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REVIEW – Maggie and the Song of the Sea (The Lowry)

September 21, 2015kristobel

Upstaged Rating:

THINGSTARS:

Playing as part of the Roundabout Season at The Lowry, Colour The Clouds Theatre Company are back with their new production Maggie and the Song of The Sea. Recommended for those aged seven and over, Maggie and the Song of the Sea explores bereavement through the eyes of a child. Colour The Clouds Theatre have been able to develop this important and universal piece of theatre with the full support of Winston’s Wish, The Charity for Bereaved Children.

Maggie (Josie Cerise) is a young girl whose world is coloured by a beautiful playground of music. Every feeling, person or object in her life has a sound – whether it is the rough sound of the scraping of a woodblock as she brushes her hair or the calming strings melody that she associates with her beloved Grandad (Scott T Berry).

Maggie’s best friend is her grandad who looks after her while her Mum (Samantha Vaughan) is at work, together Maggie and her grandad have amazing seaside adventures and take fantastic imaginative journeys to a special place called Shingle Bay.

When Maggie’s grandad dies suddenly and the adventures that they shared together come to an end, the musical backdrop disappears from Maggie’s life as she deals with the loss she feels and tries to adapt to a different world. The idea is that the young audience follow Maggie’s journey through grief and acceptance and then onwards to understanding and hope, as Maggie breaks through her wall of silence and finds her music again.

Under Alyx Tole’s direction, Maggie and the Song of the Sea offers young children the opportunity to learn about death in a safe and calm environment. Maggie’s story is told with vibrant, colourful puppetry and live music which assists the fantastic storytelling, giving a portrayal of grief that children are able to engage with.

Fully complemented by the ambiance of the Paines Plough Roundabout, Catherine Manford’s charming and playful musical composition and Mark Fox’s sensitive but atmospheric lighting design provide a perfect multisensory environment to tackle this difficult subject. Writer Sarah Birch has penned this story with a truth and honesty which is truly beautiful, offering a realistic insight of a child’s journey through grief.

-Kristy Stott

Maggie and the Song of the Sea visits the performance space at Oldham Library on the 10th October 2015. For information on times and tickets please click here or call the box office at the Oldham Coliseum on 0161 624 2829.

For more information on Winston’s Wish and the work that they do – please visit www.winstonswish.org.uk

REVIEW – By Far The Greatest Team (The Lowry)

September 18, 2015kristobel1 Comment

By Far The Greatest Team © Kevin Cummins — By Far The Greatest Team
© Kevin Cummins

Date: 17 september 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Manchester-based Monkeywood Theatre Company, recipients of The Stage Door Foundation Award and Associate Artists of The Lowry are back with their most ambitious and exciting production yet. Always showing a commitment to their Northern locality, By Far The Greatest Team is a new production about the football community in Manchester, the rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City and a place where you are either born ‘a red’ or ‘a blue’.

Greeted by a theatre in the round, the Quays Theatre has been transformed into a football ground. There are floodlights blazing down with anticipation over a football pitch laid in the centre, banners hung across the upper tiers and an enthusiastic audience on the verge of chanting. It all sets the scene for this unique production, of two halves and four separate plays, focusing on football in Manchester. Under Martin Gibbons’ direction, By Far The Greatest Team seeks to explore notions around football fandom, identity and the effect that football can have on our relationships.

First up was We’re Not Really Here by Ian Kershaw which sees Sam (David Judge), a swaggering, cocky blue football hooligan chanting the lyrics from a City song that mocks the 1958 Munich disaster. United fan Ryan (Andrew Sheridan) and City football supporter Helen (Meriel Schofield) seek to act as a conscience and education around the historical event. It’s a provocative subject and an interesting script but there is an imbalance on stage and sadly, frequent overacting detracts from any passion or believability.

