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Archive for October, 2010

Welcome to Rocksburg – Contact Theatre, Manchester

Writer/Director: Mpimelelo Paul Grootboom Music: Jospeh Maphute Kgomo & Motshepe Pusho Kgawane Reviewer: Ruth Lovett The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ Welcome to Rocksburg is set in a fictional mining township in South Africa with a notorious prison and a criminal culture that dominates the townsfolk’s lives. Exploring themes of violence, crime, love, greed and hopelessness, the play incorporates a [...]

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Crash – West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds

Writer: William Nicholson Director: Sarah Esdaile Reviewer: Audrey Pointer The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ This new play by acclaimed novelist, screenwriter and Academy award nominated author of Shadowlands William Nicholson has tapped into a rich seam of anger, as many people question how the financial bubble burst. We are taught as children that those who do good work will [...]

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Plain Jane – Royal Exchange Studio, Manchester

Writer: Alistair McDowell Director: Clive Judd Reviewer: Julie Burrow The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Set at a girls’ boarding school where money and style are more important than intelligence and geniality, you might assume that ‘Plain Jane’ – a new play from Cheap Seats – would play out predictably enough. Jane, from a working-class background with no interest in [...]

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Lennon – The Royal Court Liverpool

Director & Writer: Bob Eaton Reviewer: Steph Rowe The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★½ Lennon is the story of John Lennon’s life told using his music and that of the Beatles who took the 60’s by storm. The show originally opened in 1981 soon after Lennon’s untimely death, unfortunately it had to close in 1986 due to Michael Jackson buying [...]

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James – Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

Writer: Helen Newall Director: Max Rubin Reviewer: David Noble The Public Reviews Rating: ★½☆☆☆ The most disappointing thing about James was that it had the potential to be so good. Written to celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the King James Bible, and performed in the magnificent Anglican Cathedral, one had the sense that it could have been a [...]

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Ncamisa ! Kiss the Women (part of the Afrovibes Festival) – Contact Theatre, Manchester

Writer: Peter Hayes with Pam Ngwabeni Director: Peter Hayes Choreography: Fiona Du Plooy Music: Antony and the Johnsons , Brenda Fassie, Jennifer Ferguson and Lucinda Williams Reviewer: Dave Cunningham The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ The foyer to the Contact Theatre features video images of women from South African Townships who were abused and even killed because they were lesbians. [...]

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Tomorrow Morning – The Landor Theatre, London

Music/Lyrics/Book: Laurence Mark Wythe Director: Robert McWhir Reviewer: John Roberts The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ It has been said that all the best productions get re-written many times before it becoming the show it is destined to be. Director Robert McWhir gives a strong production yet the material still feels slightly safe and a little thin in places. Following [...]

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Horrible Science – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Writer: Nick Arnold Adaptor: Mark Williams Director: Phil Clark Reviewer: Cathy Crabb The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★☆☆ A giant poo would have to hover above an audience’s head to engage my children in theatre, so what luck ,as that was one of the highlights of last night’s Horrible Science. Anybody familiar with the series of Horrible Science books by [...]

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