Theatre503 26 October – 19 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Jay Taylor’s debut play is full of emotion, intelligence and dark humour. Set in a lighthouse on an unnamed island, in a dystopian future/past/present, The Acedian Pirates raises all sorts of uncomfortable, and unanswerable questions about war and occupation.

Acedia, we are helpfully told by Jacob, is a state of apathetic listlessness, a moral failing that ruins great men. Jacob is a young, bookish soldier, recently transferred to military intelligence and the lighthouse. In stark contrast to the older, more experienced men, he questions his orders and their entire mission, asking why they are occupying the island and what good they have done. Nobody seems to know why the war started, or what they are fighting for, instead spouting recruitment slogans about serving the Capital State, helping and doing good.

On the upper floor of the lighthouse is a woman. Nobody has seen her, except Troy, son of the leader of the Capital State, who brutalises her. The men call her the moon, and Helen, and a whole mythology, and prophecies, have evolved around her, as both armies prize her.

Cavan Clarke’s wonderfully nuanced performance as Jacob is the beating heart of the play, watching his spirit break as he realises that beneath all the rhetoric, no one can justify their actions during the occupation, and that he has killed men for no worthwhile reason. Matthew Lloyd Davies’ Ivan has just the right mix of world weary cynicism and self-preservation, Andrew P Stephen as Bernie begins as a typical martinet but allows some sensitivity to creep through the rage. Marc Bannerman’s Bull is aptly named, a man of few words who simply obeys orders, which makes his revelations about Sixsmith’s death seem almost poetic in a beautifully measured performance. Rowan Polonski gives Troy a deliciously unhinged sense of danger, but still allows the audience to see the spoiled and scary brat beneath. Sheena Patel as Helen is an ethereal figure exuding calm – just as her myth deserves – until we get to see her as an actual woman, rather than the men’s idealised vision.

There are no huge battles in this play, just a very effective and visceral choreographed sequence by Clarke – most of the time the men sit around smoking or drinking, waiting for orders and reminiscing about fallen comrades. The circular set is claustrophobic, limiting the actors’ movements, adding to the sense of frustration and tedium, and hinting at the circles of hell. Taylor offers no answers to the questions he raises – the decision to intervene and occupy another state, and the actions of soldiers during military occupations are issues that still haunt the UK – because there are no easy answers. Taylor layers war myths and ideals about honour in the script, and proceeds to tear them apart by showing the ordinary men and the effects of war on them and their morality.

The Acedian Pirates is a stunning debut from Jay Taylor – tightly written and filling every moment with meaning. Well worth a look.

TheatreN16 30 – 31 October.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

I was so excited when I heard about this. Lunatic – a nu-gothic play about Dr John Seward and his sessions with R. N. Renfield in his insane asylum. I wanted to see what the talented Whit Hertford could do with Bram Stoker’s classic.

Staged in the Globe Space at the Bedford, giving the whole show a grander feel than in the smaller space upstairs, Lunatic started promisingly enough to the strains of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. White walls and stark strip lighting bring the plot forward from the Victorian era. Keeping true to the epistolary nature of Stoker’s novel, Hertford has Seward recording his diary after sessions with Renfield as he struggles to understand the nature of Renfield’s madness.

Chris Spyrides is most effective when Renfield is coherent and calm – very creepy – his shouts and roars were slightly overdone for me, and made me wish for a volume controller. Justin Stahley roots Seward firmly in the 21st century with his ticks and mannerisms, and keeps the audience’s attention with his quieter but eminently watchable performance. Sorcha Bannon is almost inaudible in her initial scenes as Mina, but her performance becomes stronger as Mina feels Dracula’s influence.

