Going to the theatre

[Heather]

A Fistful of Collars.
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 23rd July 2016, 2pm.

First shown in 2010 at the Royal Court, Liverpool, A Fistful of Collars is a comedy written by Liverpool playwright Fred Lawless, a man renowned for his legendary Christmas shows which attract audiences to this theatre year after year.

The show, which has apparently been modernised slightly to keep the jokes topical, is set in a Liverpool dry cleaners called Pressing Matters which is being run smoothly by employees, Eileen (Eithne Browne), Pat (Lindzi Germain), Leona (Angela Simms), and Billy (Lenny Wood) until a designer dress is discovered in one of the dryers.

A scheme is hatched to run two businesses from the premises, number one being to pick up designer dresses from the rich and famous for dry cleaning and number 2, to hire those dresses out to the girl's of Liverpool to wear on a 'special' night out, but things don't quite go according to plan.

Sally (Suzanne Collins), who is P.A. to Curtis (Jake Abraham) the landlord of the premises and is planning to stitch him up in order to get him put into prison, enters the shop only to get taken hostage by the staff who are worried that she is going to find out what they are up to and report them to her boss.

Then, Colleen Rooney (played by someone with a bag over their head) comes into the shop demanding her dresses back and she gets taken prisoner too. She is then reported missing by her husband Wayne and a policeman called PC Johnson (Alan Stocks) calls at the premises looking for her.

The employees of the dry cleaners try to hide both their hostages, both who have been knocked out cold with cleaning spray and things begin to get a little bit complicated to say the least.

Although it was slow to start, it did pick up in the 2nd act. It had a complicated plot and was hard to keep up with at times, but still it was reasonably entertaining.

[Frances]

What's going on with the "Pogues play"development at The PUBLIC?

[Heather]

About two weeks ago, I finished my Journalism course and started looking for magazines to contribute to.

Whilst doing my research, I saw an advert on a group page for contributors to the Liverpool branch of an online magazine and decided to give it a go.

Well, I got the job and here's my first review.

It's for a show at the Royal Court, Liverpool that I saw last Thursday.

http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... h-sandman/

[Heather]

On Friday 16th September, I went to see something called Hackstage at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool, to review for the online magazine I work for.

It was a bit unusual, so rather than describe it, here's the link to my review:

http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/features/40982/


On Saturday 17th September, I went to see the matinee of Chicago at the Liverpool Empire.

I'm not going to do a full 'review' of it, but here's some brief thoughts, observations etc.

There was a VIP package that came with the ticket (I was in the seat I usually try to get), so I went early to use it.

For that I got a welcome drink, savoury nibbles and complimentary cloakroom in the VIP suite, called The Ambassador Lounge on the 2nd floor of the building.

It was nice and I felt like a celebrity, but a bit of a con really because anything else you want, ie Programme, Interval drinks, you have to order off them and pay for them at the end of the interval, so you're stuck there (and the cheapest alcoholic drink is a 125ml glass of prosecco at £6.00 ).

Also as the interval is only ever 20 minutes max, there's not enough time to sit there and comfortably finish your drink, so they end up pouring it into a plastic glass for you and a glass of prosecco in a large plastic glass looks like nothing.

While I was in the VIP suite, there was a pianist playing tunes somewhere and I learned that Mr Blue Sky sounds great on a piano.

The show itself, not my favourite but loved the music although their weren't as many catchy tunes as I'd have liked and the band were situated on stage instead of the Orchestra pit, which made the sound much different.

I liked watching the dancers, I found both the men and women really sexy (and I'm not even a lesbian or bisexual), which was probably due to the nature of the dancing.

The plot was the worst plot that I've ever seen in a musical, however I did enjoy the show.

[Heather]

Twopence To Cross The Mersey.
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 24th September 2016, 2pm

This is the stage adaptation of Helen Forrester's novel of the same name.

It tells the story of the author's own family who moved from their comfortable middle class existance in the South of England to poverty striken Liverpool, when her father went bankrupt during the time of the Depression in the 1930's.

Helen, who was only 12 at the time, was forced to stay at home, run the household and look after her baby brother Edward, while her younger siblings attended school and her parents went out to look for work.

