REVIEW: THE BODYGUARD (Sunderland Empire)
The Bodyguard arrives with a bang in to Sunderland Empire. Based on the 1992 film of the same name starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, the musical has been adapted and updated for the stage and is jam packed full of Houston’s greatest hits. Playing Rachel Marron in Sunderland was North East favourite Zoe Birkett. […]
REVIEW: EGGS (Vaults Festival)
With its buzzing atmosphere and ramshackle décor, the Vaults Festival is brilliant example of how fringe theatre can invade the most unlikely of spaces. And within the Festival are little gems of shows, such as Eggs. Following two mid-twenty year old friends over a year or so, Eggs explore the nature of female friendship through […]
REVIEW: THE FATHER (Duke of York’s Theatre)
Some suggest that time is a precious thing. This couldn’t be suggested more so than in Florian Zeller’s The Father. After successful runs at the Tricycle and Wyndham’s, it returns to the West End for a five-week run at the Duke of York’s. Kenneth Cranham plays Andre, an 80 year father to his daughter Anne […]
REVIEW: ROCKY HORROR SHOW (New Wimbledon Theatre)
Rocky Horror Show – “It’s just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right. Put your hands on your hips, and bend your knees in time…” Everyone knows how to do the Time Warp (again) but how many people could tell you what happens in Act II? It’s strange but although […]
REVIEW: BEYOND THE FENCE (Arts Theatre)
Can a computer create a hit musical? Scientists have set out to answer this question by creating Beyond The Fence which has just opened at the Arts Theatre in London’s West End. If you look at all the big hit musicals against one another you start to see patterns form and this information […]
REVIEW: MS. THE SONGBOOK (Tabard Theatre)
Ms. The Songbook is an exciting new song cycle album conceived by lyricist Rory Sherman in support of The MS Society UK. Sherman has worked with an array of international musical theatre composers to create the album based on blogs, interviews and meetings with women living with multiple sclerosis. Produced and directed by Simon Greif […]
REVIEW: HAPPINESS IS A CUP OF TEA (Vault Festival)
Unlike some of my theatrical colleagues, I have no qualms about one woman plays. Personally, I quite like internal monologues being blown wide open on the stage, however sometimes the stereotypes can ring true. Annie McKenzie’s ‘Happiness is a Cup of Tea’ is one of these shows. Set on top of a cliff, her character […]
REVIEW: ANTIGONE (The Hope Theatre)
In a sinister, dystopic setting, five women (‘The Chorus’) tell each other Sophocles’ story of Antigone. With both parents dead and shamed their entire lives for their incestuous roots, a new tragedy befalls the children of Oedipus. The brothers have slain each other in battle, and Creon, the new King of Thebes, forbids […]
REVIEW: THE PATRIOTIC TRAITOR (The Park Theatre)
The Patriotic Traitor takes on the meaty, complex and tragic story of Charles De Gaulle (Laurence Fox) and Marshal Pétain (Tom Conti); the unstoppable force and the unmovable object. These two legendary men are part of the fabric of French history and their relationship was like that of father and son. Jonathan Lynn’s new play […]
REVIEW: FIREBIRD (Trafalgar Studios)
Just as Phil Davies’ highly relevant play Firebird transfers from the Hampstead Theatre to Trafalgar Studios 2, the verdict regarding the child exploitation ring in Rotherham is announced proving once again that this play is not just a story but based on real events. 14-year old Tia (Callie Cooke) hides her loneliness and vulnerability behind […]