To emphasise the difference between the characters (maybe?) Whitfield has them speaking across the centuries. Renfield spouts huge amounts of Victorian gothic language, with all the fantastic insults, while Seward speaks like a confused IT technician. Seward’s infatuation with Lucy Westenra is handled sweetly, veering towards rom-com cliché at times, but moving the story along at a fine pace. Renfield’s little friends live in a padded envelope, and the scenes where he eats his way up the food chain are handled imaginatively. In fact, Lunatic is a play with some promise, until Renfield bites Seward. If only Whitford had ended the play there.

As Seward begins to lose his mind, I’m afraid I lost the will to live. The fractured state of the latter part of the play may well be meant to reflect Seward’s state of mind, but there was nothing memorable or coherent happening at all. Renfield’s ravings became repetitive and tedious and Seward seemed to morph into a petulant teenager. The scenes where Renfield is talking to his master were more rib tickling than spine tingling, and the introduction of Mina Harker served no purpose at all – the narrative could have progressed through Seward’s recordings instead. How Harker handily gets into Renfield’s cell (may have been for sex – don’t know – any action that took place when characters were seated or lying down was obscured unless you were in the front rows) is a mystery and added nothing. By the time the play ended in a bloody mess, in all senses of the word, I’m afraid I had lost interest in the characters and was hoping Van Helsing would stake them all.

A bold attempt at innovating the Dracula story, but Lunatic needs a lot of work on its later scenes to maintain its early momentum and promise.

Grand Theatre, Leeds – 31 October to 5 November 2016

What better place to be at Halloween than the beautiful Leeds Grand Theatre to see the Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show.

Less of a show and more of an immersive experience Rocky Horror is the definition of kitsch. Audience participation, whether in theatres and cinemas, has of course played a part in making it a long-runner and it wasn’t a disappointment last night. A campy, musical spoof on the haunted-castle horror movie genre, encompassing a ’70s glam-rock world of androgyny with characters that are more than offbeat.  Performed on a cartoonish-coloured, low-fi set – topped by a celluloid curl which contains the band, the show is bursting with energy and the action ticks along at a happy pace

Richard Meek (Brad) and Haley Flaherty (Janet) both deftly manage the transition from virginal couple to depraved disciples of Frank, and both have the chance to showcase their fine voices which more than match the pulsating band. Dominic Andersen is the titular Rocky and its more his pectoral muscles that are on show rather than his vocal ones and he carries off the role with sufficient skill.

Ex Coronation Street Actor, Charlie Condou as The Narrator turns in a genuinely witty performance, fully embracing the camp madness of it all – adeptly fending off the very vocal asides of the crowd both scripted and unscripted. I do hope he got his promised reward for getting through his first speech!  Paul Cattermole duel roles as Eddie and his Uncle, the wheel chair bound Dr Scott

Kay Murphy as Magenta and Sophie Linder-Lee as Columbia are both magnificent – all legs and screaming sexuality.  Kristian  Lavercombe as Riff Raff is a revelation, with his powerful voice, he is almost more Riff Raff than the original performed by Richard O’Brien.  He has played the part now more times than the great Mr O’Brien

Rightfully though, the show belongs to Frank. And as Frank n Furter, Liam Tamne does a rare thing indeed, by managing to convey both a more tender side to the character and an ever more mercurial one at the same time. His attraction and menace are skilfully portrayed. And he also looks so utterly stunning that it’s impossible to tear your eyes away from him when he’s on stage. Every eyebrow raised or lick of the lips is met with roars of approval by the crowd. A sublime performance.

No one escapes the fishnets as we are taken into the bizarre world of Frank and friends – guided by legendary numbers like The Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite and Dammit, Janet! – it’s clear that the show doesn’t have an outrageous reputation without reason. Packed full of mischief, innuendos and vulgarity it’s bound to make you laugh, cringe and everything in- between.

