Saturday, December 21

Author: Sadie Pearson

Toto Kerblammo! – Unicorn Theatre
London

Toto Kerblammo! – Unicorn Theatre

Isolation in community, courage in adversity, the bravery it takes to feel – to love. Toto Kerblammo! is a tale from a furry friend which is deeply, tenderly human. Effy, played by Peyvand Sadeghian, is struck with tragedy. Sent to live with her aunt and uncle as her mother recovers from a nervous breakdown, in a flat block which doesn’t allow dogs. Little do her aunt and uncle know, however, that the ‘no-pets-allowed’ rules haven’t been followed. Using 3D binaural audio technology, the audience wear headphones to experience Effy’s world. Felipe Pacheco as Effy’s beloved dog Toto not only takes the stage but narrates Effy’s story through the headset directly into your ears, ASMR-like at times, demanding that to appreciate it all you must “really listen”. Audio performances from Ma...
One of the Boys –  Playground Theatre
London

One of the Boys –  Playground Theatre

One of the Boys leads it’s audience through an Indusry-esque exploration of the corporate ‘boys club’ and the women it leaves behind, but with too little nuance or introspection to make for a truly engaging watch. The play, written by Tim Edge and directed by Lydia McKinley, was a feat of endurance for its cast. Giving 85 minutes of action with no interval, all four of the cast should be praised for the great amount of work they put in to bringing this performance to life. Energy never dropped and the quality of performance was, for the most part, high. Playing the cold-career-woman turned heart-of-gold lead Eve, Miriam Grace Edwards was a stand-out within the production, bringing nuance and sensitivity to a character which could have easily been reduced to stereotype. Edwards played...
A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First – King’s Head Theatre
London

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First – King’s Head Theatre

A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First is a powerful exploration of the pressures which shape a childhood, devastating loss of innocence, and the path which American foreign politics carved out for a generation of working class boys. Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice) and Ace (Natasha Roland) roll onto the stage as impossible-not-to-love Boy Scouts. Scruffy, mud covered, scamps! Spending a summer camp play-fighting imaginary enemies for the elusive praise of Lyndon B Johnson, a comically God-like father figure in their whimsical imaginations, the duo give magnetic, vulnerable and tender performances, creating characters you instantly invest in. As the story unfolds, folklore and propaganda blends with harrowing truths, and suddenly the looming pressures of manhood and w...