REVIEW: WHAT’S IN A NAME (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre) ★★★★
Having enjoyed Christopher Hampton’s translations of the French plays of Florian Zeller (most recently the excellent “The Son”) and seen the wonderful touring production of “Amelie” (based on the 2001 French film), I was intrigued to see how Jeremy Sams translated and directed an English version of the 2010 French play “Le Prenom”(also a French […]
REVIEW: HEARTBEAT OF HOME (Piccadilly Theatre) ★★★
Riverdance became the global phenomenon twenty five years ago, in a seven minute interval act on the Eurovision Sing Contest and has gone on to be staged in many incarnations ever since. This latest derivative version started in Dublin in 2013 and has enjoyed a sell out spell at the London Palladium before returning for […]
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Duchess Theatre ★★★★★
Mischief Theatre’s hilarious The Play That Goes Wrong premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London in 2012, before moving to Trafalgar Studios shortly after in 2013. After a successful run at Trafalgar Studios the show went out on tour throughout 2014 before settling at the Duchess Theatre in London where it remains today. […]
REVIEW: Conspiracy (New Diorama Theatre) ★★★
Conspiracy from Barrel Organ gets a London premiere at the New Diorama Theatre, following a sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and winning the Untapped Award. As the audience enters the room to take their seats, the cast are sitting at a table commenting on their observations; how many people are wearing glasses, […]
REVIEW: VISION OF YOU (The Other Palace) ★★★★★
I saw Bat Out of Hell four times at the Manchester Palace, Coliseum and the Dominion Theatre and was blown away by the energy and power of the cast. So it was an absolute pleasure to see Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler create a cast reunion at The Other Palace, for a full blown Jim […]
REVIEW: THE FISHERMEN (Trafalgar Studios 2) ★★★
Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma‘s 2015 Man Booker prize nominated debut novel, The Fishernen, is by all accounts an epic powerful read, so it is quite adventurous to take this tale and convert it into a two hander seventy minute play. But that is exactly what Gbolahan Obisesan and production company, New Perspectives, have attempted to […]
REVIEW: THE STRANGE CASE OF JEKYLL AND HYDE (Jack Studio Theatre) ★★★
Writer and director Ross McGregor’s intriguing and original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic horror story transplants the action from Victorian London to the 2020 US Presidential Election campaign but retains the original’s theme of duality and the darkness within all of us. McGregor and the Arrows and Traps team have been working their way […]
REVIEW: CHIAROSCURO (Bush Theatre) ★★★★
This was my first visit to this wonderfully conceived Bush Theatre and there was an energetic feel about the place and a welcomeness that draws you in. I felt the excitement even before the play started. It built once the lights dimmed on the young diverse audience and this beautifully written play unfolded. Staged in […]
REVIEW: TORCH SONG (The Turbine Theatre) ★★★★★
Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three one-act plays International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The first of his trilogy, International Stud opened in 1978 at Off-Broadway’s Players Theatre, followed by Fugue in a Nursery and Widows and Children First! at Off-Off-Broadway’s La Mama in 1979. All […]
REVIEW: FALSETTOS (The Other Palace) ★★★★
The award winning Falsettos originally started life as the one-act musical ‘In Trousers’, written by William Finn premiering in 1979 at Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons. After having two successful Off-Broadway runs of the show, Finn collaborated with James Lapine to create two additional one-act musicals, ‘March of the Falsettos’ and ‘Falsettoland’. March of the Falsettos premiered […]