Carole Gordon, Author at North West End UK

14Oct

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Choir of Man – Arts Theatre

Do you fancy a night down the local? Choir of Man takes the audience to their local pub, not one of those swanky, shiny wine-bars, but the sticky-floored boozer where you meet friends and put the world to rights over a pint. Only, in this pub, The Jungle, the patrons sing, dance, narrate, play music and are not afraid to talk about emotions and community and yes even cry. There's not so much a through-story as a series of snapshots as the different characters from the talented group of nine performers have their moment in the spotlight in between the superb ensemble numbers. Ben Norris acts as MC for the evening with his eloquent poetic monologues, pulling the whole together. There's an eclectic mixture of re-orchestrated songs from artists like Adele, Sia and Avicii. And...

27Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Ghosts on a Wire – Union Theatre

Linda Wilkinson could not have written a more topical play, confronting contemporary issues of inequality, power and class divides, the conflicts that consume society and the current energy problems. It's a story about power in all its forms, a story set in the past, all the while resonating into the future. Mary Shelley, Michael Faraday and William Blake are propelled into the late 1880s as ghosts, witnessing the results of the introduction of electricity to London. Or more specifically, to the wealthy north bank of the Thames, while the south bank coughs and splutters under the smoke, noise and detritus from the new power station. The electric company's owners convince local residents and traders that clearing swathes of workers' homes in Southwark would be progress, that ...

Distinguished Villa – Finborough Theatre

14Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Distinguished Villa – Finborough Theatre

"Refined" is the word around which Kate O'Brien's 1926 play hinges. Mabel Hemworth is unrelenting in her control of her immaculately cleaned suburban home and her downtrodden husband, Natty. A woman claiming permanent illness and anxiety, frigid and childless, she is constantly on edge and desperate not to attract the negative judgement of the neighbours on their quiet avenue in Brixton. Even her husband's singing along to a record she regards as outrageous due to what she considers to be racy lyrics. She has also ruled over the life of her sister, Gwen, a young woman seeking escape from this situation through marriage to the unremarkable John. Mabel represents the tied-down morals of the Victorian era, with even vague references to "issues of the night" causing her to have a fit of the va...

Ride: A New Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

1Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Ride: A New Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

In 1894, Annie Londonderry set off on a solo circumnavigation of the world by bike. That her name and this radical accomplishment is almost entirely unknown is as big a mystery as is the real story of her travels. She was born in Latvia, emigrated to the US as a child and suffered the loss of her parents, leaving her at just 16 to care for her younger siblings. She married in an attempt to achieve financial stability and had three children. But it seems it was the death of her younger brother that was the seminal moment that propelled her towards her pioneering ride around the world. There's talk of a wager, adventures with the myriad people she meets along the way, relationships developed and abandoned. On her triumphant return to the US in 1895, following an initial wave of media a...

25Aug

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Patience – Wilton’s Music Hall

Gilbert and Sullivan's biting mockery of the aesthetic movement, the fickleness of love and infatuation and the worshipping of celebrities has never been better or more wittily presented than in Charles Court Opera's current production. Played gloriously tongue-in-cheek, this show is a joy from start to finish. Patience is an over-the-top satire with contemporary relevance to today's shallow celebrity culture and the ephemeral nature of fleeting trends. Patience, a young barmaid, is unschooled in the ways of love and is confused to see that three women of varying maturity who profess to be in love with the poet, Bunthorne, are desperately unhappy because of it and have taken to drink. They already have three upstanding military men, including one who is a Duke, as suitors but find...

Little Women – Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre

3Aug

By Carole GordonNo Comments

North West

Little Women – Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre

Cor Blimey, Guv, bit of a turn up for the book – because this is a long way from the beloved quintessential American novel set in the Civil War, and a different time: Chester (OK, appropriately enough) during the Great War. But girls will be girls, and the story of the four sisters is still recognizable, and they certainly are, as portrayed by such brilliant actresses. And apologies, by the way; Londoners barely get a word in; the predominant accent is Liverpudlian. That said, still perplexed as to why John Brooke (Oliver Nazareth Aston, as extraordinary as his name) was a postman rather than Laurie's tutor, except that letters are more important than ever in times of war. And of course, it is extremely sad in parts, but again, not quite sure about all the comic touches; an annoying bee...

14Jul

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Shake The City – Jermyn Street Theatre

The 1970 unofficial strike by five thousand clothing factory workers in Leeds has been largely forgotten and tends to be ignored by historians and anyone outside the immediate area. At the time though, it had a massive impact in raising the issue of equal pay for equal work, eventually to be enshrined in law in the Equal Pay Act. Millie Gaston's Shake The City looks at the strike and its origins from the perspective of four of the factory workers, exploring the narrative through the lives of the women. Margaret (Rachael Halliwell) has been promoted from the factory floor to supervise the workers, and at times uncomfortable position as she finds herself straddling the worlds of the workers and the management. Lori (Stephanie Hutchinson) is full of desire to fight for equality, w...

19Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

That Is Not Who I Am – Royal Court

"Just cos it's in your imagination doesn't mean it's not real." Dave Davidson's first (and possibly last) play is a conceit, wrapped in an enigma, inside just about every conspiracy theory on social media. Set in the style of those ever-popular true crime drama documentaries, the playwright acts as narrator, but he/she is also hiding in plain sight. Undercover due to alleged Government surveillance, writer Lucy Kirkwood (Chimerica, Mosquitoes) gives actor Priyana Burford the job of setting the scene and giving voice to the various possibilities of what actually happened. It's the account of Noah and Celeste Quilter, who meet on a blind date, banter, lie to each other, get married, have a much-wanted baby and then fall down the rabbit-hole of conspiracy theories, all while in the grip of...

Impromptu Shakespeare – New Wimbledon Theatre

18Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Impromptu Shakespeare – New Wimbledon Theatre

"The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral; scene individable, or poem unlimited." Polonius (Counsellor to King Claudius in Hamlet) would likely be itching to be involved in Impromptu Shakespeare if he was around now. This talented troupe of improvisers take random words from the audience - acrobat, gaolers, window, rift - and weave a complex, chaotic and bonkers tale of love, castles, self-loathing, lobsters and twirling. As it's shaped by audience intervention, every performance is different, the cast of five (from a company of thirteen) taking on a variety of roles, whatever is required to create the Shakespeare-esque tale. Producing a Sh...

Alistair McGowan: The Piano Show – Cadogan Hall

19May

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Alistair McGowan: The Piano Show – Cadogan Hall

Alistair McGowan's show is a "game of two halves", a unique blend of stand-up impressions and classical piano. McGowan's self-titled debut album reached No 1 in the Classical Album charts, launching his rebranded career as a classical pianist. His second classical album has also just been released. In this new show, he combines his abilities as well-known impressionist and comedian with his more recent classical music talents. His career so far has been as eclectic as this show; he starred in The Big Impression, one of the BBC's top-rated comedy programmes for four years, has worked in the West End (Art, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Mikado), written plays and books and provided voice-overs for Spitting Image. McGowan's impressions are spot-on, with some well-known voices mixed...