REVIEW: THE BEGGAR’S OPERA (Brockley Jack Studio) ★★★★
THE BEGGAR’S OPERA is a musical comedy and political satire originally written by John Gay in 1728. This funny, lively adaptation has an excellent, fresh, new score and contemporary staging. According to Ricky Dukes, the Artistic Director, the new material was written in eight weeks and rehearsals took just three weeks. That is truly remarkable, […]
REVIEW: DENY, DENY, DENY (Park Theatre) ★★★★
Following on from the success of DEAD SHEEP and AN AUDIENCE WITH JIMMY SAVILE, Jonathan Maitland returns to the Park Theatre with his new play DENY, DENY, DENY about the illegal drug use within competitive sporting competitions. Eve is a promising young athlete with much potential. Her coach suggests she try a new cutting edge […]
REVIEW: AN INSPECTOR CALLS (Playhouse Theatre) ★★
AN INSPECTOR CALLS is the well known classic by J. B. Priestly which is a popular text studied at schools for GCSE’s. Stephen Daldry directed the show at the National Theatre in 1992 and then on the more recent 2011 UK tour. The show is now revived in the West End for a limited season […]
REVIEW: THE LAST FIVE YEARS (St James Theatre) ★★★
THE LAST FIVE YEARS is probably composer Jason Robert Brown’s greatest achievement of his career so far. The musical is based on his own marriage breakdown and is so close to the real life story that his ex wife threatened legal action when it was released. The off-broadway musical opened in 2002 and there have […]
REVIEW: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY celebrates four years in the West End
This week Charlie and the Chocolate Factory celebrated its fourth and final year in London’s West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane ahead of its closure after Christmas, to make room of 42nd Street which is set to open in March 2017. Based on the 1964 children’s book by the legendary Roald Dahl, the […]
REVIEW: THE ROYLE (The Tabernacle) ★★★★
As you enter The Tabernacle (current home of the Bush Theatres’s 2015 revival ‘The Royale’) there is no question as to the era. Beer bottles, dirt and flyers litter the ground of a hazy smoke filled boxing arena in the centre the room. Low hanging factory lights enhance the shadows whilst a blues record echoes […]
REVIEW: CATS (New Wimbledon Theatre) ★★★
If there’s one show from my childhood I remember listening to again and again it’s CATS, so needless to say I was incredibly excited when I saw it had rolled back into town. I was with excitement to hear the songs I loved so much when I was younger and had high hopes that after […]
REVIEW: TRUMPAGEDDON (King’s Head Theatre) ★★★★
TRUMPAGEDDON was a sold out success at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe festival, back in August when the election seemed so far away. It’s back for a few more shows at The King’s Head Theatre in the run-up to election day, including election night itself. You’re invited to spend an hour with Donald Trump, to hear […]
REVIEW: DEAD FUNNY (Vaudeville Theatre) ★★★★
Terry Johnson’s award-winning 1994 comedy DEAD FUNNY is a fantastic comedic addition to the West End and a small yet painfully funny antidote to the huge trials and tribulations of 2016. Set in 1992, DEAD FUNNY tells the story of Ellie (Katherine Parkinson) and Richard (Rufus Jones), a dysfunctional married couple who haven’t had sex […]
REVIEW: TRAINSPOTTING (The Vaults) ★★★★★
Transgressive fiction is known as literature that deals with characters who feel confined by the expectations of authority figures and society and wish to break free of those confinements in taboo or forbidden ways. Dealing with self-identity, inner peace or personal freedom, often the protagonists of transgressive fiction are seen as mentally ill, anti-social or […]