Olivia Cox, Author at North West End UK

Sam Dodgshon Tries to Hold Your Attention for One Hour – Club Silly

1Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Sam Dodgshon Tries to Hold Your Attention for One Hour – Club Silly

Being a standup comedian already requires a certain level of bravery. In his latest comedy special at Lambeth Fringe, Sam Dodgshon takes this vulnerability to new extremes by giving the audience control over what happens in the show. The concept is simple but smart. We’re presented with a PowerPoint that resembles a flowchart, with slides prompting the audience to choose between various options that influence the direction of the show. These options range from the straightforward (“Can I speak?”) to the absurd (should he go to hell via purgatory), and each pathway ends the same: we’re asked if we’d like to “play again”. With the assistance of an on-stage technician who operates the laptop and encourages the audience to shout out our answers, Dodgshon throws his all into the piece...

6Sep

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Invasive Species – King’s Head Theatre

Based on the true story of writer and star Maia Novi, Invasive Species opens with a life-altering realisation: Maia wants to be in the movies. But not the low-budget Spanish movies that blare out of the tinny speakers at her local cinema in her homeland of Argentina. Maia wants to be in “big, American movies” like The Amazing Spider-Man — the movie that triggers this epiphany in her youth. Before she knows it, she’s caught hook, line and sinker by The Acting Bug (brought to gloriously creepy life by Harrison Osterfield, playing one of several roles), setting her on a path of unsuccessful stints at acting schools in France and London before finally getting into Yale School of Drama. Disaster strikes weeks before her all-important final year showcase, however: after seeking treatment f...

2Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Spare Room – Hen & Chickens Theatre

As soon as you step into the Hen & Chickens Theatre, you’re immersed in the sticky world of Spare Room. A drunken girl flippantly tells you to “sit where you like”. Unconscious bodies slump over ratty furniture, grease-soaked pizza boxes line the floor, and dance music hums in the background. It’s an immediately familiar sight (shudder): a shared uni student house. The action kicks off with sweet Jodie (Georgina Housby) turning up at the grotty pad with a suitcase and admirable optimism as she introduces herself as the new occupant of the spare room. She initially thinks she has female company in the house after seeing a ‘Mary’ listed as a housemate in the online ad, only to find out that’s merely a bizarre nickname for a bloke called Richard — making her the only girl in a hous...

31Jul

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Second Class Queer – Theatro Technis

Opening with a beautiful dance sequence that takes a ghastly turn to reveal the news of a horrifying homophobic attack, Kumar Muniandy’s solo play Second Class Queer is a raw exploration of identity through the lens of race, sexuality, and post-colonialism. Muniandy portrays Krishna, a queer Indian Malaysian man who is living in Berlin, where he attends a gay speed dating event. This event provides the framework for the majority of the 60-minute play as we watch Krishna chat with five different men, each conversation slowly revealing Krishna’s buried trauma and guilt over his role in his mother’s death. It’s a clever structural device that lends itself to some interesting dialogue and light humour — delivered with plenty of charm by Muniandy — but many of the conversations feel m...

26Jun

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

This Bitter Earth – Soho Theatre

Following his recent turn as Emcee in Cabaret, American actor Billy Porter has clearly developed a taste for the West End. This time, however, he’s on directing duty, as he stages a new production of Harrison David Rivers’ play This Bitter Earth at Soho Theatre. It follows the relationship between Black playwright Jesse (Omari Douglas) and his white BLM activist boyfriend Neil (Alexander Lincoln), with fragmented snapshots of their love story playing out against the tragic backdrop of the killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and more Black people facing police brutality. Porter’s jaunty personal style translates to a slick and energetic staging, weaving the non-linear narrative together carefully through simple movement, props, and lighting changes. There are no other characte...

Lovestuck: A New Comedy Musical – Stratford East Theatre

19Jun

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Lovestuck: A New Comedy Musical – Stratford East Theatre

A number of new British musicals have tackled the often absurd topic of modern dating, from the delightful Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and the gone-too-soon Why Am I So Single?. James Cooper’s Lovestuck: A New Comedy Musical tackles similar themes, such as social media desperation and dating app woes, but with one very large (and very stinky) twist: it’s based on the viral story of a girl who got stuck hanging out a window after trying to dispose of a poo she couldn’t flush at her first date’s abode. Lovestuck creatively reunites the co-creators of hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno, with Cooper’s writing being brought to life by director (and former co-host) Jamie Morton. If you’ve never listened to the podcast, rectify that immediately — just don’t listen while driving,...

11Apr

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Manhunt – Royal Court

Back in the summer of 2010, the nation was glued to their news channels as police carried out the country’s largest manhunt for Raoul Moat after he shot three people, one fatally. True crime is a morbid fascination for many, but one that usually transfigures into podcasts, TV dramas, or Netflix documentaries. This time, Robert Icke is dissecting the life and mind of one of the UK’s most renowned criminals this century through his new play Manhunt, which is making its debut at the Royal Court. Inspired by a book by journalist Andrew Hankinson, Manhunt envelopes us in the complex interior and exterior worlds of Raoul Moat (played by Samuel Edward-Cook), jumping between timelines as he explains what drove him to shoot his ex-partner Sam (Sally Messham), Sam’s new partner (Leo James), an...

2Mar

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Son of a Bitch – Southwark Playhouse

Ten seconds, seven words. That’s all it takes for Marnie (Anna Morris) to become a viral sensation… for all the wrong reasons. After a stressful long-haul flight in which her husband has ditched her and their son in Economy while he sips champagne in Business, Marnie’s rising frustrations have an almighty climax as she loudly calls her four-year-old a c*nt in front of all the other passengers — including one opportunist filming it on their phone. Soon, Marnie is public enemy number one as she becomes the global poster girl for ‘bad’ motherhood. Some suggest child services need to get involved, some believe she should be sterilised, and #SaveTheSon is the latest trending topic. But in reality, as we discover in time-jumping scenes throughout Son of a Bitch’s 60-minute runtime, Mar...

24Feb

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Miss I-Doll – The Other Palace

The stage is set. The lights are rigged. Five archetypal contestants wait in the wings. It’s the live final of mega reality show Miss I-Doll, and anything can (and will) happen. The first hopeful we meet is Mia (Daisy Steere, who also plays all the other visible characters), who starts to tell her expertly honed sob story to the ‘Confesh Cam’, complete with childhood trauma and emotional support pets. Competing against our protagonist to be crowned Miss I-Doll and win the lucrative prize of heading up a charity of their choice are posh girl Veronica, nepo baby Samy Sire (whose resemblance to Dani Dyer is purely coincidence, I’m sure), buttoned-up Christian girl Prudence, and tough disaster-prepper Ren. As Steere depicts all of these contestants, as well as a ruthless Italian prod...

20Feb

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Richard II – Bridge Theatre

London’s theatreland has welcomed its fair share of buzzy Shakespeare productions as of late, and now the Bridge Theatre has gotten in on the action with a production of Richard II starring Jonathan Bailey, whose rising stardom shot into the stratosphere after his leading role as Fiyero in the Wicked movie last year. But this is no stunt casting; with an Olivier award and two WhatsOnStage nominations in his back pocket, Bailey’s theatrical prowess is well renowned by this point, and it certainly never falters in Nicholas Hytner’s new production of the Shakespearean historical tragedy. Hytner’s production brings the action into a loosely modern context, but it doesn’t quite go down the Jamie Lloyd-ification route of black athleisure and barren sets. Instead, here we see traditiona...