REVIEW: Mrs Dalloway (Arcola Theatre) ★★★★
Virgina Woolf was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Best known for Mrs Dalloway (1925) and Lighthouse (1927), her diary entries, essays, letters, biographies and novels are canonised for reflecting the rapidly changing world she lived in. Documenting transformations in technology, sexuality, class and gender roles, Woolf’s style of modernist literature, […]
REVIEW: Rock of Ages (Wycombe Swan) ★★
The tale of two halves…. It was only my commitment to this review that stopped me from walking out of this performance at the interval. As the lights went up at the end of the first act, a teenage boy behind me, part of a school party, sniggered “I didn’t know I was coming to […]
REVIEW: Pinter One / Pinter Two (Harold Pinter Theatre) ★★★★
The Jamie Lloyd Company’s epochal season Pinter At The Pinter is making a lot of noise for a writer famed for his silences. Ten years on from Pinter’s death, the first two of seven servings of his complete one-act plays gave us a direct sense of his anger and shock value, and his under-regarded humour. […]
REVIEW: WICKED (Apollo Victoria Theatre) ★★★★★ (2018)
Wicked, based on the American novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire, is not, in fact, a prequel as everyone deems. The musical, utilising the same themes and characters as The Wizard of Oz, is described by the author as ‘a re-imagining of the same world’, […]
REVIEW: Kinky Boots (Royal & Derngate) ★★★★
Following successful runs on both the West End and Broadway, Kinky Boots is stepping out to the provinces. So where better to kick off the tour than in Northamptonshire where it all began? Kinky Boots is based on the true story of Steve Pateman who took over an Earl’s Barton shoe factory when his father […]
REVIEW: 42nd Street (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) ★★★★★
From its opening overture to its infectious toe-tapping finale, 42nd Street is pure theatre. I don’t actually think shows get more theatrical than this. Chorus guys and gals tap-dance their way through a story about the production of a new musical hit, set in the heart of New York’s legendary theatre district, with one delightfully hummable […]
REVIEW: Collabro – Road To The Royal Albert Hall ★★
Collabro are back with their recently-released fourth album, “Road To The Royal Albert Hall“, so named in honour of their upcoming 2019 concert date which presumably they’re quite happy about (and I’m guessing “Road To Southend-On-Sea” wouldn’t have had quite the same ring. Although I’m sure it’s lovely). The ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ winners are clearly […]
REVIEW: 4.48 Psychosis (New Diorama Theatre) ★★★★★
Deafinitely Theatre brings its celebrated bilingual approach to Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, a lyrical and haunting play about mental health. 4.48 Psychosis has no specified setting, stage directions or characters, meaning that productions of the play vary greatly. This production explores the taboo of mental illness within the death community using a cast of four, […]
REVIEW: KIDS PLAY (Above the Stag Theatre) ★★★★
We have before us a pleasantly decorated Brighton hotel room; the air is thick with tension as a smartly-dressed gentleman paces back and forth, watched by a comparatively younger man in a band T-shirt and shorts. Greg is our older man, and he is unhappy with Theo’s arrival. We discover that we are witnessing an […]
REVIEW: THE BANDS VISIT (Ethel Barrymore Theatre) ★★★
The Bands Visit, in the same dark horse nature it swept the Tony’s, is hushed and modest in every aspect. The show triumphed over every other Broadway competitor, winning ten awards including Best New Musical. Despite its unusually brief 90 minute running time, this enchanting show is often described as a slow burner and certainly […]