A drag parody of Agatha Christie-style whodunnits, complete with the remote manor setting. On paper, it sounds like a recipe for chaos. In actual fact, it IS a recipe for chaos, chaos of the most satisfying kind.
Chaos of the most satisfying kind.
Taking place on Tuck Island in 1991, the plot revolves around a dinner celebrating the anniversary of Charles and Diana… and it only gets camper from there, with guests beginning to kick the bucket almost as soon as they’ve finished arriving. The script cleverly uses the 1991 setting for knowing winks to the audience, with Charles and Diana’s marriage and newspaper editor Morgan Pierce (say it aloud) providing particularly rich sources of dramatic irony.
The cast boasts huge names in the form of Ru Paul’s Drag Race alumni Ra’Jah O’Hara, Willam, Vinegar Strokes and Karen from Finance. Each of these gets the obligatory cheer as they enter the stage from an audience that is on their side from the get-go, but they all prove themselves as more than just big name casting over the course of the evening, demonstrating their impressive comic talent. Writer Holly Stars also ‘multi-roles’ as the three Bottomley sisters – totally indistinguishable from each other but serving mainly to hike up the body count from tragic to absurd.
My personal favourite member of the cast would have to be Richard Energy, portraying the aging Tory MP Rich Whiteman (perhaps the least subtle name in a strong field of contenders which also includes Lady von Fistenburg). The physicality and energy brought to the role never gets old, and there is something to look forward to every time they take to the stage.
The script is a consistent source of hilarity and the audience have an absolute ball…
Occasionally, gags are built up but never quite pay off – the first act dedicates a fair amount of time to all the guests being under the impression that Diana herself would be coming, only for the attendees to find out that… she wasn’t invited.
Other than that, the script is a consistent source of hilarity and the audience have an absolute ball knowing that the next belly laugh is never more than a few lines away. I can’t wait to see what Stars does next.
-Daniel Shipman
Death Drop runs at The Lowry until Saturday 16 October 2021.
A double bill at The Lowry ‘Then and Now,’ and ‘The Waiting Game,’ is performed by Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black, a professional ballet company founded in 2001 that celebrates performers of black and Asian descent. They have developed diverse audiences across the country and The Lowry hosts the opening night of their 2021 autumn tour.
This show is a work of artistic genius…
Act 1 is entitled ‘Then and Now.’ It commences in a spine-tingling manner as poet and activist Adrienne Rich’s work ‘Dark Fields of the Republic,’ is an accompaniment to the dancers moves. This has been pre-recorded to run alongside.
Fiona L Bennett the Director of Poetry has chosen well. ‘What kind of times are these?’ the opening line is uncannily accurate and fitting for the post covid climate. So begins an exhilarating first act of music, poetry and dance that is holy evocative.
The award-winning choreographer Will Tuckett gives the dancers a stunning and powerful piece to perform. There are so many layers and it makes for a hypnotic, breathtaking watch that resonates.
Emotive and moving, at once joyous, then melancholic, and then playful. The dancers are skilled in bringing this alive; touching the hearts and souls of their audience who are in for a creative awakening during the thought-provoking spectacle. Music is a solo violin composed in 1676 by Heinrich von Biber, which enhances the mood and the energy of the performance – sombre and repetitive.
The second half has a different energy altogether although draws on similar themes, with music by Etta James and Ljova and the Kontraband, this section is choreographed by a second award-winning choreographer, Mthuthuzeli November who also performs. Costumes designed by Peter Todd are a marvellous distressed Pierrot vibe. Again a philosophical piece explores the mundanity of the 9-5 life where the main character is unravelling before us. A moving door is used intriguingly as a prop. Every bit of the space is utilised as the sound of a clock ticks in the background.
Truly awe-inspiring, a ‘hairs on the back of the neck’ dance spectacular…
This show is a work of artistic genius and creative force which spins like a tornado to etch in your psyche. The response and enthusiasm of the performance reached a standing ovation. This was a truly awe-inspiring, a ‘hairs on the back of the neck’ dance spectacular. It will be difficult to top this ambitious offering.
