REVIEW: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – TOTEM (The Royal Albert Hall) ★★★★★
Cirque du Soleil: A circus troupe whose globally acclaimed reputation of excellence supersedes every flip, balance and rollerblading-neck-spin-on-a-tiny-podium they make. Initially named Les Échassiers (‘The Waders’), this Canadian theatre company aren’t as old as their prestigious notoriety suggests. The troupe formed in 1980 to tour Quebec and their success has effervescently soared since, becoming the […]
REVIEW: Extra Virgin (Above the Stag Theatre) ★★
When the lights go up, we interrupt the most intimate of acts occurring between Noah and Elliot: a Grindr hookup in full swing. For a casual affair, the pair seem to be very relaxed with one another, and Noah (James Farley) takes the opportunity to broach the possibility for an ’emotional’ hookup. What if, for […]
REVIEW: ASPECTS OF LOVE (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★
Although not premiered until 1989, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Aspects of Love’ was first conceived in 1979, when he and Tim Rice were approached to write some songs for the movie version of the David Garnett novella. The movie was shelved but this initial spark began the ten year journey to the fully staged musical (with […]
REVIEW: Benidorm Live (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★★
The move from the beloved TV series to stage play has gone seamlessly for Benidorm, due in no small way to the brilliant writing of Derren Litten. He has given life to all the characters he knows so well. In the fine tradition of farce, the story is based on a series of misunderstandings. Posh […]
REVIEW: ANOMALY (Red Lion Theatre) ★★★★
Anomaly is the debut play from Liv Warden, showing at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Warden began writing at the Soho Writers Lab in 2016; this play was first conceived in conjunction with the National Theatre playwriting course and finished at the Arcola Theatre ‘Introduction to Playwriting’ course at the end of last year. Warden […]
REVIEW: ORIGINAL DEATH RABBIT (Jermyn Street Theatre) ★★★
Rose Heiney’s monologue performed by Kimberley Nixon as the eponymous Death Rabbit offers a warning for those whose lives are dominated by social media, where a “like” can briefly give you a false idea of being the most important person in the world but where an anonymous adverse comment can prompt a disproportionate feeling of […]
REVIEW: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (New Diorama Theatre) ★★★★
Isley Lynn’s unusual take on the HG Wells science-fiction classic The War Of The Worlds comes without any Martians but instead focuses of the mythology around Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast and links this to the supposedly modern phenonium of ‘fake news’. The team from Rhum and Clay then weave the 1930s story with a […]
REVIEW: AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (The Union Theatre) ★★★
Phil Willmott‘s three play season at The Union Theatre under the title ‘Enemies of the People‘ has opened with Arthur Miller‘s 1950’s adaption of Henri Ibsen‘s 1882 play set in Norway called ‘An Enemy of the People‘. As Willmott did last year so brilliantly, when he moved the timing of The Cherry Orchard to post […]
REVIEW: MOTOWN THE MUSICAL (The Bristol Hippodrome) ★★★
More than 60 truncated hits feature in ‘Motown the Musical’, the show written by Motown records founder Berry Gordy, which debuted on Broadway before arriving in London’s West End in 2016. I’m a big fan of the kind of straight forward fun offered by a jukebox musical, and a lover of Motown – so I […]
REVIEW: In Conversation with Graham Norton (The Hope Theatre) ★★★★
In Conversation with Graham Norton was first staged at The Hope Theatre in September 2018 for a short, sell out run. The debut play by Simon Perrott, directed by Joseph Winters, is back at The Hope Theatre for a longer run this month with Jay Parsons returning to the role of Mark for this one […]