REVIEW: LA BOHÈME (King’s Head Theatre) ★★★
What happens when you cross Rent with La Bohème? It might seem interesting to amalgamate Puccini’s opera with Larson’s musical, but that is precisely what Adam Spreadbury-Maher and Becca Marriott have done. Brought (even more) up-to-date, flat mates Mark (Thomas Humphreys) and Ralph (Matthew Kimble) are realising that their dreams alone will not pay the […]
REVIEW: THE NAKED MAGICIANS (Trafalgar Studios) ★★★★
This one does what it says on the tin. Fresh off the stages of the Edinburgh Fringe, these two well ahem… developed Australian men take to the stage in various stages of dress to perform a little magic. The evening starts with a warm-up comedian to entertain and stir up an already lively and well-liquored […]
REVIEW: SISTER ACT (Empire Theatre, Sunderland) ★★★
Ambitious club singer Deloris Van Cartier (Alexandra Burke) sees her controlling gangster boyfriend Curtis (Aaron Lee Lambert) commit murder and former schoolmate ‘Sweaty’ Eddie Souther (Jon Robyn) arranges police protection. The book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner follows the rough outline of Joseph Howard’s film starring Whoopi Goldberg. Somewhat incongruously, the safe house chosen by […]
REVIEW: THE LAST TYCOON (Arts Theatre) ★★★
Whenever people think of F. Scott Fitzgerald, they tend to discuss his most famous work – The Great Gatsby. For me however, there is something more appealing about a writer’s lesser known works, especially those that remain unfinished at their death. The Last Tycoon was a little over half finished when Fitzgerald died, completed by […]
REVIEW: EVERY WILD BEAST (C Venues) ★★★★★
In a tiny box room up a wooden spiral staircase, you can find a little bit of magic. Every Wild Beast is enchanting. The tale of a girl and a boy who in unlikely circumstances, find each other and go on a wonderful journey. We are guided by the gentle voice of the storyteller (Sullivan […]
REVIEW: ADELE IS YOUNGER THAN US (Stiff and Kitsch at C Venues) ★★★★★
We have all at least once had the realisation that someone younger than us is doing better than us. Whether they are earning more, have our dream job or are just in a more successful relationship, it hurts. For Rhiannon Neads and Sally O’Leary, this person, is Adele. The pair are hysterical. The show is […]
REVIEW: UNFAITHFUL (Found111) ★★★
The obsession for sex within modern day lifestyle has grown in recent years, thanks to a natural leeway towards writing about it in music, film and other media. Communication at both a verbal and non-verbal level, when it comes to talking about the stark truth about sex and the issue of trust with this in […]
REVIEW: BRITTEN IN BROOKLYN (Wilton’s Music Hall) ★★
There’s a moment towards the end of Britten in Brooklyn in which Sadie Frost, making her stage comeback as Gypsy Rose Lee, describes how the setting and lifestyle herself and her artistic peers choose to live in is, ‘false…it doesn’t mean anything’. This somehow rings true to this production overall. Set in 1941, Benjamin Britten […]
REVIEW: COUNTING STARS (Theatre Royal Stratford East) ★★★★
Counting Stars is a single act play, lasting sixty five minutes in which two actors play all the parts. Each actor plays one principle character and two supplementary characters who are less central, but still important to the story. The actors talk directly to the audience and not to each other throughout, at least not […]
REVIEW: IF WE GOT SOME MORE COCAINE I COULD SHOW YOU HOW I LOVE YOU (Old Red Lion) ★★★★
It’s Halloween in a small Irish town, and Casey and Mikey find themselves on top of Casey’s roof, hiding from the cops and well-stocked with drugs, cash and booze – but ultimately stuck, with nothing to do but wait for the all-clear. Hypothetically set two floors above the ground, the audience sits at eye-level observing […]