She was desperate to go to school so that she could get an education herself, but however much she protested, her parents kept insisting that she had to look after the household.

Eventually though, she got her own way and attended school briefly, before she had to leave, which in those days was at the age of 14. Then, one day when she was picking up her siblings from school, she spotted a notice about evening classes on the gate and decided to enrol for them, and it was at this point that her life began to change for the better.

It's an enchanting story, however I'm not sure how close the play was to the book, as it's been year's since I read it. One of my school friends said that they had seen the same production last year at The Floral Pavilion Theatre in New Brighton, and her mum, who was with her at the time, told her that it was nothing like it at all.

Anyway, I loved it and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Runs at the Royal Court, Liverpool until the 8th October 2016.

[Heather]

Blood Brother's,
Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 1st October 2016, 2.30pm.

Everytime Willy Russell's classic musical Blood Brother's comes to Liverpool, it's always a sell out, which is no surprise as it is set here.

I've seen it 3 times in the last 8 years and I know the story inside out. I have also read the play script, but despite that, the ending always gets to me every time.


It's the tragic story of identical twin boys, Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Joel Benedict), who are separated at birth. Their mother, Mrs Johnstone (Lyn Paul from the New Seeker's), has about 7 children already and can't afford to keep them both, so on the suggestion of Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane Buckley), the lady she cleans for, she decides to give one away.


Mrs Lyons and her husband, Mr Lyons (Tim Churchill), have been trying for a baby without success and Mrs Lyons persuades her to give one of them (it ends up being Eddie) to her. Mr Lyons will never know that it's not their baby because he is away on business and won't be back until after they're born. So Eddie is destined to be brought up in a rich family who live a little bit further away and never mix with his twin brother.

When Mickey is 7 however, he meets Eddie, they become friends and, when they find out they share the same birthday and are the same age, they also become blood brothers, which works out fine until Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons find out and ban them from seeing each other, but they find a way round it without their parents knowing.

Eventually Eddie's family move away to the country and the Johnstone's are also re housed to a new estate, which turns out to be near to where Eddie is living and so they are reunited and spend many happy years together during their youth along with childhood friend, Linda (Danielle Corlass).

Things take a tragic turn as they reach adulthood however. Mickey marries Linda and to top it all up, Eddie and Linda fall deeply in love.

At this stage, Mickey is having a hard time of it having been made redundant from his job and ends up on all kinds of drugs prescribed by his doctor. He helps his brother Sammy (Adam Search) with a robbery and gets thrown into jail.

When he eventually gets out, he finds out about Linda and Eddie's affair, goes mental and borrowing Sammy's gun, seeks Eddie out at the council chambers he works in, where a meeting is taking place.

The police are informed that there's a madman with a gun in the council chambers and they arrive at the scene. They warn Mickey to put the gun down, but he doesn't. Mrs Johnstone also arrives and informs the brothers that they are in fact twins, which doesn't help matters. Mickey shoots Eddie dead and is then shot dead himself by a policeman.

This story is told by a narrator (Dean Chisnall) helped by Mrs Johnstone now and again, who gives her own account of what went on.

It always gets a full standing ovation when it comes to Liverpool and last Saturday's matinee was no exception, and needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house.

[Heather]

Two other reviews of theatre shows that I've been to recently, Just An Ordinary Lawyer and Spine, both at the Liverpool Playhouse Studio.

http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... se-studio/
http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... se-studio/

[Heather]

Here are some reviews/thoughts on the three shows that I have seen since I last posted on this thread.

Labels,
Unity Theatre, Liverpool.
Wednesday 26th October 2016, 6pm.

http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... y-theatre/


The Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
Saturday 29th October 2016, 2pm.

An Everyman/Playhouse and Shakespeare's Globe co-production, which was set in the 1960's.

Quite interesting.


Father O'Flaherty Saves Our Souls.
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool,
Saturday 5th November 2016, 2pm.

Father O'Flaherty is an Irish priest from a Liverpool parish, who has previously appeared briefly in other shows at this theatre.

This is the first comedy that has actually been written about the character, and it's also the first play ever written by Liverpudlian actor, Alan Stocks, who always plays the role.

