Liverpool

Midsummer Mechanicals

★★★★★

The Olivier Award nominated Midsummer Mechanicals is back for Summer 2023 at The Globe, but before opening in London the show has completed a very limited run at Shakespeare North Playhouse.

Set one year after the mechanicals performed Pyramus and Thisbe, Nick Bottom (Kerry Frampton) and Peter Quince (Jamal Frankin) are trying to get the group back together to perform a new show. Unfortunately, the script isn’t complete, Francis Flute (Sam Glen) has gone through puberty which poses a problem for him to play the female roles, and Tom Snout isn’t available so his wife Patience (Melody Brown) has decided to take his place, but as a female she legally can’t perform. With just 45 minutes until the Duke and Duchess arrive for the premiere of “The Adventures of the Weaver and the Fairy Queen”, the quartet have no choice but to try and make it work.

Electric Dreams

★★★★☆

After really enjoying Saving Shakespeare: Murder, Magic & Mayhem by A Place For Us CIC (you can read our review here), we were excited to see what they would do with an 80’s music filled performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, titled Electric Dreams. Held amongst the ruins at Norton Priory, and featuring classic 80’s tracks such as Tainted Love, Sweet Child o’ Mine, and Total Eclipse of the Heart, this show kicked off the Halton Pride celebrations with a bang!

Alice in Wonderland

★★★★☆

Based on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel, this modern retelling of Alice in Wonderland is a fantastic musical romp across different genres to produce a heartfelt, family-friendly musical, with just a hint of panto.

In this production, Wonderland is a broken stereo. A mix tape produced by Alice’s (Paislie Reid) recently deceased Father has become stuck in the stereo, but luckily Alice is able to fix anything, so she quickly gets to work repairing the stereo. Unfortunately, her attempts don’t quite go to plan and she finds herself trapped inside the stereo. Her only way out is to save the stereo from the evil plans of sisters the Queen of Clubz (with a z) and the Queen of Charts. Along the way, Alice meets a variety of different stereo buttons, and with the support of her brother Lewis (Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos) discovers the importance of empathy and learns how to cope with the loss of her Dad.

Heathers The Musical

★★★☆☆

Heathers is not your standard high school musical. Based on the 1989 film which was intended to be an anti-John Hughes portrayal of teen life, the musical version of Heathers retains all the dark comedy that makes the original film a cult classic, whilst mixing in catchy group numbers and hard hitting solo pieces.

The plot of Heathers is in someways what you would expect from a high school based musical; there’s a clique of girls all named Heather who rule the school, and the nerdy Veronica Sawyer wants to fit in with the popular girls. She ultimately gets her wish, but realises true friendship is more important than popularity. Along the way, Veronica falls for the mysterious bad boy JD who also happens to be a sociopathic vigilante, hell bent on blowing up the school. With Veronica’s involuntary support (a shift away from the source material), JD even manages to murder three students and gets away with it.

Saving Shakespeare: Murder, Magic & Mayhem

★★★★☆

Developed by A Place For Us CIC in 2022, Saving Shakespeare is an energetic frolic through some of Shakespeare’s most iconic works.

The premise of the show is William Shakespeare, or Will I Am as he refers to himself, has arrived at court to perform his latest production. Unfortunately, Will has forgotten the script, and none of the actors have turned up. His only hope are two women who aren’t even legally allowed to act. Over the course of an hour, the trio cobble together a show to perform for Elizabeth I using the scenes they can remember from other works. Covering Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night the production is a joy from start to finish.

Douze Points

★★★★★

As huge Eurovision fans, we could have easily written an entire website of reviews covering all the different Eurovision events we have been to over the previous week (turquoise carpet, two semi final rehearsals, two live shows including the final, copious amounts of concerts within the Eurovision village and around the city). Eurovision has undoubtedly been one of the best weeks of our lives, but rather than review every single thing we have done, we’ve decided to focus on the one that best fits in with this website’s content; Douze Points at the Liverpool Philharmonic.

Return of the Gods

★★★★★

World Museum Liverpool’s latest temporary exhibition is a family-friendly exploration into the earliest superhero tales; the mythology of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome.

Displaying the extensive collection of 18th Century antiquarian Henry Blundell of Sefton, statues over 2 metres tall have been combined with over 100 sculptures and objects to show how everyday life was influenced by mythology. This is the first time so much of Henry Blundell’s collection has been displayed in one exhibition.

Lights On Lights Off

★★★★★

As part of their programme to celebrate The Bard’s birthday, Shakespeare North Playhouse’s production of Lights On / Lights Off is a remarkable exploration of The First Folio. Utilising Elizabethan style rehearsals, local actors, and improvisation, Lights On / Lights Off is a production made up of a scene from each of the 36 plays that make up The First Folio; 18 of them with the theatre lights on, and 18 of them by candlelight with the theatre lights off.

Macbeth

★★★★☆

Double, Double, toil and….yakuza?

The Scottish play is possibly one of Shakespeare’s best known tragedies, telling the tale of Macbeth’s rise to power and his attempts to retain that power against a backdrop of murder. This production of Macbeth by Imitating The Dog was unlike any other production we have ever seen, and completely modernises the play in a way that Baz Luhrmann did for Romeo and Juliet in the 90’s.

Transporting the play to Estuary City, a gritty neon world that invokes images of London and Tokyo, this version of Macbeth incorporates video technology, modern language and a violent noir backdrop to stunning effect. Throughout the production, two cameras capture Macbeth and Lady Macbeth on the stage. These images appear on screens above the stage, and in combination with the sectional staging give individual perspectives of the action on stage. With background films projected onto the staging, Imitating The Dog have created a cinematic masterpiece within a live theatre environment. Our favourite example of this was Lady Macbeth riding a subway train to meet Macbeth. The camera focussed on each of them individually to set them apart on stage whilst being only metres away from each other, whilst also delivering the feeling of motion through the subway train; incredibly creative and effective.

Richard III

★★★★☆

Set against a backdrop of Morris dancing, and following her critically acclaimed production of Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh brings a powerful performance of Richard III to the Liverpool Playhouse for a limited time run.

Given that Richard III is the second longest of Shakespeare’s plays, and that this was the first time we’d been to watch a performance of any of The Bard’s historical plays, there was a slight apprehension that we wouldn’t enjoy the performance. Within the first scene, we knew that wasn’t going to be the case and we were about to watch something special.