REVIEW: STILL (Ovalhouse Theatre) ★★★★
In 2009 Vivian Maier died, alone, in Chicago. Among her possessions was a tea chest full of her excellent but un-viewed Chicago urban streets photographs. The pictures had been taken painstakingly over the years with her trusty Rolliflex, twin lens reflex camera. Maier had only once tried to exhibit her work, in a New York […]
REVIEW: TOLKIEN MUSICAL (Arts Theatre) ★★★★
The journey to become a celebrated literary figure was a long and trying one for John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. In his youth, he loses his mother and is henceforth brought up by stern Father Francis. When the romance between Tolkien and Edith Bratt starts to blossom, Francis forbids him to see her again. John prioritises […]
REVIEW: HALF A SIXPENCE (Noel Coward Theatre) ★★★★
HALF A SIXPENCE has just opened in London’s West End after a smash hit run at Chichester Festival Theatre earlier this year. The 1963 musical is based on a book by writer H. G. Wells and is the simple rags to riches story of an orphan boy who inherits a fortune and tries to find […]
REVIEW: PRINCE BENDOVER IN BOOTS (Royal Vauxhall Tavern) ★★★★
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern panto is back, Oh yes it is! A very untraditional and naughty take on the traditional panto bought up to date for adult years. Last years smash hit show Charming Dick did so well, it has transferred to the (appropriately named) Cockpit Theatre for the 2016 festive season. PRINCE BENDOVER IN […]
REVIEW: DAUGHTER (Pleasance Theatre) ★★★
Transferring from the Ink Festival, Bill Cashmore’s ‘Daughter’ is the story of growing up, the people we leave behin and the monotony of real life. Entering the space the audience is met with a preset on stage right of a cosy working class living room with ‘Dad’ (Andrew Murton) reading a paper in his […]
REVIEW: La Soirèe (Leicester Square) ★★★★
Christmas is coming. The lights are up and the air smells of mulled wine. In Leicester Square a collection of stalls has appeared, including the famous Spiegeltent. It’s by no means as grand as the one on Southbank, which does mean that there isn’t quite as much flexibility for certain acts. That said, they’ve done […]
REVIEW: The Stephen Sondheim Society Presents … (Phoenix Artist Club) ★★★★
The Phoenix Artist Club (located underneath the Phoenix Theatre) plays host to the Stephen Sondheim Society cabaret nights, a bi-weekly event that sees theatre performers sing a selection of songs. I went along to the final cabaret for 2016 to see my friend Tim McArthur compare a night of musical theatre songs performed by Laura […]
REVIEW: SCHOOL OF ROCK (New London Theatre) ★★★★
Based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black, SCHOOL OF ROCK is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s first rock musical since the 1971 smash hit Jesus Christ Superstar. The show premiered on Broadway in 2015 and this week made its UK premiere at the New London Theatre. So does the show live up to the hype from […]
REVIEW: DRACULA (Kings Head Theatre) ★★★
“Dracula”, written by Daniel Hallissey and Danny Wainwright (who also directed this play) does not shy away from addressing all sorts of uncomfortable subjects: immigrants, women’s rights and gluten intolerance. In their slapstick approach to Bram Stoker’s classic, Count Dracula is a misunderstood Transylvanian gentleman on the search for his one true (British) love to […]
REVIEW: MULE (Omnibus) ★★★★
Mule, produced by Omnibus and written by award winning Omnibus associate writer Kat Woods received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and now comes to the Omnibus in Clapham for ten days in November. The play is inspired by real life events in 2013 as Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum hit the headlines when […]