Zara Odetunde, Author at North West End UK

17Sep

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

The Prudes – Royal Court

The Prudes, written by Anthony Neilson, is a comedy centred around the sex lives (or lack thereof) of Jimmy and Jess, a couple grappling with intimacy issues. While the premise offers plenty of potential for humour and thoughtful exploration of modern relationships, the production, unfortunately, falls short in several areas, leaving the audience with a mixed experience. Vkinn Vats, who portrays Jimmy, tended to overact at times. His performance felt slightly exaggerated, not reminiscent of a man struggling with insecurity and relationship woes. Instead of fully drawing the audience into his internal conflict, the over-the-top delivery occasionally pulled us out of the moment. At times, it seemed as though the actor was playing for laughs in a way that leaned more towards slapstick than...

Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! – Ambassadors Theatre

13Jun

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! – Ambassadors Theatre

The true crime genre of entertainment has had a strange rise to prominence in recent years and has a grip on people interested in mystery and criminal events. There are many ways to consume true crime content and many people love true crime podcasts, this show is a culmination of these things: a fictional true crime podcast hosted by Kathy and Stella. Following two seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe and a UK tour, the show is premiering in the West End. Kathy and Stella are two late twenty somethings who have been friends for most of their lives. They have both been othered for their obsession with death and fascination with true crime cases. They host a true crime podcast and inadvertently become involved in the murder case of one of their favourite true crime authors. We have a murder my...

3May

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

The Promise – Lyric Hammersmith Studio

This is Deafinitely’s first co-production between Birmingham Rep and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. It is a new play exploring a variety of themes including inaccessible healthcare for the deaf community and how families navigate a diagnosis of dementia. This show is presented with a combination of British sign language, spoken English and captions. The promise is the story of a family that has grown apart. We start with Rita (Anna Seymour) a teacher and champion of education in the deaf community who is retired and struggling with her memory. Her husband (Louis Neethling) recently passed away and her son Jake (James Boyle) has returned home for the funeral after years of estrangement. The reasons for his absence are unravelled throughout the dual timeline plotline of the play. This play...

30Apr

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Minority Report – Lyric Hammersmith

Minority Report is a staging of a Nottingham Playhouse and Birmingham Rep co-production. This premise is best known for the 2002 film starring Tom Cruise. This play explores free will and the idea of justice in this adaptation of Philip K Dick’s short story of the same name, written by David Haig. The play opens with a ceremony of the 10th Anniversary of the British Pre-crime department. In which the CEO Dame Julia Anderton is extolling the virtues of detecting Pre-criminals. However, she soon finds out that she has been identified as a pre-murderer. She must go on the run in an attempt to prove her innocence and discover truths about her organisations that have been long buried. Jodie McNee led this play as Pre-crime CEO Julia, she commands the stage and explores so many emotions an...

15Apr

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

The Comeuppance – Almeida Theatre

The Comeuppance is the first offering of the Almeida’s 2024 season as a thought-provoking piece of theatre that will leave the audience reflecting on their own lives. The Comeuppance takes place at the pre drinks of a circle of high school friends who reunite before they attend their 20th high school reunion. Many haven’t seen each other for years and each person is at a different point in their lives, as they reconnect and share old memories and inside jokes, another presence is hovering on the outskirts. Death. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins writes a play in which the characters are exploring their perspective of mortality and maturity. They have all grown up since they have last seen each other and have started to reflect on their choices and the consequences of them, all the what ifs and...

2Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Bury Me – Riverside Studios

Bury Me is billed as a one act comedic drama which has been put on at the Riverside Studios as a part of their Bitesize Festival, a theatre festival meant to platform and uplift new and emerging theatre talent. This story was told in two timelines. The timeline in which Nadia is trying to track down her brother Noah’s body to be able to hold his funeral and the timeline in which Noah and his family are preparing for him to undergo a surgery to treat his cancer. Being able to get to know the person that these characters lost was a great choice, so we can imagine the extent of Nadia’s pain more and more throughout the play. The highlight of this show was the exploration of the strength of the sibling bond. Explored by Gillian Konko and Peter Todd through their characters Nadia and Noah...

25Jul

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Ride – Southwark Playhouse Elephant

Ride is a British musical that Returns to London after a period at the Charing Cross Theatre last year. This show is back and even better than before. Presented as a pitch for her very own newspaper column we see Annie Londonderry commandeer office assistant Martha and together the two of them narrate Annie’s journey in 1894 to be the first woman to circumnavigate the globe via bicycle. The performers speak directly to the audience as though we are the panel they are pitching to. Which is great for this story especially given the double act cast and small intimate set. The transition between relaying the story to the board vs Annie disappearing into her reality was profound and the shift was palpable via the energy in the audience. All the book, music and lyrics are by Freya Cat...

Robin Hood: The Legend Re-Written – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

25Jun

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Robin Hood: The Legend Re-Written – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

This show opened as part of the summer season at Regent’s Park Open Air theatre. It’s lovely venue that perfectly houses a story about a hero that gallivants through the forest. Which is why a retelling of the legendary tale of Robin Hood is the perfect tale for this summer season. This play takes a new twist on the classic story, as we delve into whether the outlaws can defeat the sheriff. Robin Hood is a folktale of the underdog challenging the system, where he takes from the rich and gives to the poor. This new take written by Carl Grose challenges everything we know about the tale. But still pays homage to the various forms the original tale has taken in different ways throughout the play. We have different iterations of Robin Hood eager to save the day, but they only exist to be vi...

School Girls or The African Mean Girls – Lyric Theatre Hammersmith

15Jun

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

School Girls or The African Mean Girls – Lyric Theatre Hammersmith

This show wows with sharp witted remarks and a hilarity that surpasses cultural barriers. The London premiere of Jocelyn Bioh’s 2017 comedy is a commentary of female friendship and feeling of isolations in school, dealing with bullies and hierarchy is set against the backdrop of Aburi Girls Boarding School in 1986 Ghana. Paulina is the queen bee, the most popular girl in school who picks girls up out of obscurity and makes them feel special. That is until her status starts to be questioned upon the arrival of new transfer student Ericka. The main group of girls attend the best Girls school in Ghana and are awaiting the arrival of a recruiter for the Miss Ghana pageant. Paulina (Tara Tijani) is the group leader and believes she is the only choice for the pageant but Ericka’s (Anna Sha...

Once on this Island – Regents Park Open Air Theatre

18May

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Once on this Island – Regents Park Open Air Theatre

I arrived back at the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre to watch them kick off their 2023 summer season with a revival of Once on this Island. This 1990 original musical retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson version of the little mermaid tale, was set against the heat of the Caribbean sun, in the jewel of the Antilles. Once Upon This Island tells the story of the unending love of peasant girl Ti Moune for a boy Daniel. Where we will see if love can overcome death and settle a wager made by the Gods. The story and told through the staging of informing two young girls about their culture, within a fairy tale structure. Ti Moune is an innocent girl who longs for something more than the normal day to day life she lives “Waiting for Life”, she becomes the figure of interest of the G...