To be honest, it was an absolutely brilliant first attempt at writing a play, he got the theatre's style spot on, and seemed to be appreciated by one of the livelier Saturday Matinee audiences, who heckled him frequently, which he looked to be quite enjoying.

Stock's is absolutely fantastic at mimicking the Irish accent, although occasionally he does slip back into Liverpudlian, which is something you might not notice unless you were from this part of the world because both accents are similar in some ways.

The rest of the cast consisted of two nuns, Sister Harley (Helen Carter) and Sister Davidson (Keddy Sutton), another priest called Father Devlin (Paul Duckworth), who turned out to be the devil (Devlin/devil, get it), and Father O'Flaherty's housekeeper, Mrs Ruby (Clare Bowles), and the whole thing was a little bit scouse meets Father Ted.

Hilarious and entertaining.

[Heather]

The Woman In Black.
Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 12th November 2016, 2pm.

This was an absolutely fantastic version of Susan Hill's classic tale, and it was very, very scary, in fact, I thought that it was even more scary the last time I saw it, which, just for the record was at the very same theatre.

The Liverpool Playhouse is a spooky theatre anyway. For a start, it's 150 years old and started out life as the Star Music Hall, then in the early 20th Century, it was taken over by the Liverpool Rep, who renamed it, and like all old theatre's, there are plenty of ghost stories associated with it.

This makes the place feel even creepier when they put on a show like The Woman In Black, as there's a woman in dark clothes wandering around in the auditorium, who's name never gets printed in the programme, so you begin to wonder if she is real or just an apparition, and the sound effects that go with the play are very atmospheric too.

It starred David Acton as Arthur Kipps and Matthew Spencer as The Actor, and is currently on tour at venues throughout the UK.

[Heather]

Scouse: A Comedy of Terrors,
Grand Central Hall, Liverpool.
Tuesday 22nd November 2016, 7.30pm

My review:
http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... tral-hall/

[Heather]

My last three shows of 2016:

Scouse of The Rising Sun,
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 3rd December 2016, 2pm

This was the Royal Court, Liverpool's Christmas offering for 2016. It was basically a pantomime, designed for a teenage to adult audience, written as usual by local playwright, Fred Lawless, with the same cast of actors as previous year's, apart from the odd one or two.

These shows are always well attended and loved by the millions of people who go to see them. They always contain corny jokes, local humour and a madcap plot. This year's offering was no exception to that rule, but despite the fact that it got rave reviews and there were some mildly funny bits, I felt that it wasn't as good as the playwright's former Christmas shows.


A Celebration of Dickens,
St George's Hall, Liverpool.
Monday 5th December 2016, 6pm

My review:
http://www.thestateofthearts.co.uk/feat ... rges-hall/


Snow White,
Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
Monday 26th December 2016, 1pm

This was the Liverpool Empire's Christmas panto. I think I enjoyed this one more than the other kids that were there.

The seven (real) dwarves were the stars of the show and got the biggest cheer of the lot, especially when they came on stage for the first time.

[Heather]

My Top Ten shows of 2016 (in no particular order):


1. Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels - Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

2. The 39 Steps - Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

3. Guys and Dolls - Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

4. A Fistful of Collars - Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

5. Down The Dock Road - Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

6. Twopence To Cross The Mersey - Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

7. Blood Brother's - Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

8. Father O'Flaherty Saves Our Souls - Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

9. The Woman In Black - Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.

10. Scouse: A Comedy of Terror's - Grand Central Hall, Liverpool.

[Heather]

The Star.
Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool.
Wednesday 4th January 2017, 7.30pm.

At the end of 1866, the Liverpool Playhouse opened as the Star Music Hall, and so to celebrate the building's 150 anniversary, local playwright Michael Wynne, who also wrote Hope Place, based on and performed at their sister theatre the Everyman Theatre, has written this piece for this stunningly beautiful theatre.

It's partly a play and partly a Music Hall show in which the audience are encouraged to partipate in the songs. The action takes place backstage, where we find out about the celebrities lives, and also on stage (with a very clever and simple set change), where we see them perform their songs, magic tricks and the like.

