Beginning - Royal Exchange Theatre


Perfect combination - Gerard Kearns as Danny and Erin Shanagher as Laura

I CAN’T remember the last time I laughed so loud in a theatre.

But behind the laughter lies more serious themes in Beginning, from a fear of loneliness to the pain of being estranged from your own flesh and blood to a burning desire for marital bliss.

However, David Eldridge’s beautifully crafted piece is anything but a whine fest, thanks to a superb script that contains just the right amount of the serious stuff.

There must be something in the water in Oldham, a town that’s produced a number of fine and very watchable actors over the years, including Sarah Lancashire. You can add Gerard Kearns to that list.

Kearns plays Danny, the last guest to leave a party held by Laura at her flat in trendy Didsbury. He and Erin Shanagher treat us to a masterclass in comic timing as Laura flirts with her socially awkward guest, with Kearns looking like a rabbit caught in headlights as things start getting a little too serious in his wary eyes.

Some of Kearns’ facial expressions are priceless.

Both actors bring their characters so engagingly to life you’ll find yourself aching for a happy ending. This is a romantic comedy withoutt slushy stuff. Danny and Laura are both vulnerable in different ways even if Laura hides behind a vivacious veneer when we first meet her.

Director Bryony Shanahan and the two strong cast serve up a production that’s a treat from beginning to end and while it’s obvious Danny and Laura are living proof of that old saying opposites attract, Eldridge keeps the audience guessing as to whether their post party relationship will evolve into something more.

I loved this. Make sure you don’t miss the best production at the RET this season so far.

Until March 11. The box office is on 0161 833 9833 or www.royalexchange.co.uk.

Star rating - ****

Photo - Helen Murray

Shakespeare in Love - Altrincham Garrick


I HAVE been reviewing Garrick productions for nearly 40 years - I really am THAT old - and Shakespeare in Love gave me one of the best evenings I’ve ever had at this theatre.

Under the direction of Joseph Meighan, it captures perfectly the bawdy lawlessness of Elizabethan London, with the entire cast enjoying every minute of their time on stage.

We have two engaging, charismatic and likeable leads in Loui Quelcutti and Clara Alexandra-Booker who play out a purely fictional romance between Shakespeare and Viola de Lesseps, who capture the magic of the movie of the same name quite brilliantly.

The play begins with the Bard struggling for inspiration for Romeo and Juliet and we see him slaving over a hot quill, only to be bowled over by the lovely Viola, who becomes his muse. The love scenes have a tenderness to them that is certainly touching.

There are many other acting performances to enjoy including Connor J Ryan as the scandalously under performed Christopher Marlowe, Tom Broughton as Wessex and a show stealing performance from a four legged and furry thespian called Ness as Spot the dog.

It would be wrong not to hand out the plaudits to set designer Trevor McKie or Mike Shaw and his wardrobe team, for really giving us as flavour of the Eliizabethan era with their respective creations or musical director Mark Goggins for the musical element of the evening.

One thing I liked about Shakespeare in Love is the way it humanised the Bard, who lived, loved and even got drunk.

I hope some people don’t stay away because they’re fearful you need to know your Shakespeare to fully appreciate a feel good tale that offers a temporary reprieve from the grim times in which we live today.

A production you’re sure to full in love with and a high water mark for Altrincham Garrick.

Unmissable.

Until February 11. The box office is on 0161 928 1677. Star rating - *****

Photo - Nick Ogden.

Edith - The Lowry


Ivy Corbin as Edith Thompson

THIS is an intriguing story, the deeply thought provoking and engrossing tale of Edith Thompson, one of the last women in this country to be hanged.

Thompson was sent to the gallows for inciting the murder of her husband, Percy. She didn’t carry out what proved to be the fatal stabbing of her controlling and staid spouse.

It was her lover Freddie Bywaters, a decade her junior, who wielded the fatal blow, stabbing Percy in the street after the Thompsons had been for a night at the theatre.

Bywaters claimed it was her love letters to him that spurred him on to do the deed.

The judge allowed the letters to be used in court and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ever since I spent a day as a trainee reporter at court in Sheffield I’ve always been fascinated by the judicial process so this play was grist to the mill for me.

Crowded Room tells the Thompson story in a non sensationalist way that gives the audience the illusion of being part of a real trial. We’re even told to all rise when the judge enters to begin the proceedings.

A largely female cast do a great deal of gender swapping with a mixed amount of success. Ivy Corbin has quite a presence as Edith, looking stunning in an elegant red dress. The decision to place this story in modern times also works, with a set that gives a futuristic feel to proceedings.

When it comes to Edith’s lovelorn missives to Bywaters I don’t think they were really a motivation to murder, just a woman aching for a more exciting existence.

It’s exactly 100 years since the hanging of Edith Thompson and this play is sure to set tongues wagging, as audience drift off into the night or to the car park for their journey home.

Until February 4. Tickets are available from 0343 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com.

Star rating - 3.5 out of 5.

Photo by John Chester Fildes.

The Importance of Being Earnest - Altrincham Garrick


WITH a pre performance soundtrack that includes songs by Kylie and ABC and a silver chrome table and chairs, you’re in no doubt you’re about to experience a very different version of this masterpiece of a play.

Director Nick Sample’s decision to transport this exquisitely crafted comedy to the Internet age works. And it works spectacularly well.

Previous productions have irritated me and while there were obviously Wilde’s witticisms to enjoy, I always found it hard to like this menagerie of irritating, entitled upper class twits.

But, thanks to Sample’s skill and ingenuity he manages to make me like them and actually enjoy spending time in the company of the scheming Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing.

It would be unjust to let Sample take all the credit though as the entire company displays a sense of timing that would sit very well on a professional stage.