In Leeds until Saturday 5 November and on tour around the UK

JIM STEINMAN’S 

BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL

TO RECEIVE WORLD PREMIERE AT THE LONDON COLISEUM IN 2017

BOX OFFICE OPENS THURSDAY 3 NOVEMBER

To celebrate the Box Office opening to the general public, there will be a special live performance by the cast at 5pm on Thursday 3 November outside the London Coliseum in St Martin’s Lane

The world premiere of the long-awaited Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical will take place in London’s West End at the London Coliseum, opening on Tuesday 20 June 2017, following previews from 5 June, for a limited season until 22 July 2017. This follows previews at Manchester Opera House from 17 February to 8 April 2017. The box office for the London Coliseum will open at 5pm on Thursday 3 November.

As with many great works of art, the genesis of the Bat Out Of Hell album occurred across a number of years. One of the songs was written while Steinman was an undergraduate at Amherst College in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, Steinman wrote a theatrical musical that was presented in workshop in Washington D.C. in 1974 and featured many of the songs that would ultimately appear on the Bat Out Of Hell album, which was released in 1977.  

Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. 16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). 

For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland. Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.  

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox, Tony Smith.

Website:  www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com

Twitter & Facebook:  @BatTheMusical

LONDON LISTINGS INFORMATION

5 June – 22 July 2017

London Coliseum

St Martin’s Lane

London

WC2N 4ES

Performances:  Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Thurs & Sat at 2.30pm (7pm on Tue 20 June; no matinee on Thurs 8 June; extra 2.30pm matinee on Tue 22 August)

Tickets:  from £15.00

Box Office:  020 7845 9300

SHEFFIELD THEATRES’ ANNIE GET YOUR GUN EXTENDED

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND 

Sheffield Theatres today announce that their major new revival of the Irving Berlin musical Annie Get Your Gun is to extend its run for one week due to public demand. The production which opens on 8 December will now run until 21 January. Tickets are on sale now.

Sharp shootin’, smart talkin’ Annie Oakley is a force to be reckoned with. But when she’s pitched against the charming, fiercely competitive Frank Butler, has she finally met her match?

Aimed straight at the heart, Irving Berlin’s sensational musical from the Golden Age of Broadway includes such classics as There’s No Business Like Show Business, Anything You Can Do and I Got The Sun In The Morning, as well as whip-cracking choreography from Sheffield favourite, Alistair David.

Paul Foster (Tell Me On A Sunday, Sweet Charity) directs Anna-Jane Casey as Annie Oakley andBen Lewis as Frank Butler, with Nicolas Colicos (Buffalo Bill), Mike Denman (Pawnee Bill),Lauren Hall (Winnie Tate), Matthew Malthouse (Foster Wilson), Timothy Quinlan (Charlie Davenport), Cleve September (Tommy Keeler), Maggie Service (Dolly Tate) and Karl Seth (Chief Sitting Bull).

Completing the ensemble are Josh Andrews, Ronan Burns, Emma Caffrey, Matthew Croke,Omari Douglas, Rosie Fletcher, Melissa James, Jasmine Kerr, Natasha Mould, Jak Skelly,Leah West and Emma Woods (ensemble and Dance Captain).

Tickets for Annie Get Your Gun can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £20.00 (concessions available).  A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office (excluding cash).

Sonia Friedman Productions presents
Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill in
Edward Albee’s
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Directed by James Macdonald

• Imogen Poots and Luke Treadaway join Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill to complete the cast of Edward Albee’s landmark play directed by James Macdonald

• Reduced price tickets for preview performances

• Over 100 tickets for every performance priced at £10 during previews (22nd February – 8th March inclusive) and £15 during main run (from 9th March)

Twitter: @WhosAfraidLDN
Facebook: /WhosAfraidOfVirginiaWoolfLDN
# Whosafraidofvirginiawoolf?
Website: www.whosafraidofvirginiawoolf.co.uk

Imogen Poots and Luke Treadaway will join the previously announced Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill in the new production of multi Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by James Macdonald.

The production will play at the Harold Pinter Theatre for a limited season of 13 weeks from 22nd February 2017, for which reduced price tickets are available for preview performances. Over 100 tickets for every performance are priced at £15 (£10 during previews).

