Ralph Jeffreys, Author at North West End UK

4Apr

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

RELIC – Coronet Theatre

RELIC suggests in its blurb that it is about “what survives from the past. A thing left behind, be it a memory, an object, a language or being”. On stage, we are treated to a barrage of images, sequences, and absurdist stand up and cabaret style performances from a strange figure: initially in just heels and a kind of bloated, amorphous body suit, this grotesque mannequin transforms and mutates throughout the performance, taking on several forms that are barely, but not entirely un-human. It's a strange show. At the heart of the piece is Euripides Laskaridis’ incredible performance which is itself a serious feat. Purely on a physical level, it demands a great deal of endurance and an incredible physical awareness of the body on stage. But considering he is also the director and set desi...

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

22Mar

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson is a brilliant piece of physical storytelling, at times funny, thought-provoking, and touching. It follows two boys, Ace (Natasha Roland) and Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice), who are scouts at the time of the Vietnam War. Through child-like inventions we see the world through their eyes, with the lines between playing soldiers at home and being soldiers at war are blurred. Photo: Morgan McDowell The strength of this show comes through its roots in physical theatre and clowning. Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, performers and co-creators, use this to evoke the child-like world of their characters. The extent of the ‘set’ is one large, black rubber tyre, but through clowning the two are able to produce so much from this one item: a piece of cover under enemy fire, t...

12Mar

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

The Glass Menagerie – The Yard Theatre

When the audience walked into the theatre, an actor was spray painting the wall of the stage, and smoke was being pumped into the air, a fitting start for an exceptional and anarchic evening of theatre. Tennessee Williams' classic play focuses on the Wingfields. Abandoned long ago by their father, the family are waiting on the promise of change, symbolised by the 'gentlemen caller' a figure who might come into the family's life and marry the daughter, Laura (Eva Morgan), giving her 'security', allaying her mother's (Sharon Small) fears, and allowing the son, Tom (Tom Varey), to be free of his obligations to them. What follows is a tender exploration of repressed desire. Photo: Manuel Harlan Jay Miller's direction is teeming with creative energy and takes an anarchic approach to sp...

14Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

More Life – The Royal Court

More Life is an exceptional and bold production, taking an ambitious and complex story and realising it expertly on stage. The play takes us inside the research lab of Edius, who are trying to upload the consciousness of dead people back into new, robotic bodies. After many failed attempts, Bridget is uploaded, and the promising signs she displays lead Victor (Marc Elliott) into a spiralling obsession with making her ‘work’, no matter her suffering and despite the objections of his lab assistant, Mike (Lewis Mackinnon). This torment leads Bridget (Alison Halstead) to break free of her captivity, running to the only place she can, the house of her former husband, Harry (Tim McMullan), and his wife Davina (Helen Schlesinger). Through this, the play explores the ethics of this search for ‘...

5Feb

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Vanya Is Alive – Omnibus Theatre

Vanya is alive is a unique play, telling the story of political censorship and the realities of war in Russia today. In its current form, it is calling out for a more complete staging, with moments of excellence not translating into a production that fully explores its own potential. The play focuses on Alya, whose son Vanya is captured and killed in the war, and her journey of political awakening that follows this. This tragedy is explored through a central conceit, namely that in Alya's society, the sentence that began this paragraph is not permissible, indeed it doesn't even exist. Instead, Aliya is told that her son is "absolutely free". In this way characters speak and emote through antonyms. It is an interesting idea, and at times can be incredibly moving. We are told how Alya ...

18Jan

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

A Good House – Royal Court

Following the struggle of new residents Sihle and Bonolo to adjust to their new neighborhood of Stillwater, A Good House is a brilliantly tense and funny examination of race and community politics. The sudden appearance of a makeshift shack is what drives the action of the play, as Stillwater’s white residents try to get Bonolo and Sihle to become the faces of the plan to evict the squatters. This is a truly masterful piece of writing. Amy Jephta’s script is intricate and layered, and where the most obvious tension is between Stillwater’s black and white residents, this never becomes reductive. For example, Jephta layers in class politics between Sihle and Bonolo - in Sihle’s words Bonolo has always been “bougie as fuck’. These and many other layers prevent an argument heavy script from...

14Jan

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

10 Nights – Riverside Studios

10 Nights is a funny and earnest play that sadly fails to live up to its full potential. The play follows Yasser, played by Adeel Ali, who decides to undertake I’tikaf, a 10-day period of isolation, prayer and spiritual cleansing at the end of Ramadan. For Yasser, more interested in TikTok than religion, this is a daunting prospect. One of the play’s strengths is in the themes it sets out to explore. Of these, imposter syndrome and social exclusion feature prominently. Yasser is made to feel uncomfortable by religious busybodies. His impassioned assertion that the mosque is supposed to be a place for everyone produced audible reactions of affirmation from the audience. Yet most of the play’s themes feel underexplored. Yasser is a character wracked by a central guilt, but we never fully ...

18Dec

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Cyrano – Park Theatre

Cyrano at the Park Theatre is an exceptionally entertaining evening out. Virginia Gay’s reworking of Edmond Rostand’s 19th century play is transformational, turning an old, ossified tragedy into an uplifting and heartfelt exploration of queerness and love. The play follows Cyrano, who has a brilliant mind but is deeply insecure in her body. She falls for the equally intelligent Roxanne, who instead falls for the handsome yet ineloquent Yan. Unable to express her love openly, Cyrano takes to seducing Roxanne through Yan, feeding him the right words. Through this tension, Cyrano explores unrequited love, self-hatred, arrogance, and manipulation. Virigina Gay and Jessica Whitehurst flourish as Cyrano and Roxanne respectively. Their chemistry is compelling as are the barriers to their ro...