Olivia Cox, Author at North West End UK

The Risotto Is Burning – The Hope Theatre

9Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Risotto Is Burning – The Hope Theatre

Debuting in London as part of The Hope Theatre’s North Sapph-Fest 2026, The Risotto Is Burning is a charming, bite-sized comedic drama by Sophie Underwood. We meet Annabelle (a wonderfully anxiety-riddled Georgia Brown) and Ben (a James Acaster-esque Jacob Lovick), a late-twenties couple who’ve moved into a properly grown up — if small — new flat. To prove their adultness, Annabelle has invited her two best friends from uni over for a classy dinner party. She might not be able to cook a decent risotto, but she’s determined to be a good host. Unfortunately, the night soon falls apart when Leah (Naia Elliott-Spence) brings along her 20-year-old girlfriend Layla (Katy Richmond) and Maddy (also played by Underwood) brings along her new “partner”… a blue fuzzy puppet called Charlie. Wh...

I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical – Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

5Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical – Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

With everyone from Tina Turner to Frank Sinatra getting the jukebox musical biopic treatment as of late, it’s no surprise that “Queen of Funk” Chaka Khan wanted to get in on the action. But what is a surprise, sadly, is how her magnetic star power and iconic discography has been boiled down to such a muddled, lacklustre production as this. After teasing us with a few bars of the title track, the show starts by transporting us to a rehab session for Chaka (Alexandra Burke), attended by her loved ones. Before long, we’re sent back on a whistle-stop of her life and traumas, including her relationship with her heroin-loving father, her Yoruba naming ceremony, her affiliation with Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers, her two failed marriages, and her spiral into drug addiction. The problem i...

20Jul

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Gruffalo – Lyric Theatre

As a child of the early noughties, I remember Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo as a distinctive cultural touchstone of my formative years. A couple of decades later, it’s been a while since I engaged with the classic British tale, so I was very happy to pop along to the Lyric Theatre on a sunny Sunday morning to watch Tall Stories’ musical adaptation in celebration of its 25th anniversary. Our storytellers are Rianna Kellman, Niall Hemingway, and Jordan Cottle, who introduce us to the deep, dark wood – in a beautiful set by Isla Shaw that feels like the perfect homage to Axel Scheffler’s iconic illustrations – where Mouse (Kellman) now resides. On the hunt for the perfect tasty nut, Mouse has to outwit the sneaky Fox, Owl, and Snake (all played by Cottle) before meeting the frightening Gr...

14Jul

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Tender – Bush Theatre

Haunted houses aren’t just the decaying, cobwebbed old mansions we’ve seen in popular culture for decades. In a similar vein (and even colour scheme) to A24’s hugely successful 2026 horror movie Backrooms, Eleanor Tindall’s Tender explores the fear that can lurk in the walls of even the most seemingly ordinary spaces. Part psychological thriller, part queer love story – with sprinkling of body horror for good measure – Tender tracks the lives of young women Ivy (Nadi Kemp-Sayfi) and Ash (Francesca Amewudah-Rivers) as they become intertwined after a chance encounter on a night out. Ivy’s existence looks perfect from the outside, admitting to herself that “everything is in place” – the nice flat, the stable boyfriend, the pleasant job running an overpriced cafe. But from the offset we kno...

The Last Man – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

15May

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Last Man – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Deep down in an underground bunker made of concrete and reinforced steel, our unnamed protagonist (played by Lex Lee on press night, alternating the role with Nabi Brown) is seeking shelter from a zombie apocalypse caused by a mysterious unknown virus. As he stocks up his new abode with bulk bought food and supplies, some audience members may feel a shudder of deja vu as there is a touch of the COVID-19 about it all. But not to worry – there aren’t any Zoom quizzes or clashing of pots and pans this time. Photo: Rich Lakos/ArenaPAL Instead, The Last Man, a new English translation of Jishik Kim and Seungyeon Kwon’s Korean musical with dramaturgy from Jethro Compton, follows the protagonist as he reckons with what it takes to survive against all odds and leave the life he once knew behi...

