Carole Gordon, Author at North West End UK

30May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Rose – Ambassadors Theatre

"The bullet hit her in the forehead. It caught her in the middle of a thought." An 80-year-old Jewish woman sits shiva on a wooden bench and talks about her life. That, in a nutshell, is Martin Sherman's play, Rose. But that is so far from doing it justice. It is very much more in its depth and breadth. As Rose reminisces about her life, her journey to that point in time, to that bench, she wonders whether she actually believes in God, whether her recollections are correct, whether she's remembering a movie. It's clear though that these were her true experiences. From a childhood in a shtetl in Ukraine (at that time part of Russia), to joining her brother in Poland to escape the Cossacks and the pogroms, falling in love, then suffering the trauma and horror of the Warsaw Ghetto, the Naz...

20May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Bleak Expectations – Criterion Theatre

Based on the award-winning BBC comedy of the same name, Mark Evans' Bleak Expectations takes everything you think you know about Charles Dickens work, chucks it in the air and sees where it lands. There are some recognisable features of Dickens - foggy London, mistaken identities, legal intricacies, cruel headmasters. There the similarities deliberately end. Evans' hilarious comedy is narrated by Sir Philip Bin, who takes the audience through his life, introducing the characters who have shaped him. Known as Pip, Sir Philip's overwhelming motivations are to protect his family and find true love. This does not always prove straightforward; he survives the cruelty of a public school with its regular beatings and lack of edible food, his mother goes mad after Pip's father dies abr...

Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera – Leicester Square Theatre

26Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera – Leicester Square Theatre

Relentlessly loud, unsubtle and lacking any pretence to charm or wit, Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera by Harry Hill and Steve Brown rattles through Blair's greatest life hits, from birth to eventual death, interspersed by his political rise and prosecution of four wars. It's an in-your-face puerile comedy at times hilarious but also cringeworthy. Blair is presented as weak, ineffectual and easily manipulated by those around him, particularly his wife, Cherie, Comms Director Peter Mandelson, and President Bush. A parade of political figures from Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden to John Prescott, Gordon Brown, Neil Kinnock and David Blunkett (with toy guide dog) populate the political landscape of Blair's career. The saving grace of the production is the cast. Full of energy and t...

Abigail’s Party – Churchill Theatre, Bromley

20Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Abigail’s Party – Churchill Theatre, Bromley

It's the 1970s, the decade of social aspiration, middle class pretensions, horrible wallpaper, Estee Lauder's "Youth Dew", cocktail cabinets, gin and tonic and cigarettes. Beverly is awaiting her guests and anticipating the pleasure of showing off her new kitchen. Newcomers Angela and Tony have been invited for drinks to welcome them to the area and Susan, the next-door neighbour, has been asked to join them while her daughter, the titular but unseen Abigail, is having a party and wants mother out of the way. Alcohol flows, cigarettes are smoked, cheese and pineapple on sticks and crisps are handed around. Beverly lords it over her guests as she forces more and more alcohol and cigarettes on them and browbeats her stressed-out estate agent husband, Laurence. Eventually, t...

Their Finest Hour – Waterloo East Theatre

13Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Their Finest Hour – Waterloo East Theatre

"Never was so much owed by so many to so few." Churchill's famous speech highlighting the role of the RAF crews whose sorties and bombing raids did much to help bring the Second World War to an end, has become one of his most legendary moments. Writer Steve Darlow bases his play on hundreds of interviews conducted with the real-life pilots, air- and ground-crew who lived this story, the men and women who served in the RAF, The Few. Told through narration, the songs of the period and war poetry, this is an emotive piece that is both of that period of history and a tribute to the RAF personnel who served so heroically. The story starts on the day of RAF pilot Bert's funeral, as his family go through his things after finding a suitcase of photos and memorabilia that chart Bert'...

The Oyster Problem – Jermyn Street Theatre

15Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Oyster Problem – Jermyn Street Theatre

Gustave Flaubert's most famous work, Madame Bovary, made him one of France's most celebrated 19th century writers. A trial on obscenity charges arising from the novel created a scandal that raised the novel's public visibility. Orlando Figes' debut play is not about that period of Flaubert's life but looks instead at what happened to him after his fortunes dwindled, an investment into the sawmill of his niece's husband crashed, and his work came to all but a standstill. Figes (a renowned historian of Russian and European History) takes his material for the play from a series of letters written between Flaubert and members of his literary circle, along with other historical records. Flaubert's close friend was the celebrated Russian author, Ivan Turgenev, with Emile Zola, the youngest...

12Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

David Copperfield – Riverside Studios

David Copperfield is one of the best-loved of Charles Dickens' novels and is believed to be at least a semi-autobiographical narration of his life. He said that Copperfield was always his "favourite child". Dickens' family were extremely poor; he was forced as a young boy to work in a factory in conditions that informed his later efforts to achieve social reform by highlighting the cruel lives of London's poorest. Dickens ensured that his writings could reach the general public by publishing in magazines, so that the poorer in society could read them when they could not afford books. Simon Reade's innovative adaptation re-imagines the story as a Victorian Music Hall performance, a popular form of theatre in the 19th century, which reflects the period of Dickens' and Copperfield's lif...

<strong>Salt-Water Moon – Finborough Theatre</strong>

6Jan

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Salt-Water Moon – Finborough Theatre

David French's Salt-Water Moon is set in 1926, when Newfoundland was still part of the British Empire, only becoming the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949. Having won a slew of awards since its premiere in Toronto in 1984, the play has since become a classic of Canadian theatre. It's a moon-lit night in the isolated Newfoundland community of Coley's Point, and young Mary Snow is gazing at the stars as she awaits the return of her fiancé, the wealthy Jerome McKenzie. Due to marry Jerome the following month, she is startled by the sudden return of her former love, Jacob Mercer, who left suddenly and without even saying goodbye twelve months previously. Mary cannot forgive Jacob for leaving and not writing to her in the intervening months. But, as more is reveale...

<strong>Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre</strong>

14Dec

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre

Dickens' tale of poverty, inequality and transformation has been a staple of the holiday season since it was first published in 1843. While Dickens was highlighting the terrible deprivation of the London slums, Dolly Parton's new musical takes the audience to the Appalachian Mountains in 1936, at the height of the Depression. As in the original tale, Ebenezer Scrooge owns everything in the town, having taken over ownership of the mine, shop and bank from his partner, Jacob Marley. The inhabitants of the town work all hours for a pittance for Scrooge, struggling, scrimping and saving, but finding joy in their families, and in their hopes and dreams. There's no such joy in Scrooge's life, and he focuses all his time and energy on making and saving money. He has no-one and regards Christmas a...

<strong>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – New Wimbledon Theatre</strong>

7Dec

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – New Wimbledon Theatre

Few pantos can boast such an illustrious cast as this production of Jonathan Kiley's Snow White. Ruthie Henshall, Lee Mead, Brenda Edwards, Matthew Kelly, Dick and Dom -it's a cavalcade of West End and TV talent. And they deliver a wonderfully traditional panto with contemporary elements and twists. There are all the usual topical references and innuendo for the grown-ups, lots of naughty humour for adults and children alike, groan-worthy jokes to make everyone laugh, booing and hissing the villain, cheering on the heroine. This version of Snow White, while keeping the songs from the classic, updates them with modern pop orchestrations, adding contemporary songs into the mix. The story is the well-known tale of orphan princess Snow White who threatens to outshine her wicked stepmo...