Theatre Review The Sex Party Hope Street Theatre Liverpool

 

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this play, but I did expect to have a good laugh, but unfortunately this was not the case. It is billed as a comedy but I was hardly able to raise a smile; there were some titters from the audience but no big belly laugh-out-loud guffaws.

Written by Terry Johnson, one could be forgiven for thinking it looks like a 1970’s TV sitcom about swingers, although that word is not allowed for this sex-themed get-together.

The action takes place in the kitchen in the home of a middle class couple in an affluent part of London where four couples group for an evening of cheese and wine and more intimate experiences. The arrival of one guest in particular causes full scale curiosity and the plot develops.

There are naked male torsos and scantily-clad ladies in various lacey lingerie sets and much discussion of sexual themes, male and female anatomy, drugs and sexual freedom; gender politics and liberation are the order of the day resulting in a bold, sometimes erotic piece of narrative which has adult themes and language.

The set is constant recreating a modern kitchen in affluent London with a door stage left and a door stage right with many comings and goings in true stage farce style.

The cast work well together and portray their characters convincingly although I didn’t really warm to any of them and was not really interested in how they fared after the party.

I would describe this play as a somewhat serious comedy with lots of discussion about sexual liberation which maybe rather out of date by todays standards, and much of the narrative maybe considered offensive in today’s liberal world where same sex couples, transgender men and women are the norm. Some of the narrative and language may also make those viewing feel uncomfortable, bearing in mind the sensitive subject matter.

Cast:

Suzy Bloom

Jamie Ballard

Lisa Gorgin

Jack Loy

James Lavender

Pearl Schomerg

Jackie Green

Jamie Treacher

Zoe Teverson 

The play is suitable for adults 18+ and runs until 11^th September 2026

https://hopestreettheatre.com/whats-on/

Reviewer: Anne Pritchard

On: 3^rd September 2026

Theatre Review Krapp’s Last Tape Cockpit Theatre

Some pieces of theatre entertain you for an evening. Others stay with you long after you have left the theatre. Krapp’s Last Tape is very much the latter.

Performed at The Cockpit Theatre and directed by its own Artistic Director, Dave Wybrow, this is a beautifully intimate and deeply moving production. At its heart is Krapp, an ageing man confronting recordings of his younger self, and through them, fragments of a life that increasingly feels both familiar and unreachable.

There is something profoundly poignant about hearing the voice of a younger man while watching his older self grapple with memory, identity and the passage of time. The tapes become far more than recordings, they are a tangible connection to another version of Krapp a man with different ambitions, desires, disappointments and certainties.

Peter Marinker gives a remarkable performance. He brings humour, frustration, vulnerability and humanity to Krapp, never allowing him to become simply a figure of sadness. There is an almost uncomfortable honesty to the character, he can be irritable, self-absorbed and at times wonderfully funny, yet beneath all of that is a profound sense of loss. Perhaps that sense of loss has greater personal meaning for Marinker who received an Alzheimers diagnosis two years ago. In Krapp’s Last Tape, Beckett’s one-act monologue written in 1958. We meet a man marking his birthday alone, while listening to and reflecting on recordings he made each year on that day, as he makes what we are told his last tape. 

It is the contrast between the man we hear on the tapes and the man we see before us that makes the performance so affecting. The younger Krapp seems so certain of himself, while the older man is increasingly disconnected from the memories that once formed his identity. That raises one of the most powerful questions at the centre of the production, how much of who we are is held within our memories?

Dave Wybrow’s direction understands the extraordinary restraint required by a piece such as this. There is no need for theatrical excess. Instead, the production allows silence, pauses, movement and the smallest details of performance to carry the emotional weight. The intimacy of The Cockpit feels particularly suited to the piece, creating a sense that we are witnessing something intensely private rather than simply watching a character on a stage.

There is also a real sense of collaboration behind the performance. A particular mention must go to stage manager Marta Fossati, who worked incredibly closely with Marinker. In a production so dependent upon precise timing, cues, repetition and an almost instinctive relationship between actor and stage, that collaboration is fundamental. I was memorised at times by the delicacy of when needed, the live in-ear prompts where it felt Marinker and Fossati worked as a perfect team, a merry dance between the two. Actor and stage manager. 

Much of a stage manager’s work is deliberately invisible to an audience. When it is done exceptionally well, we simply experience the performance as seamless. But in a piece as technically and emotionally precise as Krapp’s Last Tape, the trust and closeness between Fossati and Marinker become an important part of what makes the production work.

What I found particularly moving was that this is not simply a piece about Alzheimer’s, ageing or memory. It is about the relationship we all have with the people we once were. We carry so many versions of ourselves  the person we were, the person we imagined becoming, and the person we eventually find ourselves to be. Krapp is forced to confront those versions almost literally, through his own recorded voice. The past is right there in the room, but increasingly beyond his ability to fully access it.

There is sadness here, certainly, but also warmth and humour. That balance is important. Krapp is not reduced to his condition, he remains a complicated, flawed and recognisably human character. And perhaps that is what makes the moments of vulnerability so much more powerful.

I left Krapp’s Last Tape feeling genuinely moved, but also strangely reflective. It made me think about memory, regret, ageing and the stories we tell ourselves about our own lives. More than anything, it reminded me how fragile our sense of identity can be, and how much of a life can exist in the smallest fragments of memory.

A quiet, intimate and haunting piece of theatre, beautifully held by Marinker’s performance and the careful collaboration of the whole creative team. 

A production that doesn’t shout for your attention it simply stays with you.

