Love was most certainly not a ‘drag’ in this new show of ‘The Ruby Slippers’ by Break A Leg Productions at The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool.
Set in a struggling drag club, the play follows two protagonists each dealing with their own grasp of sexuality. This new piece of writing by Emma Culshaw and David Paul focuses in on love, identity, friendship and prejudice which provided a riotous night of entertainment for all.
Ultra glamorous, full of garters and girdles and glitter; feed your fascination with feathers and the fabulous with a night at Le Bouge Neon.
The entire cast of this alluring burlesque collective have wowed audiences the world over, with their impressive performances that mix traditional vintage burlesque with a modern neon twist.
The historic Epstein Theatre was descended on last night by hordes people, seemingly from all over the UK, each waving Liverpool’s hottest ticket of the weekend. Le Bouge Neon comprises some of the biggest names in Burlesque and variety, including Miss Fallon Dee, best known for her career as a showgirl for the famed Moulin Rouge.
The final year students at Manchester School of Theatre performed Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes with striking maturity and skill at Home in Manchester. Taking inspiration from Sophocles' Antigone, Euripides' Hippolytus and Aristophanes' Lysistrata, Buffini creates a world set in the modern day in the aftermath of war. Very current, with so many elements relatable to the violence we see every day on television; however, hearing it ‘first hand’ it feels so much more brutal. Eurydice has just been elected president through a democratic vote and has installed her all female cabinet, bar one token male.
This student production of Spring Awakening is indeed an awakening of the mind, body and spirit on stage, in full rock and roll chorus.
Frank Wedekind’s ground breaking play was considered hugely controversial when it was written and first performed in 1906 and still today, the story packs a punch. It is critical of the oppressive culture of nineteenth century Germany, especially towards the idea of sex, and illustrates vividly how curiosity is piqued when something is deliberately hidden. This play dramatises a time when sex was an entirely taboo subject, and ironically, erotic fantasies bred rapidly. In the past, it has often been censored and was even banned in Germany at one point.
This production by Manchester University Drama Society at The John Thaw Studio Theatre in The Martin Harris Centre in Manchester is a rather gritty modern interpretation of Romeo And Juliet.
The Falls of the title refers to that infamous road in West Belfast, and the Montagues and Capulets in this story are the Protestants (Unionists) of The Shanklin Road, and the Catholics (Nationalists) of The Falls Road. The year is 1988, and the sectarian violence has been in full swing for many years. A huge wall divides the city, the police are not to be trusted and help whichever side suits their own purposes, and paramilitary organisations have become commonplace. Bombings, shootings, and random acts of cruelty are the every day things which these people live with, and all this in the name of peace.
Phoenix Dance Theatre grew from humble beginnings in 1981 and is now considered to be one of the longest standing contemporary dance companies outside London and has long been a key Northern forerunner in contemporary dance.
I myself was lucky enough to work with them on the ground breaking live performance of Frankenstein’s Wedding in 2011 and have experienced first-hand their professionalism and extraordinary attention to detail.
As a result I was eager to see how they have developed in the years since I worked with them. Tonight I had the pleasure of not one but a trio of performances from this prestigious group to mark the 35th birthday of the company.
Direct from a smash-hit WEST END and international tour, Michael Rosen’s award-winning book We’re Going On A Bear Hunt is brought vividly and noisily to the stage in director Sally Cookson’s fun-filled adaptation set to Benji Bower’s versatile lively score.
Tonight was a double bill of dance from Aakash Odedra, a British born dancer and choreographer who was originally trained in Kathak (a type of north Indian classical dance that incorporates mime and dance) and Bharat Natyam (an Indian classical dance originating from the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu in south-east India). However, tonight’s performances took us beyond classical Indian dance into a fusion of East and West, the classic and contemporary dance with trance mask work too.
The 39 Steps is a fast paced spoof spy thriller based on the novel by John Buchan and the classic 1935 Hitchcock film, brought to life by four very talented actors, imaginative sound, lighting and costume, shadow puppets and naff special effects. Combined, these elements make for a top class night of entertainment as we follow the story of our hero Richard Hannay (Richard Ede) from London to Scotland and back again as he falls into a world of spies, double agents, damsels in distress, villains, detectives, newspaper sellers, hotel owners and outrageous Scottish stereotypes.
Thrilling and tense, the perfect words to describe the Dial M for Murder at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. Firstly a quick note on the theatre and all staff - they were, and always are, the most inviting and courteous theatre staff of all of the theatre’s I have visited. The story centres around Tony Wendice (Oliver Mellor) who is in a secret plan to murder his wife Sheila Wendice (Terri Dwyer) as she had previously had been unfaithful to him with another character, Max Halliday (Marcus Hutton) - a thriller writer who has just returned from the US.
Enchanting, captivating and mesmerising are the three words I would use to attempt to summarise the beauty that was and is Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, brought to us by New Adventures dance company. There is something so hypnotically beautiful about Matthew Bourne’s ballets that makes them irresistible to watch, and Sleeping Beauty did not disappoint. Bourne uses influences from the Brothers Grimm tale Little Briar Rose in 1812 and the well-known, beloved Walt Disney interpretation in 1959 to reimagine the story of Sleeping Beauty; the simple love story of the young princess Aurora, cursed by the wicked fairy Caboose and forced to sleep for 100 years until true love breaks the spell and they all live happily ever after.
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