Lindsay Williams’ Stretford End sees United season ticket holders Robbie (Chris Jack) and Dunc (Mark Jordan) enjoying Sir Alex’s final match. An important game for any red, Robbie’s ex Sal (Francesca Waite) arrives much to their unease. Packed with funny ‘football’ lines and a couple of amusing twists – Stretford End is an humorous take on football, love and relationships.

Following half-time, The Good, The Bad and The Giggsy written by Andrew Sheridan takes to the field. Albion (Andrew Sheridan) is dressed as Fred the Red in a kind of wild west standoff against mobility scooter bound true blue Eileen (Samantha Siddall). Absurd, wonderful and warming – it’s a hit with the crowd.

This is the One by The Stone Roses takes us smoothly into Only Football by Sarah McDonald Hughes. Possibly the most impassioned and heartfelt play of the evening, Only Football explores the difficult relationship between a football mad father Gary (Mark Jordan) and his grown-up daughter Abi (Sarah McDonald Hughes), who manage to reunite through their shared experience of Manchester City winning the league.

By Far The Greatest Team has tried to pack in all of the feeling of going to a football match – the anticipation at the sound of the whistle, the ups and the downs and those last three minutes of tension and drama. This production is a must-see for die-hard football fans and theatre lovers alike and I applaud Monkeywood for attracting audiences who perhaps wouldn’t normally set foot in a theatre.

-Kristy Stott

By Far The Greatest Team runs at The Lowry until Sunday 20 September 2015.

REVIEW – Hal Cruttenden – The Tough Luvvie Tour (The Lowry)

September 15, 2015kristobel

Date: 13 september 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Hal Cruttenden’s returns to The Lowry in Salford to perform a special one-off performance of one of his most successful routines to date – his “Tough Luvvie” show. Ahead of touring his new show entitled “Straight Otta Cruttenden”, he has chosen the Quays Theatre to record the official DVD of his “Tough Luvvie” tour. Playing to a full house in the Quays Theatre, he proves that he is a charming and energetic stand-up comedian with a wealth of material, intelligence and wit.

Cruttenden’s comedy pacing and timing are impeccable in this well observed and brutally honest show. This naturally funny man first appears quite mild and inoffensive with his audience by reducing himself to a stereotype of a middle class southerner and comparing the way he looks to Martin Roberts from daytime television show Homes Under the Hammer. It is impossible to resist laughing along with Cruttenden’s unique mix of camp and straight, warm and catty humour.

Importantly, Cruttenden’s humour begins with himself and his family, he does a superb impression of his Northern Irish wife, before he begins to relentlessly shine the spotlight on others. As his show progresses, Cruttenden who self-professes to be a ‘middle class English tw*t’, seems to earn the right to take on the Irish, the Scottish and the Russian, poking fun at the stereotypes in the same way. It’s a very clever device and the show is skilfully structured with Cruttenden further challenging modern society – having a go at footballers, mocking the royal family and politicians and then, much to my delight, those people who post those inane ‘share and like’ poems on Facebook.

Throughout the show Cruttenden frequently interacts with his audience and despite being hilariously candid, he is professional and strangely polite. He banters with a couple on the front row and skilfully works the material into the show; he spies a fellow in the crowd wearing a Iron Maiden t-shirt and proceeds to mock him (you’ve been warned) and he also scouts the crowd for the oldest audience member.

Hal Cruttenden gives an impeccable stand-up performance – I should know I was the woman on the first tier who laughed so hard that her stomach ached as she gasped for breath. Maybe I’ll make it on to the DVD? One thing is for sure, I’ll be one of the first in line to bag tickets for Hal Cruttenden’s next show ‘ Straight Outta Cruttenden’ when he returns to The Lowry on the 1st November…

-Kristy Stott

Hal Cruttenden commences his new show ‘Straight Outta Cruttenden’ at The Drill Hall in Lincoln on Thursday 17th September and continues to tour the UK until April 2016.

He returns to The Lowry in Salford on 1st November 2015.

For more dates on his tour please click here.

