Theatre, Dance & Performance

With a minimalist set comprising an artistic backdrop and an elevated platform, the style is evocative of a Mark Rothko painting and of Francis Bacon’s ‘darker’ work, the scene is set to introduce the English Touring Opera’s performance of Iphegenie en Tauride. ETO’s version is a beautiful and captivating opera, where mesmerising vocals keep you alert to the events taking place. There are subtitles for the plot written on either side of the stage and dramatic facial expressions convey the magnitude of this Greek tragedy set after the Trojan War about the reuniting of a brother and sister. The costumes seem also to be…

Throughout April I've been following and shooting a fantastic community project at Highfield Road Park. Led by Sophie Fuce of LeftCoast and with the help and support of the Friends of Highfield Road Park, local residents were lured into the park pavilion to share their stories and memories of the park throughout the years. Tea was drunk and cakes were consumed as tales - funny, sad, often moving - were related, and notes taken for future reference. Meanwhile everyone was busy, under the skilled supervision of Alan Hulme of Urban Organic UK CIC, first erecting a living willow dome, then…

When I was asked to preview ATOMOS, a new work by Company Wayne McGregor, I was instantly drawn to the level of interdisciplinary processes which McGregor employs when working with dancers and storytelling- both scientifically, and artistically. Delving a little deeper in the work of McGregor, there is quite a record of award winning success as a British choreographer and director. He has choreographed over 30 works through his own self named company, whilst being resident choreographer at Royal Ballet, professor of choreography at Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and has an Honorary Doctor of Science from Plymouth University.…

It will soon be time to Time Warp Again as the classic cult musical, The Rocky Horror Show, is staged at Blackpool Opera House this autumn. For the uninitiated, The Rocky Horror Show is the story of two young people, squeaky clean college kids Brad and his fiancée Janet. After their car breaks down the pair are catapulted into the weird world of Frank N. Furter and his friends. As guests in his strange home the couple embark upon an adventure they will never forget. An adventure filled with fun, frolics, frocks (or lack of them) frivolity and, at times,…

Blackpool Grand Theatre has recently launched a new theatre company for young people aged 14-19 years. Not just any young Theatre company, Grand NT Connections 500 Young Company have become part of the National Theatre’s prestigious NT Connections 500 programme. I was lucky enough to be commissioned to photograph their amazing production at the regional festival. "Blackout" is a visual journey into what it can feel like to be a teenager who does not fit into their surroundings and could be interpreted as "different". The story follows a lead character who as a young  individual experiences some "dark moments" and…

David Walliams is one of Britain’s best-loved public figures with his own brand of warm charm, acerbic wit and confusingly camp personality; his books have sold over 10-million copies worldwide and have been translated into over 40 languages and Gangsta Granny was Walliams’ fourth children’s book; the stage show that arrived at Blackpool Grand Theatre last week therefore came with high expectations attached. Nowadays it is difficult to watch any domestic drama aimed at children without seeing seams of the brilliant Roald Dahl threading through, and certainly Walliams’ own darkly-edged personality and written characters would not be at odds with…

Opera-lovers are in for a treat again as English Touring Opera return to Blackpool’s Grand Theatre with another double offering. On consecutive evenings Friday 13 and Saturday 14 May performances of Iphigenie en Tauride and Don Giovanni respectively are set to tantalise your musical tastebuds in a way that only Olivier Award Winning company ETO can. Opera is not everyone’s cup of tea, however I have nothing but praise to sing for ETO's performances: Always visually stunning, full of emotion and translating each story line to the audience with passion and verve. This May will be no different, when they perform two complex pieces. Iphigenie en Tauride is based on the…

Over sixty years after they first formed in 1953, Blackpool Operatic Players should know a thing or two about putting on a play and their latest production, which played at The Grand Theatre, The Producers, shows that they most definitely do. The Producers is an hilarious tale of a plan to produce the worst musical ever, but even the best laid plans go wrong sometimes … Fading Broadway producer, Max Bialystock, once known as the King of Broadway, has grown tired after an endless string of flops and vows to return to his previous successful form. However, a chance remark…

Atomos is a work by cutting-edge contemporary choreographer Wayne McGregor. Born in 1970, Wayne McGregor is a multi-award winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined dance in the modern era Atomos will be coming to Grand Theatre Blackpool this May and will be a piece of truly interdisciplinary and thought provoking choreography which will question art, science and the body; through atomic collisions of movement, sound and light. Taking from its name, the work is set to build from the tiniest of units into something far more choreographically and scientifically nuclear.…

Ed Byrne is a comedian who says a lot in a short space of time; he speaks fast and covers a lot of ground. It was expected therefore that his currently touring 2-hour stand-up show would rove through a range of different topics; at his recent ‘back-by-popular-demand’ return to Lowther Pavilion though, it was astonishing just how much material was covered. Throughout the night Byrne touches on corporate entertainment, one-night stands, ‘girls shoes’ for boys, the joys of defecating, coffee shop snobbery, the moments when dates go wrong, vasectomy, the world banking crisis, Australian media and trainee doctors, amongst others.…