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REVIEW – Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty (The Lowry)

November 25, 2015kristobel1 Comment

Date: 24 November 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Matthew Bourne and New Adventures are back at The Lowry in Salford with a gothic reimagining of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty.

By Bourne’s own admittance the familiar story of Sleeping Beauty always left him ‘a little cold’ – understandably so – it is a tale about a Princess who spends most of her time asleep. Taking his inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s score and the original fairytale, Bourne plays with our expectations of the well-loved tale and adds further layers to the story, with a surprising twist and new characters – Sleeping Beauty is a faultless and magical production. Giving us all the visual clues that we need to experience the story in a new and refreshing way – there is no finer storyteller than Matthew Bourne.

Set to the backdrop of Tchaikovsky’s passionate and menacing score, Sleeping Beauty tells the love story of Princess Aurora and her one true love, the Royal Gamekeeper, Leo. However, their love story is cut short when the dark fairy, Carrabosse curses Aurora to sleep for a 100 years. Carrabosse’s son, Caradoc also has designs to wed the Princess – however, she can only be awoken by her true love’s kiss.

Sumptuous gold curtains frame the stage and footlights donning fairy wings cast their light up to the stunning movement. Lez Brotherston’s set and costume design is dreamlike and striking, transporting us through from the Victorian era to the Edwardian period and then the present day with ease.

There is an abundance of personality and humour from the outset as Bourne chooses not to depict Aurora as a babe in arms but a loveable and mischievous little beauty. Using clever puppetry, Aurora is given a strong identity from the very beginning bringing giggles from the audience.

As always with Matthew Bourne and New Adventures, the most striking feature is the individuality of the dancers and their outstanding talent as dynamic storytellers. Ashley Shaw shines as Princess Aurora, playful and dreamlike, with Chris Trenfield as her true love Leo – their pas de deux at the end of Act II is perfectly expressive of young love. Adam Maskell shows his versatility as a dancer playing both malevolent Carabosse and her sinister son, Caradoc. Led by Christopher Marney‘s Count Lilac, the winged fairies Mari Kamata, Cordelia Braithwaite, Leon Moran, Dena Lague and Liam Mower, complete a wonderful line-up – technically perfect – they perform with passion, wit and vivacity.

Once you have seen a Matthew Bourne production you become hooked and poised ready for the next. Following the well-deserved standing ovation and rapturous applause for Sleeping Beauty, Bourne hinted that he has a brand new production waiting in the wings. With a formal announcement to be made after Christmas – he did reveal that it will receive its premiere in Salford at The Lowry. I can’t wait.

-Kristy Stott

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty is at The Lowry until Saturday 28th November.

REVIEW – Nosferatu (The Lowry)

October 31, 2015kristobel

Nosferatu at The Lowry, Salford ©2015 Richard Mulhearn. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — Nosferatu at The Lowry, Salford
©2015 Richard Mulhearn. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Date: 29 october 2015

Upstaged Rating:

The Proper Job Theatre Company arrived at The Lowry Theatre in Salford with their spine chilling Nosferatu just in time for All Hallows’ Eve. Their latest touring production, Nosferatu is written by acclaimed poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan and takes its inspiration from the 1922 German Expressionist film of the same name and the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula charts the journey of the Demeter as it sets sail for Whitby from Varna, Transylvania. The ship leaves with its full complement of crew only to arrive without them – the captain is still onboard but he is dead and strapped to the wheel and in place of his crew, there is a strange cargo of wooden boxes. The tale of Nosferatu unpicks the chilling fate of these sailors in the last hour before the sun rises.

Considering that this play is based on one of the most iconic monsters of all time -Dracula -very little happens in the running time of 80 minutes. The crew are waiting for the dawn which brings sunlight and safety from the mysterious and evil cargo that lurks below deck. McMillan’s language is poetic and uses some powerful imagery – however, at times the language felt repetitive which resulted in a feeling of detachment from the characters and their plight.

The highlight of this production was the beautiful musical accompaniment played by Anna Scott – both haunting and atmospheric. Through the simple combination of her skilled cello playing and her melodious soprano voice she did manage to conjure up the eerie atmosphere of the of the fateful night onboard the Demeter.

-Kristy Stott

Nosferatu visits The Plowright Theatre in Scunthorpe on the 30th October and Square Chapel Centre for the Arts in time for Halloween on the 31st October 2015.