-Rachel Foster
Ballet Black plays at The Lowry, Salford until Wednesday 13 October 2021.
Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop is what happens when we examine our heroes at their most vulnerable. Taking place the night before Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in the dimly lit room of a Memphis motel, we meet the Reverend at his most fallible – trading cigarettes and witticisms with the maid, Camae. We see MLK as we’ve never seen him before, and as the night wears on, we come to find that perhaps there is also more to Camae than there first appears.
The Mountaintop is emotional, thought-provoking, and honest.
Merlin’s Adetomiwa Edun sparkles as the honourable Dr Martin Luther King Jr, managing to both bring life to the hero known to all of us, as well as adding his own personality and style. It is due to the commitment, intensity, and raw emotion that Edun brings to the role that we begin to dismantle everything we think we know about this untouchable historical figure and consider him for what he was – a man. Edun delivers his words with every ounce of fire and passion that we have come to expect from an MLK portrayal. But what sets apart a good actor from a great one, is the ability to build the character up and place them on their rightful pedestal, before breaking them down just as easily. And Edun does this effortlessly, deconstructing the most well-known civil rights speaker in history in a way that has never been seen before.
Here to help him do so is Manchester School of Theatre graduate, Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, who stars as the captivating Camae. A relative newcomer to the stage, make no mistake, Ndlovu is no more a supporting actress than Dr Martin Luther King Jr was a TedEx guest speaker. She commands the stage with every second that she occupies it, and switches naturally between making our eyes water with laughter to filling them with tears. Her words are every bit as powerful as her counterpart’s, and the audience is drawn to her from the moment she steps inside the motel room. For not only is Ndlovu charming and exceptionally funny in this role, but she is also refreshingly cutting.
Camae is the perfect match for Dr Martin Luther King Jr, because she treats him like a person – and openly criticises everything that comes with that. The chemistry between Ndlovu and Edun is electric, and the atmosphere that they create on stage is unmatched. They put the audience at ease with their brilliant one-liners, excellent comedic timing and flirtatious banter only moments before they generate exhilarating tension. They play off of one another superbly, and are natural, believable – and most importantly real in their roles. It is a testament to both their skill, and the masterful writing of Katori Hall, who mimics real life so effortlessly and powerfully in her dialogue.
Because the performances are so real, everything around them becomes real too. For despite the minimal set design, we begin to visualise the room around them. It is as though you can feel the night chill outside, and the faded wallpaper of the motel room. The voices of Edun and Ndlovu transport us to another time, their accents perfectly capturing that 1960s Southern drawl. Though it is the creative team that have truly outdone themselves. They blend stunning visuals seamlessly with electrifying sound, creating some truly intense, beautiful sequences.
Two spectacular talents that undoubtedly have shining careers ahead of them.
Admittedly, at times the piece feels rather disjointed. The beginning of the piece takes a while to get to the point, though once it does it is an exceptional twist, and one well worth waiting for. The pace does pick up from here onwards, though later on there are parts of the dialogue that feel repetitive and verging on redundant. It begins to feel as though we are going in circles, though perhaps this is the desired effect as everything that the Reverend knew to be true crumbles around him. Whatever the reason, it runs the risk of taking us out of the piece and losing our interest, though Edun and Ndlovu always manage to draw us back. Perhaps overall, the script could have benefitted from losing 10 minutes or so to keep the pace, though altogether it holds our attention skillfully for a two-person piece. Katori Hall’s masterpiece is no easy feat to tackle onstage – a two-person piece, told in real-time, that jumps from hilariously funny to hard-hitting and powerful in a matter of seconds. Not to mention that it is played in the round and features one of the most significant voices in American history. All of this, however, the cast and director, Roy Alexander Wise, handle with grace and expertise. The Mountaintop is emotional, thought-provoking, and honest, and it showcases two spectacular talents that undoubtedly have shining careers ahead of them.
-Megan Hyland
The Mountaintop plays at the Royal Exchange until 27 October 2021.