Krapp’s Last Tape is running until 5th September 

For more information and tickets https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/KrappsLastTape 

Reviewer: Mary Fogg  

On: 2nd September 

Concert Review Michael Ball Philharmonic Hall Liverpool

 

Michael Ball fans gathered in Liverpool to enjoy him entertain as he promoted his new album called, Glow, which is his 23rd album.

Ball, hailed as the king of musical theatre, is an accomplished entertainer having performed on stage forty one years ago in 1981, for the first time, in the hit show Les Miserables. He is a double Olivier Award winner, a Grammy nominee, and a multi-platinum-selling artist who has also become a familiar voice and face on radio and TV.

Ball was accompanied on stage by his 8 piece orchestra which includes his Musical Director, plus his two female backing singers.

From the minute he came on stage his fans were up and dancing in their seats and many made their way to the front of the stage and danced in the aisles. Ball has an endearing way with his audience and his personality shines through.  He has a genuine rapport with his fans who adore him and he uses personal disclosures and anecdotes throughout his show along with humour and charm.

Ball opened the show with the lead track from his Glow album, ‘Best Night Of Your Life ‘ and followed with a number of Glow’s album tracks including, ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’, ‘Glow ‘, ‘A Million Lights’,  ‘Little Wins, ‘Holding On Letting Go’,  ‘Vintage’, ‘Remember To Remember’ and ‘On With The Show’. He also made reference to the recent passing of Dolly Parton, reminiscing on meeting her and made mention to his mother’s passing last year, sharing a song he wrote for her.

Ball’s rendition of ‘The Rose’ demonstrated the beautiful quality of his voice and although his new songs were enjoyed by his fans, they were elated when he performed many of his hit musical show songs including ‘Empty Chairs, Empty Tables’ and ‘You Can’t Stop The Beat’. His self-penned song, ‘Let’s Just Dance’ got everyone in the mood for dancing and the audience were on their feet whilst Ball shook hands with many at the front of the stage.

His encore numbers included, ‘Love Changes Everything’ and ‘The Wonder of You’. The audience didn’t want him to go home and he was visibly moved.  It was a wonderful evening of entertainment, Ball’s voice is magnificent especially whilst singing songs from Les Miserables and he announced he will be starring in the West End in Jesus Christ Superstar and as Willy Wonka in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in the near future and delighted the audience by singing 'Pure Imagination' from the film.

Ball’s guest for the tour is Liss Jones who opened the show with Cher’s ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ followed by ‘Man I Need’ accompanied by her husband, Zak Lloyd on keyboards. She also dueted with Ball singing ‘How Do We Get Back There’ penned by them both, during his set.

For future tour dates and tickets see https://musicalsontour.co.uk/michael-ball-tour/

Reviewer: Anne Pritchard

On: 3^rd September 2026

Theatre Review A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare North Playhouse Prescot

This interpretation of William Shakespeare’s comedic play was directed by Tom Hardwicke, produced by Lee Hardwicke and creatively performed by the Folksy Theatre company actors, who were fabulous in this open-air production at the Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden at Shakespeare North Playhouse.

Folksy Theatre are a non-for-profit rural touring theatre company and tour the UK with their indoor and open-air productions and specialise in Shakespearean productions and family musical adaptations.

The play follows four young lovers who flee into an enchanted forest and stumble into a chaotic world of mischievous fairies, feuding royalty and a troupe of amateur actors with more enthusiasm than talent and it flits seamlessly between the three scenarios. It covers everything from couples falling madly in love one minute to unrequited love, lust, rejection and abandonment the next.

Whilst the packed audience are settling into their seats, we are introduced to and welcomed by the actors who appear on stage as four musicians doing a turn at Mike’s open mike night at the ‘Snug Lion Pub’ and we are serenaded by their extremely talented uplifting folk style singing, accordion, violin and guitar playing, composed and musically directed by Stephanie MacGaraidh.

As the play proceeds, we are introduced along the way to the many characters, Duke Theseus, Queen Hippolyta, Oberon King of the fairies, Titania Queen of the fairies and Puck Oberon’s sprite, all under the light of the moon. 

Interspersed we meet the would-be actor characters, Peter who directs the play within a play and speaks its prologue, Bottom who plays Pyramus, Flute who plays Thisbe and Snug who plays Lion. Whilst portraying these characters they sing and dance - ‘The Mechanicals’ song being one, also a little tap dancing on one occasion and all whilst playing their musical instruments, all so very talented.

I must commend the speed in which all the actors change in and out of their costumes so seamlessly to enable each play their many characters one after the other, quite remarkable. They move around quite athletically and command the stage so effectively. 

The actors, Gilchrist Muir who reminded me of a Gollum (Lord of the Rings) like style I thought, and Stuart Scott in a Freddie ‘Parrott Face’ Davies (Comedian & Actor) like style, (showing my age here), were hilariously interactive throughout and mingled amongst the audience scavenging food to eat especially sweets from the children, which they loved. 

This fast-paced comedic upbeat play has been created to appeal to all ages and was an all-round family pleaser with something for everyone. Both children and adults alike were either howling laughing or tittering throughout. It was tantalisingly saucy in parts but most subtly and modestly done as not to offend. Was it real or was it all just a dream?

Luckily the predicted rain and thunderstorms held off during the performance and as the evening light faded it created a lovely atmospheric ambiance. 

The audience gave a standing ovation at the end and if Sir Ken Dodd had been amidst us in the audience this evening, I think he would join me in saying very aptly ‘how tattyfilarious’ and how ‘flabbergastingly good’ it was. I thoroughly recommend you see for yourself. 

Check upcoming dates and details directly through the Folksy Theatre official site at https://folksytheatre.co.uk/.

