REVIEWS

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  May 18, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Liverpool Improvathon 2017, Invisible Wind Factory

  Firing on all cylinders – and “setting phasers to fun” with the introduction of each episode – this year’s Improvathon saw Liverpool’s premier improv performers back to their very best. With an intergalactic theme – The Space Age – and a rejuvinated sense of ambition for the marathon 33-and-a-half hour, non-stop show, dozens of performers, […]

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  May 16, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Punter, Capstone Theatre

  The pressures of modern life and the availability of professional help for those in need are the issues at the heart of The Punter, the debut play from Liverpool novelist Deborah Morgan. GP Margaret (Denise Kennedy) keeps her patients at arms’ length, not only simply to get through each day’s crippling workload, but also to […]

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  April 24, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Story Giant, Liverpool Everyman

  As the Everyman’s company season continues, The Story Giant takes to the stage. An adaptation of a tale by Mersey Poet Brian Patten, it brings together a wealth of the theatre’s backstage talent for a real family affair. Adapted by the venue’s former literary manager Lindsay Rodden and directed by YEP’s Matt Rutter, The Story […]

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  March 13, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Committed, the Blade Factory

  Committed, Stephen Smith’s bleak tale of a fractured community in 90s Belfast was first performed as part of Liverpool Irish Festival a few years ago in 2014.  Revived in an unexpected corner of the Camp and Furnace complex last week, the play’s 20 year old themes still resonated, and literally had the power to shock.  […]

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  February 24, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Fiddler on the Roof, Liverpool Everyman

  Tradition – something the Everyman has always been respectful of, but likes to add its own playful, unique twist. In the last twelve months alone, those Two Gents of Verona were yanked into the Swingin’ Sixties and Madame Bovary went meta; but with Fiddler on the Roof, its first production for 2017 and the debut […]

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  February 11, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Julie Atherton, Edge Hill Arts Centre

  It was another musical theatre coup at Edge Hill this week, as Preston-born West End star Julie Atherton took to the Arts Centre stage, for a fun and enjoyable one-night event. She set out her stall with parody number Portrait of a Princess (perhaps better known for its repeated comic lyric, ‘not in a Disney […]

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  January 20, 2017 / 2 Comments

  REVIEW: Ramin Karimloo and the Broadgrass Band, Edge Hill Arts Centre

  It was a cold, Monday January night in the unassuming market town of Ormskirk. What’s to do? Why, Broadway royalty dropping in on the local arts centre, of course. It still seems quite unbelievable that Edge Hill Arts Centre pulled off such a coup (they were rightfully delighted); something that only appeared in their listings […]

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  January 3, 2017 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Star, Liverpool Playhouse

  The Playhouse has gone back to its music hall roots this festive season, harking back to the rich history of the venue, which has recently marked its 150th anniversary. Michael Wynne’s The Star is a celebratory theatrical knees-up, drawing on the old-style variety show format with a behind-the-scenes drama and broad social commentary that makes […]

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  December 31, 2016 / 0 Comments

  MADEUP’s Best of 2016

  It’s that time again – and after a frightful year all round, here’s a bit of cheer with the MADEUP Top Five of 2016 list. Hooray! Personal circumstance meant it’s still been hard for to see anywhere near as much theatre as would be ideal, but there have been some real bonuses too, and fingers […]

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  December 4, 2016 / 1 Comment

  REVIEW: Little Red and the Big Bad Wolf, Unity Theatre

  Away from the glitz and the camp and the general hyperactivity of panto, the Unity offers an alternative, gentle style of festive storytelling that has really carved its own niche. In recent years that could be down to the sensibilities and stylings of Ellesmere Port-based Action Transport Theatre, the team behind Little Red and the […]

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  November 13, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Ruby Slippers, Epstein Theatre

  Owing as much to RuPaul’s Drag Race as it does to Coronation Street, The Ruby Slippers is a new show about love, identity and following your dreams, with a true northern warmth and a big gay heart. Set in a failing drag club run by bubbly Raz (James Rogerson), the story begins as he tries […]

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  November 8, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: At the End of Everything Else, Liverpool Everyman

  The last time I saw the madly-talented Mark Arends anywhere in the vicinity of the Everyman and Playhouse, he was terrifying the absolute bejesus out of me as Winston Smith in Headlong’s 1984 a few years back. Which is why I was keen to check out yet another side to this versatile, creative Liverpool-born performer, […]

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  October 23, 2016 / 2 Comments

  REVIEW: Nina – A Story About Me and Nina Simone, Liverpool Unity Theatre

  Nina -A Story About Me and Nina Simone is without doubt a tale that needs to be told and deserves to be heard. Performer Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE is one of the patrons of the Unity, having been based in Liverpool in her early 20s. This show is a co-production with Riksteatern, the national touring theatre […]

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  October 19, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Happy Hour, Arts Centre Edge Hill

  Happy Hour is the seventh show from Liverpool-based physical theatre company Tmesis, and continues in the vein of 2015’s That’s Amore – four performers on a wry, sideways rollercoaster ride through modern life, brimming with as much fun as poignancy. Turning its attention to the world of work, this time Tmesis create a universe that […]

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  September 29, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Shake it up Baby, Unity Theatre

  Shake it up Baby is a new Liverpool-based romantic comedy, performed as part of the Beatles-themed Ticket to Write festival last weekend. And there was definitely a sense it is just the beginning for this warm, crowdpleasing tale about a woman looking for love later in life. Jackie Jones is never far from a stage […]

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  September 29, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Thaddeus Bent’s Fear-tre of Fear, 81 Renshaw Street

  Ghost hunter and time traveller Thaddeus Bent began life as a recurring character in the Legion of Doom’s monthly Comedy Knights at Mello Mello. These days, like that dear departed venue, the sketch trio are no more – and as one of their number, Lee Hithersay, developed the antics of their antisocial performance poet Terry […]

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  August 8, 2016 / 1 Comment

  REVIEW: Terry Arlarse: Art in Your Mind, Delifonseca

  Terry Arlarse was one of the breakout characters of dearly departed Liverpool sketch comedy trio, the Legion of Doom. Co-founder Lee Hithersay has taken up the mantle and run with Terry – a Scouse performance poet who is basically part Rik from the Young Ones, part Yozza Hughes. Now, Terry is evolving from five-minute sketch […]

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  August 7, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: As You Like It, Prescot Parish Church

  MATE Productions‘ As You Like It has toured outdoor venues outside Merseyside and even took part in the RSC’s Open Stages performances for community groups in Stratford this summer. In partnership with Shakespeare North, the shows at the company’s base of Prescot may have meant the most of all – and the town’s support was […]

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  June 24, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: The Diary of a Hounslow Girl, Unity Theatre

  The Diary of a Hounslow Girl is the first solo show from writer and actress Ambreen Razia, and it proves to be a beautifully observed and spirited piece of performance. An energetic monologue gives its audience a brief, yet intimate insight into the experiences of a modern Muslim girl trying to find the balance between […]

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  June 18, 2016 / 0 Comments

  REVIEW: Improvathon 2016 – When in Rome

  It was all change for the Improvathon this year – a new venue, a new time of year. This meant that many things had been caught off-kilter, and this was interesting as an audience member and critic, as a reminder that it’s not always about us, and that’s not always a bad thing. The Improvathon, […]

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