Zara Odetunde, Author at North West End UK

10Mar

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Sleepova – Bush Theatre

Sleepova written by Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, is a celebration of black girlhood as a quartet of friends transition into their adult lives. We start in the months before their GCSE exams at the first sleepover of a group of four best friends. To celebrate Shan’s 16th birthday the girl’s share gossip, eat popcorn and explore their fears for their changing lives and their current struggles. Through their subsequent sleepovers, Ibini discusses issues like religion, grief, sexuality, maturing into adulthood and the struggles of living with chronic illness. Each of the characters had a distinctive flair and the quartet is bursting with chemistry, that you would believe they had been friends since childhood. Although 3 out of the four actresses are making their stage debut, you w...

19Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Text & Delete – King’s Head Theatre

We’ve all had a flatmate we’ve hated right? Two women who are each other’s complete opposites attempt to coexist in a flat share, and after deeply hidden secret is revealed, we explore the continuum from enemies to budding friends. A fantastic new show, from In Her Element theatre production bringing together drama and comedy for a one act production full of laughs and unexpected comfort. The staging of this show at the King’s Head Theatre was well done, the small space was made to look like a living/dining room through furniture and through characters being off stage when they were in bedrooms or the kitchen. This made the production feel so intimate, like we were spectators sitting inside their living room. Both actresses multi role in this show and they do it fantastically. ...

15Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Windfall – Southwark Playhouse

After an acclaimed run in New York last year Windfall has arrived at the Southwark playhouse. From director Mark Bell comes a story about five office workers, so miserable with their current situations, are willing to risk it all on a $500 million lottery prize. This show explores the relationships between these people and with their evil boss, but most importantly how they ended up stuck in the office and exploring what they’d do to get out of it. The atmosphere in the theatre was amazing, the music during the preshow and the interval was in the style of a radio show playing hits from the 80s and 90s. This style mainly links to act one and early parts of the play which feel like a 90s sitcom set in an office. A sitcom with classic characters, the evil and uncompromising boss, and 5 qui...

Pride and Prejudice (*Sort Of) – Richmond Theatre

14Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Pride and Prejudice (*Sort Of) – Richmond Theatre

After an extremely successful run in the West End, this retelling of Jane Austen’s most famous love story is on tour, and I had the pleasure of viewing their Richmond theatre stop. This is the classic story we all know told through a very different lens. Pride and prejudice (*sort of) is a masterclass in comedic storytelling and audience engagement. The story starts with the servants of Austen’s iconic characters detailing their involvement in making sure these love stories end the way we all know and love. This is one of the funniest plays that I have seen in a while with so many laugh out loud moments, that I think I was laughing for 2 and half hours straight. There were multiple points in the show where the audience burst into spontaneous applause born from the sheer hilarity of t...

<strong>In Clay – VAULT Festival</strong>

26Jan

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

In Clay – VAULT Festival

This is the first show I have seen at the 2023 VAULT festival and what a start. In Clay is one of the best new musicals I have seen, full of heart and passion, it was an experience I won’t soon forget. In Clay is a one-woman musical based on the life of Marie-Berthe Cazin, a French artist. The story is set in her home in the suburbs of Paris in the 1930s. When we meet her in this story, Marie is awaiting the arrival of her fellow artist friend Henrietta. As she waits, she starts to tell the story of how they met in school and as a result the story of her life thus far. She is reflecting on her journey and career, thinking about what could have been and how she ended up on her current path. Rosalind Ford is very charming as Marie. Her comedic timing bundled with her ability to convey ...

<strong>Girl from the North Country – Sheffield Lyceum</strong>

18Jan

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Girl from the North Country – Sheffield Lyceum

For Bob Dylan fans this production is a delight. Boldly written and directed by Conor McPherson this powerful production uses Dylan’s back catalogue ranging from 1965 to the present day. With songs such as ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and ‘Make You Feel My Love’ (recently covered my Adele) sitting alongside less obvious choices, Dylan’s music is used not to progress the storyline as in most musical theatre but to give the story an ambience, a mood, a feel. The lyrics are not used to tentatively tie the plot together but instead almost transcend it and have an almost supernatural feel to them. The cast do much to aid this by singing directly to the audience into a microphone, breaking down the 4th wall and giving the audience a real insight into the characters private and internal thoughts and st...

<strong>George Takei’s Allegiance – Charing Cross Theatre</strong>

18Jan

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

George Takei’s Allegiance – Charing Cross Theatre

A fantastic production, heart-warming and fulfilling, grounded in a real historic period. It highlights the strength of the human spirit against all odds and shows how things can bloom even through adversity. After the success of productions of Allegiance in San Diego and on Broadway it has arrived at the Charing Cross theatre, London. This musical is the story of Sam Kimura and his family who, like 120,000 other Japanese Americans during World War Two were forced into internment camps. Evicted from their homes and shipped across the country for the crime of being of Japanese descent during a war where Japan was considered the enemy. You could feel the love of the people involved; George Takei considers it his ‘legacy project’. The characters were inspired from his personal experi...