is a production I would recommend everyone takes the opportunity to see as you will not be disappointed. The slap stick comedy performances given are outstanding

The King’s Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, London, N1 1QN
Wednesday 9th January – Saturday 2nd February 2019

I have noticed that something draws us towards outlying islands. Some force pulls…

Following their five-time Offie award nominated production of Steven Berkoff’s East, the awardwinning Atticist return to the King’s Head Theatre with a powerful revival of Scottish playwright David Greig’s Outlying Islands. Directed by Jessica Lazar, Outlying Islands demonstrates the lyricism and humanity that has made David Greig one of the UK’s leading dramatists. The play now returns in its first London revival since the Royal Court in 2002

On the eve of the outbreak of World War II, two young ornithologists are sent to a remote Scottish Island by the government to conduct a survey of the island’s birds. Left to their own devices on an isolated and windswept scrap of land, the only other human inhabitants are Kirk, the aged and authoritarian leaseholder, and his niece Ellen. As their gaze turns inwards, the mainland recedes further into the distance and life on the island ignites desires and creates inescapable tensions

Transporting us to a world where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred, David Greig’s funny, poetic and moving play bravely explores a society on the edge of immense change

Director Jessica Lazar comments, David Greig has created a play that is strange, beautiful and very funny. It brims over with power, hope and grief. In the anarchic magical realism of Outlying Islands, tensions between self and society, and between reason and belief, play out to heightened and extraordinary effect. I am looking forward to bringing it to the King’s Head Theatre

Outlying Islands is inspired by real events, including Robert Atkinson and John Ainslie’s 1935 search for the Leach’s Fork-Tailed Petrel, as recorded in Atkinson’s Island Going. The play also reflects on the the British government’s decision to bomb an Island off the west coast of Scotland with anthrax during World War II, in order to test the efficacy of chemical weapons. Gruinard Island was closed for 50 years and only ‘decontaminated’ in 1990

The first version of Outlying Islands was aired as a radio play broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2002 and shortly after, in the same year, a stage production premiered at the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Here the show won a Fringe First and Herald Angel, before transferring to an Olivier-nominated run at the Royal Court in September 2002, the last London showing of the play before its upcoming revival in 2019

Darlington Hippodrome – until 10 November 2018

3***

The Touring Consortium Theatre Company return to Darlington with their version Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Adapted by Jenny King, it’s pretty faithful to the book. However the changes that have been made make for an interesting interpretation.

The staging of the show is magnificent, the multiple uses of black gothic pillars to make a station, a castle, a bedroom and an asylum is inspired.  Sean Cavanagh’s set design with Ben Cracknell’s lighting, Paul Ewings music and sound and Ben Harts illusions all help to build the atmosphere within the auditorium.  And as the show begins with a loud bang, a flash of light and a body being feasted on you feel that this going to be a very intense performance.

But horror is subjective, done well you should be on the edge of your seat and thinking about the show for days afterwards, done badly and you leave the theatre feeling cheated.  This version of Dracula is stuck in the middle. The bits that were good were superb, but some parts were harder to appreciate than others.

The ladies of the cast were the much stronger performers.  Jessica Webber as Lucy was hypnotising to watch, her movements almost ballet like as she writhed around falling under Dracula’s spell.  Cheryl Campbell’s Lady Renfield, makes for an interesting idea that Renfield is now a woman. Campbell is gloriously insane in her sanity, relishing the eating of flies, spiders and a mouse.  Olivia Swann as Mina is very powerful in her portrayal, her final scenes are intense. The Vixens – Charlotte Gosling, Marina Stoimenova, Ellen Verenieks – like Lucy, have fluidity in their movement.  Gosling shines in her scene as the maid, baring her teeth in a comedic fashion.

