There are voices, the light comes on; a man and woman stand across from each other in a small dreary lunchroom room – so Blackbird begins. She appears vulnerable but defiant and he, like he has seen a ghost from his past, and repeatedly asserts that he did not have to talk to her: ÔÇÿWho is she?ÔÇÖ ÔÇÿWhy does he want to avoid her?ÔÇÖ The … Continue reading Review: Blackbird, The Other Room
ItÔÇÖs safe to say that Josh WiddicombeÔÇÖs profile has never been higher, due to his role on The Last Leg and his eponymous BBC one sitcom. With an increase in profile comes a higher demand, leading to Josh performing at St. DavidÔÇÖs Hall last week. Josh himself addressed this, seemingly very happy at the venue being full. Unfortunately, his brand of aloof observational humour didnÔÇÖt … Continue reading Review: Josh Widdicombe, St David’s Hall
The Birmingham Stage Company presented me with a play full of fantastical potions and characters, audience interaction and hilarity that can only be associated with Roald DahlÔÇÖs magical world. GeorgeÔÇÖs Marvellous Medicine, adapted by David Wood and directed by Phil Clark, presents the story of George, a lonely boy living on his parentÔÇÖs farm with only sheep and pigs for company. For those unfamiliar with … Continue reading Review: George’s Marvellous Medicine, New Theatre
4th August 2016, Wales Millennium Centre The golden d├®cor of the Millennium Centre merely mirrored the magic that was put before us as the curtains rose to show the world famous Chitty car, winning the grand prix, before crashing into retirement. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is unarguably a classic; with nearing 50 years of fantasmagorical entertainment, this theatre adaptation had some rather large shoes to … Continue reading Review: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Wales Millennium Centre
Award winning director Ellen Kent graced Cardiff with her tour of VerdiÔÇÖs Nabucco this week. The storyÔÇÖs libretto is studded with themes of jealously, revenge and suffering, amid both a romantic and a political plotline. The audience followed the opression of the Jews through their exile by King Nabucco, whilst his oldest daughter Abigaille struggled with unrequited love, and is handed her true origins as … Continue reading Review: Verdi’s Nabucco, St. David’s Hall
Everyone knows Ghost as a classic. The iconic 1990 film not only catapulted Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze even further into the public eye, where theyÔÇÖve long enjoyed a reputation as among the industryÔÇÖs biggest talents, but arguably also set the pace for romantic movies for years to come. So understandably, the announcement of it being adapted into a musical, touring UK theatres from launching … Continue reading Review: Ghost, New Theatre
This year Cardiff has witnessed the celebration of 100 years of our favourite childrenÔÇÖs author, Roald Dahl. The city has been transformed into a fantastical world full of giant peaches and exciting exhibitions for all. Some of these have included the ÔÇ£Quentin Blake: Inside StoriesÔÇØ exhibition in the National Museum, which features until the 20th November, CardiffÔÇÖs ÔÇ£City of the UnexpectedÔÇØ in September and ÔÇ£The … Continue reading Cardiff- a Creative City
ÔÇ£We would like to warn those with nervous disposition that platform boots and white lycra will feature in this productionÔÇØ. And feature it did- in the form of tap-tastic flippers and electric costumes that had us green with envy and hoping for these fabulous bat sleeves and bright bottoms to be acceptable trends for the next spring/summer season. Post PSA and excited giggles from the … Continue reading Review: Mamma Mia!, Wales Millennium Centre
The Little Shop of Horrors, originally written by Howard Ashman, is the comedy horror musical about florist Seymour Krelborn from Skid Row who discovers a rare unidentifiable plant which has a thirst for human blood. Feeding the plant his own blood and progressing to human victims, Seymour gains much success with Audrey II, named after his colleague and secret love Audrey. The set and design … Continue reading Review: The Little Shop of Horrors, New Theatre
Unsurprisingly, I was intrigued when an email appeared in the Quench Culture inbox from Cardiff University Music Society detailing a flash mob set to take place in Cardiff City centre last Saturday. Of course, the first of October made its presence known by blessing us with a surprisingly chillier temperature and on-and-off rain all day, but I headed over to the Cardiff Central Library undeterred … Continue reading Cardiff University Music Society’s Flash Mob
