Large Theatres – Page 2 – Live Art Alive

FIND YOUR EYES

Concept, Direction, Photography, Text and Performance by Benji Reid

AVIVA STUDIOS, WAREHOUSE ONE

Finding the Sublime in the Click of a Shutter: Benji Reid’s FIND YOUR EYES

There are some performances that ask for your attention,here Benji Reid’s FIND YOUR EYES does not ask, it commands it. From the first subtle toll of a bell to the final, well-earned ovation, Reid’s self-described Choreo-Photolist offering doesn’t just hold your gaze; it re-engineers it.

Originally commissioned for Manchester International Festival in 2023, it’s a thrill to see a local artist not just holding their own, but unequivocally owning the space as they return to their home city via touring the production to New York.

Reid, once a pioneer in the UK hip hop dance scene, now an alchemist of light and movement—merges dance, photography, and narrative with surgical finesse. This isn’t just interdisciplinary work. This is interdimensional. The camera, usually an archive tool, here becomes a conjuring device. Images are captured live and appear like magic on giant screens. Reid is a silent sorcerer revealing pages of his spellbook in real time.

The genius of FIND YOUR EYES lies in its transparency. Reid doesn’t conceal the trick; he hands you the wand. You see the fans, the foil, the flashes. You hear the barely-there click of the shutter. It’s not illusion, it’s transfiguration. We witness the banal become beautiful: a charging cable turned cyborg crown; a pole dancer becoming a mythic creature caught mid-flight. You don’t just observe the process, you are implicated in it.

Three performers Slate Hemedi, Salomé Pressac, and Zuzanna Kijanowska channel their bodies with a poise that feels both disciplined and transcendent. Hemedi and Pressac unfold themselves like origami, their precision so intimate it feels voyeuristic. Zuzanna Kijanowska seems more phoenix than pole artist as she defies gravity and expectation. These aren’t performances, they are revelations.

The set design by Ti Green deserves a standing ovation of its own: minimalist but mutative, each act unfolding new dimensions, as though the stage itself is evolving in step with the emotional tenor of the work.

The piece is not without pain. It speaks of loss sometimes in whispers, sometimes in shouts of grief, trauma, and the complicated legacy of Black masculinity. Reid’s monologues, stitched with poetic brevity, touch on family wounds, suicidal ideation, and the tender devastation of caring for an ailing parent. It is brave work, and yet never self-indulgent. Under the deft dramaturgy of Keisha Thompson, the deeply personal becomes piercingly universal.

But perhaps the most moving part of FIND YOUR EYES is its reverence for ritual. It treats creativity as ceremony: the lighting of a candle, the lifting of a lens, the building of a world. This isn’t dance as performance but more dance as invocation with the camera capturing moments in time. Reid is not merely a choreographer or photographer-but a high priest of fleeting truth.

In one of the final monologues, he offers the question: “It’s not how do you fly, but why?” FIND YOUR EYES doesn’t answer that question, instead it invites you to experience the lift-off.

AVIVA STUDIOS 25TH-30TH May 2025

WAKE

Beatbox, Cabaret, Circus, Dance, Gig Theatre, Large Theatres, Poetry, Uncategorized

Co-Created and Co-Directed by Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon

Warehouse One, HOME MCR

Growing up Protestant in rural Northern Ireland I went to a lot of funerals. There were wakes with copious amounts of tea, cake and sandwiches and the odd drop of whisky or sherry. They were mostly restrained quiet affairs where your loss was acknowledged with a solemn handshake, a box of teabags or a tin of ham. I always had a sense that our Catholic neighbours had nailed the wake more as a celebration for the dead with music and booze usually leading to a good cèilidh. Apparently I was right and THISISPOPBABY are on the mainland showcasing the rites of the WAKE but with a few extra bells and whistles. My lovely Dad was seen to the grave with the lilt of bagpipes…as of last night I’m wishing we could redo his send-off with some accordions, the bodhrán and maybe an Irish dancer in a sequined g-string with buttock tassles and possibly a world champion pole dancer if the budget would stretch.

