Carole Gordon, Author at North West End UK

7Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Silver Cord – Finborough Theatre

"A boy is never a grown man to his mother." A mother's love - from the self-sacrificing kind to the utterly toxic - has been the subject of many plays, books and films. Sidney Howard's 1926 comedy-drama explores the latter type, his tale of maternal desperation a hit in the West End and on Broadway. The Finborough have now revived the play for its first London production since 1927. And it's a zinger. Set in a middle-class New England suburb in 1926, Mrs Phelps is a morass of emotional manipulation and gaslighting who wants her two grown-up sons to remain with her forever and to be the only important woman in their lives. She has crafted detailed plans for their futures and expects to have complete control over everything, including who they marry. David and Robert have o...

1Aug

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Mixed Omens – Etcetera Theatre

Mixed Omens is literally one of a kind. Performed by narrative improv group, The Improvised Play, their previous productions have focused on the works of Tennessee Williams and Caryl Churchill. Here, they take the works of Neil Gaiman, looking at the interface between real life and myth and the creatures that inhabit those spaces. Demons and gods (like Gaiman's interpretation of Aziraphale and Crowley) mix with humans with varying success and outcomes. An evil father who wants to spread his darkness across the world is searching for his wayward daughter who has escaped to the human world to seek out her half-sister rather than following in his dark footsteps. Essentially a struggle between good and evil, the show is Good Omens meets Long Lost Family, with secret sib...

10Jul

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Home, Sweet Home – Riverside Studios

Amalia Kontesi's contribution to Riverside Studio's "Bitesize Festival" of short plays explores the concept of home. Ellie lives in London, working in a high-paid marketing job which she hates, having left behind her parents and brother in Athens. Is "home" in London, Athens, or the summer cottage by the sea that the family scraped together the means to buy, and which Ellie and her brother adored? Ellie has returned to the cottage in order to sort it out prior to putting it on the market. As she reminisces about the wonderful summer times by the sea, the fun, her first kiss, first love and subsequent heartbreak, sibling rivalry and eventual loss, can she bring herself to sell up or does she need to hold onto this house that holds so many memories? Is the cottage her home now? Behind this...

24Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Where You Go – Etcetera Theatre

Millie Henson's new play follows Aniyah and Finn's relationship, following an argument that threatens to destroy the couple. Finn is sleeping on the sofa, slobbing around their tiny messy apartment trying to break through his musical block and forgetting to water the plants, while Aniyah does long shifts as a nurse and is permanently exhausted. They used to be singer-songwriting partners, with aspirations to sell out stadiums and go on worldwide tours. This dream comes crashing down when Aniyah accepts that they have bills to pay and leaves the singing partnership, much to Finn's resentment. Without his "muse", his songwriting stalls. Suddenly at this pivotal moment in their relationship, a global apocalyptic event forces them to make major life choices, renew familial ties and attem...

The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women – Brixton House Theatre

18Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Trials and Passions of Unfamous Women – Brixton House Theatre

Throughout mythology and history, women who go against societal norms face the judgement of others and come up against a justice system that appears to be designed against them. Theatre makers Janaina Leite and Lara Duarte here produce a journey exploring the nature of judgement - by others, by the legal system, by other women and too often by themselves. The show presents a gamut of historical figures such as Jean d'Arc and Mary Queen of Scots, alongside mythological goddesses, plus the contemporary, personal stories of women who are seen as transgressive. Told in three parts, the first, in promenade form, focuses on the goddesses, forthright and full of passions, and chastised and pilloried as a result. Act 2 moves to the courts in what is part drama, part TED-talk on the evolution of...

5May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Miss Brexit – Streatham Space Project

Presented as part of the Assemble Festival, Miss Brexit is a satire on the place of the migrant in post-Brexit Britain. Five contestants from various countries (Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy and Slovakia) are vying for one award of the right to remain in the UK, showcasing their credentials to be the one to receive this coveted prize and be crowned Miss Brexit. As they do so, their desperation to remain in the UK becomes ever more evident and bizarre, as they push themselves to become "British" in order to stay in the UK and integrate into the culture. Should they do that, or should they stay faithful to their roots and the culture they bring with them into what is a multicultural society? The actors are an international troupe, themselves dealing with the consequences of Brex...

Pippin: 50th Anniversary Concert – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

30Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Pippin: 50th Anniversary Concert – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Packed full of Stephen Schwartz's memorable songs, such as "Corner of the Sky" and "Magic To Do", Pippin is a show that has been re-produced and re-imagined over the last 50 years around the world, including in the West End and on Broadway. At its heart there's the simple tale of a young man, a prince, at a loss of what to do with his life, the curse of princes throughout history. Pippin is the son of King Charlemagne the Great and heir to the Frankish throne. He seeks fulfilment, believing that, as he's extraordinary, he should find something extraordinary to achieve. In his attempts to break through this existential despair, he tries leading an army, but only succeeds in losing most of his men. Then he has a period of debauchery, but that leaves him empty. Art and religion also fai...

Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle – Apollo Theatre

22Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle – Apollo Theatre

Mind Mangler, Keith (performed by Henry Lewis), is a mentalist, a human lie-detector, an expert at prophesy, a man who can read your mind. As this show comes from the crazy team at Mischief Productions who also devised the hugely successful The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it's not long before the Mind Mangler's tricks spiral into chaos. Lewis is an imposing figure with a sonorous voice that is perfect for this role. He exudes misplaced self-confidence in his abilities, while recognising that his past is not without its flaws. A lot of flaws. This is a performer with huge aspirations to play Las Vegas but who fate will undoubtedly and inevitably kick to the end of the pier. There's a lot of audience participation, from revealing personal secrets to mixing up Rubik cube...

10Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Blue – Seven Dials Playhouse

Following its world premiere in Los Angeles in 2023, June Carryl's Blue won a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It's not hard to see why. It's March 2021, the world is emerging from the lockdowns of the pandemic and America is reeling from the tumultuous events that followed the 2020 Presidential election and the storming of the Capitol. When a young black motorist is shot dead by Police Officer Boyd Sully during what should have been a routine traffic stop, Detective LaRhonda Parker is called in to investigate. Parker and Sully are old friends, and Sully was also the partner of her now-retired police officer husband. As they banter about old times and start to delve into the events around the killing, shocking truths are gradually revealed that cause a conflicted Parker...

25Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

JAB – Finborough Theatre

Married for 29 years, Anne and Don think they know each other well. They dance to their favourite music, share too many bottles of wine, muddle along in their empty-nest lives. Anne is an administrator with the NHS, Don runs a niche vintage shop that makes little money, leaving Anne as the main breadwinner. It works for them - until the pandemic hits and the country goes into lockdown. As Covid ravages the world, it also shows up the cracks in the marriage. Anne continues to work long hours from home while Don has to close his shop and lazes around reading the Daily Mail and soaking up far-right conspiracy theories. It's just the flu, he insists. It will go away in a month, he says, parroting what he's read in the tabloids. Irritated by his increasing dependence on Anne, Don's sexism...