Tuesday, March 19

REVIEWS

Cold, Dark Matters – The Hope Theatre
London

Cold, Dark Matters – The Hope Theatre

It is said that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. It is also said that you shouldn’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, and that good advice is almost certain to be ignored. Cold, Dark Matters is a very curious play, and every aspect of its production at the Hope Theatre is morbidly satisfying. Altogether more thought provoking than it has any right to be, this fun, dark tale is neither cynical nor vapid, instead approaching its murky subject matter with a refreshingly forthright earnestness, much the way one might attempt to earn the respect of a particularly wilful horse, or an intimidatingly intimate crowd. Writer and performer Jack Brownridge Kelly doesn’t bother with charming the audience, he simply gets straight to work, and wins them over by b...
American Buffalo – King’s Arms, Salford
North West

American Buffalo – King’s Arms, Salford

As a reviewer, five star shows appear in many guises; last night I sat in the cavernous surroundings of Manchester Opera House with 1,919 other hardy souls watching Sir Ian McKellen give a bravura performance as Falstaff in a four hour adaptation of Henry IV. Now, less than 24 hours later a sold out audience of just 35 are privileged to witness a very different, but equally compelling production in entirely different surroundings. Lisa Connor combines the job of Director of the Greater Manchester Fringe with her role as owner of The Kings Arms in Salford, in the latter capacity she has pulled off something of a coup by tempting legendary Director David Thacker to stage a production of David Mamet’s ‘American Buffalo’ in the tiny theatre that nestles above this backstreet Salford boozer...
The Good Father – Riverside Studios
London

The Good Father – Riverside Studios

What are you doing for sex tonight? When was the last time you felt comfortable singing in front of someone? Who do you belong with, really? The Good Father poses all these questions and leaves plenty of empty space in its performance for you to spend the whole night coming up with your own personal answers. Directed by Mark Fitzgerald and written by Christian O’Reilly, this play is somewhat lacking in theatricality and sitting in the audience you get the sense that it’s only being performed live in front of you because there wasn’t enough budget to turn it into a proper film. Both actors’ performances are serviceable and occasionally attention-grabbing, but they have a lot of empty space to fill, and it is an intimate enough story that audiences feel more like interlopers than partici...
Escaped Alone – Traverse Theatre
Scotland

Escaped Alone – Traverse Theatre

A play by Caryl Churchill (written in 2016), at age 86 arguably Britain’s greatest living poet and playwright. Known for her dramatisations of the abuse of power, for her support of Palestine, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes. Also central to most Churchill plays is a fascination with surreal deconstruction and non-naturalistic techniques which puts her firmly in the uncompromising postmodernist camp. Anyone coming to see a Churchill play will leave this one with a knowing smile, for those of us just coming to see a play, less so. The structure of the short 50-minute piece is simple enough; two storylines run side by side, in the first four post-menopausal women sit in comfortable chairs chatting in broken sentences and half-words in a sunny garden, in ...
Hide and Seek – Park Theatre
London

Hide and Seek – Park Theatre

Touching on issues like identity, peer pressure, friendship and the negative impact social media culture is having on young people, Hide and Seek doesn’t feel like entirely untrodden territory. Written by Italian playwright Tobia Rossi and translated and directed here by Carlotta Brentan, Hide and Seek charts the course of an unlikely friendship formed by two boys, Gio (Louis Scarpa) and Mirko (Nico Cetrulo) under quite bizarre circumstances. Bullied and belittled by his classmates, Gio retreats to a cave to escape after leaving a final mark on social media. Mirko finds him, and the two bond over their shared role in sensationalising Gio’s disappearance to feed the ensuing media circus, resorting to some fairly drastic measures to twist the story and stay relevant. As their friendship ...
Harry Clarke – Ambassadors Theatre
London

Harry Clarke – Ambassadors Theatre

A rose by any other name… still has its thorns. It’s what we love about our favourite conmen, Anna Delvey, Elizabeth Holmes, Remington Steele… They’re beautiful but also terribly cringe inducing. We love to hate them but can’t quite bring ourselves to look down on them, so powerful is their allure. Maybe it’s the accent, each one unique and bizarrely captivating, all the more for its inauthenticity. Harry Clarke’s is immaculate, as is Philip Brugglestein’s. In fact, all of the characters Billy Crudup speaks on behalf of over Harry Clarke’s 80-minute runtime are perfectly articulated, under the supervision of vocal coach, Deborah Lapidus. The stage cousin of Matt Damon’s Talented Mr. Ripley, Crudup’s Philip Brugglestein / Harry Clarke is no less charming for being 30 years his film fellow’...
A Song for Ella Grey – Liverpool Playhouse
North West

A Song for Ella Grey – Liverpool Playhouse

Greek myths have had many reimagining’s as their moral narratives and fantastical characters will always intrigue an audience. Based on the novel by David Almond, this adaptation takes the old cautionary tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and places us in modern day Northumbria. A group of sixth formers recall the story of their friend’s untimely death, a tale that conjures up grief, longing and fears of fleeting youth. The whooshing sounds of the ocean and ethereal drapes of cloth adorn the stage, where the actors tell us of Ella Grey. This five strong cast take us from Bamburgh beach to the depths of hell, remembering their dear friend and her demise. Elusive Orpheus appears in the waters and captivates the youngsters with his music and otherworldliness. Using shadows of silhouette with...
The Wizard Of Oz – New Wimbledon Theatre
London

The Wizard Of Oz – New Wimbledon Theatre

This classic tale is reimagined with an inventive and modern take on The Wizard of Oz as we know it. With a talented and enthusiastic cast, comedic and heartfelt moments, this production is an enjoyable watch for all ages. Projections are used extensively which is seemingly becoming the norm for a tour production, and we are launched into Dorothy’s world in Kansas quite abruptly with a somewhat dominating video. While the scene was indeed set, this dynamic video established the tone for much of the staging throughout the production. Despite some extensive and inventive set pieces, the large screen at the back of the stage is used primarily to distinguish scenes and at times this choice feels unnecessary and lazy, particularly as the cast performances are entirely believable. While s...
Gingerline – The Grand Expedition
London

Gingerline – The Grand Expedition

Immersive dining trailblazers Gingerline have returned to London with their show The Grand Expedition. The culinary journey started off as a secret project in Tottenham back in 2019 before travelling the world, visiting cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Seoul. The Grand Expedition is back, bigger and better than before with a full-scale re-imagining of the original story. The team takes you on an edible journey that transports you around the globe with five courses of delicious dishes, telling a story while appealing to your senses with colourful sights, sounds and tastes. As we queued up outside the secret location, the crowd was a mix of Gingerline superfans donning aeronaut-inspired costumes and immersive dining newbies.  After we entered the venue, winded and ducked...
A Most Pressing Issue – New Wimbledon Theatre
London

A Most Pressing Issue – New Wimbledon Theatre

If you imagine a prison, it probably doesn’t strike you as a place teeming with comic potential. Add in the fact that the prison is on fire, and you’re probably visualising a very dark segment on the News at Ten rather than a comedy. But somehow, Tim Harris manages to turn this rather bleak scenario into a very funny 60-minute show in A Most Pressing Issue, playing this week at Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre. At the centre of this caper is Penton (Harris), the prison’s arrogant and sleazy warden who is desperately on the pull, and his nice-but-dim assistant Orly (Matt Williams, who also collaborated on the script). As the pair plan out how they can woo women — while also dealing with the minor inconvenience of the prison somehow catching fire — the two actors show off their bril...