The Team:

Tom Hardwicke - Director

Lee Hardwicke – Producer/Co-Artistic Director

Stephanie MacGaraidh- Composer/Musical Director

Actors:

Seonaid Stevenson

Ariane Murchie

Stuart Scott

Gilchrist Muir

Reviewer: Jill Ollerton 

On: 28/08/26

Theatre Review Of All These Friends And Lovers Hope St Theatre Liverpool

 

This production, from Old Fruit Jar Productions in association with The Hope Street Theatre, revisits February 1964 when Beatlemania was at its height. It explores the close connection forged between John Lennon and Brian Epstein and gives us a glimpse into their relationship. But is it conjecture or fact? Whilst the events depicted in the play are fictional, writer, Alex King, asserts that they are rooted in well-documented historical context and extensive research into the lives, personalities and cultural circumstances surrounding both men. This speculative piece has Jordan Barclay cast as John Lennon and Joseph Winder as manger/mentor Brian Epstein, both encapsulate their characters superbly.

As the audience arrived, Beatles tracks from 1960’s albums played helping get everyone in the mood for the piece.  The set is constant, depicting the hotel bedroom in the Plaza Hotel, New York where Lennon and Epstein were staying during a Beatles tour of the USA. Background screams from fans outside the hotel could be heard throughout the piece and at one point Lennon is terrified upon hearing a loud bang, thinking it’s a gun shot, but it turns out to be a car backfiring, epitomising his fatal demise some years later.

Brian Epstein had taken a leap of faith by deciding to manage the new pop sensation, The Beatles after seeing them play at Liverpool’s famous Cavern Club. Much has been speculated about the relationship between Lennon and Epstein, a covert homosexual who had a secret life of promiscuity with men away from the respectable world of music shop owner and rock and roll band management. It must be noted that homosexuality at this time was illegal and in the early 1960’s homosexuality was widely stigmatised and criminalised across most of the world. In many countries, same-sex relationships were deemed immoral, illegal, and a threat to societal norms. Not long after Epstein’s death, homosexuality was decriminalised.

When Lennon finds himself unexpectedly alone with Epstein at the Plaza Hotel, New York untold emotions and fears spill out from Lennon and Epstein is there to comfort and motivate him. Their close bond is portrayed and Epstein’s attraction for Lennon is evident. With sexual tension and an emotional narrative this production is a moving insightful tribute to both men caught up in a world of drugs, alcohol, fame and new experiences far from the everyday life they once were used to and knew.

The show is 1 hour in length without an interval.

For tickets see https://hopestreettheatre.com/whats-on/

Production runs from 25^th – 29^th August 2026

Reviewer:  Anne Pritchard

On: 26^th August 2026

Album Review Jenius Paul Heaton

Forty years since releasing his debut album with The Housemartins and twenty years since The Beautiful South split, Paul Heaton is back with a new LP, Jenius. The fifteen songs find him writing about those universal themes of love, death and politics, alongside his favourite pastime: drinking.

Joining him on lead vocals for the second time is Scotland’s rising Celtic/country star Rianne Downey. With his own ear for catchy, melodic pop, Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie is the perfect producer for Heaton. The opening chords of ‘Can’t Get Next to You’ call to mind the late-70s power pop of The Only Ones. The lyrics focus on romantic frustration and the helpless feeling of being unable to reach or charm the person you desire. That Heaton sings “you’re one of life’s temptations but I can’t get next to you” is a clear indication that the title is a deliberate reference to The Temptations song of the same name.

Downey makes her first contribution on the next track, the impossibly catchy ‘Favourite Kind of Idiot’, a song that celebrates and laughs at her partner’s flaws. This was the lead single from the album, accompanied by a quirky little video. ‘I Want the Job’ is a lush country ballad on which Downey’s vocals have the perfect tinge of sadness and longing for a job she might never have. The string arrangement only adds to the song’s pathos. ‘Sad Songs and Lawsuits’ is almost a ska tune, turning into an uplifting song about the bitter end of relationships. Already, Heaton’s band have had to turn their talents to very different styles of music.

Heaton’s previous vocal partners, Briana Corrigan, Alison Wheeler and Jacqui Abbott, were perfect at the time, but surely Rianne Downey is his best yet. The blend of their voices works beautifully on the likes of ‘She Ain’t Pretty’, ‘One Eye Open’ and ‘Go Upstream’.

But it’s the lyrics on the less straightforward tracks that really shine through, such as the message behind ‘Send in the Clowns’, an acerbic takedown of the political class. ‘Do Not Ask Me’ uses the melody from Sonny and Cher’s ‘And the Beat Goes On’ to tell the tale of a man who seems to have gone missing from his own wedding photos, before Downey steals the show on the lively ‘Don’t Lean on Me’. Declan O’Rourke then joins the pair on the mournful stomper ‘The Whisky Did’.

It irks me that I still have to remind people who he is when I tell them I’m going to see Paul Heaton, and I suspect that lack of recognition, despite such a familiar back catalogue, is behind the album’s title and artwork. The black-and-white cover, with his surname writ large, brings to mind Johnny Cash’s American Recordings album covers.

Towards the album’s end, ‘Good for the Bees’ is a ballad complete with a beautiful waltzing outro, while ‘Go Upstream’ showcases once again how naturally Heaton and Downey’s voices complement each other. Then comes ‘A Son A Father’, a stomping glam-rock swipe at whitewashed eulogies. The line “and when you pass the casket/and he’s lying on his front/remember him/a son, a father, husband/and a c**t” ensures it’ll never pick up much radio play.

