Arts REVIEW: Marlborough: Miss Behave’s Gameshow The premise of this show is that the most important division in the world isn’t male and female or gay and straight but those who own iPhones and the rest of us. As we enter the confines of the Marlborough the audience is split into these two rival factions and then the games commence. Some utilise By Michael Hootman • 1 min read
Arts REVIEW: Festival: The Joey Arias Experience A great night out, with a stunning performer in the perfect venue, the band could have been a little tighter as they seemed as languid and laid back as Arias pretended to be, but somehow that’s a small criticism for what was one of the best Festival shows I’ve seen. By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts REVIEW: Take That in Dublin Jason Orange followed Robbie Williams in September last year and left the band, leaving Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald to go it alone. The show began with support from X Factor contestant and ‘Ghost’ singer Ella Henderson, who wowed the crowd with her powerful vocals. Ella gave an impressi By Alice Blezard • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Spiegeltent: Lost in Transit Although some of the narrative was lost in transit the show delivered an entertaining evening full of thrills and some moments of delightful oddness that warmed the audience up to a roaring handclapping appreciative finale. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Spiegeltent: Soweto Spiritual Singers Soweto Spiritual Singers are a young vocal ensemble, performing both acappella and with instrumental accompaniment showcasing African Spiritual, Folk and Traditional Music and Dance. Their music is a shout of Joy, a towering onslaught of exuberance with earthy rhythms, rich harmonies to uplift the s By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Dome: Being Both As one of the great vocal artists of her generation, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote is renowned for her Handelian repertory and the portrayal of roles originally written for castrati. With lots of indication of depth and analysis about this most curious habit of mixing up of gender roles bringing insight By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts REVIEW: Pink Fringe: Wolf Meat From the same group – Wildheart & Lyric – that brought us ‘told by an idiot’ last year this new outing Wolf Meat has a plot very loosely based on the tale of Red Riding Hood but based in a geriatric drug factory in a Croydon Council estate. This glamourized the world of drugs, porn and violence to t By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts OPERA REVIEW: The Pirates of Penzance: ENO This highly anticipated swashbuckling farce with its new staging is directed by Mike (I’ll never direct an opera) Leigh, who made his operatic debut this evening. I liked his version, all geometric sets and ultra-simplistic colours from Alison Chitty, they worked well, softly gliding and sliding int By Eric Page • 4 min read
Arts REVIEW: Fringe: Stalin’s Daughter at the Rialto In Stalin’s Daughter, David Lane’s powerful and disturbing monologue presents us with a haunting psychological examination of the later life of Joseph Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva. Uprooted and transient after her defection to the United States three decades earlier, the story opens with S By Paul Gustafson • 1 min read
Arts REVIEW: Fringe: Threesome Review: Threesome Theatre Box: Warren Brighton Fringe This new play examines the effects of changing the rules of engagement in a settled marriage played to a sold out house at the neat little Theatre Box over the weekend. Chris Willoughby’s delightful and subtle performance as confused and bemused By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Fringe: Mirando the Gay Tempest As well as being our most celebrated dramatist, Shakespeare was a prolific story-teller. In Theatre North’s Mirando, the Gay Tempest, which has just finished a run of performances at Brighton Fringe, Martin Lewton’s one man show brings Shakespeare’s play to new life through a remarkable tour de forc By Paul Gustafson • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Pink Fringe: Get A Round This is fresh, raw theater, using common clichés and sad tragic lives to spear us with some uncomfortable truths about our empty consumer lives. One of my fringe highlights so far! You will love them and they will love you, unconditionally. By Eric Page • 4 min read
