REVIEW: CHESS (London Coliseum) ★★★★
Fans of musicals often have shows that they feel they need to cross off the list. And Chess is one legendary mega-musical, which formed part of the soundtrack to many people’s musical theatre education. But it’s been a long time since a production’s been in the West End and so although many more mature theatregoers […]
REVIEW: REARED (Theatre 503) ★★★★
We’ve all looked around at our families before and debated its level of dysfunction in relation to other families we know. What is the ‘right’ amount of conflict? Is it normal to have this many underlying issues? What is ‘normal’? Reared, a play by John Fitzpatrick, confronts the realities of a family working through numerous […]
REVIEW: CRAZY FOR YOU (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★
A musical romp which harks back to the 1930’s and perfectly encapsulates the musical magic of Ira & George Gershwin, Crazy for You is an award winning tale, revisited for a new UK tour and guaranteed to present the audience with a wonderful evening of song, dance and comedy. Based on the brothers’ Girl Crazy, […]
REVIEW: PROUD EMBANKMENT ★★★★
With many a Londoner and tourist having enjoyed an evening out at the original Proud near Camden Locks, it’s closure in early March left a gap in the nightlife of our great city. But fear not, Proud is back, and in rather glorious form, at a new flagship location under Waterloo Bridge: Proud Embankment – […]
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 […]