Play

New Season

This week, HOME MCR unveiled an exciting lineup of shows for Autumn / Winter 2024. There is a diverse array of productions, with West End hits, groundbreaking new works, engaging family-friendly shows and a festive spectacular. We’ve pulled together our top picks of productions that we’ll be aiming to see over the upcoming months.

My Son’s a Queer, (But What Can You Do?) - 19 to 25 August

Rob Madge is social media royalty, thanks to their hilarious videos showing the Disney parades they created at home. This show is an autobiography of Rob’s life, and takes the audience on a journey through Rob’s experiences growing up queer, blending storytelling, comedy, and of course the home video clips that Rob is famous for. This is a celebration of individuality, but also a touching tribute to the power of unconditional love and acceptance.

Tell Me How It Ends

★★★★★

The 1980s, a time of big hair and even bigger shoulder pads, the emergence of MTV, and when an epidemic brought with it prejudice, fear, and new attitudes around being queer. In hospital rooms across the country, and indeed the world, groups of lesbians were ensuring that gay men diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were not forgotten or left to suffer alone. Many families turned their backs on their loved ones out of fear, but the lesbian community stepped up to support a part of society that many had marginalized.

The Legend of Ned Ludd

★★★★★

The concept of machines taking over the world has a long tradition within popular culture. From Terminator’s thumbs up as he descends to a fiery death, to Westworld, I Robot and 2001: A Space Odyssey, technology is often portrayed as going rouge to create a form of dystopian future. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, Deep Fakes, and outsourcing of work to automation the apocalyptic wasteland can feel as though it’s within touching distance. The role of humans in all these scenarios is rarely touched upon. In the first of the three homegrown productions celebrating the Everyman’s 60th anniversary, The Legend of Ned Ludd aims to look more at the human elements of technology, exploring what happens when machines make decisions, and showing that the impact of technology is a timeless, worldwide question.

Frankenstein

★★★☆☆

Imitating The Dog are known for combining innovative digital media with traditional theatre to create exceptional works. Their production of Macbeth last year was one of our favourite stage productions of the year (you can read our review here), so when we saw that they were continuing their Gothic production theme with an interpretation of Frankenstein we knew that we had to go.

The production combines the classic Marry Shelley Frankenstein with that of a story of a nameless couple who are navigating an unplanned pregnancy. As they discuss what it means to be human, whether bringing a baby into the current world is the right thing to do, and create their own monsters through a lack of understanding those who are different, the storyline constantly switches to the text of Frankenstein which is cleverly introduced as a radio dramatisation. The struggles of Frankenstein, and the moral dilemma he faces in bringing life to his Creature, mirror that of the nameless couple.

Cluedo 2

★☆☆☆☆

Iconic murder mystery boardgame Cluedo has already been adapted into a film (a cult classic with Tim Curry no less!), multiple television shows, musicals and in 2022 a play directed by Mark Bell who is best known for directing The Play That Goes Wrong. Now, Cluedo 2 is following the success of the 2022 play with a semi-sequel written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, with Mark Bell returning as the director.

Richard III (ish)

★★★★★

Covering the second longest Shakespearean play in a family friendly way, in under an hour, and with just one person performing all the parts is bordering on absurd. But only bordering, because Cream-Faced Loons proved that not only can this be done, it can be done brilliantly.

The premise of the show is that the Cream-Faced Loons are due to perform an extravagant version of Richard III (even acrobats were mentioned at one point!). There’s just one, pretty significant, problem; the van with the actors in has broken down so they can’t reach the venue. In a bid to give people a show though, Stagehand (Abey Bradbury) decides to try and tell Shakespeare’s classic machiavellian tale single handedly. With a mixture of props, music, an insult generator, and a fair bit of audience interaction, Richard III is performed. Ish.

My Beautiful Laundrette

★★★★☆

Adapted from the 1985 film of the same name, My Beautiful Laundrette is a sophisticated, heartfelt and painful reminder that the world is still full of inequality.

The show is set around Omar (Lucca Chadwick-Patel), a young British Pakistani who is struggling to find work during the height of Thatcher’s Britain. In a bid to give Omar more than just a life on “The Dole”, his Papa (Gordon Warnecke) decides Omar will work for his Uncle, and then go to college.

Richard, My Richard

★★★★★

Richard III is one of the most infamous Kings of England. Known as a tyrant, a usurper, and portrayed by Shakespeare as a hunchback, Richard III is often synonymous with the murder of his nephews, The Princes in the Tower. But what if everything that you think you know about Richard III isn’t actually true? With history written by the victors, what if Richard was actually a loyal brother, a loving husband and a victim of the historical record being incorrect? This is the intriguing question that historian, author, and now playwright Philippa Gregory asks in her debut play Richard, My Richard.

Pride and Prejudice

★★★★☆

Imaginarium Theatre are a community arts organisation who deliver educational programmes, schools outreach and free youth theatre classes across the Merseyside region. Every year, their Community Ensemble stage a production in The Cockpit Theatre at Shakespeare North Playhouse. This year’s production was a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by playwright Rob Brannen.

The basics of the story remain unchanged; Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy meet and overcome their initial dislike for one another to eventually fall in love after putting their individual preconceptions aside. The story though is set in a Northern town, with the Bennet family living paycheck to paycheck and feeling the pinch in the cost-of-living crisis. Mrs Bennet wants her 5 daughters to leave home and really start their lives, but they can’t afford to and Elizabeth (renamed to Lizzy throughout this production rather than just called Lizzy by her loved ones), has absolutely no interest in finding a partner. All that changes though when the big house on the edge of town is sold, and the Bennet sisters are introduced to Mr Bingley and his handsome friend Mr Darcy.