In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor Nick and his wife Honey to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling.

Imogen Poots (Honey) makes her West End debut with Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Poots made her breakthrough performance as Tammy in the film 28 Weeks Later. She won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Look of Love in 2013 and was nominated for Best Actress at the 2015 Evening Standard British Film Awards for her role in Peter Bogdanovich’s She’s Funny That Way. Other film credits include Terrence Mallick’s The Knight of Cups, Green Room, Filth, Jimi: All Is By My Side, A Late Quartet and Jane Eyre. Poots will next be seen starring opposite Michael Shannon in Frank and Lola, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim. On television, she recently played the female lead in Cameron Crowe’s debut television series Roadies (Showtime).

Luke Treadaway (Nick) won an Olivier Award for his performance as Christopher in the internationally acclaimed hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre/ West End) and also originated the role of Albert in the earliest production of War Horse, again at the National. Further theatre credits include Over There (Royal Court), Piranha Heights (Soho Theatre) and Saint Joan (National Theatre). For film, Treadaway plays the lead in the upcoming Sony Pictures release A Street Cat Named Bob, adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel. Treadaway’s further film credits include Unbroken, Attack the Block, The Whistleblower, Clash of the Titans, Tonight You’re Mine, Heartless, The Rise and Brothers of the Head. For television, in January he returns to his role of scientist Vincent Rattrey in the second series of Sky Atlantic’s critically acclaimed Fortitude. His further credits include the lead character of Alex Higgins in BBC’s The Rack Pack, the Duke of Richmond in the second series of The Hollow Crown (BBC/NBC/Neal Street Productions), as well as Sky Arts mini-seriesThe Nightmare World of H.G. Wells with Michael Gambon.

Imelda Staunton (Martha) returns to the West End after her triumphant and Olivier Award-winning performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy. Amongst her many other theatre credits, notable performances include Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd, for which she won an Olivier Award, Circle, Mirror, Transformation for the Royal Court and the role of Claire in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre. In total, Staunton has been nominated for eleven Olivier Awards, winning four. On film Staunton is perhaps best known for playing the title role in Vera Drake, for which she received the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and for the role of Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films.

Conleth Hill (George) is perhaps best known for his role as Lord Varys in the HBO television production Game of Thrones. A multi award-winning theatre actor, amongst his extensive theatre credits, recent productions include Quartermaine’s Terms at the Wyndham’s Theatre and The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre. Hill won Olivier Awards for his performances inThe Producers, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and Stones In His Pockets in the West End. He also received Tony Award nominations for his role in Stones In His Pockets on its transfer to Broadway and The Seafarer, which transferred from the National Theatre to Broadway. Hill’s film credits include Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Whatever Works, directed by Woody Allen.

James Macdonald is highly regarded for his work with Caryl Churchill and Sarah Kane, recently directing Churchill’s play Escaped Alone at the Royal Court. Other recent work includes the award-winning production of Florian Zeller’s The Father and Roots at the Donmar Warehouse. Macdonald has previously directed Staunton in the Royal Court’s production of Circle, Mirror, Transformation by Annie Baker and in the critically-acclaimed production of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre.

Edward Albee was born on 12th March 1928 and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include The Zoo Story (1958), The Death of Bessie Smith (1959), The Sandbox (1959), The American Dream (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961-62, Tony Award), Tiny Alice(1964), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer Prize; 1996, Tony Award), All Over (1971), Seascape(1974, Pulitzer Prize), Listening (1975), Counting the Ways (1975), The Lady from Dubuque(1977-78), The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981), Finding the Sun (1982), Marriage Play (1986-87), Three Tall Women (1991, Pulitzer Prize), Fragments (1993), The Play about the Baby(1997), The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? (2000, 2002 Tony Award), Occupant (2001), At Home at the Zoo: Act 1, Homelife. Act 2, The Zoo Story. (2004), and Me, Myself & I (2008). Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980.  In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts. In 2005 he was awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement

Royal Court Theatre 20-29 October, National Tour 1-16 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Transferring to the Royal Court after an acclaimed run at HighTide Festival 2015, Harrogate is a fascinating, tricksy play that throws curveballs at the audience constantly, never settling for easy and comforting resolutions.