REVIEW – Hot Stuff (Oldham Coliseum)

September 10, 2015kristobel

Date: 9 september 2015

Upstaged rating:

Hot Stuff premiered at the Oldham Coliseum back in November 1990 and was devised by Maggie Norris and the Coliseum’s artistic director of the time, Paul Kerryson. Following its debut, Hot Stuff played to packed audiences, received rave reviews and rocked the West End. Now, under Kevin Shaw’s direction, this cult classic returns to the Coliseum stage on its 25th anniversary in a bid to thrill, delight and rock the Oldham audience once more.

Based on the Marlowe classic Faustus, wannabe rock star Joe Soap (Benjamin Stratton) sells his soul in exchange for musical fame and a rock star lifestyle. With stars in his eyes and money on his mind, Soap strikes a demonic deal with Lucy Fur (Alan French) and ditches his ballroom dancing sweetheart Julie (Ibinabo Jack) for his place on the devil’s train.

The Hot Stuff stage gleams with gold – it is as if King Midas has paid a visit to Oldham. With gold lamé drapes and curtains framing the stage – there is certainly no shortage of sequins, glitz or glamour in this energetic and raunchy stage show. However, the whole production does take a little bit of adjusting to – the writing is incredibly loose with more than a whiff of pantomime. Nevertheless, the whole narrative anchors around some of the most well known tunes and characters from the 70’s and 80’s which gives Hot Stuff the feel good factor.

The talented cast belt out hit after hit with tremendous energy and naughtiness and the four piece band add a further dimension, with their Beatles tribute being a particular highlight. The two baddies, Paul Duckworth as The Boss and Alan French as the high heeled drag queen Lucy Fur add a hint of Rocky Horror to the production. Benjamin Stratton’s likeable Joe Soap rocks us through the ages, from disco to punk, with his transformation to Jimmy Filth. Ibinabo Jack gives a superb performance as girlfriend Julie with her interpretation of I Will Survive. Lakesha Cammock, Abigail Climer and Nicola Hawkins make a smouldering trio of Hell’s Angels.

It is easy to see how Hot Stuff attracts a cult following akin to the Rocky Horror Show and although it won’t please some of the culture vultures out there – it is all round top quality, devilishly funny entertainment.

-Kristy Stott

Hot Stuff is running at Oldham Coliseum until Saturday 26th September 2015.

REVIEW – The Alphabet Girl – Greater Manchester Fringe Festival (The King’s Arms)

August 6, 2015kristobel

Kaitlin Howard in The Alphsbet Girl -- Edinburgh Fringe preview 2 & 3 August ©Lucas Smith — Kaitlin Howard in The Alphabet Girl — Edinburgh Fringe preview 2 & 3 August
©Lucas Smith

PREView at the king’s arms, salford ahead of edinburgh fringe

Upstaged Rating:

The Alphabet Girl is a one-woman show written by award winning Renny Krupinski and performed by Kaitlin Howard, a previous Manchester Theatre Awards Best Fringe Performance winner.

Howard’s performance spans three generations of women, the blackcurrant and gin-swigging grandmother Maisie, broken and intimidating mother Lily and then daughter Ivy, who takes us through to the present day.

Kaitlin Howard is a brave, subtle and versatile actor – she plays all three characters with conviction. First on stage is Ivy who appears naive and wide-eyed, talking into a camera mounted on a tripod, she describes her mother and grandmother. A leopard print faux fur jacket later and Howard transforms into grandmother Maisie – her face hardened and her hands shaking, ravaged by drink and bitterness. A particular highlight is Lily, a well-spoken and deeply intimidating character who addresses the audience directly and holds their gaze for slightly longer than is comfortable. And it is through this that Howard succeeds in creating a chilling, mysterious and heightened theatrical experience.

Writer and director Renny Krupinski’s script is a marvel – it is poetic, elegant and direct yet beautifully woven with hints and clues for the audience, which become shockingly significant later on in the monologue. Spanning three family generations, there is a frequent shift in chronology and viewpoint which also keeps the audience slightly disorientated, adding to the eerie and surreal atmosphere.

