Zoё Meeres, Author at North West End UK

<strong>Peter Pan’s Labyrinth – The Vaults</strong>

9Nov

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Peter Pan’s Labyrinth – The Vaults

I always think of The Vaults (situated somewhere beneath the rail lines at Waterloo) as a cool if not entirely comfortable venue. A series of tunnels, bright graffiti, neon lighting - it's edgy for sure and a hive for exciting new theatre in an unusual space. So, the set up for Peter Pan's Labyrinth surprised me, although pleasantly so. Set up cabaret style with its own bar and themed cocktails, the effect is welcoming and cosy and were it not for the lack of phone signal I could easily have forgotten where I was. While Peter Pan's Labyrinth doesn't necessarily embrace its natural setting, the production itself is edgy and fun and definitely fits The Vaults' loud, non-conformist vibe. The plot is, simply, daft - Peter Pan needs to get back to Neverland to stop Tinkerbell's wedding, ...

28Oct

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Daddy Issues – Seven Dials Playhouse

I really, really wanted to love Daddy Issues. I envisaged finding it funny, but challenging, and thought provoking; it sounded right up my street and at 75 minutes with no interval, it felt like a perfect Thursday evening activity to accompany a late dinner with a friend. And don’t get me wrong, there was much that I did enjoy. The height of this was Bebe Cave’s performance as Imi, our protagonist, who held the audience spellbound for the whole of this one-woman show. She is, frankly, flawless – with her portrayal taking us on an emotional journey that borders on exhausting. Friendly and full of self-deprecating humour one minute and genuinely unsettling the next, Cave is bubbling over with talent and is undoubtably the best thing about this production. Also deserving of a mention is...

14Sep

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London

Doctor Faustus – Southwark Playhouse

The plot of Doctorr Faustus is well trodden in the arts – character thinks s/he is getting everything they’ve ever wanted, turns out the small print doesn’t exactly chime with that. Spoiler alert - your heart’s desire may not be all it’s cracked up to be and/or comes with some undesirable side effects. But Faustus really should have known better – he knows he is quite literally making a deal with the devil and even back in the Elizabethan era should probably have known that might come back to bite him. The stage set up at the Southwark Playhouse (never been, would definitely return – front of house staff charming, drinks reasonably priced, delightfully air-conditioned space) is a little confusing. The setting is very 80s with a dial-up telephone and recording apparatus, yet the backdrop...

22Jul

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London

Mosquito – Seven Dials Playhouse

The role of the ‘other woman’ in popular culture over the years has tended to sit at either end of a spectrum. Typically speaking she is either sexy, fearless, bordering on cold-hearted, a temptress, or she is meek, downtrodden, obsessed with a man who she knows will never leave his wife for her and suffering from low-self-esteem. Lemy (Aoife Boyle) is very much in the latter camp. When we first meet her and her love interest James (Seamus Dillane) we quickly establish that they are – or were – having an affair, and that James has now tired of Lemy and is returning to his wife and baby. James is cold – polishing off his Pret lunch while he ends his affair to enable him to get straight back to the office – while Lemy is clearly anxious and unsure, swinging from begging James to stay to s...

14Jul

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Hungry – Soho Theatre

On the face of it, Chris Bush’s new play could simply be viewed as a fresh take on class. In reality, Hungry has more layers than a millefeuille, tackling a diverse range of topics including love, love language, class, culture, ethnicity, sexuality, addiction and, of course, food. The set-up is thus – laidback waitress Bex meets passionate, driven chef Lori. Bex loves chicken nuggets and Pot Noodles, Lori is acutely aware of the difference between a mousse and a marquise. During an hour and ten minutes we move back and forth in time, observing the peaks and troughs in their relationship – two people who find love with someone so unlike them, trying to assimilate and be assimilated into each other's worlds. The time-hopping can be confusing, especially in the earlier scenes as you try to...

7Jul

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London

I, Kermit – Lion & Unicorn

Years ago, one of my best friends slept with Mr Blobby. I don’t literally mean that she made the beast with two backs with a pink flump-like man with yellow spots, but rather that she had sex with a man who, at the time, was in possession of the Mr Blobby suit. Possession of the suit dictates that you are, in effect, Mr Blobby in residence, until such a time as the Blobby-Baton is passed on to a successor. I’m unsure of whether my friend’s conquest is still the keeper of the costume or if there's now a new Blobby on the beat, but in any event imagine the suit is currently languishing in a bin liner somewhere, perhaps with one of Mr Blobby’s mad, unseeing goggly eyes staring dolefully out of the bag. The question of character, character ownership and the blurring of the lines between act...

29Jun

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Metamorphosis – Lyric Theatre

Dating in your 30s is *hard*, if for no other reason than you’re just busier than you were in your 20s. And so it came to pass that I invited the guy I’ve recently started seeing to join me at Monday’s production of Metamorphosis. This was risky, but schedules dictated that it was the only viable option, and you can tell a lot about someone by the way they respond to dance theatre, right...? I say this because going into the performance I really wasn’t sure what to expect, and Maria Caruso’s solo production will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed, it wouldn’t traditionally be mine, but I found last night’s performance so moving and relatable that I’ve been mulling it over all day, examining the work from different perspectives and having an indulgent bit of navel gazing along the way....

24May

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Happenings – Hope Theatre

Since I started writing for North West End UK, I’ve spent longer than the average person sitting in small theatres above pubs watching plays about mental health. This suits me down to the ground – I like theatre, I like pubs, and I’m really delighted that we live in a society where mental health is being explored through the arts. To my mind, this can only lead to better understanding, greater empathy, higher quality conversations, and ultimately more support. I have the utmost respect for people who are brave enough to write about or portray their own lived experience onstage, and I will keep supporting this movement to create safer spaces and common points of reference for those conversations. All that aside, Happenings didn’t have the profound effect on me that the synopsis suggested...

7May

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Juniper and Jules – Soho Theatre

Last night I experienced the rare treat of thinking I knew the basic outline of a story, and being pretty happy about it, but then watching something that was so much richer and more poignant that I felt annoyed with myself for making any assumptions at the beginning at all. Juniper and Jules meet at a club. They flirt, they leave together, they have sex. But then – shock – we learn that Jules has never had sex with a woman before, in fact has a boyfriend, and is really quite surprised at the revelation that sex with a woman is an option for her. Aha, thought I, slightly cynically. That’s it. That’s the story. Woman discovers woman and grapples with identity. But that’s not the story. Or it is, partly, but it’s so much more than that. Juniper and Jules is a story about identity, about r...

Witness for the Prosecution – County Hall

29Apr

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Witness for the Prosecution – County Hall

A handsome husband; a beautiful, mysterious, foreign wife; a wealthy older woman, now dead; a disgruntled housekeeper. Absolutely classic ingredients for an enjoyable whodunnit, and last night’s performance was up there with the best. From the opening minutes, which were some of the most dramatic I’ve seen in a long time, you know that this production is something special. The lighting, the choreography, the pounding background music and cries of anguish – everything about this production delivers punchy blows to the senses, taking your breath away and pulling you to the edge of your seat. Even the scene changes are slick and stylised, pure poetry in motion with not a beat missed. The Chamber at London County Hall provides the perfect setting for this Agatha Christie masterpiece,...