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Review: The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher at Liverpool Everyman ****1/2
As titles go, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher is certainly an arresting one. And, as the Everyman itself allows, a provocative one too – just as it was when Hilary Mantel’s controversial short story on which this new production is based was first published 12 years ago. Of course, the IRA tried it for real when they bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton in the early hours of October 12, 1984, missing Margaret Thatcher but murdering five, including Eric Taylor, manager of
Review: The Rocky Horror Show at the Liverpool Empire ****
It’s astounding, time really is fleeting – because it seems only a matter of months ago that Rocky Horror was at the Playhouse. But in reality that was Christmas 2024, and now Richard O’Brien’s timeless shlocky horror juggernaut has rolled back into town again (fresh from a New Zealand sojourn), returning to its usual Liverpool Empire stamping ground with a mixture of a few familiar and lots of fresh faces among the cast. Two years ago, Jason Donovan appeared in a handful of
Review: Single White Female at the Liverpool Playhouse ****
Single White Female was one of several psychological thrillers that put the fear of God into cinemagoers in the late 80s and early 90s, alongside films like Fatal Attraction and The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. And this new stage version of surely the second bloodiest flat share after Shallow Grave has a hint of both the infamous bunny boiler tale AND vengeful nanny vehicle about it. Rebecca Reid’s modern-day adaptation is described as ‘based on’ the original John Lutz novel/J
Review: Conteh at Liverpool's Royal Court ****
When Aron Julius first had the idea of embodying Liverpool boxing legend John Conteh on stage, he felt sure there must already be a play out there he could bring to life for a live audience. There wasn’t it seems. So rather than abandon the idea, Julius decided to write his own. Initially conceived as a one-man vehicle, with the boxer directly relating the much-chronicled highs and lows of his life and career, Julius – at that time appearing in the Royal Court’s acclaimed pro
Review: Miss Saigon at the Liverpool Empire ****
It’s been two decades since Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s ‘Nam-set wartime weepie Miss Saigon last touched down on the Empire stage – practically the same length of time as the entire conflict lasted. Has it been worth the wait for Liverpool audiences? It appears so. But it’s not entirely the same creature fans of the dramatic retelling of the Madama Butterfly story may have encountered before, with Michael Harrison and Cameron Mackintosh – sharing producer cred
Review: Double Indemnity at the Liverpool Playhouse ***
The 1927 murder trial of housewife Ruth Snyder and her lover Henry Judd Gray was a sensation - and among the phalanx of press in the New York courtroom were two writers who would go on to use it as inspiration for fictional tales. Journalist Sophie Treadwell revisited the murderous crime in her 1928 play Machinal. And then in 1936, fellow hack James M Cain produced his novel Double Indemnity, the cautionary tale of an insurance agent and a discontented wife who together plot
Review: Liverpool String Academy at the Tung Auditorium ****
It was the Liverpool String Academy’s inaugural concert at the city’s Tung Auditorium – but if there were any nerves among its youthful members, they certainly weren’t visible in what proved to be an accomplished and hugely impressive performance. Run by Early Music as Education (EMAE), a charity which basically does what it says on the tin by providing specialist music education for young people – irrespective of background or training – across Merseyside, Liverpool String A
Review: The Shawshank Redemption at the Liverpool Playhouse ****
Those of us of a certain vintage will remember going to see The Shawshank Redemption on the big screen back in 1994. Frank Darabont’s cinematic retelling of Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was a real gut-punch of a watch, and it was its misfortune that when it came to Oscar time – where it was nominated for seven awards – it found itself up against the twin juggernauts of Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. Three decades on, much of that gut-punch is
Review: Talking Head Twice at the Unity Theatre ***1/2
Liverpool Improvisation Festival returns to the Unity this May with a programme of shows from some of the genre's brightest talent. Ahead of that, LiF organiser Wing it Impro took the chance to present a new idea currently in development in what was a well-received scratch performance which brought the Unity’s 2026 Up Next Festival to a close. Boasting the tagline 'Inspired by Bennett. Shaped by you', Talking Head Twice offers a huge nod to the nonagenarian playwright and all
Review: Knickerbocker Glory at the Unity Theatre ****
When you call yourself Choc-a-block Comedy, it inevitably creates a certain level of expectation. But Trading Standards can stand down, because Laura Robinson and Aidan Rivers’ droll double act happily lives up to its name in this chock-a-block comedy confection whipped up and staged as part of the Unity Theatre’s Up Next Festival. In Knickerbocker Glory, the recent LIPA acting graduates (Robinson appeared at the Unity several times during training, while you might recognise
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