Glen Fox’s Dracula, Andrew Horton’s Jonathan Harker, Evan Milton’s Dr Seward and Philip Bretherton’s Van Helsing are less dimensional characters than the females.  Maybe this is because Jenny King wrote strong female characters but the males all seem to have been looked over. Why, for example, did Van Helsing drink from a hip flask?  Was it a crafty nip of something or was it holy water to protect him?

The traditional storytelling is well acted but however good the acting, it fails to match the magnificence of the atmospheric staging.  Nonetheless, this is still a show worth seeing and you may be happily terrified.

In Darlington until Saturday and on tour around the UK

DIRECT FROM MOSCOW, M.ART PRESENTS IVAN VYRYPAEV’S SUN LINE

DIRECTED BY VIKTOR RYZHAKOV

PERFORMED BY YULIA PERESILD AND ANDREY BURKOVSKY

THREE UK PERFORMANCES ONLY

 

LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO AT SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE

 

SATURDAY 15^TH DECEMBER 2.00PM AND 7.45PM

 

SUNDAY 16^TH DECEMBER 6:00PM

 

Based on Ivan Vyrypaev’s celebrated play, and nominated for 5 Golden Masks, The Meyerhold Theatre Centre’s Sun Line stars celebrated Russian stage and screen stars Yulia Peresild and Andrey Burkovsky. Don’t miss the opportunity to see one of Moscow’s finest theatrical productions, playing in London for three performances only at the Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells Theatre on Saturday 15^th and Sunday 16^th December 2018.

5am. Barbara and Werner have been arguing since 10pm. They are about to pay off the mortgage seven years down the line… but what next? This biting comedy of misperceptions and misunderstandings puts a modern relationship in the dock – will they overcome the seemingly insurmountable barrier that has grown between them?

 

“There is always an invisible border between people that does not allow them to be together. Even if they think they are connected, they do not see the ‘Sun Line’ that always separates them.”

Vyacheslav Surikov – Expert Magazine

 

Considered by many to be Russia’s foremost contemporary playwright, any production based on Ivan Vyrypaev’s work is viewed as an event – especially a new play. Viktor Ryzhakov, the artistic director of Moscow’s Meyerhold Centre directs this intense exploration of 21^st century love and (mis) communication, which has just been nominated for 5 Golden Masks 2019 in the categories of best actress, best actor, best director, best play and best short drama production.

 

Ivan Vyrypaev, Playwright, says of Sun Line:

 

“I wanted to explore the ways in which people are prevented from making real contact with one another. Sun Line explores 5 or 6 of these means. Some are banal; when we don’t hear, and constantly interrupt each other. Others are more significant; when we experience reality in a completely different way. The purpose of the play is therapeutic in that a couple watching the play might themselves identify and see these struggles worked through for themselves.

 

Sun Line – Production Credits

Viktor Ryzhakov – Director

Ivan Vyrypaev – Playwright

Nikolay Simonov – Stage Design

Vladimir Gusev – Videography

Yan Kuzmichev – Sound Design

Nikita Vladimirov and Ekaterina Feoktistova – Producers

Please note that this play will be performed in Russian with English surtitles

 

The next M.ART event in London is on the 12 March – the first UK CONTEXT Festival, established by Diana Vishneva and featuring the very best in contemporary Russian choreography.

For hi res images, please visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123415694@N07/sets/72157690020746384

More details can be found here: https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2018/context-festival/

 

ADDRESS

Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Rosebery Avenue

London

EC1R 4TN

BOOKING DETAILS

(w) www.sadlerswells.com

(t) 0207 863 8000

 

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Saturday 15^th December: 2:00 and 7:45

Sunday 16^th December: 6:00

TICKETS

Full Price £35

Concessions £20

Transaction fee applies: £3 for telephone bookings and £1.95 for online bookings.

