★★★★☆ To see a revered and ancient tradition bursting, refreshed and unapologetic into the present day is something to behold. Riverdance, the interval entertainment at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Eire, was in that respect phenomenal. The subsequent show, which was an expanded version of that seven minute piece, was a phenomenon, touring the world and breaking records as it went.
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★★★★☆ In Sasha Regan’s production, W S Gilbert’s story is told as a kind of midsummer night’s dream of a boy scout’s camp concert party in which all characters are played by young men in shorts (the women’s parts with their shorts rolled up) . . . This is as imaginative, clever, witty and unstuffy a production of Gilbert and Sullivan as you are likely to find and may be just the thing to tempt people who think comic opera is not for them.
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★★★★★ Paula Sides made for a wilful and impassioned Tosca – one could fully buy into the violent transition from lover to murderer to defiant rebel. The character of Cavaradossi can be tricky because he is a cat’s paw batted back and forth by so many of the major characters in the opera but Samuel Sakker does an excellent job of imbuing him with a sense of agency and, ultimately, pity.
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★★★★☆ In this age of ‘alternative facts’ and fake news, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory could not have chosen a more apt play to update than Tartuffe. There occasional references to specific current issues, such as Brexit and Trump, but it is the play as a whole that has a very relevant message for our times.
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★★★★☆ Ivan Hansen who co-wrote and performs the piece also personally greets people individually at the door and with a beguiling, child-like but assured hand, leads the audience along a series of warm, tender vignettes to a world of living memories tinged with nostalgia, and always punctuated with loud laughter.
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★★★☆☆ The title suggested a new take on Moliere by Hull born writer Richard Bean – who came to the fame with Made in Dagenham and One Man, Two Guvnors. There are similarities, but this is bawdy, full-throttle farce with a leading character who delights in openly demonstrating the way he plays one side against the other . . . There’s a great comedy here struggling to get out: meanwhile the irreverence, energy and zest of this production still leaves you smiling.
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