Tag Archives: Colin Connor

Writer: Timberlake Wertenbaker Director: Fiona Buffini Reviewer: John Kennedy Looking for possibly the definitive antecedent of The Dirty Dozen trope? The maverick junior officer who puts his career on the line to take on a disparate, desperate cohort of the meanest scum on the planet and, up against all the odds, the disbelief of his seniors, and especially said scum ...

Writer: Samuel Beckett Director: Mark Rosenblatt Designer: Janet Bird Reviewer: Ron Simpson Tobacco Factory Theatres’ production of Waiting for Godot, in Scarborough at the end of a short tour, aims to remove some of the preconceptions and misconceptions surrounding the play, sometimes in defiance of Beckett’s own views, but retaining its essence. By and large, it works. Waiting for Godot ...

Writer: David Rudkin Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Rebecca Cohen The Octagon Theatre’s latest offering of Ashes is an eclectic piece of poetic theatre, which is at one both powerful and testing. Following a couple’s journey, as they struggle to conceive despite all the best medical attention, this is an intimate and raw piece of storytelling that tugs at the heartstrings ...

Writer: Eric Potts Director: Jane Joseph Reviewer: John Roberts With Snow White, Jane Joseph has found a magical mix of music and merriment to bring the massive Empire Theatre alive this Christmas. It might not be as fast paced as last year’s production of Dick Whittington, but it certainly strikes gold. Snow White may not be full of the biggest ...

Writer: Jim Cartwright Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace   Following on from the conclusion of the Octagon’s brilliant revival of Jim Cartwright’s classic play Two, the theatre now presents the world premiere of the sequel, Two 2. Set several years after the conclusion of Two, the play rejoins the Landlady and Landlord at another time of crisis for their ...

Writer: Jim Cartwright Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace Prolific playwright Jim Cartwright premiered Two in 1989 in this very theatre and the play has since become a favourite among regional and amateur companies. With this excellent revival co-produced with the University of Bolton, it is easy to see why. Set within a pub in northern England the play focuses ...

Writer: Bill Naughton Director: Elizabeth Newman Reviewer: Dave Cunningham   The rising price of property is making acquiring a home increasingly difficult for the younger generation. Which brings an unexpected contemporary relevance to Bill Naughton’s 1966 social comedy The Family Way. The stress of residing with their in-laws Ezra (David Birrell) and Lucy Fitton (Barbara Drennan) has an unfortunate effect ...

Writer: Stanley Houghton Director: David Thacker Reviewer: Stephen M Hornby Hindle Wakes is a local play with a lot of history. This production captures the essence of the themes of the piece and if some of them have lost their resonance, there is still plenty here to engage an audience. The play opens with Fanny Hawthorn’s parents ruminating over her ...