With a running time of 1 hour and 10 minutes, The Alphabet Girl is darkly amusing in parts, lyrically beautiful and also deeply disturbing. What starts out as a nostalgic journey through a family photo album actually reveals itself as being something far more sinister, with dire consequences.

-Kristy Stott

The Alphabet Girl is being performed at theSpaces on the Mile at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at 5:10pm from 7th August 2015 until 29th August 2015 (except on the 16th and 23rd August).

Not going to Edinburgh Fringe?

The good news is that… The Alphabet Girl is also being performed at Oldham Coliseum from the 15th until 19th September 2015.

REVIEW – Health Under Fire- Greater Manchester Fringe Festival (Joshua Brooks)

July 24, 2015kristobel1 Comment

Date: 23 july 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Health Under Fire is a fast paced comedy, it could be described as Monty Python meets An Inspector Calls or somewhere in the realm of the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker spoof comedy films of the 1980’s, think Airplane and The Naked Gun and you’re almost there.

Written by Nathan Smith, Health Under Fire is set in the dawn of the NHS, in 1950’s Manchester. Detective Arnold Grace (Scott Hodgson) has been sent to The Manchester Royal Infirmary to uncover the mystery surrounding the regular disappearance of pharmaceutical products.

Donning a trenchcoat like a hardboiled detective, Scott Hodgson gives a brilliantly cartoonish performance as Grace, frequently breaking the fourth wall and delivering each random, odd but hilarious one-liner. Most of the cast play multiple roles, writer and performer Nathan Smith demonstrates comic prowess playing creepy and booming Sir Rothschild and Gus, the often overlooked representative of manual labour. Andrew Knowles and Róisín McCusker give realised comedic performances in a variety of roles and James Beglin and Daniel Blake get a lot of laughs from their partnership as conjoined twins. Amidst this 60 minute rapid fire comedy there is also a serious message to ponder over – the current state of our NHS and the reason that our healthcare system first came into being.

Death by Pie adapt the space in the basement cellar of Joshua Brooks to satirise the film noir genre – clinical privacy screens, cardboard frames and doors, all succeed in deconstructing the genre much to the amusement of the Mancunian audience. The voiceovers and incidental music add further depth to this laugh-a-minute Zucker-esque parody.

Judging by the applause and laughter from the crowd on the opening night, Health Under Fire certainly hit and ricocheted off most of the audiences funny bones. This new production by Death by Pie has to be a highlight at the Greater Manchester Fringe this year and if you’re checking out Manchester or Edinburgh Fringe, you ought to get your slice of the ‘Health Under Fire’ pie too.

-Kristy Stott

Health Under Fire is premiering at Joshua Brooks, part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival from 23rd – 25th July 2015 (tickets are £8.00) ahead of Edinburgh Fringe, where it is being performed at the Cafe Camino from the 8th – 29th August 2015 (FREE).

REVIEW – The Mercury Complex – Greater Manchester Fringe Festival (The King’s Arms)

July 21, 2015kristobel

Date: 20 july 2015

Upstaged Rating:

When you were young and somebody asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, how did you answer? The Mercury Complex takes just that as a starting point – the basis of Lindsay Bennett’s one woman show is that when she was five years of age she was so amazed by Queen’s performance at Live Aid on her 21” Hitachi television, she declared ‘When I grow up, I want to be Freddie Mercury’.

The Mercury Complex follows Lindsay Bennett’s journey to emulate the Queen frontman – strapping her hair brush tightly to a lamp base and using a plastic tennis racket as a guitar, her performance is energetic, riveting and friendly. In the intimate space in studio 1 at The Kings Arms in Salford, the audience are encouraged to get involved from the start as Bennett locks eyes to interact jovially or passes the bottle of bourbon around the room for the audience to share. By the end of the 30 minute show we are all belting out the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody and it all feels quite cathartic and uplifting.