Just as the Bruntwood Prize announce details of the competition for 2022, the Royal Exchange receives the world première of the Judges Award-prize winner 2019. Written by Stuart Slade, Glee & Me is a one-woman show about 16-year-old Lola, a bright and brave teenager, who is diagnosed with glioma multiforme, an aggressive and incurable brain tumour.
Slade’s play is all about living, not the inevitability of death.
For those of you who retreat from watching plays about cancer, Glee & Me is anything but maudlin and self-indulgent. Witty and sharp, Lola’s teenage existence filled with ‘a million tiny anxieties’ has now been quashed for ‘one giant, crushingly existential’ problem. Glee & Me asks, if you were given a limited time to live, what would you do? Refreshing and humorously dark, Slade’s play is all about living, not the inevitability of death.
Liv Hill gives a brilliant, beautifully honest and disciplined performance.
Liv Hill gives a brilliant, beautifully honest and disciplined performance as Lola. Under Nimmo Ismail’s masterful direction, she is sassy and intelligent; talking directly to the audience, full of sparkling smiles and wise-cracks; socially awkward though highly perceptive. Jess Bernberg’s clever lighting design flickers and crackles while a large yellow parachute hangs over the stage – a symbol of Lola’s progressing condition. Dancing around Anna Yates’ yellow carpeted stage, reaching into concealed compartments for props, Hill’s performance is well-paced, punchy and completely absorbing.
Despite an hour and a half of classy performance and witty optimism, there’s only one way the story can go…Some members of the audience have reached for tissues. And on leaving the theatre, I feel surprisingly hopeful. Uplifted. No-one really knows the meaning of life – but I reckon Glee & Me gets pretty close.
-Kristy Stott
Glee & Me runs at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 30 October 2021.
If there was any show to break my 18-month theatre hiatus – it had to be this one. Explosive. Emotional. Empowering. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is one of the biggest productions to head to Manchester since the pandemic.
Explosive. Emotional. Empowering.
The show first wowed audiences at Sheffield Crucible in 2017 before transferring to the West End later that year. Since then, the musical has taken the entertainment world by storm with a big-screen adaptation, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: The Movie, hitting Amazon Prime later this month and a North American premiere planned for next year. And once you’ve seen the show…you’ll realise…that it’s no wonder everybody’s STILL talking about Jamie.
Inspired by a 2011 BBC real-life documentary, ‘Jamie: Drag Queen at 16’, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie charts the story of Sheffield teenager Jamie New and his journey ‘out of the darkness’ to become a drag queen.
With an explosive ensemble opening – ‘And You Don’t Even Know It’ – it’s clear that the show is going to be fabulous and feel good. Magnetic, sparkling and consuming, I felt invested in Jamie’s story from the get-go. Tom MacRae’s snappy and witty script is kept bang up-to-date with a good dose of Covid-related humour. Anna Fleischle’s set and costume design complement the high-energy production – transitions between scenes are smooth and aided by clever video projections. Dan Gillespie Sells’ musical score is a real highlight too – catchy pop-perfection – you’ll be humming it for days afterwards.
Image credit: Matt Crockett
From the moment Layton Williams steps on stage as Jamie, he shines bright. Brilliant, sassy, loveable and effervescent. Softly spoken, he plays the role with a delicate vulnerability and loads of charm. There isn’t a weak link in the supporting cast either: Shane Richie as Jamie’s mentor Hugo aka drag queen Loco Chanelle; Shobna Gulati as quick-witted family friend Ray and Sharan Phull as Jamie’s best friend Pritti. Amy Ellen Richardson gives an outstanding performance as Jamie’s mum Margaret – her tear-inducing, goosebump-producing rendition of ‘He’s My Boy’ was so phenomenal, I found myself stifling my sobs.
‘He’s My Boy’ was so phenomenal, I found myself stifling my sobs.
With a live band suspended high on stage, stunning choreography, superb pacing and top-notch direction by Jonathan Butterell, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie received a well-deserved standing ovation on the night I attended. It’s sparkles, sequins and heels but it’s also a wonderful feel-good story about growing up, acceptance and taking care of the people you love.