There's The Chairman (Michael Starke), who introduces all the acts, Ellen (Eithne Browne), the aging star who always tells people that this may be her last performance, Ida (Michelle Butterly), who has returned to The Star after her love affair with a Spaniard broke down, her assistant Dora (Helen Carter), stage hands Jack (Jack Rigby) and Arthur (Danny O'Brien), and some mysterious character called Mr Charles (Kevin Harvey), who proposes to buy the building and turn it into a shop, much to the horror of the theatre worker's.

The plot is a little bit ropey as it is part fact and part fiction, but it is still a very enjoyable show with lots of popular songs from the Victorian period in it, such as Don't Dilly Dally, Down At The Old Bull and Bush, Champagne Charlie, Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, and Hold Your Hand Out You Naughty Boy.

On Wednesday, there was only a small audience as it was midweek, and it wasn't as rowdy as it could have been, which is a far cry from what the place would have been like back in the day. They were also a bit shy and needed some encouragement from the cast to join in with the songs and heckle the performer's, which definitely wouldn't have happened at the Music Hall's, but once they got started, there was no stopping them.

Sadly, this is the only thing that the Liverpool Playhouse are doing for their 150 anniversary. It would been nice to have seen a full celebration with Music Hall shows, exhibitions and the like, but it doesn't look like this is going to happen, which is such a shame for a city that prides itself on being a big cultural centre.

Stiil, not a bad little show. I still have some of the songs floating in and out of my head now.

[Heather]

Brick Up 2 – The Wrath of Ann Twacky.
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.
Saturday 28th January 2017, 2pm.


Back in 2010, a ‘sequel’ to the popular local comedy, Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels, was shown at the Liverpool Empire. It was written by only one of the original two writers, and let’s just say, it wasn’t very successful.


In fact, Brick Up The Wirral Strikes Back was completely different and wasn’t really a sequel. It wasn’t very funny, had none of the original character’s in it and some of the audience were so disgusted by the quality of it that they walked out during the interval.


Early in 2016, a new sequel was announced, which had been written by both the original playwright’s, Nicky Allt and Dave Kirby. It had the advantage that all the original characters were in it, but everyone who saw that 2010 version began to wonder if it would be better, or worse than it.


I must confess that I’m not that keen on sequels and was a little bit sceptical too, but as the new one was being performed at the Royal Court, Liverpool, where Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels has been staged on many occasions, I thought that I would give it a go, and to be honest, it was definitely the sequel that it deserved.


I won’t go into the plot of Brick Up The Mersey Tunnels because it would take too long and I’ve written about it three times before on this site anyway, but Brick Up – The Wrath of Ann Twacky begins pretty much where its predecessor off.


The Mersey Tunnels have been bricked up, the Runcorn Bridge is no more and Liverpool is temporarily separated from the Wirral Peninsula. Everybody is unhappy about this as they can’t get work or go about their normal everyday business, everybody that is, except for Ann Twacky (Eithne Browne), a conservative voter who hates everything about Liverpool.


She wants the Wirral to be permanently cut off from the city, and so when the tunnels open up again, she hatches a plot with some friends and the members of the Kingsway Three, Dickie Lewis (Andrew Schofield), Gerard Gardner (Paul Duckworth) and Nick Walton (Carl Chase), who originally bricked the tunnels up on the Liverpool side.


Her idea is to brick them up all over again, but this time on the Wirral side and things do go according to plan, until, that is, Ann’s husband, Dennis (Roy Brandon), who is a complete idiot, mixes up two identical bags and ends up taking home the one full of explosives instead of the one he’s meant to.


It ends up blowing up Twacky's house, but fortunately, nobody is killed, yet it makes Ann and her friends even angrier and more determined to carry the fight to keep the Mersey Tunnels closed.


This is a hilarious local comedy, which has all the original characters and most of the original cast members too. It probably wouldn’t work in any other city and the reviews have been a bit mixed, but I enjoyed it.

[Low D]

I realize this is probably old news to many Londoners and any theatre-inclined Brits, but i've just only now read about it in Archeology Magazine (thank goodness for the higher class of hospital waiting room reading material once you've made it past the ER gatekeepers and on to the specialists...)

Excavation finds early Shakespeare theatre was rectangular
Foundations of the Curtain, where Romeo and Juliet and Henry V were possibly first staged, uncovered in Shoreditch
http://www.archaeology.org/issues/250-1703/trenches/5288-trenches-england-curtain-theatre