It should be beyond doubt by now that Paul Heaton is a genius: a master of contrasting bright, catchy pop melodies with dark, cynical and witty social commentary. Jenius has everything that makes him a national treasure. Forty years into his career, perhaps it’s time we finally learned how to spell genius correctly.

Jenius is available to download on all major streaming platforms and can be purchased here,

https://shop.paulheaton.emi.com/

Reviewer: Adrian Cork 

On: 28/07/2026

Album Review Comes in Waves Carly Simon

Eighteen years after This Kind of Love, her last album of original material, Carly Simon returns with Comes in Waves, a record that feels less like a comeback than the continuation of a conversation temporarily interrupted. Much has happened in the intervening years. Simon has published two memoirs, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and largely withdrawn from recording. More significantly, the 83-year-old recently revealed that she has been living with Parkinson’s disease for several years, alongside other health problems.

Inevitably, that knowledge hangs over Comes in Waves, but this is far from an album dominated by illness or mortality. Instead, its twelve songs find Simon doing what she has always done best: examining love, loss, family, regret and resilience with intelligence, humour and painful honesty.

Recorded primarily at her studio on Martha’s Vineyard with a circle of close collaborators, including her children Ben and Sally Taylor and the late John Forté, Comes in Waves has an intimate, almost homemade quality. Simon's voice may now carry the passing of time, but that only adds another dimension to songs in which phrasing and emotional nuance matter as much as the words themselves.

She makes her intentions clear from the opening track, ‘Howl’. Against a jaunty, gently percolating piano melody, Simon urges the listener to “howl like the wind” and “roar like the river”. It is defiant without becoming melodramatic, a declaration that whatever life throws at you, sometimes the appropriate response is simply to make some noise.

From there, Comes in Waves settles into more familiar Simon territory. ‘Maybe I Never Loved You’ is wonderfully ambiguous, balancing bitterness, resignation and lingering affection. Its central thought, maybe she never loved him, although she thought she did, could easily have become straightforward recrimination, but Simon is too subtle a songwriter for that.

It is the way she delivers the final line, hesitating over whether perhaps she always will love him, that changes everything. Is this anger, denial, regret or acceptance? Simon leaves the listener to decide. More than half a century after ‘You’re So Vain’, she still understands the value of not explaining everything. 

The similarly themed ‘The More I Look for You’ continues that exploration of relationships and memories that refuse to behave themselves. Inevitably, there will be speculation about whether former husband James Taylor is lurking somewhere within these songs, but identifying their subject is ultimately less interesting than what Simon does with the emotions behind them.

If romantic love remains complicated, maternal love is considerably less so. ‘Mother of Pearl’, written for her daughter Sally Taylor, is one of the album's most affecting moments. Simon looks back at Sally as a seven-year-old child dealing with her parents’ divorce, mixing apology with an unmistakable declaration of devotion. By the time she reaches the emotional cry of “My girl, oh my girl”, the autobiographical detail has become something universal: a parent looking backwards and wondering what they might have done differently.

Musically, Comes in Waves is equally comfortable moving between styles. ‘Love Has No Ending’, drawing on W.H. Auden’s As I Walked Out One Evening, has a folk character coloured by mandolin and harmonica, while ‘Slowly’ has an almost hymnal quality. It is here that the phrase which gives the album its title appears, and it feels particularly appropriate. Memories, grief, happiness and creativity rarely arrive neatly or in order. They come in waves. 

One of the album's most intriguing moments actually reaches back 55 years. Simon revisits ‘Share the End’, originally recorded for 1971’s Anticipation, with the original versions' producer, former Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, returning to help reshape it.

A song concerned with madmen, false leaders and a world apparently determined to destroy itself has acquired an uncomfortable new relevance. Simon's increasingly visceral vocal towards its conclusion transforms the song from an interesting excavation of her past into something urgent and contemporary. It also provides a reminder that while circumstances change, good songs have an unfortunate habit of becoming relevant again.

Not everything here is quite so weighty. Simon's sly humour, an essential but sometimes overlooked ingredient of her songwriting, surfaces on ‘Four in the Morning’. Written by her late friend Judy Belushi, the song finally receives a proper recording, decorated with bells, keyboards and assorted “weird little things”, with Belushi's own voice woven into the track. It is affectionate, eccentric and charming.

All of which leads to ‘Do It Anyway’, a deceptively simple closing song and perhaps the perfect ending to Comes in Waves. Against acoustic guitar, Simon offers encouragement to keep going even when you are convinced you cannot face another day or win another battle.

Then something lovely happens. As the record fades, Simon's family can be heard clapping, singing and laughing together, described in the sleeve notes simply as “the usual Thanksgiving fun”. After an album filled with memories, loss, fractured relationships and the passage of time, it ends not with a grand statement about mortality but with the sound of people enjoying being alive.

There is an understandable temptation to hear Comes in Waves as a late-career summation, particularly given Simon's age and recent disclosure about her health. But treating it as a farewell would do the album a disservice.

More than fifty years after Anticipation and ‘You’re So Vain’ established her as one of the defining singer-songwriters of her generation, the voice has inevitably changed, but the intelligence behind it has not. If anything, the years have given Simon another instrument to work with. Every hesitation, crack and shift in emphasis carries meaning.

At 83, Carly Simon isn't trying to sound like the woman she was in 1971. She is singing as the woman she is now, looking backwards, looking around her and, crucially, still looking forward.

Comes in Waves is available to listen to on all major streaming services.

Reviewer: Adrian Cork 

On: 15/08/2026

Theatre Review The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy! Edinburgh Fringe

Cabbage Productions in association with Pleasance.