Chris Shoop-Worall and Jamie Sloan are an engaging and natural double act as Moncrieff and Worthing, as they deftly try to catch the objects of their affections.

Antonia Whitehead is a formidable Gwendolen Fairfax, who has her sights well and truly set on Jack, for a reason I refuse to divulge to those who may be unfamiliar with the play and there’s a memorable spat between her and Cecily Cardew, played by Lauren Robinson, after a classic misunderstanding.

There are some social references that obviously date the play. Cecily, for instance has a governess played by Sarat Broughton who gives her best performance at this theatre to date for me as the awkward, uptight Miss Prism and there’s a memorable scene with her and Adrian Grace as the lovable, old school cleric the Rev Frederick Chasuble.

Wilde also uses his genius to send up the class system and the way it gives the upper classes carte blanche to behave as they like.

If the cast serves us up a treat, so does Barry Purves with a clever, eye catching set.

A production to really go Wilde about - this is the Garrick’s best comedy of the season for me.

Until January 21. The box office is on 0161 928 1677 or you can book online at www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk.

Star rating - *****

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - The Lowry


Astonishing - The Ocean at the End of the Lane

NEVER judge a book by its cover, so the old saying goes.

How apt then, when Ursula breezes into the lives of a motherless brother and sister, being raised by a dad whose culinary skills don’t seem to reach beyond burnt toast.

Ursula offers them a change from their tired old routine - and makes them burgers.

The National Theatre’s production of Neil Gaiman’s award winning novel will stay with me for a long, long time.

As you would expect from the NT, this production is acting taken to the next level and is also a major triumph for the design team, who serve up a sumptuous feast of eye popping, sometimes genuinely scary, visual treats.

The piece begins with a man returning home to attend a funeral in a remarkable piece that explores everything from the importance of memories and they way they shape us to what determines our identity, as well as the notion of an alternative reality beneath our feet by posing the simple question, what if?

This may all sound terribly deep but Gaiman deals with these ideas in a way that’s interesting and engaging for audience members of all ages.

I don’t want to give anything away for this is undoubtedly one of the most breathtakingly original pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen.

However, this production has had a suitable for the over 12s age restriction placed on it and with good reason. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is definitely not for the little ones.

Former Eastenders star Charlie Brooks is outstanding as Ursula, flitting effortlessly from the motherly to the malevolent and the same is also true of Keir Ogilvy as Boy and Millie Hikasa as his friend and ally Lettie Hempstock.

Enigmatic and unkempt, the Hempstock family are a real treat, living on a farm untouched by time. But are they all they seem?

Growing up may mean I lost my receptivity to magic when it came to entertainment but several scenes in this left me spellbound.

You simply must see and experience this. The superlatives we critics are so fond of fall short here, when it comes to capturing what is a truly astonishing theatrical experience.

Until January 8. Tickets are available from 0843 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com.

Star rating - *****

Dick Whittington - Altrincham Garrick


ALL good pantos live or die by their leads and in Conor Collins, who plays King Rat, the Garrick has an actor born to be a baddie.

When I saw this. on its freezing cold opening night, Collins managed to provoke the audience into booing and hissing him with little effort on his part every time he walked onstage.

Even big kids like me couldn’t resist the temptation to join in, even though us critics are meant to be a snooty, buttoned up bunch.

At the other end of the spectrum there are the goodies. Ethan Beer as Dick and Hannah Dorothy as the evening’s love interest, Alice Fitzwarren.

Unless you’ve had a sense of humour bypass you’ll find it impossible not to warm to Phil Edwards as Sarah the Cook and there’s a kooky bond between this panto natural and Daniel Ellis who plays his son, Idle Jack.

I also really also enjoyed Bev Stuart Cole’s Fairy Bow Bells as the action careers towards it climax. It’s hard to believe Cole has been a member at this theatre for more than 30 years, so fresh and invigorating is her performance.

Tom Whalley’s script is a mixture of daft dad jokes and a healthy smattering of saucier lines which are aimed obviously at the adults and are sure to go over the heads of the kids.

Pantos are a great way to introduce children to the theatre and there was dancing in the aisle during the musical numbers in the second half, courtesy of a group of tots who’d made it their mission to have a good time.

Also, how good it was to escape from the pressures of modern life and enjoy an evening of unbridled fun.

Until January 2. Tickets are available from 0161 928 1677 or ww.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk

Star rating - 3.5 out of 5.

Photo by Martin Ogden.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty - The Lowy


APPARENTLY there’s a World Cup taking place at the moment. While at The Lowry in Salford however, there’s an evening of world class dance to enjoy, courtesy of Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty.

With his fresh and invigorating approach to the genre I imagine Bourne’s innovative approach has won over a new generation of ballet fans and I couldn’t myself among those.

For instance, the baby Princess Aurora is a wall climbing puppet in this production which premiered in London by Bourne’s company, New Adventures, 10 years ago.

In this role, Ashley Shaw redefines takes the words grace and elegance to a whole new level here and the choreography is by turns, moving, playful and exhilarating.

The timing of the rest of the cast is also exceptional, with all of them making it all look very easy.

You’ll find yourselves hoping Aurora escapes the evil clutches of Caradoc, danced by a darkly charismatic Paris Fitzpatrick and find her way into the arms of her true love.

If this magical production is a feast for the eyes, the ears are in for a musical treat too, courtesy of a rather brilliant score by Tchaikovsky. I guarantee even if you never seen a ballet before there will be certain sections of it you will know.

Flawless, magical and unmissable. Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty is a must see.

Until November 26. Tickets are available from 0343 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com.

Star rating - *****