The play begins with a man chatting to his daughter about her friends and her trip to Leeds. At the end of the scene, when things are becoming very uncomfortable, the truth is revealed, which amplifies the squirm factor for the rest of the play. I won’t go into details about the plot, because this tightly written and compelling play is best seen without too much prior knowledge.

The themes Harrogate explores are familiar – the longing for the past, the growing invisibility of women as they age, the evolution of love in long term relationships, the sexualisation of teenage girls – but Al Smith mixes these together to create a wonderfully painful and funny exploration of one man’s struggle to hold everything together. Throwaway lines from earlier scenes suddenly have great meaning, and repeated dialogue with different women highlight the differing perceptions and acceptance of age. The speech patterns of the three women are markedly different, but during pivotal emotional moments, they merge into one eloquent voice, that jarred at first when used by the teenage daughter, but served to emphasise the blurred boundaries of the father’s mind.

Nigel Lindsay gives a masterful performance as Him. Before you realise what is going on, he appears manipulative and controlling, but as the play progresses, the initial hints of vulnerability and his inner struggle to restrain himself become clearer. But Lindsay never overdoes the angst, keeping his character neutral and slightly irritating – ever so British and just carrying on. That is apart from the scene changes – the noisy electronic effects as he spasms probably represent his fracturing resolve, but only tested my patience and I saw no need for these – my only complaint about Richard Twyman’s assured direction.

Sarah Ridgeway plays the three female characters with consummate ease. By simply adjusting her stance and intonation, she defines the characters without having to signpost their (slight) differences. Her portrayal of the daughter, all wannabe Gangsta and teeth sucking, is fantastically funny, contrasting beautifully with the horror of realisation as the mother – subtle and heart-breaking.

Harrogate is a wonderful play – hard to categorise and taking an uncompromising look at what lies beneath the most respectable of facades. Thought provoking, squirm inducing and very witty, Harrogate is a play you NEED to see.

The Wild Woods, Bradford – 26th October 2016.  Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood

An empty disused building, once occupied by Marks and Spencers, has been transformed into a hi-tech contemporary arts space. Freedom Studios presents Tajinder Singh Hayer’s North Country and this is a new play currently receiving its world premiere.

Set in an intimate central space, the play is about three teenagers who survive the worldwide plague which has decimated the world’s population. Harvinder (Kamal Khan), Nusrat (Natalie Davies) and Alleyne (Philip Duguid-McQuillan) share their stories of survival and challenges they and their community face. They are constantly faced with making crucial decisions particularly when their cultural backgrounds and traditions are at stake.

The prologue begins when Harvinder narrates about an old Polish man being rushed into hospital but he unfortunately dies and the deadly plague begins to spread. Then the audience sees this sudden plunge of apocalyptic like darkness which changes Bradford and its communities. Now the three teenagers begin their quest as survivors from September 2017.

It is fitting that the play is set in Bradford with its familiar references being echoed throughout. Under the direction of Alex Chisholm, North Country represents what Bradford was and is known for. Bradford had a thriving industrial past but the city hasn’t been the same since its industrial decline and more so with its recession since 2008. The industrial heydays brought migrant workers to the city’s factories and mills, particularly those from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and thus creating the city’s diverse population. A spirit of resilience is shown among the characters and their determination to survive.

The play may have a science fiction twist to it but the stories shared certainly address the economical and social issues today and one seek their identity in order to fit into somewhat a complex and diverse society. This is an enjoyable production from the cast themselves and the creative team. North Country is running until 5th November 2016.