London Archives - Page 133 of 150

2Oct

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Snowflakes – Old Red Lion Theatre

A man awakes in a hotel room, unsure of how he arrived there. He is agitated, struggling to make sense of his situation when two strangers arrive with a deadly mission. The hotel door is locked, and it will stay locked until the job is done. In Snowflakes, writer Robert Boulton presents a thought-provoking piece of theatre, exploring a number of issues that have been tackled in recent popular fiction, including programmes like Black Mirror and the Saw films. In a society where so many feel unjustly treated, where is the line between right and wrong, judgement and punishment and criminality? Who is the real ‘bad guy’, and how far will people go to see that justice is done? If it’s not an entirely unique plot – I found the ending satisfying if not a little predictable – what really sto...

How To Survive An Apocalypse – Finborough Theatre

1Oct

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

How To Survive An Apocalypse – Finborough Theatre

"No-one wins the end of the world." This just about sums up Jordan Hall's witty and timely rom-com-drama "How To Survive An Apocalypse" which tracks a millennial couple's sudden financial collapse and how this leads them to question their smart urban lifestyle and adopt a survivalist mentality. Realising that they are not at all prepared for a natural disaster or catastrophic failure of society, they start to learn what they will need to survive. They quickly find that Jen's skills of running a lifestyle magazine and Ben's coding ability have left them remarkably lacking when it comes to survival in a potential post-apocalyptic world of no food, water or electricity. They can just about buy bottled water and tinned goods with their maxed-out credit cards, but becoming hun...

Witness For the Prosecution – London County Hall

30Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Witness For the Prosecution – London County Hall

‘Witness For the Prosecution’ started its life as a short story called ‘Traitor Hands’. Agatha Christie herself thought the story wasn’t anything special, but her theatre producer Peter Saunders, thought he could develop the story into a courtroom drama for the stage. Christie challenged him to adapt the story into a play and he took her up on it. She dismissed his attempt but went ahead and wrote her own version which became one of her greatest achievements as a dramatist. The play received its West End debut at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1953 and the following year opened on Broadway. The setting at the London County Hall could not be bettered for its authenticity. The courtroom feel, fits perfectly with the play’s location at the Old Bailey, where the ...

29Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Tokyo Rose – Southwark Theatre

‘Tokyo Rose was a legend, but Iva Toguri lived.’ It’s this simple yet decisive line, delivered just before its concluding musical number, which encapsulates the interplay between the personal and the political in this extraordinary production. Tokyo Rose is a powerful testament to the life and trials endured by Iva Toguri, an American citizen of Japanese heritage, who was accused of treason by the US Government in the aftermath of the World War II. The title refers to the nickname given to the female radio broadcasters trusted with spreading Japanese propaganda to the Allied Forces and prisoners of war captured by the Axis forces. Blending Iva’s personal journey of coming to terms with the duality of her heritage and upbringing as well as a larger socio-political narrative about the fallou...

Back to the Future: The Musical – Adelphi Theatre

28Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Back to the Future: The Musical – Adelphi Theatre

Synchronise your watches folks, because you are about to head back in time at a speedy 88mph with Marty McFly and that famous DeLorean. Exploding onto the stage, London’s Adelphi Theatre’s most recent production is a musical adaptation of Robert Zemeckis’s hit 1985 time-travel movie, ‘Back to the Future: The Musical’. If you are going to open a new West End musical based on a cult 80’s movie classic, then you need to do it with some style, and that’s exactly what ‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ has achieved without compromising at all the legacy of the movies. With music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and a book by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, adapted from their screenplay of the 1985 film, this is a high-tech, multidimensional, magically cinematic production, that qui...

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

28Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

When an overwhelming wave of grief and disbelief hit you suddenly, especially in the midst of what was supposed to be a beautiful moment in life, the biggest fallout isn’t from the first hit but from the almost never-ending ripples it leaves in its wake. This sentiment plays out thoroughly in Cordelia O'Neill’s new play Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough, currently being staged by the Small Things Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse. With its tightly-knit dialogue, intimate staging and breathtaking performances, the show takes us through the different stages of a couple’s relationship, from the first date to the bittersweet arguments, focusing on the loss of their stillborn child, and the crippling isolation and unhappiness it brings forth. At the centre of the story ...

28Sep

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

The Weekend – Bloomsbury Theatre

“I’m at the theatre. There is an inflatable dinosaur” “Are you ok? Do you know what month it is? Or the current monarch?” Thus, the WhatsApp exchange between myself and a friend kicked off my Sunday night. The stage is set, a picture of modern suburbia with five – yes five – sofas planted for cast and chorus to observe and be observed from. Incongruous and never really explained is the rampaging inflatable dinosaur, who I was sad to note did not make another appearance further down the line. Highbury Opera Theatre present The Weekend – an operatic adaptation of Michael Palin’s 1994 play which charts the eventful Saturday of Stephen Feeble. Torn from his morning newspaper by the unwelcome news that his daughter will be visiting with her trying husband, uncommunicative teenage daugh...

26Sep

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

The Great Gatsby – Immersive LDN

The Great Gatsby, London’s longest-running immersive show directed by Alexander Wright, is a stage adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 novel of the same name is back with a bang. The show is set in Gatsby’s extravagant mansion, envisioned by Casey Jay Andrews, its lavish art-deco design and dim speakeasy lighting created the perfect setting to transport you back in time for an evening. Most of the action and the dancing happened in the main space whilst characters led crowds of audience members into smaller rooms for more intimate moments. Each room was meticulously decorated, from Daisy’s dazzling dressing room with an enviable collection of pretty dresses to Gatsby’s ominous oak-panelled library, all the details were extraordinary and really added to the opulent ‘20s ch...

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

26Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

After a sold out run at VAULT Festival 2020, Robert Holtom’s comedy that explores what it means to be gay returns at the Pleasance Theatre’s main house cabaret. Directed by Tom Wright and produced by Hannah Elsy Productions, the show is a nostalgic hug to coming of age, coming out, and growing up with Harry Potter. For Holtom, the story comes from a deeply personal place, inspired by real-life incidents that shaped their childhood. Recounting the script’s development process from early 2019 until its first run in February 2020, Holtom believes it serves as a testimony to the strength and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. The story centres around the growing up years of Jack, a young boy whose fascination with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is perhaps exceeded only by his infatuati...

24Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Last Five Years – Garrick Theatre

Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years comes to the West End a year after its sold-out London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse. The show originally premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and has been produced in Northern America and internationally ever since. The musical takes us through five years in the relationship of New Yorkers Jamie and Cathy, an emerging author and actress respectively, and the toll their demanding professions take on their lives as they fall in and out of love. The action follows a non-linear approach with Jamie's story told in chronological order, starting at the first encounter between the two, whilst Cathy’s story plays out in reverse chronological order, starting just after their marriage has ended. Their individual timelines play out i...