Jennifer Jennings and Phillip McMahon of Dublin based THISISPOPBABY have blended the traditional mourning rites with a high calibre camp burlesque show that includes aerial work, Irish dance, slam poetry, break dancing and pole dancing. The result is anarchic and playful rousing invitation to mourn our dead by celebrating life. The production has had several sell out run in Dublin before heading to Sadlers Wells and now Manchester. The Warehouse space is a ideal setting with a tiered stage for the musicians and the pole dancer whereas the circular second stage has a circus vibe and is used for the dance routines and the aerial work. The audience are seated to 3 sides of the circular stage so the sight lines are excellent.

Balloon dance from Wake.
Image credit: Ruth Medjber

THIS IS THE WAKE FOR EVERYONE THAT’S NEVER COMING BACK…

Felispeak is the Irish-Nigerian spoken word artist who weaves a story through the very varied performance styles. Her crisp dry drawl has a laconic charm and there is a real lyricism in her words that is reminiscent of some of our great Irish poets. Some performances burst on stage such as Colombian breakdancer Cristian Emmanuel Dirocie or the mind bending balloon dance by American competitive Irish dancer Michael Roberson and THISISPOPBABY stalwart Phillip Connaughton. Others have a gentler intro such as a beautiful aerial routine by Jenny Tuffs or the plaintive voice and accordian of Darren Roche from the band Moxie in the haunting Raglan Road.

The music here is a roller coaster soundtrack that encompasses traditional melodies and modern Irish classics like The Cranberries Ode To My Family delivered in a gorgeous performance by Emer Dineen. Peppered through these are Bronski Beat Small-town Boy used in a phenomenally confident performance by Michael Roberson. Eurythmics Sweet Dreams sees another striking clubland meets Irish dance while the Peggy Lee classic is rendered unforgettable by a hilariously cheeky performance by Phillip Connaughton.

This is a impressive production bringing together fourteen artists from very varied disciplines and showcases some stunning performances including Venezuelan Lisette Krol, who is a world champion pole dancer and a truly breathtaking performer. Most of all, WAKE is a celebration of how we choose to live while acknowledging death is all around us. In this only possible response is to be open to the joy and accepting of the pain of lost lives that were well lived. This life-affirming production feels like everyone has been on the poitín or Irish moonshine and this is a party for the dead that everyone should join.

AVIVA STUDIOS 17th – 21st April 2025

Kim’s Convenience

Large Theatres

Written by Ins Choi

Directed by Esther Jun

HOME MCR

A few minutes into this production and hunger pangs are kicking in. The vibrant set design by Mona Camille brings this show alive as it really feels like a shop crammed full of snacks and goodies. If this 80 minute production had an interval I suspect there would be a few shoplifting instances as punters might be tempted to forgo the theatre popcorn for a quick trolley dash on stage. This is a feast for the eyes and makes for an utterly convincing Korean/Canadian convenience store that Mr Kim has poured all his energy into making a success for his family.

Ins Choi debuted the play in 2011 at the Toronto Fringe Festival and it later became a runaway hit as a TV series which ran for 5 seasons on CBC and Netflix. This production is fast paced but then it needs to be as it attempts to crammed in pivotal storyline from all the tv series. The result is a janchi of events as this fractured family reconnect. Mr Kim discovers his story is his family not his business, his wife sees her church community vanish in the path of gentrification, their daughter finds love with a childhood friend and their son reconciled with his father after the violent events of his teenage years. There’s a lot to consume and digest in this production and although it has plenty of charm and endearing moments there is a lot of serious and darker elements that are brushed over in this trolley dash through the 5 series.

The cast of Kim’s Convenience
Image credit: Victoria Davies

Here the immigrant experience is seen from the first and second generation experience and how these very different perspectives can cause clashes and divides around what constitutes belonging, identity and success. There are some uncomfortable moments that highlight issues around racism and violence within families that are never really addressed in this cheery upbeat production. It’s a fine line to walk but here the audience seem so affectionate towards these familiar characters that they seem willing to laugh along.

The cast are all highly committed and James Yi as Appa and Caroline Donica as his daughter Janet have great onstage chemistry and keep the dialogue sparkling. Andrew Gichigi plays multiple roles with real charm so it’s easy to delight in his burgeoning relationship with Janet. There is plenty to enjoy in this popular and entertaining show but like many of the fast foods on the display shelves it may leave you with a slightly unpleasant aftertaste.

