‘Lights up on Washington Heights’—this adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s uniquely brilliant, Tony Award-winning musical is an absolute must see for anyone with even a slight interest in theatre. Set in a diverse but mainly Latino area of New York’s Washington Heights, the musical surrounds a close-knit community of friends and family and introduces us to […]
A night of laughter is always a night enjoyed. Everyone loves stories bursting with absurdities and humor, which is exactly what Michael Frayn’s comic farce, Noises Off, is able to deliver. Currently playing at the Bridewell Theatre, Matt Gould’s production, while thoroughly entertaining, is a little bit too long. It does have some great moments […]
This is not the youthful adrenaline shot that it sets out to be. Stoppard’s abridgement of Shakespeare tragedy-laden comedy is marred by poor direction choices, although the performances, as in the NYT’s other shows, are of a remarkably high calibre given the REP cast is handes their hardest material yet with the Merchant of Venice. […]
This is a tricky and charming work. The National Youth Theatre has made something first-rate and empoweringly original with Consensual. It is a discussion of sex but simultaneously a discussion of that discussion, critical of the current discourse yet accepting of a world transformed by porn and marketed sexualisation. Evan Placey’s script is punchy: it […]
It is no easy task to turn a book into a play, especially when the book is one of the most beloved pieces of English literature. Stephanie Street’s script brings a modern twist to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in her adaptation. While the story is well adapted, the language is quite different from that of […]
Staged at the Bridewell Theatre, Geoids’ latest outing is one of the most technically ambitious productions within London’s amateur scene. A huge cast, set and orchestra are used to recount the problem of an eroding Hollywood. For those unaware of the film (which you should all see, incidentally), Joe (Michael Stacey), a failing screenwriter, is […]
Its language and rhythms belong more to the French New Wave than a stage, yet La Musica has some inspired instances. Within it, we get to know a couple about to complete their divorce proceedings, the man being played by Sam Troughton and the woman by Emily Barclay. We learn of seduction, attempted murder and […]
Winner of the 2014 Moliere Award for Best Play (France’s highest theatrical honour), Florian Zeller’s The Father is an open, distressing, often humorous but also deeply tragic new play currently showing at Wyndham’s Theatre. Revolving around the lives of Andre, an elderly man with dementia, his carer daughter, Anne, and her family, The Father is […]
With the Les Miserables 30th Anniversary Concert almost here on the 8th October, I have had the great privilege to talk with Jeremy Secomb, the man playing the role of Javert, about himself, his character and the musical as a whole. Before taking the part up in July of this year after a major cast […]
It would be easy to dismiss this show—it is really all shades of bad—yet I am going to try to be critical and constructive with terseness. The play is three people in an apocalypse scenario seeking refuge from killer birds. This kind of story demands extremities of feeling, the kind which requires experienced actors if […]
Quite unusually, I was handed an audiobook before sitting down to watch this show—I believe it was an audiobook of the show, or it may have been one of Sons and Lovers or The Rainbow which Phoenix Rising’s Paul Slack has found success in narrating. Regardless, it gives gives clues as to quality of the […]
Edges is a musical with which I feel I should share some enduring connection, given attending an amateur production of it was one of the first experiences I had with university life. I recall the production being rather good, inspiring me, even, to get involved with the local university theatre society. However, in the years […]
The Sweethearts is a show not to be missed. Telling the story of a girl band going to give a charity concert to British troops in Afghanistan in 2014, it promises a night filled with emotions from humor to sadness, and it forces the audience to question both individual and societal values. The Raise Dark […]
An original British musical is something of a rarity in London theatre, with juke box shows and film adaptations dominating the West End, but luckily we have a thriving fringe circuit that is willing to take risks on such shows, as the Union Theatre has done with ‘The White Feather’. A beautifully touching musical, it […]
Three singers, two pianists, and a whole lot of Sondheim—a thoroughly enjoyable evening by the AC Group for the avid or even casual fan of the great lyricist/composer, though this charming production is unlikely to convert any sceptics of his extensive catalogue. Quite remarkably, ‘Side by Side by Sondheim’ was first performed over 40 years […]
I have always hated monographs that moonlight as plays or novels or paintings, though I have to make an exception for Future Conditional. It is so unabashed in its stance on education and class that it commands a degree of respect. As a play for many generations, it probably will not be that, but it […]
The theatrical adaption of the beloved 1973 movie The Sting, now playing at Wilton’s Music Hall, promises an entertaining night back in time. Unbeknownst to them, two small con artists named Johnny Hooker and Luther Coleman make big shot runner Doyle Lonnegan very angry by scamming one of his men. Without giving too much away, […]
It takes twenty minutes for it to truly begin, but Different Class is a sweet example of dramatic subtext. Maria (played by Lucy Penrose) is cleaning her flat the morning after a house party when her friend Andy (Robert Ansell) comes over for a chat. It seems a banal scenario and it certainly is for […]
It is best to see Lela & Co without knowledge of it beforehand—if you want to see worthwhile theatre then stop reading this and go see it, essentially. The reason you want to know less about it is that Cordelia Lynn’s script creates expectations from the outset and relentlessly reshapes them. Lela is a pitiful […]
A very well executed production of a unique and interesting new play, See What I Wanna See brings together three stories, with no clear ending to any of them, in an effort to show the importance of perception. While this doesn’t seem very clear, it is difficult to put this musical into words. Based on […]
Simon Stephens often writes plays that are difficult to perform. He will display a character through a pinhole rather than a window. It is therefore very much up to audience to find meaning in what he writes, albeit with assistance from a shrewd director and cast. One Minute is the story of an investigation into […]
A very well executed production of a unique and interesting new play, And Then Come the Nightjars is simultaneously funny, heart-breaking and eye-opening, and is a real credit to the writer, production team and cast. Centred on the Foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001 and how it affected a South Devon farm, the play tackles an issue […]
‘Now this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the censure of the which one must in your allowance o’erweigh a whole theatre of others.’ Act III, Scene II Shakespeare summarises my feelings towards this latest attempt at Hamlet better than any else could; I […]
I am thankful to see a crime drama in a London theatre. It is a scarce genre that deserves to be on the stage more. It is smart to set Caught mostly in an interrogation room: it is a perfect place for intimate, subtle theatre. We see a detective pick apart the alibis of those […]
This show is the equivalent of guiltily checking your ex’s timeline on Facebook: it is not healthy, you learn nothing about how they really feel and it is ultimately a waste of time. McQueen is a self-congratulatory piece about a man who had probably had enough congratulations for a lifetime. While it maintains a great […]
A stylish revival of the musical that hit the West End and Broadway with a bang over a decade ago, this stripped down version of Thoroughly Modern Millie is largely successful in its interpretation of the much grander original but lacks the pizazz needed to pull off such a unique and iconic show. Those who […]