REVIEW: TENDERLY (New Wimbledon Studio) ★★★★★
Sometimes there are jukebox musicals that are forced to fit. They shoehorn songs into a plot, or fashion a plot around some pre-written songs. It tends to make for a very makeshift and incomplete feeling show. Tenderly, is not one of these. Set in a doctor’s office, the show is Rosemary Clooney’s recount of her […]
REVIEW: THE TEST (White Bear Theatre) ★★★
The Test is a new play written and directed by Ian Dixon Potter and produced by Golden Age Theatre at White Bear Theatre in Kennington. Dora is a talented computer scientist; she has written a code that she believes will create truly conscious artificial intelligence. She wants to try it out; her boss is understandably […]
REVIEW: LEGALLY BLONDE (Churchill Theatre) ★★
UK audiences have been lucky to have had several brilliant productions of the musical adaptation of Legally Blonde with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Since it premiered on Broadway in 2007 we’ve had a wildly successful West End production along with a live cast recording, a UK tour and a Leicester […]
REVIEW: KINKY BOOTS (Adelphi Theatre) ★★★★★
The story of a young man who is reluctantly forced into his father’s shoes as the head of his family’s Shoe Factory, doesn’t exactly sound like a subject for a musical. Yet Kinky Boots has just celebrated it’s second birthday in the West End and there is no question as to why. The show is excellent, […]
REVIEW: The People vs Donald Trump (The London Theatre) ★
If there is any silver lining at all to the grimness of recent global affairs, it’s arguably the gift bestowed on political satirists. Sadly, that gift is squandered by ‘The People vs Donald Trump’, which is more screwball than satire and frustratingly low on wit. Written and directed by former US trial lawyer Max Lopert, […]
REVIEW: HOLDING THE MAN (Above The Stag) ★★★★
Based on the memoir of Timothy Conigrave, ‘Holding the Man‘ first takes place in 1970’s Australia, where the lives of teenage sweethearts Tim and John intertwine over the next 20 years together. Despite concern from both sets of parents that their sexuality would make their lives ‘difficult’, the pair are relentless in their mutual pursuits […]
REVIEW: Gate (The Cockpit) ★★★★
Gate is a new play by Artemis Fitzalan Howard brought to the Cockpit by Deadpan Theatre following previous success with Pre-Drinks/Afterparty at Edinburgh Fringe in 2016. If you’ve ever wondered about the admin at the pearly gates, Gate presents the bureaucracy behind deciding who goes ‘upstairs’, who goes ‘downstairs’ and what happens when it’s not […]
REVIEW: Five Guys Named Moe (Marble Arch Theatre) ★★★★★
Five Guys Named Moe is penned by man of many talents, Clarke Peters and this show first rock and rolled onto stage at Theatre Royal Stratford East back in 1990, before shimmying into London’s West End for four years and then hot-footin’ to Broadway (and casually picking up the Olivier for Best Entertainment along their […]
REVIEW: And the Rest of Me Floats (Mill Co. Rose Lipman Building) ★★★★
Walking into the theatre space at the Rose Lipman Building, a small crowd has formed around the bar. Four seats face us from an otherwise rather bleak stage and an array of microphones and musical instruments keep watch from the sidelines. As we take our seats, a rather noticeable soundtrack plays about the room – […]
REVIEW: Derren Brown: Underground (Playhouse Theatre) ★★★★★
One of the first things Derren Brown said as he stepped on stage was for no one to share any specific information about the content of the show, be it a critic’s review or a simple tweet. Very #KeepTheSecrets Cursed Child much? Naturally, this makes my job much more difficult in not providing enough detail, […]