Stewart Who?, Author at North West End UK

6Aug

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Echoes of Empire – Courtyard Theatre

When it comes to post-colonial mood music, Britain is in a league of its own. The symphonic sound of English Empire is often ugly tunes, tone-deaf lyrics and long broken instruments. Fellow colonial contenders such as the Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese tend to be guiltily mute about their marauding past or attempt to address their empirical history with glacial pace and limited scope. The United Kingdom can boast the biggest Empire, and possibly, the most monstrous legacy. British Empire has a habit of being viewed with a gobby pride which shouts down evidence of the brutal costs for former and current colonies. Britain continues to swerve a hard reckoning and often seeks to silence nuanced perspectives of Empire and many of the basic, but awkward facts. If the education system, media...

3Aug

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Romeo & Juliet – Courtyard Theatre

My last brush with Romeo and Juliet was at Wilton’s Music Hall 3 years ago for Rachel Garnet’s excellent Starcrossed, which focussed on the fractious relationship between Mercutio and Tybalt, but added an erotic queer twist to their violent passions. It was an audacious, yet clever spin on Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy and a prime example of the Romeo and Juliet Industrial Complex. From Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 blockbusting film (Romeo + Juliet) to Arthur Laurents’ musical, West Side Story, audiences are highly familiar with twists, takes and remixes of the most pop play from in the Bard’s canon. Adding another layer to this theatrical mille-feuille is Romeo and Juliet: Out of Pocket, devised by Argentinian playwright Emiliano Dionisi and directed by Alonso Íñiguez. This boldly inventiv...

Medea the Musical – Upstairs at The Gatehouse

31Jul

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Medea the Musical – Upstairs at The Gatehouse

If the Camden Fringe summons visions of damp carpets and edgy comics managing onstage meltdowns, ‘cause it’s easier than getting therapy on the NHS, then The Musical Medea added another dimension entirely. Upstairs at the Gatehouse is an award-winning Off West End theatre in leafy Highgate Village. The hilly avenues feel painfully civilised after the grunge and crackpipe vibes of Camden. It’s a refurbished 1895 auditorium, which sits above the Gatehouse pub and has the distinction of being London’s ‘top’ theatre (at 446ft above sea level). Historically, the venue has been a music hall, cinema, Masonic lodge, and a jazz and folk music club that once hosted Paul Simon. The ‘60s spirit of that iconic singer/songwriter greeted the audience of The Musical Medea as they wandered into the...

25Jul

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

For the Lack of Laura – Shaw Theatre

I have medals in Irish dancing. My Dún Laoghaire-born father busks in Borough Market with a fiddle, and my youngest sister plays jigs on a penny whistle, so one might say the Emerald Isle is in my blood. This cultural heritage led me like a lilting leprechaun to a musical by Kurt Rosenberg called For the Lack of Laura. It’s billed as, ‘a new Irish fantasy romance musical with Celtic and classic musical theatre-inspired songs. That’s a lot to live up to and a risky mixed grill to say the least. Thankfully, this project is in highly skilled hands. Over 26 songs, using a 12-person cast and a couple of hours, the show conjures up a charming and often dazzling dose of entertainment. Kurt Rosenberg is a multi-award-winning composer, lyricist, filmmaker, and theatre creative who hails fro...

6Jul

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Medea Gosperia – The Cockpit

I have a mild obsession with Medea, prompted by the realisation that there is not enough time to read, study and analyse The Classics, so probably wise to just focus on one banger until the coffin lid closes on my life. It was Rachel Cusk’s brilliant vision of the Euripides shocker at the Almeida which put me on this path. Kate Fleetwood’s performance and the entire production blew my mind. It moved me as a piece of theatre, but also turned me on to the text. This nouveau fevered enthusiasm led me to the 1969 Pier Paolo Pasolini film with Maria Callas, which gave me full-blown Medea mania. Medea Gosperia is presented as a ‘brand new jazz/gospel opera’ which in many ways, ticked a lot of boxes for me, but led to widespread hoots and horror when mentioned to my peers. It’s fair to s...

24Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

You Are Going to Die – Southwark Playhouse

It was noteworthy that the Southwark Playhouse was fizzing with an unlikely joi de vivre for the launch of You Are Going to Die. On a Monday? For a ‘nail-biting descent into existential anxiety’? The bar was jumping with a young, up-for-it crowd, and it was mystifying and exciting to be among them. Who told them and why are they here? As a long time supporter of the avant garde, I’ve endured excruciating boredom, genuine fear and questionable thrills, but the audience at such events always leans towards the gothy fringes of artistic society. That crowd were oddly absent and in their place were fresh faced Londoners, keen to party and free from the frosty demeanour of the serious aesthete. In attendance was Michelle Greenidge, who plays Lola, Mandy’s best friend in Diane Morgan’s BBC com...

Boys on the Verge of Tears – Soho Theatre

20Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Boys on the Verge of Tears – Soho Theatre

As a society, the debate around toxic masculinity continues to rage and curdle. The emergence of male social media influencers with unhinged and criminal intentions towards women runs in tandem with alarmingly low conviction rates for men who sexually assault women. Just 2 in 100 rapes recorded by police between Oct' 2022 and Sep' 2023 resulted in someone being charged that same year. Let alone convicted. Into this worrying manosphere drops Boys on the Verge of Tears by Sam Grabiner. It offers no solutions, but by opening a a window onto the brutal evolution of boys to men, it certainly shows why we keep ending up here. Boys on the Verge of Tears was selected from 1,500 entries to the Verity Bargate Award, which is sponsored by Character 7, producers of The Night Manager and Culprits. I...

13Mar

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

London Zoo – Southwark Playhouse

London Zoo is set at the dawn of the Millenium, as print media faced the oncoming juggernaut of online content. Job losses and a decline in quality journalism came in its wake, except in a few rarified and fortunate corners. This play highlights the subtle ways in which prejudice, power and ambition are thinly veiled by passive aggressive marketing jargon, jokey office politics and the cold reality of number crunching. As someone who left print media at the turn of the century and then worked for an online brand that expanded in the boom, I can attest to the accuracy of some of the vibes seen in this odd window onto that period. Much like this fictional news corporation, GAY.com, where I held the role of Editor, imploded due to rapid expansion, shareholder tyranny and phantom accountanc...

52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals – Soho Theatre

6Mar

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

52 Monologues for Young Transsexuals – Soho Theatre

Despite the apparent universal agreement that ‘culture wars’ are destructive, divisive and politically debilitating, there’s little sign of a ceasefire. In fact, the bad faith battles which raged with ugly fervour on social media have become the lingua franca of senior members of the cabinet and the UK’s Prime Minister. Vindictive conflict, which bins truth for fraudulent punches has been normalised on a global scale. Caught in the relentless crossfire, the trans community has been widely forced to retreat, for self-care and preservation. While the ‘trans agenda’ obsessively preoccupies the media, it’s rare to actually hear a trans perspective that isn’t then trounced and savaged by a ‘gender critical’ diatribe. High kicking and lip synching into this grim mise-en-scène are Laurie Ward ...

Lemn Sissay – Poetry Club at the Coronet Theatre

24Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Lemn Sissay – Poetry Club at the Coronet Theatre

In 2016, I shared a green room with Lemn Sissay. We were both guests on BBC 2’s Newsnight. I’d been roped in at the last minute to discuss ‘bisexual erasure’. Sissay was on the show to highlight National Poetry Day and to mark the occasion, he delivered a blistering and hypnotic performance of ‘Architecture’. It’s a poem about awesome potential, chaos and evolution. Look it up YouTube. One minute and nineteen seconds that will leave you breathless. To be honest, I was more excited about being in a room with this exceptional poet, than being on live television or getting grilled by Evan Davis. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning one-man dynamo. He’s written collections of poetry and plays, while his memoir My Name Is Why was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. His work i...