REVIEW: TRAVESTIES (Apollo Theatre) ★★★
A play set in Zurich 1917 involving James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Lenin surely sounds like a comedy waiting to be told?! Tom Stoppard’s Travesties finds a sense of joy in the most intellectual of conversation. Taking the role of narrator, Tom Hollander plays Henry Carr, a minor British diplomat in Zurich 1917 as he […]
REVIEW: THE WEDDING SINGER (Curve Leicester) ★★★★
The year is 1985. Think crimped hair, UV lights and bad wedding dresses. The Wedding Singer received a warm welcome from Curve Leicester last night as it prepares to embark on its nationwide tour. It promises to be a “hilarious musical based on the hit film”, and it certainly is just that. Having never seen […]
REVIEW: GLITTER PUNCH (Kings Head Theatre) ★★
After its short run at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre, Lucy Burke’s ‘Glitter Punch’ a play that focuses on love, sex and the difference between the two makes a swift return to the Kings Head. The narrative focuses on the life of sixteen year old ‘Molly’ (Charlotte Salkind) who like any teenager yearns to escape […]
REVIEW: Don Quixote in Algiers (White Bear Theatre) ★★
In Algiers between 1578 and 1580, Miguel de Cervantes (later the author of Don Quixote de La Mancha) was in custody. He had been a soldier who was captured by Barbary pirates and was being held captive in the city of Algiers until a ransom could be raised. Cervantes was not held in a prison […]
REVIEW: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Jack Studio Theatre) ★★★★★
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s infamous tale has been adapted into a straight 90-minute play by Arrow and Traps Theatre, skilfully transferring the novelist’s darkness from the page to the stage and leaving us satisfyingly chilled to the bone. Set in St. Petersburg, Russia, a young, impoverished ex-student by the name of Raskolnikov finds himself contemplating the justification […]
FILM REVIEW: Disney’s NEWSIES the Musical ★★★★★
Imelda Staunton’s terrifying turn in ‘Gypsy’ and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’ are among the most memorable recordings of theatre shows in my mind. Along with countless RSC and Opera productions streaming live, theatre has never been more accessible, and now ‘Newsies’ screening on the 19th of February is bringing this hit musical across the Atlantic […]
REVIEW: BEDROOM FARCE (Theatro Technis) ★★★★★
This is true Ayckbourn theatrical farce. Full of misunderstandings, extreme characters and bedrooms. It takes place over one night of mayhem and the following morning of reflection. Marital disharmony, a bad back, pilchards on toast in bed and collapsing flat packed furniture are the stories sub-plots. Told with great humour and style and yes, with […]
REVIEW: THRILLER LIVE (Lyric Theatre) ★★★
Eight years ago last month, Thriller Live opened in London’s West End, celebrating the music of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Less than six months later, the man himself sadly died, making Thriller Live a celebration concert of his life as well as his music. It is undeniably a brilliant dance show with a […]
REVIEW: SPEAKING IN TONGUES (Cockpit Theatre) ★★
Speaking In Tongues, by award winning Australian writer Andrew Bovell, is a two act play that is made up of a web of interconnected narratives concerning the subjects of love, deceit, sex and possibly even murder. The first act is a reasonably straightforward, sometimes humorous story, about infidelity between two attractive young couples. The second […]
REVIEW: The Taming of the Shrew (The Cockpit) ★
After a successful turn at the Camden Fringe Festival, ‘Get Over It Productions’ all female version of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ transfers to the Cockpit Theatre. Considered one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, the story centres on a group of young men competing for the opportunity to woo the charming ‘Bianca’. However, as her […]