Alastair Clark: On The Record at Flashback Records

3May

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Alastair Clark: On The Record at Flashback Records

After working in a record shop in Liverpool for a number of years, Alastair Clark quit to pursue his dream of being a full-time comedian. With many Edinburgh Fringe stints under his belt, he’s now bringing his show On The Record to independent record shops across the country. In London, the venue is Flashback Records — a lovely establishment in the beating, chaotic heart of Shoreditch. The shop’s basement is a quirky and cosy space (especially cosy on what was a particularly warm day) and armed with a can of Jubel I felt as though I was in a music aficionado’s living room. Clark perfectly matched the intimacy of the setting with his energy; both warm yet self-deprecating, he’s an incredibly engaging performer who immediately made me feel at ease. On The Record primarily sees Clar...

23Apr

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Waves – Jermyn Street Theatre

Virginia Woolf’s poetic, genre-resistent novel The Waves might not feel like an obvious candidate for a theatrical adaptation, but Flora Wilson Brown takes on the challenge with aplomb in this excellent new production at Jermyn Street Theatre. Director Júlia Levai reimagines the lives of friends Rhoda, Bernard, Susan, Neville, Jinny, and Louis in a loosely ambiguous time period, set against Tomás Palmer’s stark, metallic set design that becomes etched with the sextuplet’s memories — both literally and figuratively. Costume Designer Annett Black initially has the characters dressed in white t-shirts emblazoned with their names, which they shed as they grow up and into themselves, trying to discover who they are while also acknowledging the extent to which they are the sum of their experi...

22Apr

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Managed Approach – Riverside Studios

Holbeck, Leeds made headlines in 2014 after the local government launched a trial initiative to decriminalise and regulate the sex work industry. The scheme, known as the “managed approach”, ultimately lasted until 2020, and Jules Coyle’s play of the same name explores the programme’s impact on the women and girls living in the area at the time, including those working within the initiative. A semi-verbatim piece, Mangaged Approach threads the stories and experiences of a number of sex workers (played in turn by Áine McNamara and H Sneyd) through a central storyline about 18-year-old Abbie (Coyle) and her mother Kate (Eanna Ferguson), with the managed approach stirring up new tensions between the pair as they debate whether or not the scheme is truly protecting women. It’s immensely ...

20Mar

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Welcome to Pemfort – Soho Theatre

The titular Pemfort we’re welcomed to in Sarah Power’s new play is a castle – or, arguably, a fort – nestled in a sleepy village that’s home to a host of quirky characters. The 90-minute comedy-drama zeros in on Pemfort’s quiet gift shop, in which the absence of regular customers allows the staff to focus on a new venture: Pemfort’s first ‘living history’ event. The gift shop (brought to life exquisitely by Alys Whitehead’s vivid yet lived-in set design) is run by Uma (Debra Gillett), a dreamy and motherly figure with a penchant for calling her younger staff members “poppet” or “chicken”. The rest of her team initially comprises adventurous Ria (Lydia Larson) and strait-laced Glenn (Ali Hadji-Heshmati), who is especially passionate about ensuring the upcoming event is as historically ac...

The Olive Boy – Southwark Playhouse Borough

20Jan

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Olive Boy – Southwark Playhouse Borough

In Ollie Maddigan’s The Olive Boy, he tells us how his mum used to compare him to the stoned fruit not only because he was born with a condition where his skin looked green, but because he is “pure and sweet”. Of course, Maddigan thinks this is “bullshit” — everyone knows olives are bitter and too salty. This story feels like the perfect way to summarise Maddigan’s solo show, now playing at Southwark Playhouse Borough. In his portrayal of his 15-year-old self, over 70 minutes we see classic teenage delusions, selfishness and crassness slowly melt away to reveal a truly sweet heart at the centre of this very funny show about love and grief. As the sole performer on stage, with nothing more than a chair for a set piece, Maddigan is an absolute firecracker who immediately has the au...