London Archives - Page 123 of 150

Mimma: A musical of war and friendship – Cadogan Hall

2Mar

By Louise PennNo Comments

London

Mimma: A musical of war and friendship – Cadogan Hall

Playing for one-night only in a charity gala concert performance for the Prince’s Trust, Mimma is a story of personal sacrifice in war that seems glumly relevant in the current climate. Sadly, despite a 48-piece BBC Concert Orchestra and a starry cast led by Sir David Suchet, Celinde Schoenmaker, Louise Dearman, John Owen Jones, plus opera stars Ashley Riches and Elena Xanthoudakis, this show is uneven from the start and is neither musical, war drama, or opera. The opening scene set in July 1940 hints at conflict, but we then go back to 1938 and a Turin where the young Mimma (Schoenmaker, enigmatic) is at a family party. Her uncle and mother conspire to send her to safety in London, where Uncle Lorenzo (Jones, underused) has a café in Soho, as war fizzles on the horizon. Her uncle...

28Feb

By Julia PanovaNo Comments

London

God of Carnage – OSO Arts Centre

Children get themselves into a bucketload of trouble these days. Yet can we blame them? After all, their loving, nurturing, “responsible” parents seem to do even worse... “God of Carnage” follows Alain and Anette Reile and Veronique and Michel Vallon (two seemingly happy, married couples) as they meet to attempt resolving a scuffle between their sons. We watch as their demeanours fade from respectable and polite to reckless and crude to a point where the situation at hand is forgotten and replaced with, well to say the least: Carnage. As the train speeds along beside the Vallon home, one wonders if discussion will get back on track. I was personally enthralled by this adaptation performed at the OSO Arts Centre. The staging of this production perfectly complemented its naturalistic s...

25Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Collaboration – Young Vic

The thrill and danger of collaborating two differing artists is a risk. However, the result was intimate, powerful and devastating at times. You may never see the artist, only their work in which you project your own stories, but to see them firsthand on what inspires them to share such vulnerable images from their mind put onto a canvas, it’s a humbling experience. It’s without saying that this cast are masters at their craft. There was such a lack of ego between these actors, they gave themselves up completely to each other and it was almost quite terrifying how accurate the pair were to the artists. Jeremy Pope truly had snatched the breath out of everyone’s lungs in that theatre as he spins into whirlwinds of hysteria, too frightened to make a sound in case we were detrimental to hi...

24Feb

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

Uncanny Valley – Battersea Arts Centre

Theatre has been pedestaled, historically, to create a sense of empathy within audiences. We identify with the players on stage. If the production is stirring enough, we end up following the performers’ breath patterns. But, what if the actor on stage is a robot? Would we still feel empathy? Would we still be able to release emotions or scramble for answers to explain our reality? Rimini Protokoll’s Uncanny Valley subverts the position of theatre and human existence by casting a lifelike animatronic model of Thomas Melle, the writer of The World at My Back. Conceived, written, and directed by Stefan Kaegi, Rimini Protocoll once again uses a novel and disruptive form to raise questions on human conditioning and its dependency on machines- “Are we human by our randomness?” Or are we just lik...

23Feb

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Red Pitch – Bush Theatre

This is an electrifying piece of theatre with a strong sense of community at its core. From the moment you enter the performance space, it is buzzing as the boys bounce around the stage, preparing for a match. You are plunged into their territory from the get-go and feel drunk on their energy and enthusiasm. Omz, Joey and Bilal navigate their worlds of South London as 16-year-old boys at an exciting, pivotal point in their lives. The play is a testament to the strength of friendship and the trials and tribulations of youth as well as an exploration of gentrification from the differing perspectives of these young people. This outstanding play-writing debut by Tyrell Williams is a masterclass in comedy and authenticity. Williams truly captures the spirit of banterous teenage boys on the b...

21Feb

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

Turtle – Hens and Chickens Theatre

Created at the intersection of stand-up comedy, spoken-word poetry, and theatre, Bróccán Tyzack-Carlin’s Turtle entertained the audience for an entire hour at a cozy and warm Hens and Chickens theatre. Bróccán’s energetic and zestful entrance gripped the audience right at the beginning and he successfully managed to keep them rolling in the aisles throughout the show. Without adhering strictly to one form, Bróccán boldly explored multiple genres of performance and spoke about all kinds of topics- his life in North-East England, his education at Durham University, sex toys, politics and statues, juxtaposing Marxism and Spice Girls, and his obsession with Tim Westwood and turtles. These explorations were supported by strong characterisations performed with distinct accents, felicitous ...

19Feb

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The Forest – Hampstead Theatre

French playwright Florian Zeller describes his plays as ‘little labyrinths in which we can get lost, and sometimes, find ourselves’. This play is a masterpiece by the writer, in which its cleverness holds your mind hostage so that it is cornered and coerced into exploring the avenues that the plot leads you down. Written in French, translator Christopher Hampton has interpreted Zeller’s nuances and according to Zeller, their collaboration comes from his deep respect for Hampton’s great sensitivity and precision. It is important to explain that the cleverness of this play is not only due to the writing, but the director Jonathan Kent’s interpretation of the writing, which encourages designer Anna Fleischle to create a three-set stage to enable the cast to play out this ...

17Feb

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

Saturday Night Fever – Peacock Theatre

A homage to the 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever musical makes a comeback on the West End. Produced and directed by Bill Kenwright, the stage adaptation is by Robert Stigwood in collaboration with Bill Oakes. The show traces the story of a young Tony Manero (played by Richard Winsor) as he navigates through his day job and complications in his personal life while aspiring to be the king of disco. He is confronted with the discovery of the personal life of his dance partner, Stephanie (played by Olivia Fines), messy relationships with his friends and a complicated atmosphere at home. Holding potential for nuance, the storyline is quite basic - it is the music and dancing that hold the show together. The iconic music is given its due credit, with Jake Byrom, Oliver Thomson and James Hudson...

17Feb

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Steve – Seven Dials Playhouse

The newly refurbished Tristan Bates Theatre (now renamed Seven Dials Playhouse) is the perfect setting for this play in which the first scene takes place in a Joe Allen restaurant, and the New York bar setting of the theatre compliments this perfectly. The writer Mark Gerrard has (rather annoyingly) called three of the characters similar names, Stephen (Joe Aaron Reid), Steven (David Ames), and their son Stevie, who we do not see, but who is talked about extensively. The annoying aspect is that it does take some time to understand who is who at the outset, so some of the nuances of the first scene may be lost as you figure out which Steven/Stephen/Stevie, they are talking about. Five old friends meet at Joe Allen’s to celebrate Steven’s birthday, Carrie (Jenna Russell...

17Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Splintered – Soho Theatre

Splintered is a ‘part-play, part-cabaret’ which explores and celebrates the queer joy and coming out in a homophobic culture. Chanté Faucher, Melissa Saint and Alice Vilanculo grab our hands and pull us in as we hear the real words of Caribbean people telling their coming out stories and seeing how they keep that part of themselves secret due to the culture surrounding them. But this show promises queer joy and where people might find themselves with no hope, there is always something to celebrate ‘despite, IN SPITE’ of their oppressors. Emily Aboud, writer and director has created something beautiful. From the moment the lights go down, the audience were edging forward, clapping their hands and beaming from ear to ear. It is a show that you can only sit back in your chair after the bow...