The Freshwater Five: at Wakefield’s Theatre Royal on 4 March and Touring
In 2011, five fishermen on the Isle of Wight (Jamie Green, Jon Beere, Daniel Payne, Scott Birtwistle and Zoran Dresic) were sentenced to a total of 104 years for conspiracy to import £53m worth of cocaine. They have continually professed their innocence. The Freshwater Five is based upon their experiences and the campaign by APPEAL […]
Sunny Afternoon: at Leeds Grand Theatre 24 to 28 February
When a grumpy reviewer who, if asked about musicals, would usually say “I don’t really like them generally,” comes away from tonight with a big smile on his face, then you know the cast and production team behind Sunny Afternoon have definitely hit the mark. It’s not a huge surprise that Ray Davies, the legendary […]
Snow White – balletLORENT at Leeds Playhouse on 20 and 21 February
An enchanting reimagining that proves ballet can captivate every generation. This was my children’s first experience of ballet, and what a way to begin! They were utterly captivated by this masterpiece, and honestly, so was I. balletLORENT’s Snow White, choreographed and directed by the immensely talented Liv Lorent, is an engrossing, visually arresting piece of dance […]
Mika and the Polar Bear: at The Riley Theatre on the 14th February
A child’s story, rendered in shades of black, white, and the red of young girl Mika’s (Janice Ho) coat, took place at Riley Theatre in Chapeltown on Valentine’s Day….. …..something that both I and the children who had gathered to watch couldn’t keep our eyes away from. ‘Mika and the Polar Bear’ is a dance […]
Opera North – Britten: Peter Grimes, at Leeds Grand Theatre 19 and 21 February
The celebrated musicologist, Hans Keller, first encountered the music of Benjamin Britten in the initial run of the composer’s first proper opera, Peter Grimes, at Sadler’s Wells in the summer of 1945. A musician by upbringing and psychoanalyst by education, Keller was astounded – apart from thinking it was to be a performance of Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte that night – at the dramatic depiction of a man, “a living conflict”, unwinding before […]
