London Archives - North West End UK

7Apr

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Authenticator – National Theatre

The Authenticator at the National Theatre is an aspirational play that seeks to question past historical slavery, in a way that raises the sensitive points of shared ownership and interpretation of the truth. Set in a country house ‘Harford’ it focusses on a time from 1756 when “the fictional Henry Harford departs England for Jamaica” where he settles and acquires his own plantation. Following the uprising to abolish slavery and the plight of colonial enslaved Jamaicans Henry returns to England and buys Harford House. Living there is his “ancestor Fen -Fenella Harford”. This dramatic short production is centred around three female characters’ whose lives are exposed as they all uncover secret references to their own inherited colonial past. It has cursive dialogue which brings about many t...

Riki Lindhome: Dead Inside – Soho Theatre

7Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Riki Lindhome: Dead Inside – Soho Theatre

Cinderella wants to go to the ball and Ariel wants to be where the people are. Riki Lindhome is trying to get some balls to come to her so she can be where the people are (growing). Venture into the infinite forest of her fertility journey in Dead Inside, a one woman musical odyssey that rejects both the structure of the cis straight white man’s hero’s journey and the audience expectation that a one act one woman musical won’t make everyone cry. Lindhome alternates musical comedy with a series of gut-wrenching monologues so disarmingly genuine that by the end of the show much of the audience was in fact brought to tears. Fans of Lindhome will recognize almost all of the songs in this show from her online work, with particular standouts “So Long Farewell (A Breakup Anthem for B...

2Apr

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Choir Boy – Stratford East

Choir Boy is an engaging and thought-provoking play that centres on the character of Pharus played by Terique Jarrett, an outspoken, confident student at an elite prep school for Black boys. As a young, gay man, Pharus is navigating both his identity and his place within a rigid, tradition-driven environment. The production balances humour and tension effectively. There are several genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud moments, often driven by the boys’ natural banter, playful teasing, and bursts of spontaneous energy, including unexpected dancing. These interactions feel authentic, capturing the way teenage boys might behave with one another. The cast as a whole deserves credit here; their chemistry makes the dialogue feel fluid and convincing, with a rhythm that adds to both the comedic and...

2Apr

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

In The Print – King’s Head Theatre

It’s 1985. London. Rupert Murdoch secretly relocates his entire newspaper operation overnight from Fleet Street to a purpose-built facility in Wapping, locking out five thousand print workers without warning. Facing him: Brenda Dean, the first woman ever elected leader of a major British trade union, who must somehow hold a fractious coalition together against a man who seems to have already won before the fight even starts. In The Print, written by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky, takes this year-long standoff — known as the Wapping dispute — and wrestles it into 90 tight, no-interval minutes. Given we’re living through another era of tech moguls rewriting the rules while calling it progress, the timing feels pointed. The production values are impressively high. Claudia Jolly’s Bre...

The Trials of a Gentleman – Brockley Jack Theatre

2Apr

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Trials of a Gentleman – Brockley Jack Theatre

David Martin is in a police interrogation room, preparing his defence statement for a serious crime. He is not a habitual criminal. He is a man out of his time. Born in the 1960s, he harks back to what he sees as a more glamorous civilised world of the 1940s, informed mainly by the great Hollywood actors of that age: Niven, Grant etc. In fact he was brought up in a modest working-class household, his childhood shattered by domestic violence. In this 75 minute monologue Kit Smith as David Martin explains how he came to be in this police cell, and the values and beliefs which have guided his life. He believes in civility, courtesy and politeness. He abhors much of modern society, with its rudeness, debasement of language and reliance on technology. In his life as a primary school teacher,...

2Apr

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

This is Not About Me – Soho Theatre

Following an acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run, THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. hits Soho Theatre. This extremely solid playwrighting debut from Hannah Caplan delivers humour and heart, in a clever meta-theatrical package. The play follows Grace and Eli, whose longstanding but arguably co-dependant friendship is tested by creeping romantic and sexual attraction. The story nonlinearly jumps around across several years of jealousy, hookups, falling out, making up, and general will-they-won’t-they drama. Meta-theatrically, following months of no-contact with Eli, Grace writes a play to help her process her feelings. THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. is that play. While the plot bears a resemblance to When Harry Met Sally, Caplan takes a much grittier – though still very funny – approach to the subject matter. &nbs...

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – Lyric Hammersmith

30Mar

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – Lyric Hammersmith

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding follows a (seemingly) average working day in the titular salon in Harlem, New York City. The play provides a beautiful glimpse into the lives of the immigrant women who work there. The play takes a journey through workplace politics, gossip, relationship drama, and so on in a manner that is both poignant and utterly hilarious. The Tony-nominated script by Jocelyn Bioh is excellent. Bioh strikes the perfect balance between a largely naturalistic approach to both structure and dialogue, while heightening elements of the plot and the characterisation just enough to also make for compelling drama and hilarious gags. The dialogue is fantastic. The characters bounce off each other in a way that feels lively and realistic while remaining easy to follow. A lot of co...

30Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Old Ladies – Finborough Theatre

Rodney Ackland's The Old Ladies is set in an unnamed English cathedral city in 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression. As with many people at that time, the three old ladies in this piece find themselves in difficult circumstances with dwindling savings. May Beringer (Catherine Cusack), Lucy Amorest (Julia Watson) and Agatha Payne (Abigail Thaw) are living in separate rooms in a dingy house, finding what little pleasure they can in a limited and uneventful life. These are three women who in any other circumstances would likely never have crossed paths and now have only an uneasy relationship of necessity. When the potential for an infusion of a substantial amount of money unexpectedly enters the picture, greed takes over, provoking a degree of malice that can only end in tragedy....

30Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Henry V – RSC, Stratford-Upon-Avon

A major power invading another country on a flimsy pretext. Does that sound familiar? The RSC’s new production of Shakespeare's Henry V has clear current political resonances. This production by the RSC's is superb, well directed, excellently acted and inventive. It uses Shakespeare's text and characters and is mercifully free of the gimmicks which some directors choose to put into the Bard's great works. It starts with a nod to continuity with the scene of the death of Henry IV from Henry IV Part Two. It then proceeds at ferocious pace, never flagging. It has been intelligently cut by the director, Tamara Harvey, to run for 2 hours 50 minutes including an interval and yet includes all the major events of the original text. The cast make a superb ensemble. Many playing several parts. Th...

23Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Mythos: Ragnarök – Alexandra Palace

One, two, three, Thor! How many times can you watch a guy pick another guy up and throw him at the ground before you lose your mind? Photo: David Wilson Photography If you’re watching Mythos: Ragnoarök it’s well before Thor you’ll find yourself hooting, hollering, booing, hissing, cheering, and overall having a hel(l) of a good time. This play is performed by a cast of wrestlers so athletic, enthusiastic, and entertaining it’s impossible not to get caught up in the beautiful chaos they create. Overstimulating in the best possible way, Mythos: Ragnarök is both technically astounding and intellectually stimulating, with an emotional heart that keeps a steady pace for each storytelling beat. Writer and star Ed Gamester has created something truly special. Melanie Watson’s tremendo...