REVIEW: BRAINIAC LIVE! (Garrick Theatre) ★★★
The Brainiac TV show ran for six series from 2002 to 2008 and since that date Incidental Coleman has produced a touring version for theatres. The idea is the same: to make science interesting for young children. This August the latest version “Brainiac Live” performs at the Garrick Theatre in the heart of the West […]
REVIEW: Grease The Musical (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★★
Step back in time, this version of Grease is more real life grit than the saccharin polish of the 1978 movie and is all the better for it. Director Nikolai Foster has gone back to the original stage production and reset Rydell High. Using Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs’ initial story, this production delves into […]
REVIEW: Southern Belles (Kings Head Theatre) ★★★★★
Prickly, tense and brewing with malcontent, Tennessee Williams’ is as relevant now as in his 40’s and 50’s heyday when his cataloguing of petty enmities and bitter cruelties captivated audiences in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Tennessee Williams work was ahead of his time, channelling some uncomfortable truths of […]
REVIEW: The View Upstairs (Soho Theatre) ★★★★
If there is a better cast assembled in any theatre in London at the moment, I am not aware of it. This is a stellar group of performers, featuring some of my personal favourites. The View Upstairs is a new musical written by Max Vernon inspired by the tragic story of the UpStairs Lounge, a […]
The Worst Witch Rating (Vaudeville Theatre) ★★★★★
A bubbling brew of witchy wonderment swirls about the Vaudeville Theatre this summer as a new adaptation of Jill Murphy’s beloved The Worst Witch descends on the West End. A high-energy musical production with plenty of comedy, a smattering of physical theatre and a sprinkling of original songs, this show is a real delight for […]
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE INVISIBLE THING (Rudolf Steiner Theatre) ★★★
The Rudolf Steiner Theatre is just a stones throw from 221B Baker Street, so it seems appropriate to stage this play by Greg Freeman here. The play stays true to the original characters of Holmes and Watson and does have a strikingly modern feel in its headstrong leading lady, Miss Grendle, concerned about being an […]
REVIEW: MOTOWN (Milton Keynes Theatre) ★★★
Following a 3-year stint in London’s West End, Motown hit the road in October 2018 and embarked on an extensive UK tour, which this week stopped off at Milton Keynes Theatre. One of the more commercially successful attempts in the ‘jukebox musical’ club in recent years, this song-packed stroll down memory lane tells the story […]
REVIEW: Chambers (Immersive Dining Experience From Gingerline) ★★★★
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a Londoner is forever in pursuit of new experiences. One would be hard pressed to find a quirkier way to enjoy a five-course dinner in the capital. The fourth instalment of the rebranded “Chambers_” has amassed a keen following – the first month’s worth of preview tickets sold out […]
REVIEW: Rock of Ages (Sunderland Empire) ★★★
Rock of Ages arrives into Sunderland, bringing with it power ballads and big hair as we move into Los Angeles in the 1980’s. Essentially a love story, in fact many love stories, and a ‘will they or won’t they’ ending. It is actually quite a sleazy show – and not in a good way. Did […]
REVIEW: The Actor’s Nightmare (Park Theatre) ★★
Theatre of the Absurd is something of an acquired taste, with its normal situations peppered with leaps of logic and bizarre twists. Christopher Durang‘s curated series of six short extended sketches, seeks to give the world of film and theatre an absurd treatment. The Actor’s Nightmare, staged in the round in the Park 90, places […]