Following the death of Freddie Mercury, Bennett invests her interests in Kurt Kobain and Janis Joplin and we continue to follow and understand Bennett’s life through her musical heroes. Flanked by cardboard boxes, a brightly coloured keyboard and a plastic tea set – Bennett manages to perform 3 smooth costume changes in the half hour show, depicting different eras in her life.

Lindsay Bennett gives an energetic performance throughout this short but well executed show, demonstrating that she is a skilled physical performer and a sharp perceptive writer. The Mercury Complex is a positive and spirited show which manages to skip through life and death in such a charming way – it leaves you feeling as though you could sing your way through almost anything.

-Kristy Stott

The Mercury Complex is on at The King’s Arms, Bloom Street, Salford on 21st July 2015.

Check out the full listings for Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, which runs until 31st July 2015 at 19 venues across Greater Manchester.

REVIEW – STUFF (The Lowry)

July 6, 2015kristobel1 Comment

Date: 4 july 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Toby and Jess are a successful young couple, deeply in love with each other and with the world at their feet, they appear to have everything. Well almost everything. The couple really want to start a family of their own, however early on in the play it is established Toby is unable to father a child. One night their zany, charismatic and terminally ill friend Xav arranges to visit and offers the couple first refusal on his ‘stuff’, which he has had frozen earlier in the day. This sounds like it could be quite a distressing storyline, doesn’t it? Fortunately for us, witty writer Mick Cooper approaches this potentially difficult scenario with insight, a good dollop of humour and likeable, well rounded characters.

Cooper’s script is fully realised by director Alice Bartlett and the wonderful cast of three. Peter Ash gives a fantastic performance as Toby; having just recently returned from army service, he looks bewildered at times, deeply in love with Jess and happy to comply with her fertility spreadsheets and ovulation charts. Eve Burley, as Jess, puts in a subtle and highly believable performance – playing the supportive partner to Toby and life-long friend to Xav.

Xav, exceptionally well acted by Karl Greenwood sweeps into Jess and Toby’s living room and scoops them both along with his humour and craziness. Despite being diagnosed with a brain tumour and the possibility of only having months to live, he is a perceptive character – giving and positive and also the main source of humour in the play.

It is no wonder that Stuff won the hearts of its audiences when it was first performed in 2014 at Manchester 24:7 Theatre Festival. Winning the Audience Favourite accolade, the beautifully balanced script is littered with familiar cultural references and a fair helping of hilarious synonyms for the ‘stuff’ that Xav wants to give to the couple. The Northern crowd chortle when Xav describes the process of IVF using tubs of humous, taramasalata and a bread stick. Perhaps most importantly, the humour is balanced by a deeper insight into the position of the three characters. Cooper has fine tuned the subtle details of the script – our attention is drawn to Toby when he reveals his feelings around all of the infertility leaflets being pink and when we witness Xav and Toby thrashing out their differences, it is evident that this is a play driven by friendship.

-Kristy Stott

STUFF is being performed at The Etcetera Theatre in Camden as part of the Camden Fringe Festival from 20th to 23rd August 2015.

You can visit My Beating Heart Theatre Company website for more information.

REVIEW – 4 x 4: Ephemeral Architectures (The Lowry, Salford)

July 3, 2015kristobel2 Comments

Kate Byrne & Owen Reynolds from Gandini Juggling 4x4 Ephemeral Architectures - ©Arnaud Stephenson — Kate Byrne & Owen Reynolds from Gandini Juggling 4×4 Ephemeral Architectures – ©Arnaud Stephenson

Date: 1 JUly 2015

Upstaged Rating:

4 x 4 Ephemeral Architectures invites two beautiful, but integrally different, art forms to share a stage for the first time. Directed by internationally renowned juggler Sean Gandini and with choreography by Royal Ballet dancer Ludovic Ondiviela, Gandini Juggling return to The Lowry to collaborate with classical ballet dancers.