HOME MCR 8th-12th April 2025

UK tour dates

The House Party

Large Theatres

Adaptation by Laura Lomas

Directed by Holly Race Roughan

HOME MCR

August Strindberg wrote Miss Julie as a naturalistic play in 1888. This classic upstairs/downstairs drama explored themes of class, privilege and aspiration and has been subsequently adapted for stage and screen many times. Almost 150 years on Laura Lomas reimagines the play as The House Party where a group of teenagers gather for a hastily arranged 18th birthday party that unfolds as part wild rave, part a night of heady secrets revealed and part kitchen sink drama…albeit in a very fancy kitchen.

This production sees Artistic Director of Headlong, Holly Race Roughan take the reins in a collaboration with Frantic Assembly. The result is a vibrant, pacey deep delve into youth culture observing what can build strong bonds for teenagers or splinter apart these often fragile relationships. The coupling of these two high calibre theatre companies is a much more successful enterprise than anything achieved by the messy ménage à trois of Julie, Christine and Jon. This production looks great with a clever and sophisticated set design by Loren Elstein and highly impactful lighting by Joshua Pharo and Joseph Hornsby. The riotous party scenes that puncuate the production are beautifully executed by Movement Director Scott Graham from Frantic Assembly. This drives the narrative by both ramping up the tension and vividly illuminating the joy and sense of belonging found on the dance floor.

The House Party cast
Image credit: Ikin Yum.

In this production the three main protagonists are reimagined as Generation Z teenagers who connect over shots and selfies and wield their power through sex and revenge porn. Julie is pretty and privileged and Synnøve Karlsen imbues her with a chameleon quality that allows her to flit between winsome and charming or caustic and loathsome. Weaponising her pain in shocking ways, her capacity to destroy those she loves and sabotage her own happiness is quite the thing to observe. Sesley Hope as Christine is an excellent foil as the best friend from a working class background. Whereas Julie appears quite unhinged by her past trauma, Christine is grounded and much more robust despite her own challenging family background. Tom Lewis is Jon who professes love for Christine but once harboured desire for Julie watching her grow up. He deeply resents her hold on Christine and how he went unnoticed as the son of the family cleaner.

Three teenagers with hopes and aspirations are all equally trapped in their own harmful patterns. Julie only knows how to get attention through destructive behaviours, Christine sabotages her chance to go to Cambridge University and Jon aspires to be a perfect boyfriend yet for all his genuine care he displays callous and misogynistic qualities. All the performers in lead roles give strong and convincing performances though Lomas definitely seems more at home writing authentic female characters.

This punchy drama aims high and is a searing insight into the impact of fast paced, digital culture where lives can be destroyed by simply pressing Send or Share and sentiments are reduced to vacuous soundbites. Unlike the original Miss Julie, this adaptation has a coda which takes place ten years on from the shocking events of the party. I’m unsure how necessary or indeed successful this is as the huge digital clock races forward in time to reveal what happens in the aftermath. As a dramatic device it may have been more effective used as an opener to the production then rewinding back to the party and its explosive sequences.

HOME MCR 25th- 29th March 2025

Tour Dates

CYCLES

Dance, Hip Hop, Large Theatres

Concept and Conception Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante

Choreographer Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy

AVIVA STUDIOS

Eighteen months on from the memorable FREE YOUR MIND which launched AVIVA STUDIOS in 2023 comes CYCLES from company who worked with Danny Boyle. This production from renowned hip hop dance company BOY BLUE sees Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy back in the building celebrating hip hop dance as an art form. A dance form that now has a fifty year history which started on the streets of The Bronx but is now studied as an art form that can aid depression, PTSD and those who are visually impaired according to University studies.

CYCLES sees eight dancers showcase hip hop dance in its various forms simply as an expression of sheer energy and exuberance that also celebrates technical ability and tight precision choreography. Ninety minutes of dance that encompasses movement in complete unison and creates space for individual expression. Staged on the huge stage in The Hall there is space for fluidity and freedom as dancers come together or seamlessly break apart with points when one literally run cycles of movement along beamed light that looks like the moving turntable of a club DJ.

BOY BLUE performing CYCLES at AVIVA STUDIOS. Image credit: Camilla Greenwell.

