Review: Joanne, Soho Theatre
Joanne is the central character in this production and yet she is never seen on stage. She doesn’t speak and the audience don’t see what she looks like. She is a spectre within the play, an image that...
View ArticleReview: Pramkicker, King’s Head Theatre
“I kicked a fucking pram”, declares Jude (Sarah Mayhew) at the start of the anger management class. Straight to the point, it explains exactly why she is there in the first place and gives Pramkicker...
View ArticleReview: Carmen, Royal Opera House
As one of the world’s most well-known operas, it is strange to think that Carmen was so underappreciated in its day; Bizet sadly passed away before witnessing the true magnitude of his most famous...
View ArticleReview: First Love is the Revolution, Soho Theatre
Despite the seeming obsession the British public has with animals, I personally have never been a fan. Yet nowadays a modern British high street seems incomplete without the image of a coiffed canine...
View ArticleReview: TOMCAT, Southwark Playhouse
With so many potential topics for theatre to explore, there really is carte blanche nowadays for a writer to paint the canvas of their work. So many plays look to tackle deeper intellectual questions...
View ArticleReview: Love, Art & Rock ‘N’ Roll, Sadler’s Wells
The title of this particular showcase sounds like a mantra that many creative visionaries have pledged to live their lives by. As Britain’s oldest dance company, it is not out of place in describing...
View ArticleReview: Anita and Me, Theatre Royal Stratford East
The diversity of culture in Britain today is very different to the world that Anita & Me is set in; the 1970s Black Country was much less culturally rich than 40 years on. Meera Syal’s...
View ArticleReview: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Royal Opera House
It is rumoured that the character of the Dodo in the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a caricature of Lewis Carroll himself, created as a consequence of Carroll’s stammer and hence his...
View ArticleReview: The Winter’s Tale, Garrick Theatre
When Kenneth Branagh announced the formation of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in April 2015, the West End was understandably buzzing with excitement. The last time Branagh had graced the boards...
View ArticleReview: Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Garrick Theatre
Another of the ‘Plays at the Garrick’ series from the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, Harlequinade and All On Her Own are two works that truly showcase the versatility of Terence Rattigan’s writing at...
View ArticleReview: Staying Alive, Pleasance Theatre
On the anniversary that commemorates the end of one of the deadliest conflicts in history, Staying Alive is a play that examines the effect on those left behind. It’s not a play about World War One at...
View ArticleBlog: Not talking about You Me Bum Bum Train
The origin of its name is still hotly debated by the volunteers before every show. I hear newcomers asking the more experienced stage hands about it in each room I walk through and everyone has a...
View ArticleNEWS: Disused water reservoir converted to opera venue in Brisbane
A disused water reservoir has been converted into a new underground opera venue in Brisbane, Australia. Spring Hill Reservoir has been re-opened by The Underground Opera Company to create a unique...
View ArticleReview: Barbarians, Young Vic
As the recipient of the JMK Award 2015, Liz Stevenson joins a list of 16 past winners that include Caroline Steinbeis and Polly Findlay. In Memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, who passed away in 1996 at...
View ArticleReview: Dealer’s Choice, Milton Court Studio Theatre
Patrick Marber’s three act play Dealer’s Choice is in many ways a well-chosen piece for an actor’s showcase. It presents the five students of Guildhall with a short production and six equally weighted...
View ArticleReview: I Got Dressed In Front Of My Nephew Today, Vault Festival
When you’re a child, there is no guilt, no shame, no pre-conceptions about how people should look or how a life should be lived. When you’re a child, questions such as “what do you like about your...
View ArticleReview: Ursula Martinez: Free Admission, Soho Theatre
For someone who is so used to taking off her clothes in public, this is an unusually vulnerable display from Ursula Martinez. She is well-known on the cabaret circuit and her shows leave little to the...
View ArticleReview: Janis Joplin: Full Tilt, Theatre Royal Stratford East
No question about it, Angie Darcy sure can sing. As Janis Joplin in Full Tilt, she mixes rock and blues with country in a two-hour concert of fairly epic proportions. She also has a great handle on...
View ArticleReview: Table Top Shakespeare, Barbican
He may be one of the most well-known and celebrated playwrights in history, but William Shakespeare is not an easy man to understand. Language has moved on to such a large degree in the last 500 years...
View ArticleReview: All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever, The Vault Festival
Animal behaviour has long been studied through live experiments – put a rat in a maze, apply a stimulus and see how it reacts. The Truman Show is a 1990s film whereby Jim Carrey finds himself living...
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