I went into this play not knowing what to expect other than the basics. The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play written by Agatha Christie. It is set in an old manor house, which the owners have recently converted into a guesthouse. It begins on a cold, winter afternoon with the guests being introduced one by one. However, as the days go on, the guests … Continue reading Review: The Mousetrap, New Theatre
ÔÇ£WickedÔÇØ as a story itself is essentially one of the most successful fanfictions ever written. Based off the 1995 story ÔÇ£The Wizard of OzÔÇØ by L. Frank Baum, ÔÇ£Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the WestÔÇØ, is a novel written by Gregory Maguire and it tells the untold story of the witches of Oz: Glinda the Good and Elphaba the Wicked … Continue reading Review: Wicked the MusicalÔÇÖs 10th Anniversary in London
As Mrs BrownÔÇÖs Boys is voted the best sitcom of the 21st Century, I argue the case for the shows it beat- and what this says about the state of British comedy today. Picture the scene. The camera opens on a mock-up of a traditional kitchen. Old worktops, shelves cluttered with pots and pans, and there, sat at the table, is quite clearly a man … Continue reading No Laughing Matter
On 31st July 2016, Potterheads all over the world curled up in their beds and re-entered the magical world of Harry Potter after a 9-year wait. JK Rowling announced that she would be releasing the script that accompanies the highly awaited; ÔÇÿHappy Potter and the Cursed ChildÔÇÖ play over a year ago. She cleverly timed the release of the book just a say before the … Continue reading Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Josh Widdicombe has a flourishing TV career. He co-presents the award-winning C4 programme, ÔÇÿThe Last LegÔÇÖ, one of the most popular comedy shows on television and┬áhas also made memorable appearances on Mock the Week, QI, Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You and The Jonathan Ross Show. But, for all that success, Josh is delighted to be returning now to his first … Continue reading Interview: Josh Widdicombe
Papillon (1969) Book Review When I first began reading Papillon, I found the memoirs of French Prisoner Henri Charri├¿re too fantastical to be believed. How could a mere man have possibly endured the living hell detailed within the pages of this novel, and still maintained a tremendous show of determination and courage? I decided that separating fact from fiction can often-times be an arduous and … Continue reading Review: Papillon
Alice (The Chronicles of Alice 1) by Christina Henry review Alice, the first in the Chronicles of Alice series by Christina Henry, is a new retelling of Lewis CarrollÔÇÖs classic, Alice in Wonderland, but with a horror twist. This novel is nothing like the original, instead it is appealingly dark and creepy where the main protagonist, our dear Alice, escapes from the asylum in which … Continue reading Book Review: Alice in Wonderland
BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL Review by Tom Morris As I went into Billy Elliot at the WMC, I asked my Nan, who I was with, what she thought about the two questions on my mind. That is; how would the play be better than the film, and is Billy supposed to be gay? By the final curtain, these questions couldnÔÇÖt be further from my mind. … Continue reading Review: Billy Elliot, WMC
Review by Sam Walker The 39 Steps is an unusual beast. Following the novel written by John Buchan , the story has been adapted for film many times, most notably in 1935 by Alfred Hitchcock. While┬áthe Master of SuspenseÔÇÖs name may appear on the posters for this stage adaptation, the actual result could not be more different. While HitchcockÔÇÖs film is a tense thriller, this … Continue reading Review: The 39 Steps, New Theatre
Review by George Caulton Combining amateur theatre companies alongside professional theatre companies is something very rarely seen in the world of theatre. Undeniably, it has been done before- but performing Shakespeare and conveying the complexity of the language- in an understandable way to a contemporary audience- is a skill that is typically upheld with highly trained performers. Despite this, the RSC and the Everyman theatre … Continue reading Review: RSC: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, New Theatre
