Review

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.

Come From Away

★★★★★

Welcome to the Rock, specifically to the town of Gander in Newfoundland, the easternmost province in Canada. The town is small and only has around 10,000 inhabitants, but there is an international airport; a leftover from the days when flying transatlantic involved refuelling mid-flight.

Come From Away tells the story of how this small town in Canada welcomed 38 planes full of people (approximately 7,000 people)when the United States airspace was closed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For 5 days, the people of Gander provided food, showers, comfort and friendship to the Come From Aways (a term used in Newfoundland to describe people who aren’t from the island) until the flights could leave again.

Unfortunate

★★★★☆

So you think Ursula is the villain of The Little Mermaid? How unfortunate, you’re about to discover you have been lied to your entire life!

Written by Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx, Unfortunate is part origin story, part redemption arc and a whole lot of chaotic, camp brilliance.

In a similar way to how Wicked re-wrote the tale of the Wicked Witch, Unfortunate takes audiences through Ursula’s life to show that she isn’t all bad. A childhood of bullying and hiding her dark magic, a forbidden love and a parental betrayal that leaves Ursula banished and a sea cucumber in bits (RIP Kirsty) all contributed to the events in The Little Mermaid. Though even those events aren’t strictly accurate, and with a different perspective we see what really happened to Ariel and what the true happy ending was.

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.

Wizard of Oz

★★★☆☆

Flying into Liverpool from sell out performances at the London Palladium, musical classic The Wizard of Oz has been given a contemporary twist complete with additional songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Starring Aston Merrygold of JLS fame as Tin Man and local legend / RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne as the Wicked Witch of the West, this is a colourful, technological masterpiece with stunning sets and costumes.

The key elements of the story are all unchanged. Dorothy (Aviva Tulley) and her dog Toto run away from home just as a tornado hits her Kansas farm. Her and Toto end up transported to Munchkinland in the land of Oz, with the only hope of getting home lying with the Wizard of Oz in Emerald City at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. Along the way, Dorothy meets The Scarecrow (Benjamin Yates), The Tin Man (Aston Merrygold) and The Cowardly Lion (Nic Greenshields). Together, they all embark on a journey of self-discovery whilst battling the Wicked Witch of the West (The Vivienne) who wants nothing more than to take the ruby slippers from Dorothy’s feet.

Cinderella Rock 'n' Roll Panto

★★★★★

The yearly rock ’n’ roll panto at the Everyman has become an institution of Liverpool in the same way as the Superlambbanana and purple wheelie bins are icons of the city. This year’s panto is Cinderella, but with a clever twist. Written by Luke Barnes and directed by James Baker, the show is a refreshing interpretation of the traditional fairytale. This Cinderella isn’t a damsel in distress, she’s her own comic book hero delivering a message of self-love and how being true to yourself is the most important thing.

Hamilton

★★★★★

He is the A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R we are here to see, and for the first time we are doing so outside of London as the show embarks on it’s first ever UK tour which kicked off in Manchester.

We went to two performances before writing this review; opening night and then the Saturday night performance a week later. We wanted to wait before writing this review as we know opening night may not be reflective of the full show, but if you want to see our opening night thoughts our YouTube channel has a review of that performance.

I Should Be So Lucky

★★☆☆☆

Stock Aitken Waterman are synonymous with the music of the 80’s. In 1989 alone, they were responsible for 27% of the UK music singles market sales! They are even responsible for the global phenomenon that is Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. Now, Debbie Isitt who is best known for creating The Nativity films and musical has taken some of Stock Aitken Waterman’s best loved works to create the new musical I Should Be So Lucky.

The Book of Will

★★★★★

As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, Shakespeare North Playhouse are staging Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will.

Telling the tale of how the First Folio came to be, and how so many of Shakespeare’s plays only survive due to the efforts of those who knew him best, The Book of Will is a fantastic co-production with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Octagon Theatre Bolton.

The Book of Will takes the audience on the journey of The King’s Men and their realisation that as each of them dies so to do the real words of Shakespeare, and with each passing the mis-remembered words and modified versions become the truth. As each version moves further away from how Shakespeare would have intended, The King’s Men decide to gather The Bard’s works in order to publish them in a folio. There’s just one problem; the majority of the works haven’t been written down. Those that are written down largely exist as individual scripts for actors and cover purely their lines and cues. The King’s Men must band together to try and find complete works that they can publish.

Noises Off

★★★★☆

A play within a play performed across three acts, Michael Frayn’s Noises Off is the original “goes wrong” play. Following the on and off stage antics of a touring theatre company as they perform ‘Nothing On’, Frayn’s work is timeless and this latest touring production directed by Lindsay Posner is brilliantly bad.

The show begins with the cast of ‘Nothing On’ completing a final rehearsal before opening night. The cast are woefully underprepared; Dotty (Liza Goddard) is constantly getting lines wrong and misplacing sardines, Frederick (Simon Coates) keeps finding plot holes, and Brooke (Lisa Ambalavanar) is not only extremely inexperienced but has an uncanny ability to lose contact lenses. This first act gives the audience the opportunity to see half of ‘Nothing On’, before act two details a completely disastrous matinee performance of the show. The entire second act takes place backstage as jealous lovers and cast tensions bubble over into the performance. Finally, the third act shows the catastrophic final performance where those members of the cast who haven’t completely given up attempt to ad-lib their way through the show with varying degrees of success.