This striking production looks and sounds great. The costumes by Matthew Josephs nail street fashion that looks both edgy and slightly futuristic. In the second half the performers don oversized hoods that dwarf their faces giving an androgynous anonymity and look of street menace. There is a starkness to the staging that puts all the emphasis on the dancers. It is only broken by the impactful lighting design by Lee Curran who creates piercing beams of light like helicopter searchlights. The shafts of lights at times cleverly splinter across the stage using the dancers bodies to direct where the light falls. This works beautifully at times but depending on where you are seated there may be moments that are simply blinding.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this production is the fact that the huge Hall at AVIVA STUDIOS was packed out with a diverse and very enthusiastic audience. It can be frustrating and saddening to see some brilliant dance companies play to half empty theatres but thankfully this production celebrating hip hop had no such issues. Hopefully this programming at Factory International will continue to fill the space while also bringing in new audiences.

AVIVA STUDIOS 21st-22nd March 2025

All Blood Runs Red

Large Theatres

Written and devised by Morgan Bailey, Pete Brooks, Simon Wainwright and Andrew Quick

Directed by Tyrone Higgins

Leeds Playhouse

There are some theatre companies whose name conjure up a certain magic and impel you to go see everything they do. One of these is the innovative Imitating The Dog whose work is always seeped in great storytelling using visually creative and innovative methods. This latest production tells a series of interlinked stories with a recurrent theme around how stories get told and what makes some stories get whitewashed from history…can we reclaim them and what might they tell us about ourselves.

All Blood Runs Red takes its name from a plane flown in WW1 by one of the first ever African American fighter pilots who flew in the French Flying Corps at a time when his native airforce still refused people of colour. Eugene Bullard emerges from history as an extremely colourful character. He fled his native Georgia at a time when lynchings were common, he travelled to Paris via Scotland learning some German en route. He was a drummer in the golden jazz years knowing people like Josephine Baker,he ran a club, was a circus performer and then a spy in WW2. In later years he returned to America and was involved in the Civil Rights movement and finally worked as a lift attendant in the Rockefeller building. This indicates a remarkable life worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. Yet the whole essence of this production highlights how easily history can whitewash and marginalise remarkable people based on the colour of their skin.

This is not a linear story of the life of Eugene Bullard. Instead vignettes from his life are interspersed with the lived experience of the Deviser/Performer Morgan Bailey who peppers the production with recollections of how he discovered who Eugene was. On a French film set in Paris, Bailey was playing the role of a young black G.I. in WW2 when he first encountered a book about Eugene Bullard. This production includes Bailey reflecting on his own personal experience of feeling his cultural history and sense of self being whitewashed on set. Woven through the stories of these two men born a hundred years apart is the description of a Parisian lunch where Bailey first suggests telling Bullard’s story with members of Imitating The Dog.

This interplay may frustrate those who may desire a more fully fleshed out history of this fascinating man, however the whole point of the production is to play with the narrative and explore the ways in which stories are told. This is a theatre company that is all about finding new ways to look at stories and bring them alive. Their trademark blend of live theatre mixed with live film-making, digital creativity and sound design brings theatre alive in a unique and challenging manner. This multi faceted and layered production honours a man who emerges from history as someone who defies categorisation and whose life was as rich and varied as this vivid and beautifully constructed production.

LEEDS PLAYHOUSE 14/15th February 2025

On Tour

The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Large Theatres

Written by Martin McDonagh

Directed by Chris Sonnex

LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN

☆☆☆☆

Director Chris Sonnex unleashes the mad and the bad in this blistering tale of revenge for the death of Wee Thomas the cat. Martin McDonagh’s macabre snapshot of life on a remote Irish island during the burgeoning peace process in the Nineties is rich in gallows humour and is a wicked take on Irish sentimentalism and fervent religious and political fundamentalism. Celebrating the absurd in the tradition of Beckett, Sonnex ramps up the bizarre and comedic elements with a torture scene in a nightclub and members of the splinter terrorist group, the INLA, strutting on stage in balaclavas like a psychotic boy band stage singing the Village People’s Go West as they head from Northern Ireland to this remote Western island in Eire. The deceptively simple set design by Ellie Light and lighting by Laura Howard gives a great sense of the remoteness of this cottage on The Aran Isles while also allowing for high impact scenes in the nightclub on the mainland.