Cabbage Productions was founded by actors and writers, Matthew Howell, and Jack Michael Stacey, who met during the original London production of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ in the West End and began writing together in 2019. In 2024, writer and director Katie-Ann McDonough joined the company as Creative Director, bringing a background in farce, ensemble comedy, and new writing development that has sharpened and expanded the company's artistic vision. The team brought ‘Spy Movie: The Play’ to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and 2025.

This year they bring ‘The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!’. Described as “a brand new, laugh-out-loud state of the nation farce for the whole family” the premise is that the staff at Plumstanton Library are clinging to tradition as the shelves collapse around them. The roof leaks, the shelves are bare and they haven’t issued a new library card in years. When a new head librarian arrives, and they learn the building could be condemned and sold, panic spreads fast! Can they save the library and themselves before it’s too late?

Clearly Cabbage Productions’ reputation comes before it – this looked like a sell-out show so the anticipation was high! It’s impossible to describe a play which is deliberately chaotic and relies on that chaos for laughs. The opening was strong with the dead pan delivery of a speech in memory of the late Head Librarian ending in a printer error! Other highlights for me included jokes around cuts to the tea and coffee budget, a slapstick scene involving a burst water pipe and water being squeezed out of Work Experience’s tie to provide a glass of water for the Inspector, and switching the library shelf labels around in a farcical way every time the Inspector looks away to check the different genres on his list.

A few jokes did seem to fall a bit flat though – there was a lull about a third of the way through and the gag involving the stage lights turning off randomly (due to lack of investment in the library building) lost its impact for me after the first couple of times. There was a reference to Mont Blanc pens which seemed to be shoehorned in – I think we all knew where that was going - and it fell flat in the show I saw.

Overall, though, there was a fair amount of laughter and audience seemed enthusiastic. ‘The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy!’ was written by Matthew Howell and Jack Stacey and directed by Amy Milburn; it is showing at Pleasance Two, Pleasance Courtyard (venue 33), Edinburgh Fringe 15:15 daily (5th – 31st August (not 17th, 24th) Performance length:1 hour (no interval). Age suitability: 12+

https://edfringeguide.com/show/the-librarians-a-very-serious-comedy

Reviewer: Sue Hayward

On: 12th August 2026

Theatre Review Helen Bradley: Painter and Storyteller Edinburgh Fringe

‘Helen Bradley: Painter and Storyteller’ is the sixth painter play that Kara Wilson has written, where she portrays the artist at work and completes a painting in the artist’s style during the show. Previous shows brought to the Edinburgh Fringe include ‘Bloomsbury Bell’ (Wilson’s solo show about Vanessa Bell) and ‘Beryl Cook: A Private View’. This year Wilson performs in the persona of a 78-year-old Helen Bradley (1900 -1979) using the scenario of an art club as a vehicle for engaging her audience and telling her story. We really believe it is Bradley talking to us and she captivates us with her gentle humour and interesting anecdotes.

Bradley paints as she talks - the choice of “Oh, Just Look” as the painting in progress is perfect as it depicts Bradley herself as a 6-year-old child with her brother, George, their mother, Aunt Mary (“let’s give Aunt Mary a face”), and Aunt Frances. It appears natural for Bradley to regale us with stories about them and other family members and friends, as she meanders through her life from age 6 to 78 seemingly effortlessly and pleasingly. 

To anyone who doesn’t know about Bradley’s life (such as me) it’s fascinating to discover that she had been an accomplished pianist and only “took up” painting at 65 when she could no longer play the piano due to cutting the top off her thumb! Bradley attended Oldham Art School aged 13 but “I have to say, I didn’t learn a thing” having been distracted by the social side of college and “rudely interrupted by war”. Inspired by visiting art exhibitions at 65 (where she was particularly interested in Mughal paintings which told stores) and meeting Lowry at an art club she takes the plunge and starts to paint. Bradley finds her forte in painting people she knew; a chance encounter leads to her exhibiting in London where her paintings sell well, and later she brings out some bestselling picture books based on her Edwardian childhood.

Wilson waits at the exit after the show to greet the audience and there’s the chance to exchange a few words, she tells me that some of her monologue uses Bradley’s actual words from various sources including her when she was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 1975. The monologue certainly comes across as authentic and natural. This is clearly a well-researched and polished show.

‘Helen Bradley: Painter and Storyteller’ was written and performed by Kara Wilson and is showing at Cellar, Pleasance Courtyard (venue 33), Edinburgh Fringe 11:20 daily (5th –30th August (not 19th). Performance length: 55 minutes (no interval). Age suitability: 12+

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/helen-bradley-painter-and-storyteller

Reviewer: Sue Hayward

On: 12th  August 2026

Theatre Review Adrift Lyceum Theatre Oldham

This is one of the final offerings in this year’s Oldham Arts Festival, performed by a Welsh theatre company called Infinity Productions. The premise is simply that of three men adrift in a boat on the Atlantic after a failed mutiny. It is also simply one of the funniest shows certainly this review has seen in long time. 

The minimalist set comprises of three boxes with a rope marking out the boat, with the movement from the waves and the expanse of the ocean left to the audience’s imagination. What makes the show so entertaining is a combination of the changing dynamics between the three characters, some very funny dialogue and numerous absurd scenarios but none of this would work without excellent acting and great comic timing, which the cast display in abundance. There are several moments of extended silence where the audience is kept in suspense to see how a specific character will ultimately react to certain ridiculous or bizarre suggestion and there is great comedy in watching the facial expression of the character pondering how to react, as if you can almost hear the cogs in his brain working out what to do.

