Olivia Cox, Author at North West End UK

6Nov

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Tones: A Hip-Hop Opera – Brixton House

To pull off a solo show, a performer needs to possess a deeply commanding presence, superhuman confidence, and a sense of great comfort within the space that puts the audience immediately at ease. To pull off a solo show that is almost entirely rapped? That requires something truly special — and that’s exactly what Gerel Falconer, writer and performer of Tones - A Hip-Hop Opera has in abundance. In this show, Falconer plays the role of Jerome (AKA The Professor), a young Black British man navigating our society where race, class, and culture still play a huge role in our sense of belonging. Feeling not Black enough for the area he grew up in yet too Black for the rest of the world, Jerome is forced to confront the impact that assimilation has had on his identity. With his sole compan...

Pop Off, Michelangelo! – The Other Palace

5Nov

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Pop Off, Michelangelo! – The Other Palace

If you asked me to describe my dream show, I’d probably tell you it would be a musical, with stupidly clever comedy, and plenty of niche pop culture references. Luckily for me, The Other Palace is serving up a shining example of this with Dylan MarcAurele’s Pop Off, Michelangelo!, directed by Joe McNeice. An unashamedly untrue retelling of how Renaissance artists Michelangelo (Max Eade) and Leonardo Da Vinci (Aidan MacColl) became frenemies, this show introduces us to the pair as young pals who soon realise they have something in common: they’re both gay, but can’t live as their truest selves out of fear of punishment by the church. Figuring out their simplest route to divine forgiveness is to win over someone who has a direct line to the big man himself, the friends head to art scho...

11Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Brace Brace – Royal Court

“A plane fell out of the sky, and we happened to be on it.” That’s the fourteen-word, remarkably oversimplified synopsis of Oli Forsyth’s new play Brace Brace, brought to life in a startlingly intimate traverse staging at the Royal Court, directed by Daniel Raggett. Having introduced themselves and their whirlwind love story to the audience, newlyweds Sylvia (Anjana Vasan) and Ray (Phil Dunster) explain how their honeymoon began with life-shattering tragedy: the plane they were flying on was taken over by a hijacker (Craige Els, who also portrays a young passenger’s father and the pilot). If the unthinkable horror of believing you’re about to crash to your death from thousands of feet in the air wasn’t enough to fracture the couple, it’s the unique part they each play in the near ...

3Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

My Period the C*ckblock – Brixton House

Today is going to be a fantastic day, according to Bolade (Ruth Oyediran). Why? She’s discovered a pill that can delay her period, which means she’s pain-free to hit the biggest day party of the year — featuring her dream man Tion Wayne — with her best friend Jessica (Lara Grace Ilori). This is where we meet the two pals at the beginning of My Period the C*ckblock, written by Oyediran and directed by TD Moyo in this production at Brixton House. What transpires over the next hour is a remarkably well-written exploration of Black British sisterhood, female pain, and the taboos around menstruation. Oyediran’s vibrant and incisive dialogue depicts a charming and authentic portrayal of friendship — and all the entanglements it can bring. Bola and Jess are shown to have grown apart in the ...

26Sep

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Real Ones – Bush Theatre

Romantic love is a road well travelled by storytellers, but what about its platonic counterpart? Olivier Award-winning playwright Waleed Akhtar seeks to shine a light on the similarly turbulent and complex dynamics within friendship in his new play The Real Ones, currently playing at Bush Theatre until 26th October. Set across a period of almost two decades, we encounter British-Pakistani best friends Zaid (Nathaniel Curtis) and Neelam (Mariam Haque) at various critical moments in their lives — and in their friendship — as they deal with growing up, family tensions, relationships, and identity. Closeted Zaid has his heart fervently set on becoming a playwright, and he’s also navigating his place in the world as a gay Pakistaniakistani man. Having developed a complex relationship with...