In a neat touch the whole cast are Irish and Northern Irish actors with several making their stage debut and some being graduates of The Lir Academy in Dublin where Gemma Bodinetz, previously at The Everyman, is now Artistic Director. The cast clearly relish their roles in a production where the comic book violence permits OTT performances and McDonagh’s quickfire dialogue of quips and barbs is always hi-energy and perfectly paced. Alan Turkington and Taylor McClaine are great foils for each other as the unfortunate father Donny and his hapless young neighbour Davey. Together they wreak havoc as they try to cover up the death of Wee Thomas with the aid of an orange tomcat and an old tin of shoe polish. The ensuing results have echoes of an episode of Father Ted but with gallons of blood and poteen instead of whisky and tea.

The Lieutenant in question is Padraic, a fervent republican and ardent cat lover who is deemed too mad for the IRA and who is now planning his own splinter group in a break away from the INLA. Julian Moore-Cook imbues Padraic with an utterly believable dichotomy of perspectives. At home with Tarantinoesque violence, he thoughtfully offers a menu of torture options to his hostage and won’t hesitate to bomb and butcher yet can wail like an anguished child over his beloved pet. Mairead is the 16 year old Irish beauty who can sing an Irish ballad like a celtic angel while cooly polishing her sniper skills by blinding the local cows. Katherine Devlin is excellent as the republican ingénue who is ultimately more terrifying than the combined force of the INLA.

Liverpool Everyman celebrates its 60th anniversary as a theatre that enjoys a reputation of being bold and innovative. This provocative production continues that proud tradition. McDonagh can divide opinion as a writer of Irish descent born in England yet writing so vividly on still sensitive issues in Ireland. Coming from Ireland myself and growing up during The Troubles I can recognise some of the potential issues but also how well this play reflects the duality and the complexity of human nature. This production does not shy away from the brutal violence or the madcap gallows humour often employed to cope with the horrific but also celebrates the humanity in all of us even when we are at our most inhumane.

Liverpool Everyman 21st Sept – 12th Oct 2024

A Raisin in the Sun

Large Theatres

Written by Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Tinuke Craig

A Headlong, Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse co-production

“Her creative ability and her profound grasp of the deep social issues confronting the world today will remain an inspiration to generations yet unborn.” These were the words of Martin Luther King Jnr spoken in 1965 at the funeral of playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry. Almost 65 years on, her seminal play A Raisin in the Sun remains just as powerful as it was when originally produced as the first play by a black woman on Broadway. This new production directed by Tinuke Craig celebrates the writing of the hugely talented Hansberry as successfully as her production of August Wilson’s Jitney in 2022.

This production has all the elements of a classic kitchen sink drama as three generations of the Younger family are crammed into a roach infested apartment with paper thin walls and a shared bathroom in Chicago. Times are changing and so are the fortunes of this family who are waiting on a life insurance payout. The Matriach, Lena aspires to buy a small home with a yard to plant flowers and finance her daughter through college. Walter Lee, her son is a dissatisfied dreamer who sees the money as a way out of his job as a chauffeur and into a life as an owner of a liquor store with a fleet of cars on his own driveway. His weary wife Ruth wants nothing more than to get out of this cramped apartment and soak in her very own bathtub. Beneatha, the daughter imagines a bright future as a doctor. Grandson, Travis would simply be happy with a bedroom rather than sleeping on the living room couch each night.

The issues confronting this family are societal racism, poverty and how it restricts our choices and the politics of housing which remain just as relevant today. Each character is fully fleshed out and has complexity and depth. Doreene Blackstock as Lena exudes grace and resilience as she attempts to tend to her children while struggling to understand their very different desires. There is a yawning chasm between a woman who once saw freedom as not being lynched and a yearning to own rather than be owned and the very different aspirations of her children. Solomon Israel as her son is not afraid to play the greedy hapless dreamer who eventually finds some honour. He moves fluidly between casual cruelty and drunken misogyny to moments of real tenderness as he tries to navigate being the man of the house and doing right by his family. Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman brings a light comic touch to her portrayal of Beneatha. At times a flouncing, petulant teenager with as many aspirational hobbies as boyfriends there is also emotional depth as a young woman desiring a career rather than a husband, and who has more faith in herself than in a God. Cash Holland may sometimes lean too much into the melodrama but is very believable as a young wife living with her husband’s family and desperate to escape the cramped living conditions. One of three sharing in his role as Travis, Josh Ndlovu is excellent as the young boy in the midst of all the family drama.