No charge in person at Ticket Office

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: @mart.foundation

Instagram: @mart.foundation

StoryHouse Live! Chester – Tuesday November 6th 2018

Reviewed by Julie Noller

4**** 

Sometimes you read the synopsis of a show and it couldn’t be written any better than for Stopgap Dance Company’s The Enormous Room, it is indeed a thoughtful, moving and uplifting show, it does exactly what it says on the tin. It was a shame more people didn’t join us but a small intimate audience tonight witnessed Lucy Bennett’s wonderful concept and direction up on stage, it’s touching and bewitching.

Mesmerised by the whole first act; I didn’t know where to gaze first, for anyone touched by grief, it’s those small fine details you notice, the old black and white romantic movies playing in the background that chase away any thoughts that may replay over and over again in your head.

Stopgap have put together an eclectic group of artists, this performance is about two things Grief and Disability, what occurred to me is that both touch everyone in so many ways and quite often it’s heartbreaking, ultimately human resilience helps us to continue on our path. Some disabilities are obvious, acknowledged in everyday struggles yet grief is equal to any physical and mental disability in that it can be debilitating and often misunderstood. Choosing to acknowledge both a disability and grief can be for many the way to recovery and acceptance.

The set of The Enormous Room, well it’s confusing and oversized, cabinets tipped on their side, doors as tables and tables as beds. You have to think as you sit and stare; how many people sleep where they sit, simply because they can’t face life alone? David Toole is Dave, widower and father to Sam, the brilliant Hannah Simpson. Those few words spoken by Dave in the torment of his grief are highly emotive and displayed across the room on the doors of those cabinets. Those few people around us are catching their breaths and the silence is almost unbearable. The first act centres around that one room, how the world has come crashing in on this family, a husband has lost his beloved wife and a daughter has lost her fun loving mother. Sam could also face the prospect of losing her father to his grief, at a time she needs him the most. There are surreal moments, when Jackie appears almost as in negative format choppy and as a double; Meritxell Checa and Elia Lopez portray Jackie together and mirroring each other. Of course interpretation could have us talking all night, firstly Jackie the wife and secondly as Jackie the mother perhaps? Dressed the same with identical movements we realise she is one in the same, often breathing the same as the other characters a simple movement that highlights the fact that Jackie is a mere memory. Her photographs are missing from the bare walls, Sam can touch and hug those same walls her mother used to grace. Nadenh Poan is Chock or deaths servant, whizzing around the furniture with amazing grace and elegance, or twirling in his wheel chair, he strikes a chord as the insanity of grief, the confusion of how time stands still as we listen to the music playing affecting us further, pulling our senses apart with the tick tock of an old clock.

Poor Dave can’t touch or look at Sam his daughter, he attempts to shut Jackie and his feelings in a drawer, where she remains, he is simply overwhelmed and unable to deal with, wrapped up in his self absorbed sorrow. David Toole has a strength of character I can’t help but watch and be drawn to, his speed and nimbleness around that stage is incredible. Hannah Sampson you know is enjoying herself on stage, she’s a young girl in torment. Missing both her mother and father, she’s alone trying to keep the memories of her mother alive. Turning to her friend for comfort and attention, her intimate dances with Tom, Christian Brinklow are somewhat sad. Yet powerfully energetic. Heading into the second act this is her time to shine, Clinging to her mother we witness the tussle with Chock, for death touches all around including Tom. It affects us in so many ways. How easily Tom picks up and twists both Jackie and Sam as characters intertwine and confuse each other. I’m glad to say there is a somewhat happy ending, Sam and Dave sit together reconciled after Jackie has found her peace and left father and daughter to be together as they sit with backs to the audience, breathing simply mirroring each other as one.

Grief and Disability are hard subjects to tackle, quite often taboo, not talked about; hard to deal with. The Enormous Room not only highlights both with a group of highly talented entertainers/dancers but there is so much content that will have anyone touched by either feeling every emotion intended. No one should ever feel lost or ashamed for everyone has something to offer.

