Stewart Who?, Author at North West End UK

3Aug

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Macbeth – Shakespeare’s Globe

The Shakespeare’s Globe hit the headlines recently, when a man in a full latex gimp suit and face mask rocked up to a performance of The Comedy of Errors. It prompted a few complaints, but Globe staff shrugged off the furore and were largely worried that the rubbery punter might overheat. He was stood in front of the stage at a matinee on a warm day. Fetish enthusiasts were less visible on the night we attended Macbeth at the Globe, but one of the venue’s strengths is to render the audience as almost another actor in the proceedings. The shape and design of the Globe means that in the summer months when it is light, the full range of humanity is on show, whether that’s in the cheap ticket pit or one of the galleries. At one point, Macbeth (Max Bennet) exited the stage through the aud...

Run to the Nuns The Musical – Riverside Studios

15Jul

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Run to the Nuns The Musical – Riverside Studios

It was a curious, rich and unique evening. The first hiccup to curse Run to the Nuns was a technical hitch, which meant the show opened over 30 minutes late. It was their first night. The upside was that the mysterious delay meant there was ample time for cocktails from the bar. In addition to unruly wires in the theatre, the box office printer broke down. A member of staff wrote out a ticket for me with a biro. It was very analogue. And slightly chaotic. I was into it.We were informed that the performers’ microphones had been abandoned. Instead, they’d be singing without electrical amplification. Tech gremlins were forcing a spontaneous descent into the unplugged old school. Our usher didn’t even check tickets when we finally piled into Studio 3. ‘Just get in and grab a seat,’ she begg...

15Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

42nd Street – Sadler’s Wells

Sadler’s Wells was in full swing for the opening night of 42nd Street. Red carpet, paparazzi and velvet ropes graced Roseberry Avenue, adding a giddy razzmatazz to this high-kicking comeback. The show was created in 1980, based on the 1933 movie of the same name. The Broadway production won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Choreography, becoming a long-running hit. It wowed London in 1984 (winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical), launching the career of a teenage Catharine Zeta-Jones. In a mirror to the plot of 42nd Street, Zeta-Jones was elevated from chorus girl to West End legend when both the lead actress AND her understudy fell ill. Jones stepped up and a star was born. In a cynical era of irony, apathy and algorithms, are people really in the mood for a cheery homage to old sc...

8Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Patriots – Noel Coward Theatre

It’s hard not to be struck by the ironic luxury of witnessing a West End play about Russian politics, as the war continues to rage in Ukraine. The collapse of the Kakhova dam means that up to 42,000 Ukrainians are being displaced while I sip on Aperol spritz outside the Noel Coward theatre. Russian hackers are being blamed for a massive cyber-attack that’s screwed the BBC, Boots and British Airways. There are fears that Putin may bomb the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but al fresco revellers at The Salisbury on St. Martin’s Lane appear untroubled at the prospect. Life, and the show, must go on. Peter Morgan’s Patriots arrives with such pedigree at its helm that it’s hard not to be dazzled by the prospect. Morgan is responsible for The Queen and Frost/Nixon on both stage and sc...

27Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

F**king Men – Waterloo East

F**king Men by Joe Dipietro is based on Schnitzler’s La Ronde, written in 1897 and first performed in 1920. It provoked an almighty scandal that escalated into anti-Semitic attacks on Schnitzler and a court case where he was accused (but acquitted) of obscenity. The primary text is laughably tame and early productions left the sexual encounters to the audience’s imagination, but the playwright was still labelled a ‘Jewish pornographer’. La Ronde dared to suggest that sexual desire cuts through class barriers and unwise copulation is a universal human frailty. This is no longer news in 2023 and perhaps Dipietro was chasing the original’s provocative vibes when naming this adaption and filling the stage with rampant, often naked, gay men. Either way, the gambit proved a box office smash. ...

22Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Splintered – Soho Theatre

‘How do you deal with coming out joyfully in a homophobic culture?’ This is the awkward question asked by Emily Aboud in her prize-winning show Splintered. In truth, same sex love isn’t overly celebrated anywhere on this melting, agitated planet. It’s geographical lottery that decides the level of homophobia one might experience should you start waving a rainbow flag. In Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and in some northern states of Nigeria, coming out might end in state enforced death sentence. Coming out in Cheam may be easier than in Chechnya, but unicorns and glitter aren’t guaranteed. Attitudes to queerness in the Caribbean stem from a very complex tangle of elements. It’s only quite recently that there’s been an understanding that laws criminalising homosexual relati...

19Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Snowflakes – Park Theatre

What is the logical end game of ‘cancel culture’ and digital pile-ons? In many ways, the ongoing culture wars indicate that society has barely moved on from villagers with pitchforks and crowds of cheering peasants at public executions. We might not be buying rocks to stone the condemned, instead, we’re doing it with clicks and retweets. Robert Boulton’s Snowflakes tackles this unsightly quirk of human nature with a dark satire that is gripping, provocative and grimly entertaining. Dissident Theatre’s first production has elements of Sartre’s No Exit coursing through its veins. Three characters are holed up in a room together and the audience are invited to relish their discomforts and work out what brought them together in this way. ‘Hell is other people,’ the infamous quote from Jean-...

12Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Wonderland in Alice – Theatre Peckham

My first review for North West End UK came courtesy of The Bone Sparrow at Theatre Peckham, so the venue has a special place in my heart. That particular work made me cry my eyes out in a way that no other piece of art has affected me. Theatre Peckham continues to produce challenging, diverse and unique theatre in a slick space whose events attract young, lively and local support. The future of theatre can be found in such spaces, so it's always a buzz to see them thriving. It's a testament to their varied programming that Wonderland in Alice lands on their SE5 stage and in this new adaption of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland asks a question, who would we be if we were free from the binary constraints of gender? It's an indication of the current political climate that even pro...

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide – Apollo Theatre

5Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide – Apollo Theatre

The buzz around this play got fizzing when it first landed at the New Diorama Theatre in 2021. By the time it transferred to the Royal Court the following year, it had a grass roots momentum that grew without the help of critics or reviews. It became a sell-out sensation long before the big nods and nominations that are currently adding to the wild applause from enthusiastic audiences. For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets to Heavy by Ryan Calais Cameron has just transferred to the Apollo in the risk-averse and cheesy West End. It’s shaking up the quo and breaking down barriers with dizzying skill and gusto. Before the curtain went up, it was thrilling to note that it felt like an EVENT. The air crackled with excitement and anticipation. This was a largely blac...

Accidental Death of an Anarchist – Lyric Hammersmith

20Mar

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Accidental Death of an Anarchist – Lyric Hammersmith

Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist is justifiably championed as a paragon of political theatre. It’s a satirical farce, focussed on police corruption and collusion with right-wing agitators. The play premiered in 1970 and was inspired by the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the very suspicious death of Giuseppe Pinelli, while being interrogated by the police. Why would a 50-year-old Italian comedy still have relevance today? Hmmm. Well, Lord Scarman’s 1981 report into the Met’s handling of the Brixton riots recommended major changes to police training and law enforcement. In ’93, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Macpherson Report found the Met’s investigation was “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”. Th...