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 […]
REVIEW: FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS (Chichester Festival Theatre) ★★★★
After a 2016 run at the Sheffield Crucible, Daniel Evans brings his acclaimed production of Flowers For Mrs Harris to the Chichester Festival Theatre, where he has recently become Artistic Director. The show follows Ada Harris, played in both Sheffield and Chichester by Clare Burt, a cleaning lady in post war England who, after stumbling […]
REVIEW: UNEXPECTED JOY (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★
Having premiered off-Broadway back in April this year, Unexpected Joy follows three estranged generations of women attempting to emerge from the shadows of the men which haunt, dictate and direct their life. Having spent the night in jail, dope-smoking ageing hippy, Joy (Janet Fullerlove), rocks up to her beach house in Cape Cod, US, surprised […]
REVIEW: THRILLER LIVE (Lyric Theatre) ★★★★★
This night marked the 4,000th performance of the world’s ultimate tribute to the immortal work of Michael Jackson, exploding on to the stage with a packed programme of his greatest hits – of which there is an unprecedented amount. The vocals of Michael were shared between a handful of lead vocalists, and we had one […]
REVIEW: FOXFINDER (Ambassadors Theatre) ★★★
It’s taken a long time for Foxfinder to reach the West End. It first played in 2011 at the Finborough Theatre in South West London and received high critical acclaim, even winning the playwright Dawn King a National Theatre Foundation Award in 2013. Now in its new home at the Ambassadors Theatre, you can see […]
REVIEW: FABRIC (Soho Theatre) ★★★★★
With the #MeToo movement facing ever growing criticism, often labelled as an overindulgent fad, it is imperative that plays like Fabric exist to reinforce the harrowing origin to the bravery behind these women. Damsel Productions was conceived in 2015 by Hannah Hauer-King and Kitty Wordsworth in pursuit of putting female voices onstage and creative control […]
REVIEW: Eastern Star (Tara Theatre) ★★★★
Guy Slater’s powerful exposition of the history of Myanmar through the eyes of a leading activist and the BBC reporter who worked with him is a stirring account of those caught up in the front line of revolution. During the 1988 student revolution rookie BBC World Service reporter Christopher Gunness (Michael Lumsden) reported the events […]
REVIEW: The Quentin Dentin Show ★★★
Due to be released on Friday (14th September), The Quentin Dentin Show is based on the recent stage show of the same name, with music and lyrics by Henry Carpenter. Having not seen the show in its recent runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and London, it’s hard to say exactly what happens through the songs from […]
REVIEW: Heathers The Musical (Theatre Royal Haymarket) ★★★★
Based on the 1989 black comedy film starring a young Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty, Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy’s Heathers The Musical premiered in Los Angeles in 2013. After selling out this initial run, the production transferred Off-Broadway in 2014 and received several Drama Desk Award nominations and cult following. In 2017 […]