The result is truly beautiful – a simple exposed stage gives the 4 jugglers and 4 ballet dancers a chance to explore the beauty of these two very different age old practices. At times it is hard to separate the jugglers from the dancers and the fluidity is praiseworthy – a fusion of dancers extended limbs and skittles suspended mid flight.

4 x 4 is like rhythmic perfection, as pure patterns and mathematics collide – the jugglers move like dancers frequently and the dancers mimic the timing and movement of juggling with their voices, breathing and the soft pad of their feet on the bare stage. ‘Is it possible to dance when the ball is in the air?’ The jugglers and dancers trusting one another on stage – we realise that the two share similar skills – balance, timing, control and elegance.

This is a show with astounding synchronicity – as I struggle to keep my eyes on the balls, green, yellow and white; filled with mathematical complexity – flying clubs and throwing hoops to land like ruffs around the dancers. There are a few rogue clubs that hit the deck but they are hard pushed to dent this astonishing performance.

The fascinating and witty dialogue between the two respected crafts is supported by music from Camerata Alma Viva, a chamber ensemble of five (double bass, cello, viola and two violins) who perform Nimrod Borenstein’s original composition, ‘Suspended Opus 69’. Guy Hoare’s lighting design, with wonderful exposed lighting rigs, fully complements all of the movement on stage adding a further dimension to this striking cross-art amalgamation.

Running at around 60 minutes 4 x 4 is a surreal, assured and laugh-out-loud funny (my 9 year old thought so too) display of beauty and intelligence which certainly delighted the Salford audience.

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW – Wonder.land (The Palace Theatre, Manchester)

July 3, 2015kristobel

Date: 2 July 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Wonder.land is a brand new musical, directed by Rufus Norris, that is being performed as part of the Manchester International Festival. Taking its inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s classic novel Alice in Wonderland, the new musical tells the story of Aly, a young teen who battles with bullies at school and struggles to find happiness at home with her mother and baby brother ‘cabbage pants’ Charlie. Aly is unable to look to her father for support either, as although he loves her dearly, he is addicted to online gambling.

Aly finds her solace in Wonder.land, an immersive, technicolour online world where “you can be exactly who you want to be”, which in Aly’s case is a brave and beautiful avatar named Alice, a blue-eyed blond who looks like she has just stepped out of the looking glass.

Damon Albarn has created the weird and wonderful soundtrack for this musical – combining the familiar feel of signature Albarn with a wondrous dose of otherworldliness. Furthermore, the lyrics by Moira Buffini feel natural and unforced, full of wit – littered with references to the Lewis Carroll’s classic novel but still made relevant and accessible to a contemporary audience.

Rae Smith’s design is a highlight – capturing the grey and mundane urban grit of the city and the chaos and vibrancy of wonder.land and aided by projections by 59 Productions and lighting by Paule Constable, the transition between the two worlds is remarkably smooth. As hard as Aly, charmingly played by Lois Chimimba, tries to keep the two worlds separate, the boundaries between real life and wonder.land seem to ‘blur’ into one.

With mischievous and intricate costume design by Katrina Lindsay, the show is well cast with all members giving strong performances. Rosalie Craig as Alice has a wonderful singing voice and moves convincingly as an avatar; Golda Rosheuvel as single mother Bianca and Paul Hilton as online gambler Matt, also impress as parents at odds with each other. Anna Francolini gives an outstanding and highly comical performance as Ms Manxome, a vibrato singing, technophobe high school teacher who can’t abide ‘bad odours, weird artwork and phones’.

Just like Aly, sometimes when the real world gets all too mundane and we need to escape, we can all find our own wonder.land on our smartphone screen, leading us down a rabbit hole into an extraordinary new world. Wonder.land is a brilliant, relevant and modern take on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel and an enveloping experience for your senses.

-Kristy Stott

Wonder.land is at the Palace Theatre in Manchester until 19th July. Following its premiere in Manchester, it will visit the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre in November before travelling to the Théatre du Chatalet in Paris in 2016.