Tag Archives: Comedy

Writer: Shaunna Lee Lynch Director: Ciarán MacArtain Reviewer: David Keane Leaving a far from illustrious journalism career in London, one that involved more pouring coffee than Pulitzers, Siobhán (Karen Killenn) finds herself back home in East Cork and living with her mother Angela (Claire O’Donovan). She quickly realises that the place she left behind is no longer the same and ...

Writer: Stephen Fry Director: Tim Carroll Reviewer: Matt Forrest There are certain actors, performers and comics who you would pay good money to see even if they were reading the Yellow Pages; Richard Burton, Sir Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry would all fit the bill. Thankfully, Fry isn’t tackling the helpful canary coloured directory, instead he is taking on the ...

Book: Craig Lucas Music: Daniel Messé Lyrics: Nathan Tysen & Daniel Messé Director: Michael Fentiman Reviewer: Matt Forrest Back in 2001 a relatively small budget French/German co-production called Amélie, became a monster hit, garnering both commercial and critical success: it did huge numbers at the box office, was in the running during award season, but more importantly than that this ...

Performer: Sarah-Louise Young Director: Russell Lucas Reviewer: Richard Maguire Love her or hate her, Kate Bush remains one of Britain’s great pop eccentrics. Since her first appearance on Top of the Pops at the age of 19 with the iconic Wuthering Heights, Bush has always been easy to parody. Yet, Sarah-Louise Young’s An Evening Without Kate Bush is more like ...

Writer: Patrick Barlow Director: Joseph O’Malley Reviewer: Scott Matthewman The creative history of this comedic production of The 39 Stepsis an interesting one. This parody of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film – itself a loose adaptation of John Buchan’s novel, published some 20 years earlier – first saw fruit in a version by Simon Corbie and Nobby Dimon, who retold the ...

Adaptation and Original Direction: Lewis Ironside Directed by: Stacey Norris Reviewer: Christie-Luke Jones Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: Hamletis Magnificent Bastard Productions’ booze-fuelled and delightfully sweary take on Shakespeare’s tale of royal revenge in the Danish court. The concept is a simple one – a cast of professionally trained, Shakespearian actors rattle their way through a potted 70-minute adaptation of The Bard’s classic ...

Music and Lyrics: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx Director: Cressida Carre Reviewer: Dominic Corr We’re back on Avenue Q, running for fifteen years the street is still offering up an evening of filth, wickedness and yet holds a mirror up to its audience more than ever. Just when you thought bright colours and puppets were for kids, Avenue Q proves ...

Writer: Geoff Allnutt Reviewer: Simon Topping Veteran performance poet, Geoff Allnutt, AKA The Speech Painter, is obsessed with all things Dr Seuss; from the environmental Lorax and all his classic children’s verse to his more obscure output in advertising and propaganda films in World War Two. It is this love of the man behind the books, Theodore Geisel, that has ...