REVIEW: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (Bournemouth Pavilion) ★★★★★
Narrated by the gorgeous ‘ragamuffins’ Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette, Little Shop of Horrors is a satirical mockery of the more dubious sci-fi movies of the 1950’s. Queens of sass Sasha Latoya, Cassie Clare and Vanessa Fisher perform with spice, life and phenomenal voices – their harmonies sending a chill down my spine. The score for […]
REVIEW: SOOZ KEMPNER: A BIT OF A CHARACTER (Just The Tonic at The Caves) ★★★★★
Comedian Sooz Kempner returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the third year running after her critically acclaimed shows ‘Defying Gravity’ and ‘Character Activist’. This year she gives us not one but two separate shows, ‘Queen’ and a revised version of last years show ‘A Bit of a Character’. This show presents four very different people. In-between each one, we […]
REVIEW: THE PAST IS A TATTOOED SAILOR (Old Red Lion Theatre) ★★★
Simon Blow’s new drama is based on the true story of his relationship with his great-uncle, a former socialite who was considered “the brightest” of the “bright young people” in the 1920s – Stephen Tennant. Tennant had an affair with Siegfried Sassoon over several years and counted Cecil Beaton, The Sitwells, Jean Cocteau, and many […]
REVIEW: LUKE KEMPNER: JUDI DENCH BROKE MY HEART (Pleasance Dome) ★★★★
You may know impressionist Luke Kempner from his successful viral video skit, parodying Downton Abbey, or perhaps from his subsequent TV show on BBC3! Luke has also trodden the boards starring in Les Mis, Avenue Q and South Pacific. Luke returns to Edinburgh Fringe with his new show Judi Dench Broke My Heart. This is […]
REVIEW: TWELFTH NIGHT (The Pilot, Greenwich) ★★★★★
Open Bar Theatre are the sister company to Open Book founded in 2013 by Nicky Diss, Vicky Gaskin and Ellie Cope. While Open Book presents wonderful and magical interpretations of children’s literary classics in library’s, Open Bar presents bawdy and accessible Shakespeare in pub gardens – possibly one of the best staging ideas for a […]
REVIEW: UNTRANSLATABLE (The Space) ★★★
Recently I was working in China – and to keep me in the loop – my close friend would send me emails about her life, not with updates of her work, gym gains or holiday news… but with the gory details of her love life! I am fascinated by romantic relationships, I love talking about […]
New cast announced for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
The new cast of The Phantom of the Opera has been announced today. Joining the cast from Monday 5 September are Siôn Lloyd as ‘Monsieur Firmin’; Mark Oxtoby as ‘Monsieur Andre’; Paul Ettore Tabone as ‘Piangi’ and Daisy Hulbert as ‘Meg’. Also continuing their roles are: Megan Llewellyn as ‘Carlotta’ and Jacinta Mulcahy as ‘Madame […]
REVIEW: DAN SIMPSON: ARTIFICIAL INELOQUENCE (Banshee Labyrinth) ★★★★
Are you worried that your smartphone is taking over your life? Concerned that a computer could take your job? Troubled by all the data you share online and what happens to it? Spend an hour with Dan Simpson, stand-up and poet, as he takes on the machines. Presenting a techy show in a very un-techy […]
REVIEW: DOORS TO MANUAL (Just The Tonic at the Mash House) ★★★
Doors To Manual is part sketch comedy show, introducing us to characters on an aeroplane and part aviation fun fact lesson. Rhiannon Vivian plays six characters on board an aeroplane, plus herself. It is the scenes with herself that we learn about her life, her struggles with a fear of flying and how that fear […]
REVIEW: THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA (Cadogan Hall) ★★★
I am probably sixty years older than the demographic at which this production is aimed, and so excuse me if I am a little out of touch with what makes children chortle, and at the same time I am a little over cynical about what producers are looking to gain. When you arrive at the […]