Bloody Elle, a gig musical, is the first piece of performance to see the Royal Exchange Round in over 14 months.
Performed
and written by Lauryn Redding, the piece is a one-woman show telling the story
of Elle, exploring her growth, queer love and identity. The autobiographical
piece is made up of a jigsaw of monologue, commentary with Kae Tempest-like
delivery, impressions and live music performance.
Redding
carries the show with a likable cheek, easily navigating the hurdles COVID-19
presents, side sweeping her way into every other character involved in her
story, complete with accent and mannerisms. The only character she doesn’t do
this frequently for or stops doing this for altogether is Eve – her love.
Ultimately Redding gives her voice life at the end of the play, which echoes
around the round.
The set (Amanda Stoodley) is made up of a series of black platforms of differing heights which have a white paint splatter effect across their tops. It’s a very simple set-up with pub-style tables and stools (complete with tea lights in frosted holders) orbiting the stage, making Elle the centre of our universe.
Her unwavering love for ‘Cloud Rises’, the choreography for her looking over her kingdom, and the warm light mimicking a soft pink sunset were show highlights.
Redding
does an incredible job of conducting the show alone. However, for a performance
entirely focused and delivered by one person, it felt as if the show was
hindered in its flow. The set design is from one palette occasionally punctuated
with white light. The choreography, rhythm, and at times even the lyrics, are
repeated throughout the piece, giving the performance a repetitive feel.
Director and Joint Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Bryony Shanahan returns with her winning formula of live music, last seen with the haunting, show-stealing score of Wuthering Heights by Sophie Galpin & Becky Wilkie. The show is at its strongest with Redding’s amazing vocal performances which lace her monologue.
With gig musicals, it’s hard to hit the perfect note – but despite this, Bloody Elle marks a safe return for the Exchange.
-Elise Gallagher
Bloody Elle plays at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester until 7 July 2021.
We can finally go back inside a theatre! After 15 months of not being able to attend any indoor performances, the atmosphere among the audience at Opera North’s Fidelio is one of anticipation. What the audience lacked in numbers (due to social distancing), it made up for in enthusiasm, with passionate applause as soon as the cast took to the stage.
What the audience lacked in numbers (due to social distancing), it made up for in enthusiasm
Rather than a fully-fledged opera with costuming and set, this was more of a concert performance. In order to maintain social distancing on stage as well as in the audience, the orchestra (under conductor Paul Daniel) were out of the pit and on the stage itself, which allowed for a rare opportunity to appreciate precisely where each strain of music originated from. Between this and the lack of visual distraction, it is so much easier to appreciate Beethoven’s score here, and allow yourself to be swept along with the music.
It is perhaps wise to focus more on the music than understanding the intricacies of the plot, which are pretty absurd at times. Broadly, it follows a woman called Leonore (Rachel Nicholls) who disguises herself as a man called Fidelio and takes up a job as a jailer’s assistant, in order to infiltrate the jail and free her imprisoned husband Florestan (Toby Spence).
The small cast of just seven primary performers are all wonderful to hear live
There are various other elements to the plot, such as a love triangle between another jailer, the jailer’s daughter, and ‘Fidelio’, but these seem strangely disconnected from the main plot and serve more as distractions than anything else. I imagine this is down to the lack of proper staging, which would perhaps have served to glue the whole thing together into a more cohesive whole. Nonetheless, the small cast of just seven primary performers are all wonderful to hear live and they tie in beautifully with the orchestra.
-Daniel Shipman
Opera North: Fidelio will next play at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham on 19 June 2021.
During the period of lockdown and the closure of theatres, artists and companies have been driven to find new ways to reach out to their audiences. Interesting new forms of art have emerged in the drive to connect, create and stay cultured. Artists and companies have been compelled to think outside the box and take their practice into new areas.
This new virtual reality show, Petrichor, by Manchester-based theatre company ThickSkin uses digital technology to create a 360° virtual performance space for the audience.
