Author: The Reviews Hub - North West

Luke Wright should feel right at home in Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter. Last year, he was on the road performing rollicking ballads from the gin-soaked and gout-riddled days of the Hanoverian kings. Tonight, however, he has more contemporary issues on his mind: culture wars, murderous swans and a serious case of old-man love. Wright kicks off the evening with the gentle lament of Drawbridge followed by the louche, shirt-button-bursting Monster, the first single from his musical collaboration with electronic producer Cobbler. Tall, clad in black with dandyish flourishes, he cuts an energetic figure on the Philharmonic’s intimate Music Room stage –…

Writer: Noël Coward Director: Christopher Luscombe We’re told that, post-pandemic, what audiences want is the familiar. Dependable, cosy productions that aren’t too challenging. Private Lives is just that, and with two heavyweight theatre favourites in the lead roles, it’s hardly surprising that the auditorium for this opening night at the Lowry looks pretty full. But what’s astonishing about this play is that, almost a century on from its first performance, Coward’s dialogue is still so sharply biting and full of witty charm. When newlyweds Elyot and Sibyl discover they are honeymooning in the adjacent hotel room to Elyot’s ex-wife Amanda…

Writer/Director: Apphia Campbell Taking inspiration from one of the greatest jazz singers in living memory, Black Is The Color Of My Voice follow’s Nina Simone’s reflections on her life, from child prodigy to civil rights activist. Alone in her apartment, conversing with her father’s memory, the audience gets an insight into the incredible career and heartbreaking story of an incredible woman. Florence Odumosu takes centre stage in this one-woman show, and she is a force to be reckoned with. Taking the audience on a tour of Simone’s upbringing in the church, her early experiences of racism, her life choices, marriage,…

Lyrics: Fred Ebb Music: John Kander Book: Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse Director: Walter Bobby “Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery… all those things we hold near and dear to out hearts”, and so begins Chicago The Musical! Set in the 1920’s, during the age of jazz, Chicago is loosely based on true events witnessed by Maurine Watkins, who then turned her findings into a play. Watkins highlighted how in the 1920s a pretty face really could get away with murder and her script was such a hit that it became the basis of two films and the 1975…

Writer/Director: Kevin Finnan Nobody, the new dance/circus production from Motionhouse Dance, has a sinister opening. Although the cast are depicting a murder of crows, their synchronised movements are almost robotic and artificial rather than natural. There is, however, no mistaking the atmosphere of menace as they crane their necks scanning the horizon as if searching for prey. Sophie Donaldson’s costumes, resembling shreds of bondage gear, bring a shabby sense of desperation. The crows, we’re told, represent the inner voices of the characters as they try to make sense of their lives. It is hard, however, after the stress of the…

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Laurie Sansom Northern Broadsides has been producing plays for the past 30 years and are celebrating their long reign of making classics with Northern voices. Working alongside the New Vic theatre they present As You Like it written by William Shakespeare and directed by Laurie Sansom. While the essence of the story stays true to the original it is a play that has been brushed down and whipped into shape to bring it unapologetically into 2022. Staged within the New Vic’s theatre in the round, the set is simple but thought-provoking. Washing lines of various styles…

Writer: Vinay Patel
 
 Director: Kash Arshad
 
 Inspired by the life story of his grandparents, Vinay Patel’s An Adventure is a continent-crossing drama, steeped in social and cultural tension, yet rich in romance and pathos. After its premiere at the Bush Theatre in 2018, it now falls into the hands of director Kash Arshad who has triumphantly staged this story, spanning several decades and locations, so that it interweaves seamlessly through time and place. A portrait of marriage across a lifetime, the piece opens with a sparky scene played out between it’s leading players – two wide-eyed youngsters, eager to…

Writer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adaptor: Steven Canny & John Nicholson Director: Tim Jackson & Lotte Wakeham Such is the public affection for Sherlock Holmes and his deductive genius that now it seems even the stage adaptations are beginning to acquire classic status. This comic retelling of perhaps the best-loved of the super sleuth’s adventures – adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus way back in 2007 – has now racked up an incredible 150 productions. Holmes and his loyal companion Dr. Watson are once again enlisted to unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, the apparent…