London Archives - Page 10 of 149

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton – The White Bear

29Sep

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton – The White Bear

The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton opens like a gothic horror: thunder and rain set a moody scene as a figure sits slumped over in a white hospital gown, before jolting to life and erupting into a crazed monologue complete with manic laughter. This play – like the novels and plays of the real-life Patrick Hamilton – boldly explores dark themes and incorporates spooky imagery. Life – the play seems to suggest – can be as terrifying as any fictional ghost or demon, but we can still smile and laugh. Above all, this play tells an interesting story about an interesting character and is masterfully performed. This one-man show (written and performed by Mark Farrelly) follows almost the entire life of Patrick Hamilton from his youth in the 1910s and ‘20s to his declining hea...

26Sep

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Love Quirks – The Other Palace

Four friends living in London brought together by unfortunate events: their love life sucks. Ryan (Lewis Bear Brown), Stephanie (Clodagh Greene), Chris (Tom Newland) and Lili (Ayesha Patel) have struggled to keep their love life on the upward trajectory. Stephanie announcing her divorce, Chris being cheated on by his fiancé, Ryan struggling to find a man he truly likes and Lili never quite getting over Ryan- the only man she’s ever loved. We are slightly rooting for Stephanie and Chris as it’s revealed they have a past and potentially through their heart break, they can find comfort in each other. However, the story does feel quite dated and limiting for the actors as every time we explore a complexity to heartbreak the script stays very 2 dimensional. Lili is a masters student who i...

25Sep

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

The Harder They Come – Stratford East

The Harder They Come, currently showing at Stratford East is an updated remix of the stage musical, last performed almost 20 years ago at the same venue. That pioneering production was an adaption of Perry Henzell’s 1972 cult film of the same name, co-written by Trevor Rhone. Henzell is regarded as the ‘Father of Jamaican film’. For his debut, the director cast the singer Jimmy Cliff in the lead role. This not only made Cliff a household name but arguably introduced Jamaican culture and reggae to a global audience. My first experience of the Harder They Come was at a late-night screening of the film at the notorious Scala cinema in King’s Cross. It was the late ‘80s and following Bob Marley’s death and the UK’s embrace of Ska via bands such as The Specials, Madness, and The Selecter, Ja...

24Sep

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

The Weir – Harold Pinter Theatre

Outside, it's gusting, the wind has picked up and outside isn’t the most welcoming. Inside the pub, it’s warm and welcoming, a proper locals pub where you can serve yourself and just put your money in the till. Not much happens, a few locals drink and chat. That’s The Weir, that’s Conor McPherson’s play. It is a slow-burn, more about mood than plot, and it's the beauty of the writing and the skill of the cast which envelops us, brings us along to the bar as we sit and share the evening. In this case, to welcome newcomer Valerie, a blow-in to the small village. As the drinks flow, the men swap local history, leading into ghost stories which get darker and darker. Valerie reveals her own story, moving the mood from mostly light banter to raw confession. The evening becomes less about the ...

Measure for Measure – Royal Shakespeare Company

24Sep

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Measure for Measure – Royal Shakespeare Company

Much like its persecuted and prosecuted heroine, this production of Measure for Measure has a lot to prove. Director Emily Burns draws some tight parallels between the scenarios of Shakespeare’s Vienna and the present-day political scene but keeps the play well within the lines of conventional adaptation. That this script lends itself so well to the current moment is more depressing than exciting, and this production does not shy away from, but rather leans into, this discomfort. Distressingly relevant and enduringly painful, this problem play doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions. Photo: Helen Murray Standout performances from Emily Benjamin as Mariana, Douggie McMeekin as Lucio, and Oli Higginson as Claudio only heighten the sense of unease that pervades the play space. Benjam...

23Sep

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Emma – Rose Theatre

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. At least, Jane Austen’s Emma did. Ava Pickett’s Emma has got issues. Handsome and clever but decidedly not rich, her father is a crook, her sister is a crackpot, and her own disposition is anything but happy. This Essex-set adaptation of the literary classic opens at Oxford’s May Ball and is throughout infused with the vaguely sickeningly hedonistic energy of that messy melee. Blatantly dismissive of the traditional Regency aesthetic of horse-and-carriage romance, this production instead takes on the look and feel of a Piccadilly Circus rickshaw ca...

20Sep

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Oscar at the Crown – The Crown

Oscar at the Crown follows the story of Oscar Wilde, reimagined in a dystopian futuristic world. This particular night marked the debut of Jan Sport stepping into the role of Wilde, and they delivered an electric performance. From the very start, the energy was high, with sharp, high-octane choreography lighting up the stage. The atmosphere is immersive from the moment you arrive. Walking down the stairs, you’re greeted with nostalgic clips from 90s TV classic The O.C., setting the tone before you even reach the venue. Entering feels more like stepping into a nightclub than a theatre, with a live DJ, dancers, and an audience swept into the action right away. The production lays out its “three rules,” encouraging the audience to move freely throughout the performance, following the ca...

20Sep

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

LENNY. – Omnibus Theatre

Lenny, also known as ‘big man’ by his best friend Carly is soon to be turning 30. Living with flatmates he doesn’t like, a job that fulfills him with no purpose and a huge burning desire to be loved. Written and performed by Alfie Webster and directed by Sarah Stacey, this 80-minute piece travels through the usual spots Lenny exists like the cinema, a nightclub, the nightclub’s cubicle and back in his room where even there he struggles to take up space. But on this particular day he is haunted by a dream, in which he had sex with a banana. This unravels him completely as he realises his own loneliness. His mission becomes clear, to prove the banana wrong and make sense of who he is. Location to location, Webster invites us into his lens of life. He finds humour in almost anything mundan...

19Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Lady From The Sea – Bridge Theatre

Simon Stone's extensive reworking of Ibsen's 1888 play relocates the action from the Norwegian fjords to Ullswater in the Lake District. In this idyllic setting, neurologist Edward (Andrew Lincoln) tries, and mostly fails, to be a good father to teenage daughters Asa (Gracie Oddie-James) and Hilda (Isobel Akuwudike). Now remarried to Ellida (Alicia Vikander) after the death by suicide of his first wife, Ed struggles to keep the peace within the family and particularly between his daughters and their stepmother. Ed's best friend, Lyle (John MacMillan) is a support for the family, although his involvement is not always regarded positively by Ed. Into this scenario comes Heath (Joe Alwyn), a young patient of Ed's who is awaiting the outcome of tests that will confirm whether his m...

18Sep

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Brown Girl Noise – Riverside Studios

Brightly coloured curtains hang behind painted step-stools, Hindi film songs play from the speakers. An apt stage setting for a play about South Asian stereotypes. Four brown girls gather for an audition. In an industry where the character choices for a South Asian actor are between “funny best friend”, “wedding guest” or “Bollywood dancer”, this here is a meaty role – to play Priti Patel. With the auditions delayed, the four find themselves with a lot of time to kill. In the forced proximity of that confined space they go from being rivals to building a sisterhood, brought together by the realities of growing up brown. Written by Kaya Uppal (who also plays one of the young women) and directed by Zarshaa Ismail, the play is a tapestry of experiences. In the waiting room, the women...