Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Writer: Amanda Whittington Director: James Grieve A rollicking good yarn that in essence tells the true story of how a group of sea shanty men in Port Isaac, Cornwall, who call themselves the Fisherman’s Friends, rise to fame and hit the big time. Their story has been made into a successful film. Fisherman’s Friends the Musical is based on the film and a book written by Amanda Whittington. Earning a living in Cornwall is tough, with a strong tradition of sea faring, mining and an increasing dependence on seasonal tourism. The proud, tight knit community of Port Isaac are dismissive…

Music: Leos Janacek Director: Sir David Pountney Conductor: Andrew Gourlay Back in the days when he was merely David Pountney, before his years in the ENO powerhouse, Sir David directed a Janacek cycle for Scottish Opera in association with Welsh National Opera. In this cycle, this production of The Cunning Little Vixen first saw the light of day in 1980. 43 years on, it still comes up remarkably fresh, even if the shock of realising Janacek’s greatness, also prompted by the near-contemporary recordings by Charles Mackerras, has faded a little. The Cunning Little Vixen is a strange work, the product of…

There’s an air of mischief and delinquency in Lloyd Griffith’s material. With a brand-new, fresh stand-up show for 2023, his latest offering (his biggest tour to date) is first class; a real breath of fresh air. Regaling tales from his formative years to adolescence right through to adulthood, this really is a laugh-a-minute from the start. Griffith takes so much pleasure in sharing with us life’s daft misapprehensions with gusto and is able to demonstrate his talents as a vocalist. Impressionable; he sings with an ardently dulcet quality and to the show’s benefit is able to weave this talent into…

Writer: Robert Harling Director: Anthony Banks Steel Magnolias, based on the 1989 film starring Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts, is about storytelling. It’s about six women, who regularly gather in Truvy’s hairdressing salon, sharing life with each other. Although much of the action happens off stage as the women narrate their experiences to each other, the show keeps moving at a good pace with a superb cast at the helm. The script by Robert Harling is in equal parts funny and moving. Harling gives all the characters their moment to shine and for the spotlight to be on them and…

Conceiver and Director: Daniel Martinez Flamenco is a conversation. When dancers work together with singers and musicians the result can be exciting. The Daniel Martinez Company are deft performers with all the necessary elements of a traditionally organic and deep rooted national music troupe. With a current vibe that is darkly electrifying, its power springs from its absolute authenticity, reaching a wider demographic on its current tour where the art form aims to push  boundaries and connect with a different audience. Fans of the more traditional flamenco music also will appreciate the show’s purpose. Gabriela Pouso attacks each Cuban heel beat with…

Writer: Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler Adaptor: NLP Ltd Choreographer and puppet director: Johnny Austin Director: Brad Fitt Musical Director: Miles Russell The world premiere stage production of Tales from Acorn Wood brings Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s entrancing characters from the best selling books to life in a glorious, colourful and entertaining production. Poor old fox has lost his socks! Are they in the kitchen or inside the clock? And rat-a-tat-tat! Who’s that keeping Rabbit awake? Rabbits Nap, Postman Bear, Foxes Socks and Hide and Seek Pig, are the 4 tales from acorn woods brought to life in this production…

Writer: Charlie Josephine Director: Rob Watt A show about the virality of explicit photos and four disparate Year 11 students exploring their attitudes towards sexuality, gender, consent and the failings of high school sex ed classes, aimed at age 14+ and set to tour with accompanying workshops and CPD? One that starts with unashamed beatboxing? Oh gosh, it’s Issues Based Theatre isn’t it… Birds and Bees started life over lockdown 2020, streamed remotely to over 500 schools across the UK. Following input from these Zoom trapped guinea pigs, amongst other young folk, the show has been reworked for a live…

Conductor: Antony Hermus It says much for the Orchestra of Opera North that it is able to attract soloists of the calibre of Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg and, indeed, has secured the services of Dutch maestro Antony Hermus as Principal Guest Conductor. Together they produced a concert of remarkable virtuosity (from orchestra as well as soloist) to enthral a Huddersfield Town Hall audience far bigger than might have been expected for the performance of two Russian 20th century heavyweights, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The programme note on Serge Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto points to the dichotomy in his musical personality between…