The set sounds almost like a joke in itself, being that of an Englishman, a Welshman and an Australian alone in a boat. There is no attempt to mock racial stereotypes with the premise being that Wilbur, the Englishman, appearing to have some authority, had started the mutiny; Mr. Roberts, the Welshman is an experienced seaman who was coerced into joining it and John the Australian seems to be a man of limited intelligence who just happily went along with the suggestion. There are certainly tensions as to who is blame for the predicament in which they find themselves but ultimately, they are all quite literally in the same boat in a life and death scenario. The men are certainly in the boat for at least a month, though it is never explained what they drink to survive (presumably there is meant to be a barrel of water somewhere!).

The play very amusingly explores various aspects of their shared predicament, from trying to pass the time with petty games to trying to control their emotions (and often failing!), consider ways how they might try to get on a shipping lane and generally how they just get on each other’s nerves. The sole prop is a clothes-peg which eventually becomes of extraordinary importance as the men’s collective sanity starts to disintegrate.

This is a festival-length play of around fifty minutes which packs in an awful lot and delivers a powerful punch. The audience laugh virtually all the way through the performance, though there are moments of real pathos and tension. This really is a genuinely funny play from start to finish, with the audience kept guessing how it will end right up until the final curtain.

Reviewer: John Waterhouse

On:  9th August 2026

Concert Review This is Merseybeat Museum of Liverpool

 

This show, in collaboration with The Cavern Club, is part of The Summer of Sound a summer-long series of special musical events taking place from 24^th July – 29^th August at the Museum of Liverpool. The riverside venue will host a series of acts each Saturday evening throughout the summer, honouring the verve and heritage of Liverpool’s infamous music scene.

This show gave a musical insight into the Swinging 60’s and helped the audience experience and re-live the thrilling birth of the Mersey Sound. The show commemorated the music that launched the British invasion and changed pop music history forever. It featured the Cavern Club’s resident beat combo The Shakers, guest stars portraying pop music icons such as Cilla Black and Gerry Marsden and was hosted by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse actor Paul Codman. The energetic production recreated the sound and spirit of Liverpool’s most exciting musical era.

Host for the first part of the show, Dale Roberts from the Cavern Club, informed the audience that it will be The Cavern Club’s 70^th birthday next year and that there will be a special exhibition held in the Exhibition Hall where this show took place. He then went on to introduce resident Cavern Club band, The Shakers, who entertained with  various 60’s hits such as ‘Some Other Guy’, ‘Rock and Roll Music’, ‘Love Potion Number 9’ and ‘Love Me Do’. There was also a nod to Buddy Holly with ‘That’ll Be The Day’.

Neil Ainsby entertained with a medley of Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) hits followed by  Victoria Jones singing as Our Cilla (Cilla Black).

After a short interval, compere Paul Codman introduced the audience to hits of 1963 with The Shakers performing a medley of Beatles hits and ‘Gerry’ and ‘Cilla’ following on with more hits from the exciting musical period.

The show was atmospheric of the Merseybeat era and recreated the Mersey sound which was much appreciated by the audience who sang, clapped and danced to the hits of the 60’s. Hit songs from The Searchers, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Billy J. Kramer and The Big Three were also featured.

The show ended with all acts on stage singing and dancing to ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘Ferry Across The Mersey’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

It was a special, nostalgic night for many of those attending who lived through the Merseybeat era and they showed their appreciation throughout.

Full Cast List:-

Compere/Narrator - Paul Codman

The Shakers:-

Tony O’Keeffe - Drums,

Kevin Benson - Bass/vocals,

Tom Benson - Rhythm guitar/Backing vocals/Harmonica

Liam Mannion - Lead guitar/Vocals

Keyboards - Toni Baker

Cilla - Victoria Jones

Gerry Marsden - Neil Ainsby

For more information see https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/summer-of-sound.

 

Reviewer:  Anne Pritchard

On: 8^th August 2026

 

 

 

Theatre Review Everything That Should’ve Been Mill One, 1853 Studios, Oldham

This play by Jake Talbot, is one of various productions taking place across five venues in the second annual Oldham Arts Festival. Featuring essentially new writing and performed largely by Oldham-based actors, this new festival looks set to ensure an on-going platform for emerging dramatic talent from the Oldham area. A quick glance through the listing of events reveals an emphasis on hard-hitting themes and ‘Everything that should’ve been’ is no exception.

The scenario is five women meeting in a hospital treatment room, each one of them in a different decade of life, from mid-twenties to mid-sixties and what follows could be described as existentialism from a female perspective but there is too much raw honesty and energy in this play to simply dismiss it as a feminism rant. The setting is a female hospital ward so the characters have female perspectives but much of what is considered and discussed is universal and this is a play for everyone.

Each character has their own distinct background but coupled with very individual thoughts on life. The twenty-something has a bleak outlook not sure she’ll make it to thirty with her job as a waitress causing her to see all people as like glasses waiting to be broken. The thirty something is finding fulfilment in motherhood and a good marriage. The forty-something regrets several life choices, feeling as she enters middle-age that people are starting to ‘look through her’ in contrast to the fifty-something who looks back a good relationship cut short by her partner’s death. The sixty-something looks forward, contemplating people crying when she dies, humorously saying ‘they’d better!’ whilst looking back on many years of a fulfilling marriage.