The set design by Cécile Trémilières adds a dreamy realism. The sparse but perfectly clean furnishings illustrate the pride these women take in making the best of what is available to them, while the paper thin transparent walls highlight the lack of privacy and the tenuous nature of renting in an impoverished tenement. The dreamy, almost ghostly aspects of characters lit within the other rooms is highly evocative and perfectly alludes to the generations gone before who also dreamt of ownership and security.

The second Act looks at the repercussions of Lena buying property in a white area of Chicago. Ironically this is the most affordable option but it heralds a knock on the door from the politely “acceptable” face of racism as Karl from the Clybourne Park welcome committee offers to buy back the home from the family. Faced with the options to recoup the money Walter Lee has lost or have a home of their own despite the risks, the Younger family must make yet another monumental decision. A Raisin in the Sun was inspired by the poem Raison by Langston Hughes who asked What happens to a dream deferred? There will always be a multitude of answers to this question but this production gives its own response, and it is as powerful as Lorraine Hansberry first intended in 1959.

Leeds Playhouse 13th -28th September 2024

Lyric Hammersmith 8th Oct – 2nd Nov 2024

Paranormal Activity – A New Haunting Live on Stage

Horror, Large Theatres

Written by Levi Holloway

Directed by Felix Barrett

Co-produced by Leeds Playhouse and Simon Friend Entertainment

Courtyard Theatre, Leeds Playhouse

This brand new production is based on the highly successful horror film series Paranormal Activity which became a global cultural phenomenon. Paranormal Activity – A New Haunting Live on Stage is written by Levi Holloway and directed by Felix Barrett MBE, the Artistic Director of Punchdrunk. This theatre company is synonymous with the term immersive theatre with hugely successful and long running productions such as Sleep No More, The Drowned Man and most recently The Burnt City and Viola’s Room. As a production which has been marketed with a deliberate policy of giving no details about content it follows the trademark Punchdrunk secrecy which lends itself well to ensuring maximum shock factor for this horror production as there are zero spoiler alerts. It has garnered its buzz from lovers of the horror genre and those theatre goers excited to see what Barrett can create in his first venture into working in a traditional theatre setting.

Sitting in darkness, a voice invites the audience to collectively close their eyes and contemplate the German term eigengraus meaning significant grey which is what we all see when we shut our eyes. The voice suggests that this gray is not a colour but is a place where we make contact with the Dead. A voice in the darkness is a perfect medium for hypnotic induction and so even before we see the stage our senses are becoming immersed in a collective sense of fear.

The set design by Fly Davis is like my childhood dolls house where the front slides off to reveal a two story home complete with stairs and landing. Filled with homely details it evokes a cosy normality that may still hint at an uneasy undercurrent and has a similar attention to detail that is typical of a Punchdrunk set where Barrett delights in dropping clues and meta references. This is a house on a typical London road where street lights glow and where car lights and flashing lights from emergency vehicles will occasionally illuminate the front windows. Where the outside sound of the incessant pelting rain of a British “summer” blends with sounds within a typical home where Alexa playing a chill out soundtrack is punctuated by the whistle of a kettle on the stove or the reassuring voice of Rachel from Countdown is on Channel 4. An American couple have recently moved into this pleasant home and are adapting to married life and adjusting to life in London having left Chicago. Jimmy has video chats with his overbearing Christian Mom while Lou likes to listen to podcasts about the supernatural. All seems well…

Patrick Heusinger as Jimmy and Melissa James as Lou in Paranormal Activity at LeedsPlayhouse. Image credit: Pamela Raith

The very naturalistic performances are uniformly strong and the tight, well paced writing by Levi Holloway is peppered with pithy dialogue and some very funny one- liners that give the characters real depth but also allows humour to offset the gnawing fear or at times misdirect it by creating light relief then sucker punching you with a sudden shocker. With the aid of some truly mind blowing illusions by Chris Fisher and superb use of sound, Gareth Fry and lighting by Anna Watson the immersive sensory elements suck you in and take the audience on an emotionally turbulent journey that is always so much more than simply just a great story arc.

