Gricers, a brand-new spontaneous play at the Unity Theatre, provided a masterful conclusion to the opening night of the Liverpool Improvisation Festival. It is a exceptional example of “theatre of nothing.” On the surface, the premise is as stagnant as a rusted rail: two men waiting for trains. Yet, beneath that stillness, the performance excavates the full gamut of life, love, and the human condition within a brisk, 50-minute runtime. Much like the DNA of Waiting for Godot, the two characters, Mark and Mike, exist in a state of perpetual anticipation. They never see a train, but they fill the…
Author: The Reviews Hub - North West
The Reviews Hub - North West
The North West team is under the editorship of John McRoberts. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.
Writer: Natalie Beech Director: Connor Goodwin Man or Bear? As a woman, which would you rather be stuck alone in the woods with. Such was the question posed in a viral TikTok video back in 2024 and the answer was resoundingly – in what was perhaps surprising to some – “bear”. It is this very question over which blood-soaked feminist Jen (Jenna Sian O’Hara) compulsively obsesses after committing an undisclosed violent act with her partner Jake (Jordan Akkaya). Thus begins a surreal, high-octane two hours which is safely unlike anything you’ll have seen in the theatre of late. A wonderfully…
Writer: Hilary Mantel Adapter: Alexandra Wood Director: John Young Hilary Mantel’s controversial short story was inspired by a real-life moment in 1983, when she glimpsed Margaret Thatcher leaving hospital after eye surgery from an upstairs window in Windsor. The result is a tense stand-off between an IRA gunman and the woman whose flat serves as a perfect sniper’s vantage point. Difficulties in pairing the two characters meant it remained unpublished until 2014, after the former prime minister’s death. Alexandra Wood’s first-ever adaptation for the Everyman explores the condensed lyricism of the original, developing the uncertain relationship into a gripping psychological duel. The…
Book and lyrics: Rob Madge Music and lyrics: Pippa Cleary Director: Nikolai Foster Back at the start of the twenty tens, a local businessman in Burnley began lending money to other locals who needed the help when the big banks wouldn’t. With a vision to create a small community minded bank, Dave Fishwick attempted to open his own bank and the rest, as they say, is history. Some fifteen years after Burnley Savings and Loans started trading, after two Netflix films and after Dave Fishwick becoming known on television for fighting the big boys, the stylised retelling of his story…
Book, Music, and Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, Zoë Roberts Director: Robert Hastie Operation Mincemeat is an instant success for the history books. With uplifting music, innovative staging, and a tight-knit, talented cast- you don’t want to miss this. Leading the way for modern musical theatre, Operation Mincemeat is the closest experience you can get to London’s West End on a regional stage. Operation Mincemeat invites you into the MI5 at the creation of a plan which could win England the war. All style and no substance Ewan Montagu meets socially inept science fanatic Charles Cholmondeley and their…
Writer: Samuel Beckett Director: Dominic Hill Most famously described as the play where nothing happens – twice, Waiting for Godot is still considered one of the most significant plays of the twentieth century. Born out of the theatre of the absurd and known for its beauty and brutality, Samuel Beckett’s beguiling classic is his most widely performed piece. In a co-production with The Citizen’s Theatre in Glasgow and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, the play finishes its run at The Octagon Theatre in Bolton. Two vagrants, Valdimir and Estrangon, spend their days waiting. For whom, why, where and for how long nobody really knows. Trying their best to pass the time of their miserable…
Writer: Christy Lefteri Director: Anthony Almedia In a social state that very much reflects the story being told at Storyhouse theatre in Chester, The Beekeeper of Aleppo shares the journey of a Syrian refugee couple who have suddenly been thrown out into the world after the war starts. This depiction invites you to sit in between the sheds of families who have escaped war, to feel the freezing waters of the ocean as you’re tipped from a lifeboat, and leaves your ears ringing. From the very beginning, the production is an interactive experience. The auditorium lights remain on as the…
Writer: Onjali Q Rauf Adapter: Nick Ahad Director: Monique Touko Hot off its win last weekend of the Olivier for Best Family Show, The Boy At The Back Of The Class arrives at The Lowry. Onjali Q Rauf’s novel for the primary school age group was first published in 2018, winning both the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2019. At a North East London primary school there’s an empty chair in Year 5 classroom. But one day that chair is no longer empty. Ahmet is a nine year old Syrian refugee who doesn’t speak…