There are echoes of ‘Waiting for Godot’ as the characters consider the seeming meaningless of life, both in terms of the span of life when measured in the light of eternity and the daily drudgery of boring tasks such as cleaning, washing and various jobs which just have to be endlessly repeated. There is a lot of consideration also of what might have been if only different choices had been taken at specific key moments. However, there is a lot of balance as well, with the women in different ways finding numerous things they have to be thankful for with even the twenty-something eventually realising the good sense in living for the moment rather than moping about a bad future which may not even come.

Director Miranda Parker takes a minimalist approach with the sole prop being a black block, which double up as one of the hospital beds (the other beds being represented by comfy armchairs). The block also serves as a focal point, to which all the women come for mutual support. However, there is more to this play than dialogue. A blend of mime and dance, choreographed by Jayne Sladen, is used to bring over the emotional backdrop to the setting, with emotive electronic music making is clear that none of the women are in a relaxed state, echoed in their movements which appear either robotic or restricted. The lighting in this studio theatre also serves for various moods to be created.

This is a thought-provoking play that explores the extent to which we need each other and find fulfilment coming from being with and helping others. There is certainly plenty of philosophising but this is contrasted with the joy of finding fun in the moment. After all, you can hardly spend time contemplating death in the midst of laughing with friends! Look out for more offerings from Dare to Know productions.

https://www.1853studios.com/events/dare-to-create

Reviewer: John Waterhouse

On: 07.08.26

Theatre Review Take Me Home County Road Royal Court Liverpool

 

This show, written by Adam McCoy and directed by Emma Bird, is a production which is all heart and combines unrequited aspirations, loneliness, marriage issues and community spirit wrapped around a love story in a kind of adult pantomime fashion where everything comes together and works out well in the end. It has the feel-good factor whilst being entertaining with lots of child-like humour and at the same time highlighting adult themes.

The stage set is constant, Shelly’s kitchen in Liverpool’s County Road, where her family and best friends/neighbours gather to chat and catch up with life events. Shelly’s marriage seems to have hit the rocks and she is being threatened with redundancy from a job she loves.  At the same time her heart is elsewhere, wanting to re-live her singing career and a prime opportunity arises in the form of a TV talent contest, The Next Big Thing.

The cast is made up of five actors, each bringing their own powerful, individual talents to the fore and worthy of equal commendation. Helen Carter (Shelly) delivers effortless vocals and is made for the role delivering fragility with determination and practicality, whilst Adam McCoy plays Anthony, Shelly’s next-door neighbour, delivering heartwarming camp humour with heartfelt warmth. Joan, Shelly’s mum played by Eithne Browne, a Liverpool theatre stalwart, is recognisable as a typical Liverpudlian mum looking out for her daughter and looking back at the relationship she had with Shelley’s dad, whilst also bringing her singing talent to the stage. The main thrust of the comedy is provided by Keddy Sutton as Margy. Keddy has a well-recorded history of providing humour to many local productions and with just one look can have audiences crying with laughter. She is adept in her craft with perfect timing and delivery bearing in mind her facial expressions are worth pots of gold.  She is an added bonus to any production and her skills are to be admired.  Shelly’s husband Mick, played by Lenny Wood, takes on what seems like the ‘baddie’ role but no spoilers here, only to say as his story unfolds, we see a different side to him and he delivers his role with sensitivity and understated accuracy.

The chemistry between the five actors is plain to see, as is the enjoyment they exude whilst playing their roles.

Adam McCoy’s talents are showcased as writer and actor, this being his playwriting debut and he has managed to hit the nail on the head with this heartwarming tale which will appeal to all.

Set and Costume Designer Alfie Heywood centres the narrative in the heart of the house, the kitchen, which is an excellent choice as characters can come and go from two doors in and out of the set and the kitchen window is put to good use by Margy. Additionally, audiences can relate to the kitchen as being the heart of the home creating a sense of familiarity and warmth, both in temperature and emotion.

Take Me Home County Road combines Scouse wit, which local audiences love, and family and relationship issues with well-loved country music foot-tappers. The story is relatable for audiences on many levels and along with lots of humour can also bring a tear to the eye.  This is an extremely enjoyable jukebox musical combining country classics and a story about following your dreams at any age. Take Me Home County Road is well worth an outing for, it is a heartwarming production full of positivity and will lift the spirits of all. As expected the audience were on their feet dancing and singing during the encore and showed their appreciation throughout.

This production runs from 6th-29th August 2026.

Tickets available from https://liverpoolsroyalcourt.com/

Full cast, company and creatives information available at https://issuu.com/iainchristie/docs/take_me_home_county_road_show_programme?fr=sYWEzNjkyMzU1OTQ

Reviewer:  Anne Pritchard

On:  6^th August 2026

Theatre Review The Importance of Being Earnest Thingwall Players Thingwall Community Centre Liverpool

This fabulous play directed by Paul Arends and Chrysanthi Fergani, and stage managed by Catherine Flower is an adaptation of the famous farcical comedy written by Oscar Wilde, who spent the summer of 1894 with his family at Worthing on the Sussex coast, where he began writing his new play ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ which was first performed on Valentines Day in 1895 at the St James’s Theatre in London.

This farcical comedic play depicts the tangled affairs of two young men about town who lead double lives to evade unwanted social obligations, both assuming the name Ernest, whilst wooing the two young women of their affections and gives the play a witty double meaning. Credit must be given from the set designed by Hayley Jeffrey, costume designers Carol Golightly and Angela Clarke and all involved who created beautifully convincing sets and characters depicting the 1890’s perfectly.

The play begins set in Algernon Moncreiff’s flat in London with his maid attending to his every need and serving a light afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches and muffins in anticipation of a visit from Lady Bracknell and Gwendolen Fairfax. Algernon the lead character played by the brilliant Kyle Jensen, was superb and the standout performer of the night. Bringing humour, whimsicality and authenticity to his character and the stage, he wowed the audience and had them in fits of laughter and hanging onto his every word throughout.

