The site will be up and running again in the very near future, so please check back soon!

Year of the Rat

Year of the Rat begins with George Orwell (Hugo Speer) alone on the Scottish isle of Jura banging out 1984 on his archaic typewriter. He is joined by the strong-willed and independent Sonia Brownell (Claudia Elmhirst), the model for Julia in his totalitarian classic novel. Perhaps partly out of pity for Orwell’s loneliness and depression she whisks him off to bed in the first scene, with the audience treated to a fleeting glimpse of her assets.

But, just as with Winston and Julia in ‘1984’, this is no straight-forward romance. They are visited by the bombastic and arrogant Cyril Connolly (Orwell’s life-long friend and publisher of London’s trendy ‘Horizon’ magazine, played extravagantly by Nicholas Blane). A seriously objectionable misogynist, he is known in city circles as the ‘Dick of Death’ and he wastes no time in exposing said member to an aloof Sonia. (more…)

But when Rapunzel (bravely played by Edith Tankus) becomes mature she is locked away in a tower. Here her hair grows long enough to hang down for a visiting prince (Patrizio, Pieter Lawman)  to climb up to her and begin his wooing. This infuriates her surrogate mother who blinds the prince and banishes Rapunzel to the wilderness.

The Duke of Tuscany (James Traherne) offers his kingdom to whoever can find his son Patrizio, alive or dead, which encourages Paulo (doubled by Barnecut), to bribe Umberto to kill the lost prince. Clearly, the tale ends with a happy ending, but not without much sorcery, villainy and plain good fun on the way. (more…)

There are martial aerobics acting out the horrific Nazi oppression and everywhere you look there are Nazi over-lookers ready to nip any resistance in the bud. Hamlet’s state of confusion and inner turmoil is represented in some stunning choreography while the Oedipal nature of his relationship with his mother is also convincingly portrayed.

When the obsessive Ophelia meets with cold antipathy from Hamlet the result is less one of suicide than of torture and murder.

Hamlet’s appearance at Claudius’ banquet in his father’s scarf and coat causes outrage and his murder of Polonius sets Laertes on a path of revenge. In the final conflict it becomes clear that Hamlet’s uncle, now father, is behind it all – alas too late. (more…)

Under the baton of Cristian Mandeal the audience were presented with William Walton’s Partita in three movements from 1958, followed by Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. The pianist was Kirill Gerstein (pictured), in what was his Leeds International Concert Season debut. He gave an awe-inspiring rendition of the piece, which was greeted with such appreciation from the audience that we were treated to virtuoso encore – a passionate Schumann solo that was in parts dizzying.
After the interval, the Hallé played Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, written in 1888.

The whole orchestra were engaged with an energy that claimed the audience’s concentration completely, and was met with uproarious applause. (more…)

I called Cornwall my home and I’d been in the sharp end of the theatre business in London and got really jaded with it. So I went back to Cornwall as a place I believe you can make things happen and started Kneehigh as a company for children and their families. There aren’t really any theatres down here – there were quarries, old gunpowder works, some amazing places to tell stories. That was the original notion and if you see ‘Rapunzel’ I think it’s pretty close to those early shows.

They tell a good story, the use of music, colour, lots of humour – it’s quirky and witty as well. People recognise it as being immediate and it gives you a good night out. It’s the opposite of being in a black box studio theatre or behind a proscenium with a metaphorical fourth wall. We grew up playing in daylight and it’s embarrassing if you’re pretending the audience isn’t there, you can directly talk to the audience. Then the story can get darker and more emotional and take people on a journey. (more…)

In the Allegro spiritoso the pace shifts up a notch with a climatic series of false endings. The Poco Adagio sees a reworking of themes under the gentle but empowering leadership of conductor Richard Farnes (pictured) with some fine bow work from the strings and delightful transitions of mood.

After the short but lively Menuetto comes the vibrant and virulent finale of the Presto. Here Farnes’ conducting almost takes on the nature of a sublime ballet which receives a rich response from the orchestra. (more…)

In a Whisper sees Snake take up the flute to give an almost Gaelic sound to the quartet – gently wistful, floating yet insistent. The first half of the set ends with Harlem Stroll – conjuring up images the musos walking the streets of downtown New York – and the title track from their excellent new CD Talking Bird with an awesome melodic line that Snake cuts out with great clarity and warmth. (more…)

As a result of this increase, the annual grant for West Yorkshire Playhouse via Arts Council England will increase to £1 533 147 in 2008-9, rising to £1 574 542 in 09/10 and then £1 617 054 in 10/11. West Yorkshire Playhouse is one of a number of arts organisations to receive an inflationary rise following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which sees an extra £50 million investment in the arts via Arts Council England between 2008 and 2011.

On news of the inflationary rise, Playhouse Artistic Director and Chief Executive Ian Brown said: (more…)

Harrogate Theatre will continue to provide a dynamic, challenging and entertaining arts service for the District and this news sees no short term changes to the artistic programme. A production of Saturday Night & Sunday Morning, adapted by Amanda Whittington and directed by Joyce Branagh, opens on Friday 22 February and the plans for this calendar year remain unchanged with the second phase of a major refurbishment scheduled for the summer of 2008. (more…)