DRAMA

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  July 5, 2015 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Hook, Liverpool Everyman

  The Hook is an exciting prospect for the Everyman and Playhouse theatres, where a bit of Arthur Miller has always appealed. Fret not if it doesn’t sound as familiar as the playwright’s masterpieces like Death of a Salesman or The Crucible – the play is an adaptation of a never-before-performed screenplay, that was surpressed by […]

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  May 23, 2015 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Constellations, Liverpool Playhouse

  Constellations is a fascinating play, as in many ways it is both concise and minimalist, while at the same time pondering huge and sprawling infinitesimal possibilities. Nick Payne’s acclaimed one-act drama premiered at the Royal Court (London’s, not ours) in 2012, and even attracted Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal to the role of Roland on Broadway. […]

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  April 8, 2015 / 0 Comments

  This week: Plastic Figurines at the Playhouse

  Ella Greenhill is one of Liverpool’s up-and-coming playwrights and her new work Plastic Figures premieres at the Playhouse Studio tonight and tomorrow. Produced by Manchester-based theatre company Box of Tricks, Liverpool is the first stop on a national tour for the play, described as “moving and touchingly funny”. Inspired by events in Greenhill’s life, Plastic […]

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  October 12, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Bright Phoenix, Liverpool Everyman

  Bright Phoenix is a new in-house production, written for the Everyman stage by acclaimed friend of the theatre, Jeff Young. The story of a misfit gang of kids grown into a misfit gang of adults, the play explores the hidden places and people of the city and is described as “a love letter to Liverpool”. […]

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  October 5, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Juno and the Paycock, Liverpool Playhouse

  The Playhouse’s instinct for on-the-nose productions that relay as powerful a message to modern audiences as they did when they were first written continues with Juno and the Paycock. Sean O’Casey’s 1924 tale of poverty and politics in a Dublin tenement draws parallels with today’s climate of austerity and war; a period piece that serves […]

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  September 15, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Broken Biscuits, Lantern Theatre

  Broken Biscuits is the story of two best friends and mothers whose inseparable sons went to war together; but only one returned. Get ready for an emotional ride, and one of the theatrical surprises of this year – this low-key dark horse is one of the finest new dramas I’ve seen in a long time. […]

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  September 14, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Mind the Gap, Unity Theatre

  From the work I’ve previously seen from up-and-coming writers Ella Greenhill and Joe Ward Munrow, each is attracted to unconventional staging and exploring human stories in different ways. Munrow’s Held, a tale of two brothers dealing with their mother’s dementia, was performed along a runway-style strip with the audience facing each other on either side […]

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  September 7, 2014 / 0 Comments

  British-African family drama at the Black-E

  “You think England is hard? Compared to Nigeria? My dear, you haven’t seen anything yet!”   Following sell-out shows at Arcola Theatre, award-winning British-African family drama Pandora’s Box comes to the Black-E this week as part of a UK tour.   Nominated for this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature (apparently Africa’s biggest literary award), and […]

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  September 4, 2014 / 0 Comments

  Pimento Theatre’s Mind the Gap

  The Unity kicks off its autumn season next week with the return of an immersive, exploratory work from an up-and-coming Liverpool company.   Mind the Gap, from Pimento Theatre – otherwise known as playwrights Ella Greenhill and Joe Ward Munroe – debuted at the theatre last year and returns for seven performances over three days […]

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  June 30, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Gaffer, Unity Theatre

  Football; international bajillion-dollar industry to be sure, but one not exactly known for its tolerance of diversity (insert undergraduate thesis here). This is explored in the touching drama Gaffer, which runs all this week at the Unity Theatre. Produced by the Unity with Lives Of Others Theatre in association with Homotopia and Everton in the […]

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  May 25, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Loot, Lantern Theatre

  Joe Orton’s modern classic Loot isn’t for the faint of heart – or stomach, come to think of it; so with this production, Big Teeth theatre company got stuck in with gusto. The battered cardboard coffin, around which so much of this dark farce’s action is based, showed the young company were making the best […]

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  May 15, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Hope Place, Everyman

  Maggie was born in 8 Hope Place and has lived their all her life. She lives alone, but her brothers and sisters all have their own keys and it has been a family hub for as long as they remember – but of course, what they choose to remember is different for each of them… […]

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  May 1, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: An August Bank Holiday Lark, Liverpool Playhouse

  “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic” – well, I never quite thought I’d be opening anything here with a quote from Stalin, but that’s what springs to mind when considering An August Bank Holiday Lark, which approaches its commemoration to the World War One dead by examining the minutae […]

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  April 28, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Grid, Liverpool Everyman

  YEP – Young Everyman and Playhouse – has existed in its current guise since 2012. The theatres have always been dedicated to nurturing up and coming talent, but YEP has provided opportunities like never before, collaborating with young people at every part of the theatre making process, from writing and performance to tech and marketing. […]

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  April 15, 2014 / 0 Comments

  An August Bank Holiday Lark (in April)

  Northern Broadsides are set to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War with the world premiere of Deborah McAndrew’s new play An August Bank Holiday Lark, coming to the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday, April 29 to Saturday, May 3.   Taking its title from a line in Philip Larkin’s poem MCMXIV, […]

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  April 9, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Events, Liverpool Everyman

  The Events is effectively a two hander, examining one woman’s attempt to make sense of a horrific crime she has been a victim of. Dramatic and provocative, it’s USP is every performance features a different community choir – at once musical accompaniment and Greek chorus – on stage throughout, to add another dimension to its […]

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  March 31, 2014 / 0 Comments

  Fringe hit The Events comes to the Everyman

  David Greig’s The Events, one of the most critically acclaimed plays of last year, comes to the new Liverpool Everyman – its first ever touring show.  from April 8 to 12. The production uses a soaring soundtrack sung by an onstage local choir and explores how a small community copes and moves on in the […]

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  March 24, 2014 / 0 Comments

  Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

  They’ve barely paused for breath since the re-opening of the new Everyman, and now sister theatre the Playhouse is preparing for another big show that will open its new season in style this week. Do these people ever sleep?!   Arthur Miller’s devastating portrait of an ordinary man in a clash of cultures, of generations […]

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  March 18, 2014 / 0 Comments

  Overload Festival begins

  Overload is a new theatrical festival beginning tonight (March 18) to showcase eight new shows from JMU Drama students. Taking place at four venues across the city over the next four weeks, they say it is a selection of the best and brightest talent the uni has to offer, with a spectrum of performances from […]

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  March 5, 2014 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Dial M for Murder, Liverpool Playhouse

  Fiery Angel is the company behind the Playhouse’s own 2011 smash hit The Ladykillers, as well as an equally ridiculously successful stage version of The 39 Steps. So turning their attention to one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best known whodunnits (of sorts) continues to play to their strengths. The story of a jealous husband who attempts […]

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