Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Robert Hastie Sheffield Theatres and Ramps on the Moon have teamed up to bring a Shakespearean comedy favourite into the 21stcentury of theatre-making. Featuring a bright, colourful design and a talented, energetic cast to match, Much Ado About Nothing is a playful addition to Ramps on the Moon’s glowing portfolio. Much Ado About Nothing tells the story of the stubborn yet witty Beatrice and Benedick, and the people whose fates are entwined with theirs. The play begins with happiness – men are returning from a conflict, and a marriage is set between Hero and Claudio. Unfortunately,…
Author: The Reviews Hub - Central
The Reviews Hub - Central
The Central team is under the editorship of Selwyn Knight. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.
Book: Alan Parker Words and Music: Paul Williams Director: Sean Holmes Based on the iconic 1976 film of the same name, Bugsy Malone has been revived for a glitzy new UK tour ahead of a rumoured West End Stint. A bizarre premise, a prohibition-era gang story played out by children with splurge guns and pinstripe mobster suits, results in this undeniable quirky show. The plot, charming as it is, is at best sparse. Rival bosses, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are engaged in a turf war. Meanwhile, driver Bugsy falls in love with one of the dancers from the speakeasy,…
Book: Conor McPherson Music and Lyrics: Bob Dylan Director: Conor McPherson Conor McPherson’s multi-nationally acclaimed musical weaves an intricate picture of a group of Americans in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934, achingly stitched together with music from the inimitable Bob Dylan. Each character passes through a time-weary guest house, searching for a future in a world which seems to have none. Owner-proprietor of the guest house is Nick Laine (Colin Connor), who attempts to provide for his ageing wife, Elizabeth (Frances McNamee), amidst a burgeoning affair with one of his guests – and with help only from his jobless writer son, Gene…
Book: Roddy Doyle Director: Andrew Linnie The Commitments starts as it means to go on, with plenty of energy, bustle and a joyful noise: it’s a Christmas party and there’s plenty of drunken singing going on, including by Deco, who has to stop mid-phrase to be sick. Meanwhile, soul music enthusiast Jimmy Rabbitte has a dream of bringing soul music to the world .. well, to Dublin at least. He sees soul as rooted in escapism and politics – it’s the people’s music and he wants to bring it to the people by building a band. And so a mixed…
Writer: Bea Roberts Director: Caitlin McLeod It’s summer 2022, and deep in a sleepy Devonshire village, there’s activism afoot. Ivy Tiller has a mission. As a leading member of the Manaford Morton Red Squirrel Action Force, she aims to remove every grey squirrel from the estate so that the red squirrel population can return as the rightful inhabitants of the land. She’s not squeamish about how she goes about it, either. In fact, since her mother died it’s her only interest in life and an obsession. So what should she do when the last squirrel has been shot? Ivy Tiller:…
Writer: Vanessa Oakes Director: Mark Evans At the age of 18, a young girl, who became known in the literature as Mademoiselle F, left her aunt’s house. She became convinced that she had taken something from the house and checked her clothing and possessions for it, finding nothing. But the fixation that she had taken something and that she had to find it remained and a regime of checking for an item continued and escalated. Her case was documented by her physician, Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol and hers became the first condition to be ascribed to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Esquirol was…
Music, Book and Lyrics: Richard O’Brien Director: Christopher Luscombe Fishnet stockings, sequin blazers, wigs, and feather boas are normally part of the onstage action at a theatre, but audiences at The Rocky Horror Show bring all these and more to their viewing experience. Not many – if any – other shows encourage this kind of enthusiastic participation and are so beloved around the world. This tour is bringing the incredible freedom and joy of Rocky Horror back to life in a fantastic way. For those who haven’t experienced this cult classic before, Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show is a musical…
Music: Alan Menkin Lyrics: Glenn Slater Book: Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner Director: Bill Buckhurst Philadelphian gangster moll, Deloris Van Cartier, has ideas to spread her prodigious soul-funk gospel lounge diva career wings to higher ground. Casting-central cliched gangster, Curtis Jackson (Jeremy Secomb) has other ideas. Not least bumping off a snitch; inevitably witnessed by Deloris conveniently hiding behind a dumpster, soon to be a makeshift coffin. Deloris, in her kitschy Christmas present purple fur stole high tails to the cops. Guess what? Long time hots for Deloris, Officer, ‘Steady-Eddie’ Souther, a ballistically brilliant Clive Rowe, is on desk duty. There’s…