The show can be experienced in-person inside the foyer at The Lowry (socially distanced and Covid-safe) or on your own in the comfort of your own home. For the performance, you are required to wear a VR headset. I chose to experience the performance at home: I received my cardboard headset, assembled it (comes with simple instructions) and settled down to watch the performance.
Featuring two performers, Ayesha Fazal and Dominic Coffey, the performance fuses physicality and storytelling with animated projections and a brand-new soundscape to create a cinematic experience for the audience. Set in the dystopian parallel universe of Petrichor, the performance examines themes around human connection, escape and a world without artistic expression. Using starkly repetitive choreography and an industrial-inspired soundtrack, the two personas subscribe to the cyclical existence of work, eat and sleep.
That is…until a chance meeting brings them together and offers them a glimpse of what life could be like on the other side…
Enveloping and wholly engaging, the performance takes place around the audience. As a spectator, you find yourself choosing to turn your head to follow the action. Directed by Jonnie Riordan and Jess Williams, it’s a clever concept which is well-executed by ThickSkin and their filmic collaborators TripleDotMakers.
Recommended for those aged 13 and up, the show runs at approximately 30 minutes. Perhaps most importantly, at a time when human connection feels more vital than ever, Petrichor offers an immersive, accessible and unique way to experience theatre.
The music in Britten’s Turn of the Screw suits the haunting, ambiguous atmosphere of Henry James’ original text perfectly. Whilst opera may not seem the ideal medium for a story that relies so much on interpretation, the small cast and tight focus on plot in Myfanwy Piper’s libretto make this an interesting subversion of a usually epic form.
Briefly, Turn of the Screw follows a governess who takes charge of two young children whose guardian wants no contact with them. Whilst initially happy, the governess soon discovers dark secrets from the past which still haunt the house in the form of ghosts. If this sounds deliberately obtuse, it is intentional on James’ part. The lack of certainty contributes to the uncanny atmosphere.
The lack of male voices before the introduction of Peter Quint’s character gets rather harsh and grating after a while, but this is more of a problem in the first act than the second. The voices of Flora (Jennifer Clark) and Miles (Tim Gasiorek) as the two children act as a gentle, melodic counterbalance to this. Gasiorek, in particular, is stunning as Miles, with his sensitive portrayal of surely the most nuanced pre-teen character in any medium.
Set
and lighting work together in building the feeling of vague unease which is so
essential for this piece to work. The visual manipulation of linear planes in
the set is the work of a true expert, and the correction of this at the plot’s
denouement is a masterly representation of what is going on beneath the surface
of these events.
The subtlety and vagueness of this piece won’t suit all tastes, but the pairing of James’ story and Britten’s score is an inspired one.
Opera North have a long history of making classic opera accessible without ever dumbing it down – the company first tackled Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 1979. This 40+ years of experience shines through in their approach to the convoluted plot, one which has enough instances of mistaken identity to make even Shakespeare blush.
Heather Lowe as a notably androgynous Cherubino steals the show, bringing a blend of sincere desire and impeccable comic timing which exemplifies a perfectly balanced approach to de Ponte’s libretto. Despite featuring Figaro’s name in the title, this is an ensemble piece that relies on a consistent cast – something which isn’t always present in this production. Whilst every member is undeniably talented, some lack the charm and character which are necessary to make a three-hour opera truly enjoyable.
The approach to gender, power and morality are understandably dubious, given that the plot is around 250 years old at this point. However, Opera North manage to tread the fine line of preserving the integrity of the original intention whilst adding a modern perspective that allows us to laugh at the naivety and folly of the past.
I must also give a mention to James Farncombe’s lighting which sprinkles visually stimulating moments throughout the piece before providing the celebratory climax which also functions as the ending.
It is sometimes hard to hear the cast above the orchestra, and this does hinder the audience’s comprehension of an already difficult plot. For the most part, the emotive vocal talents of the ensemble mitigate this problem, but it occurs slightly too often to be ignored.
The problems of this production don’t detract from its successes, but they do prevent it from truly sharing to the heights which it had the potential to. Nonetheless, it is still perfectly enjoyable for a beginner or a seasoned opera viewer.
