Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
This is the second ‘straight’ drama in succession I have seen at the wonderful Leeds Grand Theatre, which failed to live up to expectations. I saw this play at Leeds Playhouse some years ago and, whilst I don’t remember it very well – appropriate given the subject, I can’t recall it being this disappointing. Laura…
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Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the review of this play, I would just like to say one thing. Go and see it! It works on so many levels, football being the mortar which binds the whole building, but you really don’t need to be a fan, in fact, it being press…
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I realise that the Monarchy can be a divisive topic but, love it or loathe it, no one can deny that Queen Elizabeth II devoted her whole life to the duty which was bestowed on her, even though she was not born to reign. Had Edward VIII not abdicated, it would have been his children…
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You would think that a one-woman show covering mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and doomed relationships all set against the background of the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, the place of her birth, would be a bit of a downer, but not so. Suzy Crothers treated us to an hour-long account of her fall and rise…
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I suppose it had to happen. After saying that I was well on the way to understanding the language of dance, I was somewhat baffled by some aspects of this production, which was not only dance, but projected film and spoken word as well. Fortunately there was an information sheet to summarise the intention of…
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Little Women is part of The Stories We Tell Season, which accounts for my observation about the plays which are based on novels in the introduction to my review. The season celebrates works that have reflected the experiences of individuals and, in keeping with that ethos, Grand Theatre’s Learning and Engagement team has been working…
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It’s funny how theatre productions seem to arrive in types, a few months ago there was a procession of films turned into plays, there were television shows given the live treatment, and now this is the third book adaptation out of the last four theatre visits I have made. Don’t get me wrong, I am…
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I am going to begin this article with a trigger warning. According to Leeds Heritage Theatres’ website, this show ‘contains mature adult themes…’ I would venture to suggest that it contains many more immature adult themes, just what we wanted really, as maturity goes out of the window when you are out for a night…
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Yet another production adapted from a novel – this is becoming a trend. Once again it was presented in a totally different format than the two I referred to in my last review; the twist here, is that it is staged in a conventional manner, no karaoke machines or circus performers, we were back to…
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Leeds Playhouse is on a roll at the moment, the last four or five productions I have seen, whether their own or touring, have been as interesting, varied and spectacularly well performed as you could hope for. Tess was no exception, being a take on Thomas Hardy’s novel, Tess of the d’Urbavilles. This is the…
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Tyke It To The Limit 