Caroline Worswick

<strong>And Then The Rodeo Burned Down – King’s Head Theatre</strong>

21Jan

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

And Then The Rodeo Burned Down – King’s Head Theatre

Coming direct from New York City in association with theSpaceUK, following a successful week-long debut run in Edinburgh and winning the coveted Fringe First Award; Chloe Rice and Natasha Roland have been collaborating for nearly ten years, writing, and performing their own material. Ye hawing their way into the King’s Head Theatre, their rodeo clown show packs a lot into the hour. With country and western music piped into the theatre, the clown puts on her make up ready for the show. Star of the show is the lassoing cowboy, and oh boy, does Dale the clown want to be a cowboy, but our clown has a shadow, someone who wants to be a clown. Dressed in cowboy clothes, the pecking order of life is dissected, with the cowboy representing the top of the food chain and the s...

<strong>Irrelevant comes to Seven Dials Playhouse</strong>

10Jan

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Irrelevant comes to Seven Dials Playhouse

Coming to Seven Dials Playhouse in January, Le Gallienne Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Irrelevant - running from the 9th - 28th January 2023. This new play is written and directed by Le Gallienne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Keith Merrill (Entertaining Mr Sloane, The Einstein Letter), and stars Olivier Award nominee Debbie Chazen (The Smoking Room, Midsomer Murders, The Cherry Orchard). Kicking off Seven Dials Playhouse’s 2023 offerings is Irrelevant, a savagely amusing comment on the realities of a career in Hollywood. The play interrogates how talented artists can slip through the cracks and bright futures can suddenly be dimmed. The play centres on Millie (Debbie Chazen), a once-promising young actress, who finds herself chewed up and spat out ...

Grandad, Me and Teddy Too – Polka Theatre

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Grandad, Me and Teddy Too – Polka Theatre

Encouraging children to experience theatre at a young age can be difficult, as parents and grandparents know, asking a child to sit in a restrictive environment to watch a pantomime or similar, which can be two hours long, is not ideal. Polka Theatre in London offer the chance to combine theatre and play in their building which is especially dedicated to children. The theatre combines a café, playground, garden with access to books, colouring-in and dressing up. Grandad, Me and Teddy Too has a target audience of 2–5-year-olds and is performed in the Adventure Theatre. This space allows children to sit on the floor or sit around the edge of the theatre in seats. The feeling is of informality and provides a less stressful environment for parents and children alike ...

<strong>Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre

One could say that it is a brave choice to put on a play about mental health at Christmas whilst the populous spreads festive cheer, and shops, bars and restaurants play Christmas music on a loop. But I guess this IS the time to put on such a play, as many people struggle with loneliness and isolation, feelings that are magnified at Christmas. Threedumb Theatre offer their second Steven Berkoff play of the year, having performed Dog/Actor at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. When Berkoff wrote this play which was first performed at the Donmar in 1985, he received responses from many people who felt similarly, that this time of year overwhelmed them and exaggerated feelings that during the rest of the year, they could just about cope with. Harry (Stephen Smith) lives al...

<strong>Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor – Park Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor – Park Theatre

Park Theatre have teamed up once again with the team that gave us ‘When Darkness Falls’ in 2021. This play delves into the mystery of the disappearance of three ‘wickies’ (lighthouse-keepers), who were staffing a lighthouse on one of the remote islands in the Outer Hebrides called Eilean Mor in December 1900. Their task was to keep the light always working to aid ships in the hostile seas and severe weather. Eilean Mor was uninhabited apart from the lighthouse keepers. As the play explains, this is the bleakest place on earth to do your wickie shift, and the weather was particularly bad when the men went missing. Their disappearance was discovered after a particularly bad storm hit Eilean Mor, and the supply vessel managed to reach the island after being de...

26Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

SUS – Park Theatre

Writer Barrie Keeffe’s social and political drama examines unemployment, institutional racism in the Police and the use of SUS law (suspect under suspicion) which was incorporated into the 1824 Vagrancy Act. This stop and search section of the act was used extensively, particularly targeting people of colour and it allowed the Police to make the lives of their victims extremely uncomfortable. SUS is set on the eve of the 1979 election victory by Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives, which ousted James Callaghan’s Labour from office. The two policemen on duty, Karn (Alexander Neal) and Wilby (Fergal Coghlan) both support the conservative cause, largely due to Thatcher’s support of more stringent laws to support the police in their duties. Thatcher’s speech ‘Where there ...

Descendants: Ghost Written – Museum of Comedy

27Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Descendants: Ghost Written – Museum of Comedy

As a fan of improvised comedy, I was keen to go along to see The Descendants, who are a part of Hoopla Impro’s house team, who on this occasion are offering a long form improvised show, with suggestions being taken at the beginning only. This style of improvisation allows the performers to make the decisions as to the direction the story will take, but they use the initial suggestions given by the audience. Tonight, the team asked for a place that the play should be, the weather, and a name of a character. The audience suggestions were a maternity ward, snow and Gill Jacobi, let’s see what The Descendants can make of that little lot! Tina and Colin are having a baby, and Tina is already in labour in the maternity hospital being supported by Donovan, a work colleague who i...

Elizabeth Fry: The Angel of Prisons – Canning Town Library

27Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Elizabeth Fry: The Angel of Prisons – Canning Town Library

Created and written by James Kenworth, this production is the latest instalment of The Newham Plays. These are locally focussed plays, site-specific and digging into Newham’s history. This collaboration between writer James Kenworth and director Martin Charlton, draws upon the talent from the local schools of Newham, and youth theatre groups, under the guidance of a director and professional actors. Staged at the Canning Town Library, this celebration of the life of Elizabeth Fry, who fought for the improvement of conditions in prisons, especially for women. Fry and her husband lived locally in West Ham and she helped the local gypsy community by giving them food, clothing, and medicine. Elizabeth Fry or Betsy as she was known, is played by three different per...

26Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Janet – Etcetera Theatre

I have to say that I was not sure what to expect when reading the summary of the show, as it does sound absurd to make a character from a piece of bread dough. I am pleased to say, that the unique skills of performer, Helen Ainsworth and director, John Mowat left me in no doubt that this unusual approach to puppetry is very entertaining. The story begins with Ainsworth wearing her chef’s uniform and hat, incorporating a mask, as she begins to bring the characters alive. Beryl is a packet of French bread flour, Keith is a rusty lidded water jug, and Lady Jane Grey is a posh sounding teapot from Sheffield. The show begins with Beryl and Keith consummating their relationship, by mixing together their flour and water to create Janet, their beloved offspring, the French bre...

Dog/Actor – Greenside at Infirmary Street

17Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Scotland

Dog/Actor – Greenside at Infirmary Street

From the pen of Steven Berkoff, these two short plays offer two vastly different stories, and a chance for ThreeDumb Theatre to show off their flexibility. ThreeDumb was formed in 2015, by LIPA graduates who have since gone on to produce plays such as Am I Happy Yet which received an OffComm Award, and their multiple award-winning digital offering Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat, and One Man Poe. Dog follows the relationship of a graffiti spraying, racist football hooligan who is devoted to his dog, Roy. The two are inseparable and Roy accompanies his devoted owner wherever he goes, even eating pies at the pub with him. It is fair to say that Roy the pit-bull, is not the friendliest of dogs, savaging anyone who crosses his path, but he is a friend to his skinhead owner...