The story deftly explores love and trust and how we navigate what we struggle to understand or make sense off. We are all hardwired to feel certain core emotions and one of those is Fear…we need to recognise it and react appropriately to stay safe in the world whether we are being chased by a wild animal like our early ancestors or navigating modern life. We tend to fear what we don’t understand and the popularity of the horror genre perhaps allows us to explore fear in a “safe” way. This production certainly plays with our fears and builds a creeping dread with the slow burn of an increasingly spine chilling horror.

Of course not everyone believes in the Paranormal…though some like Lou believe Places aren’t haunted, people are. This made me remember my first introduction to the Paranormal was in childhood when I frequently saw my dead grandmother standing at the bottom of my bed after her death in a car accident. I was never remotely afraid of her silent presence and was not entirely relieved when she stopped appearing. My mother told me years later that the “visits” only stopped after she put a Bible under my pillow. I wonder how many in the audience buy only a ticket for themselves but perhaps turn up with their own unseen Spirit who hasn’t paid their entrance fee or go home afterwards and check behind the doors for shadows?

The only major Spoiler for this production is that it has all the quality production values elements required to suggest a highly successful transfer to the London stage.

LEEDS PLAYHOUSE 4th July – 3rd August 2024

The Importance of Being Earnest

Large Theatres

Written by Oscar Wilde

Directed by Josh Roche

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

Designer Eleanor Bull may have discarded the elaborate furnishings and overblown costumes usually associated with a production of The Importance of Being Earnest but the exaggerated fakery of the overhanging blossoms and the floofy pink fake garden shrubbery perfectly evokes modern style over substance. Director Josh Roche demonstrates a real love of and clear understanding for Oscar Wilde‘s wonderful wit and razor sharp analysis of the human condition. Using a modern setting for this Victorian classic works remarkably well as the allusions to Instagram and our fixation with documenting and exchanging every emotional experience for likes from virtual strangers aligns with Wilde’s enduring satire about what is actually profound and what is truly trivial.

This lively satire has always been a perfect showcase for the verbal dexterity and quicksilver mind of Wilde but here stripped back from all the frills, flounces and posturing is a chance to really listen to the eloquence and depth of the man’s emotional and intellectual process. The first Act sets the scene for Algernon and Jack to establish themselves as the bored city fops who are now seeking something new. Parth Thakerar ably conveys the studied nonchalance and easy arrogance of Algie while Robin Morrissey is all gangly limbs and exudes the nice but slightly dim awkwardness of Jack. Into the mix enters the formidable Lady Bracknell as Abigail Cruttenden who delivers a masterclass portrayal of a character utterly devoid of empathy but terrifying certain of the validity of her every opinion regardless of how misguided or ignorant it may sound.

Abigail Cruttenden as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Royal Exchange Theatre. Image credit: Johan Persson

It is Act 2 where the production really starts to fizz as the two young women who are central to this romantic caper finally meet. In a totally delicious face-off Cecily and Gwendoline oscillate between being “sisters in arms” and ferocious opponents as they both set their sights on marrying a man called Earnest. Phoebe Pryce excels as the initially diffident, decidedly beige daughter of Lady Bracknell whose laser like manic intensity for getting her Earnest is as funny as it is scary. Rumi Sutton as Cecily is every bit the pert, pretty and brattish teenager to win over Algernon. As the two women play a quickfire game of verbal table tennis it descends into thrusting mobile phones like rapiers as they duel for their men and quickly bond again like the Follow/Unfollow/Follow dance of social media relationships.

The other characters are all great foils to the central story and James Quinn playing several roles really ramps up the humour as he determinedly wields an especially noisy espresso machine or meanders across the stage with a leaf blower in the midst of a moment of heightened drama. This delightful romp is the perfect summer production to escape the dodgy weather and the the even dodgier politicians on the campaign trail. Wilde is rightly and gloriously celebrated in this production by Josh Roche, which may be a fresh take but retains all the joy of the original script.

Royal Exchange Theatre 14th June – 20th July 2024