The Lonesome Death of Eng Bunker – Omnibus Theatre

20Sep

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Lonesome Death of Eng Bunker – Omnibus Theatre

The story of Chang and Eng Bunker is one of enduring curiosity: two Siamese immigrant twins, conjoined by a band of cartilage and a shared liver, fascinated audiences across the US and achieved an unorthodox version of the American Dream. But on January 17th, 1874, Eng woke up to discover his conjoined twin brother was dead, before passing away himself a few hours later. The Lonesome Death of Eng Bunker, directed by Iskandar R. Sharazuddin, depicts Eng’s final solitary hours through puppetry, music, and striptease. Across an enchanting 60 minutes, writer and performer Tobi Poster-Su is at one with his puppets, bringing each figure — no matter how big or small — to life with a thrumming heartbeat. From the smallest tea bag to the largest human-like puppet, Poster-Su takes an extrao...

12Sep

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Kim’s Convenience – Riverside Studios

London’s theatre scene has no shortage of productions inspired by TV shows, from Stranger Things to Fawlty Towers. Kim’s Convenience, on the other hand, is the rarer example of a successful play that spawned an even more successful TV adaptation. Over 13 years since its first debut at Toronto Film Festival (and nearly six since the premiere of the Netflix sitcom it inspired) Ins Choi’s Korean-Canadian family comedy has debuted in London, transferring to Riverside Studios after a sell-out run at Park Theatre. In this Esther Jun directed production, Choi takes on the role of patriarch Mr. Kim, fondly known as Appa, who owns and runs a neighbourhood convenience store with the reluctant help of his daughter Janet (Jennifer Kim). With new condos springing up across the area and the impend...

Barbara (and Kenneth) — Greenside @ George Street

13Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

Scotland

Barbara (and Kenneth) — Greenside @ George Street

She’s the blonde, bold, pink-loving doll who needs no introduction: Barbara (not known by her other name in this show due to trademark reasons). But she also has an absolutely stacked CV, with more than 100 different jobs under her brightly coloured belt ranging from Olympic gymnast to presidential candidate, so why isn’t that what people choose to talk about? Now, she’s putting on a one-woman musical show to tell us all about her fight to prove women can do or be anything they set their mind to — oh, and her best accessory/boyfriend Kenneth will also pop along to say hello. Deanna Giulietti stars as the titular life-sized doll, and she’s an absolute revelation. Telling us stories of her rich career tapestry, while also weaving in real-life examples of historical injustices...

Married at Fringe Sight — theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

11Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

Scotland

Married at Fringe Sight — theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

Are you looking for love at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe? Whether you’re on the hunt for a quick fling or your future spouse, The Queer Comedy Club are here to help with their very fun new show Married at Fringe Sight. Hosted by comedians David Ian and Jeremy Topp, audience members are invited to scan a QR code and answer questions about topics such as their worst ever date, their ideal partner, and the worst thing about their last (or current) partner to help the duo play match-maker. But this isn’t just a show for singletons. We’re told that in this space, for one night only, relationship status, sexuality, and preferences are thrown completely out the window — handy, given that the ratio of straight women to straight men in my audience was approximately 20:1. Once the comed...

Maria Telnikoff: All The Men Are Going To Hate Me — Underbelly, Bristo Square

10Aug

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

Scotland

Maria Telnikoff: All The Men Are Going To Hate Me — Underbelly, Bristo Square

As soon as Maria Telnikoff bursts onto the Buttercup stage at Underbelly Bristo Square in a frenetic, gyrating dance to Charli xcx’s ‘Guess’, she totally commands the space with her charisma and physical comedy skills. It’s an energetic start, and she maintains this electric energy throughout her 60-minute show All The Men Are Going To Hate Me. After she’s got that dance out of her system, Telnikoff introduces us to the concept of the show: she wants to write the next great work of literature — about all the men she’s slept with. It’s a simple but clever framework that allows her to break up and act out each of these stories as individual ‘chapters’, which she punctuates with a series of placards. As she takes us through the journey of her sexual history, we’re introduced t...