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.

INTERVIEW: One City. Two Teams. By Far The Greatest Team at The Lowry.

September 14, 2015kristobel

Manchester theatre making favourites Monkeywood Theatre are set to kick off at the Lowry this Thursday 17 September with the world premiere of their new play – By Far The Greatest Team.

Told in a game of two halves, By Far The Greatest Team tells four new stories about Manchester City, Manchester United, identity, community, and belonging and gets to the heart of why the beautiful game has such an impact on our lives, season after season.

The four new plays will be written by Manchester City fans Ian Kershaw from Oldham (Mist in the Mirror, Oldham Coliseum and Channel 4’s Shameless) and Sarah McDonald Hughes (Flesh, Royal Exchange and Once in a House on Fire, The Lowry, Maine Road, BBC Radio 4) and Manchester United fans Andrew Sheridan (Award winning Winterlong, Royal Exchange and Soho Theatre) and Lindsay Williams from Oldham and lives in Chorlton (Dreamers, Oldham Coliseum, Eastenders and Emmerdale). The production will be directed by Monkeywood Theatre’s Co-Artistic Director Martin Gibbons.

I met up with Francesca Waite who told me more about this exciting new Monkeywood production which sees the Quays Theatre at The Lowry in Salford transformed into a football stadium.

Listen to our full interview here:

By Far The Greatest Team will run at The Lowry from Thursday 17th September until Sun 20th September 2015.

Ten Tiny Plays About Football is being performed script-in-hand by professional actors Saturday 19th September in the Roundabout.

-Kristy Stott

Shrek to take ‘ogre’ 2015 Southport Flower Show

August 12, 2015kristobel

Beloved ogre Shrek and the beautiful Princess Fiona will ‘swamp’ Southport Flower Show’s opening day on Thursday 20 August.

The characters of SHREK THE MUSICAL® will be making appearances throughout the day as part of the celebrations of the opening of Southport’s annual flower show, ahead of the production’s triumphant return to the North West.

The flower show will feature a specially designed Shrek swamp, by award-winning gardeners, Mook Gardens LTD, giving visitors a chance to meet Shrek and Princess Fiona on their home turf.

Visitors to Southport Flower Show have the delight of exploring Shrek’s garden and his floral swamp house throughout the show (Thursday 20 – Sunday 23 August) with the chance of bumping into the star couple on the opening day. The Lowry Theatre will also have a stand adjacent to the garden where you can purchase tickets for SHREK THE MUSICAL when it visits Salford from 2nd – 20th February 2016.

Shrek said:
‘I confess a trip to the Southport Flower Show is a first for me, but of course when I heard there was going to be a recreation of my swamp I couldn’t resist. Fiona is really excited and hopes the flower show might inspire me into developing more of a gardening habit. I already have the green fingers so that’s a good start. We couldn’t resist visiting as the tour of Shrek The Musical will arrive in Liverpool in November/December time and has its very last date in February at the Lowry in Salford.’

Ray Roukin, general manager at Southport Flower Show said:
‘We’re really pleased to be welcoming Shrek and his swamp garden to the show this year, it’s going to be a unique attraction and should prove a big draw for young and old alike.’

Shrek and his garden join a number of family attractions at this year’s show, including free-flying birds of prey, dog displays and award-winning clowns Sonny and Rainbow. The show will also be having its first ever Super Kids Sunday which includes a dedicated Children’s Marquee on the final day of show, with science workshops and fun, interactive activities.

Entry to the showground is free for children under 16, when accompanied by a paying adult, so there have never been more reasons to take the family to Southport.

SHREK THE MUSICAL UK and Ireland Tour is coming direct from London, where it was seen live on stage by nearly a million people and will run at Liverpool Empire Theatre from 26 November – 6 December 2015 and The Lowry from 2 – 20 February 2016.

Based on the Oscar® winning DreamWorks film and featuring all new songs as well as cult Shrek anthem I’m a Believer, SHREK THE MUSICAL® brings the much-loved DreamWorks characters to life, live on stage, in an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza.

The #MIF2015 is so last week…Everyone is talking about the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival

July 22, 2015kristobel

Greater Manchester Fringe Festival is taking place across 19 different venues in Greater Manchester throughout the month of July. There really is something for everyone – comedy, revivals, new writing, spoken word , dance and exhibitions.

