REVIEW: Shit-faced Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice (Leicester Square Theatre) ★★★★
Having enjoyed the follies of Shit-Faced Shakespeare many times at Edinburgh Fringe, I was very excited to see how they might transfer their original/insane/ingenious dramaturgy to London’s West End. Produced by Magnificent Bastard Productions and created in 2010 by East 15 Graduates, the company has an impressive list of credits to their name including performances […]
REVIEW: STRICTLY BALLROOM (Piccadilly Theatre) ★★★
In an ideal world, Baz Luhrmann’s filmography should naturally fit into theatre. His spectacular settings, dynamic colours and imaginative landscapes are the stuff that producers and directors dream to bring to life on stage. Alas, Strictly Ballroom might not be the most suitable choice. Based on Luhrmann’s breakthrough debut 1992 film, Strictly Ballroom is a […]
REVIEW: A COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY (Criterion Theatre) ★★★★★
Mischief theatre have become a modern day fairy tale for any aspiring drama school graduates. Having started producing their shows for pub theatres, the company have gone from strength to strength, with numerous West End hits, regional tours, a Broadway run, BBC Christmas specials and a goddam Olivier! Not a bad 10 years all in […]
REVIEW: DAMES (Pleasance Theatre) ★★★
Dames is the first play to be developed by Siberian Lights, a company created to give women a voice in theatre. Dames has the subtitle, ‘a raucous revelation of the female underworld’ and it certainly delivers on that promise. Entering the theatre is like coming into a nightclub with loud music, disco balls and glitter […]
REVIEW: FACELESS (Park Theatre) ★★★★
Park Theatre hosts the European premiere of Faceless by Chicago-based playwright Selina Fillinger. The production is directed and designed by Prav MJ who decided to take the show to a full production following a staged reading at Park Theatre in 2017. Inspired by the real life court case of American teenager Shannon Conley who was […]
REVIEW: The Significant Other Festival (The Vaults) ★★
As a concept, this festival celebrating the works of ten different writers under the umbrella of a unanimous theme and location to create one fluid piece of theatre is an interesting one- but unfortunately not entirely successful in it’s actualisation. I applaud new ideas and new approaches to theatre, however, for me the disjointed vignettes […]
REVIEW: AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (Curve Leicester) ★★★★★
It was the world premiere of a brand-new musical, An Officer and a Gentleman, at Curve Leicester last night, and what a triumph it was. Based on the hit 80’s film starring Richard Gere, we follow the story of Zack Mayo (Jonny Fines) as he enters training to become a US Navy Pilot. A little […]
REVIEW: BAT OUT OF HELL at the Dominion Theatre ★★★★★
Jim Steinman doesn’t do anything by halves. He’s worked with legends Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Air Supply, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Def Leppard so when he penned Bat Out Of Hell the musical it should be no surprise he created a larger than life sceptical. Using many of the songs he wrote for from Meat […]
REVIEW: CHICAGO (Phoenix Theatre) ★★★
Kander & Ebb’s Chicago is a theatrical institution. One of the heavy-weight champions of American musical theatre, the shows accolades are many including holding the records for the longest running musical revival and second longest running musical on Broadway and the longest running American musical in both America and The West End. Having been seen […]
REVIEW: Jason Robert Brown at the London Palladium ★★★★★
It is an ironic joke, one which Jason Robert Brown mentioned during the concert, that his musicals tend to fail on Broadway. When, judging by the buzz of audience who packed out the London Palladium as his fandom from across the pond, Brown’s genius composing speaks for itself. There is something charming in the honesty […]