KATY LIPSON , JOSEPH HOUSTON

& WILLIAM WHELTON

LAUNCH HOPE ARIA ACADEMY

IN MANCHESTER

 

Katy Lipson, Joseph Houston and William Whelton are delighted to announce the launch of Hope Aria Academy, a new and exciting part-time drama course situated in Manchester.  Founders Katy, Joseph and William recognised a need for more opportunities for Northern-based performers to specialise in musical theatre.  All three founders have backgrounds in musical theatre training and are currently full-time producers and theatre owners, actively working in the industry:

 

“Having produced 10 musicals in the North West, we have seen the demand for more opportunities for specialist training in musical theatre.  Hope Aria Academy is filling a gap within the musical theatre training available in the North West.  With so much of the current focus being London-centric, we hope to offer a boutique, personable and professional course which allows performers to strengthen skills, learn new ones and challenge themselves whilst staying close to home.  We will create a safe working environment which will provide guidance and mentorship for its students as they enter or re-enter the musical theatre industry.”

 

The course is tailored for individuals who have already trained professionally and are looking for a fresh approach to training within a smaller, more focused atmosphere, for individuals who are not yet ready to make the leap to full-time drama training and require further tuition, and for mature students who have experience in musical theatre and want to re-train to return to the industry.

 

Students will also be introduced to the wider creative industry, with regular guest teachers in all three disciplines of acting, singing and dance, and opportunities for casting directors and agents to come and view a final term piece.

 

The first 12-week course will run from 22 April to 19 July 2019 (half term 27-31 May) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings between 6.30pm and 9.30pm at Hope Aria House, Unit 15 Wellington House, Manchester, M40 7FS at a cost of £150 per week.  Applications are now open for students through the Academy’s website.  One scholarship place for the course will be available, for which details will be released in the New Year.  Later in 2019, the plan is to offer a full-time course as well.

 

The core faculty will comprise of Katy Lipson, Joseph Houston and William Whelton, who were together ranked in The Stage’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Theatre.  In 2016, Joseph and William joined forces with Katy of Aria Entertainment to spearhead Hope Mill Theatre as a home for new musicals, musical premieres and musical revivals.  Hope Aria productions since 2016 include Parade, Hair, the European Premiere of Yank!, Pippin, the European Premiere of Little Women, the World Premiere of Toyboy Diaries, Spring Awakening, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love, new musical The Return of the Soldier and Stephen Sondheim’s Putting It Together.  London transfers include Yank! at Charing Cross Theatre, Pippin at Southwark Playhouse and Hair at The Vaults.  Their award-winning 50^th anniversary production of Hair is about to embark on a UK Tour and Aspects of Love will be transferring to Southwark Playhouse in January 2019.

Website               www.hopeariaacademy.com

Facebook            www.facebook.com/pg/HopeAriaAcademy

Twitter                 @HopeAriaAcademy

Instagram            @HopeAriaAcademy

 

• Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s multi award-winning production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR transfers to the Barbican Theatre for just 60 performances in 2019

 

• The production won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, and played two sell-out runs at the Open Air Theatre before playing the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2018

 

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and the Barbican Theatre have today announced that, following its overwhelming sell-out success in 2016 and 2017 at the Open Air Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar transfers to the Barbican Theatre for just 60 performances in 2019 (4 July – 24 August). Earlier this year the production played the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and it embarks on a North American Tour in the Autumn of 2019.

With direction by Timothy Sheader, design by Tom Scutt, choreography by Drew McOnie, musical direction by Tom Deering, lighting design by Lee Curran and sound design by Nick Lidster for Autograph, the production won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.

Casting information will be announced in due course.

Jesus Christ Superstar is produced by William Village and Timothy Sheader for Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd by special arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited.

 

Public booking opens at 11am on Friday 16 November 2018.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s 2019 season will be announced later this month.

www.jcsuperstar.co.uk

www.barbican.org.uk

Social Media

Twitter: @JCS_London #JesusChristSuperstar