Algernon’s cousin John Worthing played by Kenny Young arrives and the banter between the bachelor’s on their behaviour with the fairer sex is tantalizingly sexist as both assume a different name in the country to the city to hide their discretions. John admits he’s in a spot of bother with unpaid depts, dining at the Savoy, which catch up with him later in the play. John is very taken with Gwendolen and she of him and a coy courtship develops, only to be thwarted by Gwendolyn’s aunt Lady Bracknell played by the very talented Lorna Pout, who is blunt and cold and disapproves entirely of the union and is only interested and so comically acted throughout the play, in social standing and wealth and not emotional attachment in any way. She reminded me of actor Maggie Smith as Lady Violet Cawley in Downton Abbey, so hilariously dry and commanding.

Act 2 is set in the garden of John Worthing's manor house, with a fabulous backdrop of a beautifully painted scenic garden, by Hayley, Chris, Catherine, Kayleigh, Carol, Maya and Angela, where we meet the characters Cecily Cardew, John Worthing's ward and her governess Miss Prism. We also meet the Rev. Canon Chasuble who is the blatant affection of Miss Prism. Algernon appears uninvited and under the name of Ernest pretending to be John Worthing's brother, with a glint in his eye for Cecily and she of him. A lot of flirtatious behaviour ensues between all six characters, but both ladies Gwendolen and Cecily continue to insist that they can love only a man named Ernest.

Acts 3 and 4 are set in the morning room of the manor house, where we meet all the characters, who are waited on by their butler and servant and very entertainingly so. Hidden family secrets are unearthed during these scenes and eventually we are witness to three romantic engagements, leading up to the final scene which perfectly depicts ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ and it’s double meaning.

The audience clapped loudly and with admiration for a superb performance by all the cast and I think Oscar Wilde would be proud. 

This production is running until Saturday 1st July.

Cast:

Servant Lane – Daisy Robins

Algernon Moncrieff – Kyle Johnson

John Worthing – Kenny Young

Lady Bracknell – Lorna Pout

Gwendolyn Fairfax – Cat Fox-Kirk

Miss Prism – Angela McComb

Cecily Cardew – Elle Murphy

Moulton – Dave Owens

Merriman – Manuj Rastogi

Rev. Canon Chasuble – Kevin Thomas

Gribsby – Samra Uddin

Crew:

Sound & Lighting - Tim Saint, Meg Doherty

Backstage – Michael Ananins

Reviewer: Jill Ollerton 

On 31.07.26

Film Review Wham! 10 Days in China Vue Cinema Southport

In 1985, Wham! did something that, at the time, seemed unimaginable. At the height of their fame, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley became the first Western pop act to perform in Communist China. What was originally conceived by their manager Simon Napier-Bell as an audacious publicity stunt to break the American market became something far more significant: a genuine moment of cultural history. Wham! 

10 Days in China tells that story with warmth, humour and surprising emotional heft. Director Mike Christie has taken the original, long-forgotten footage shot during the trip and painstakingly restored it, weaving it together with new interviews featuring Andrew Ridgeley, members of the touring party and Chinese concertgoers whose lives were changed by those extraordinary ten days. The result feels less like a conventional music documentary and more like a fascinating time capsule. A peek behind the Bamboo Curtain.

One of the documentary’s greatest strengths is that it never attempts to deify its subjects. George and Andrew were still in their early twenties and, despite their global fame, often appear overwhelmed by the bizarre diplomatic obligations thrust upon them. Watching them pose stiffly with officials, tour the Great Wall or endure awkward press conferences provides moments of genuine comedy. Andrew’s recollections are particularly engaging, offering affectionate insight into both the absurdity of the trip and his enduring friendship with George.

George, meanwhile, emerges as the more introspective figure. Even this early in his career, there are glimpses of the artist he would soon become: thoughtful, ambitious and increasingly aware that he had outgrown the happy-go-lucky image of Wham! 

The documentary captures the beginnings of an important transition in his life. The concert footage is outstanding. Beautifully restored, it reminds us just how accomplished Wham! had become as a live act during the Make It Big era. Hits such as ‘Freedom’, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ and ‘Careless Whisper’ jump from the screen with infectious energy. 

The first show, at the Workers Gymnasium in Beijing, showed an audience that wanted to react, to dance, but didn’t know how. Those that dared to dance were arrested and removed from the venue. It’s these moments, where Western exuberance collides with Chinese restraint, that become some of the film’s most memorable images. 

At the second show at Guangzhou the Chinese had clearly had enough of restraint so really let themselves go. Yet the documentary’s biggest surprise is the contemporary interviews with Chinese people who were at the concerts who explain the impact they had and what it meant for them. Expanded horizons and future musical careers. Suddenly a nostalgic music documentary becomes something more. What began as a calculated publicity exercise became an unexpected act of cultural exchange whose influence is still felt some 40 years later. 

Wham! 10 Days in China succeeds because it is about far more than nostalgia. It captures a fleeting moment when music briefly transcended politics, ideology and geography. It reminds us that two young men armed with little more than charisma, optimism and a catalogue of irresistible pop songs became unlikely cultural ambassadors.

For Wham! fans it is essential viewing. For everyone else, it is a compelling reminder that, sometimes, pop music really can change the world, even if only for ten unforgettable days.

Wham! 10 Days in China was a one night only cinema release but check your local listings just in case.

Reviewer: Adrian Cork 

On: 28/07/2026