I managed to talk to Cameryn Moore (Phone Whore) and Michelle Ashton (The Stars are Made of Concrete) ahead of opening at The King’s Arms in Salford.
We had a good natter about intimate theatre spaces, sex chat lines and Manchester…

For full festival listings please visit The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival website.

-Kristy Stott

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 – Constellations – Touring (The Lowry)

June 10, 2015kristobel

Date: 9 june 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Constellations, written by Nick Payne, follows the relationship between a man and a woman from the first time that they meet each other at a barbeque. The play is built on the quantum multiverse theory and goes on to visit Marianne and Roland at six different points in their relationship – exploring how certain situations, conversations and decisions can change the course of their lives together.

Constellations first premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in January 2012 and it is hard to compare it to anything that I have ever seen. The trick of the play is that the two highly talented actors remain visible on stage for the whole 70 minutes duration and they constantly replay scenes in their relationship. Their conversations and experiences take place in the multi-verse, where the past, present and future exist at the same time. It is an intimate comedy about connecting and relationships, the funny and the tragic but there is an overwhelming sense of spontaneity – Marianne and Roland inhabit a place where anything could happen.

Louise Brealey, probably best known for her role as Molly Hooper in Sherlock, is especially captivating as Marianne alongside the easy going bee-keeper Roland, played wonderfully by Joe Armstrong. Set to the beautiful backdrop of a stage filled with balloons, this play is a real showcase for Louise Brealey and Joe Armstrong’s outstanding acting skills.

Nick Payne’s script is truly magnetic as we watch Marianne and Roland’s relationship unfold before us – it’s like a powerful collision between science and nature, as we watch the quantum scientist and bee-keeper explore their relationship through a series of different moments in their lives. Each situation plays out slightly differently each time due to the decision that the characters make and as the audience we are fascinated to see which turn their story takes next.

The wonder of this production is that we do not know which way the story will play out until we do reach the final moments with Marianne and Roland. In the whole 70 minutes we have laughed and been moved by their relationship and the turns that it has taken. Ultimately, in my cosmic universe Constellations is a dazzling, thought-provoking and intelligent triumph.

-Kristy Stott

Constellations is at The Lowry, Salford from 9 June 2015 until 13 June 2015

REVIEW – Luisa Omielan(The Lowry)

June 9, 2015kristobel

Date: 19 May 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Following the success of Luisa Omielan’s last show What Would Beyonce Do, she has been catapulted into stardom and earned her stripes as a feisty, forthright and frankly downright funny stand-up comic. There has been a real buzz of publicity around Luisa Omielan’s latest show, Am I Right Ladies – she has made the headlines for stripping down to her spanx and the popular ‘thigh gap’ video went viral and totted up more than 10 million views on Facebook alone.

Am I Right Ladies explores Luisa’s new found fame and focuses on her life as a female comedian, being a woman and the currencies that we use to valuate ourselves and each other. Am I Right Ladies tackles subjects such as weight and body image, depression and derogatory language against women. What makes Luisa so special is that she can approach these emotive and current issues with empathy, vigor and amusement – I left Luisa’s show with an aching jaw, a big grin on my face and feeling half a stone lighter.

Luisa Omielan’s crowd is made up mainly of women although there were a few men who had curiously popped along with partners to see what all the fuss was about. Interestingly it was the men who seemed to laugh the loudest throughout the bold, brassy and fearless show. Luisa has a talent for making her audience feel privy to her hilariously personal and intimate stories -her one night stands, her holiday to Zante when she was nineteen and her liberating encounter with ‘well endowed’ Errol.

The only shame was that Luisa’s warm up act Zoe Iqbal didn’t get the liberated crowd quite as ‘lubed up’ as she had promised to, which gave the whole experience a bit of a lull before Luisa took to the stage for the main show. However, once Luisa took centre stage to the beat of some current tunes, the audience relaxed into the big night out vibe.

Luisa is no doubt a fabulous star and a real figure that many women can relate to, her future is bright and I can’t wait to see what she brings in the way of new material. Am I Right Ladies is just the ticket you need for a night out with the girls and so as Luisa says ‘Go Get Yours!’

-Kristy Stott

Luisa continues her Am I Right Ladies tour in Belfast The Mac on the 18th-20th June 2015.