London Archives - Page 2 of 181

26Oct

By Shivangi NigamNo Comments

London

BU21 – Lower Marsh Arts Club

This ensemble forces the satire, tragedy, and hypocrisy of Stuart Slade’s BU21 directly into the faces of an audience seated in an intensely packed space. The charge in the room is not built up slowly over time—it is raw, immediate, and electrifying from the opening moment. The narrative explores the aftermath of a catastrophic terrorist attack in which a commercial airliner is brought down over Fulham. The production feels so instant that you can practically see the flames engulfing the performers as they recount witnessing the crash and processing its devastating impact. Director Karen Holley places the audience on the same plane of vulnerability as the actors, transforming this intimate staging into a confrontational, direct conversation. Stripped of elaborate sets or heavy dr...

26Oct

By Naina SidhuNo Comments

London

Dolly – Omnibus Theatre

Defining ‘Dolly’ as a play about sexual assault is reductive. What Dolly achieves is nothing less than a crushing experience that refuses to soften its blows. The dark comedy, written by Charlotte Ashton is anything but linear, combining stand-up comedy, police interview recordings and a splintered narrative. Its result is a very pointed and urgent confrontation of the criminal justice system’s failure in protecting and defending women. The show opens with the titular Dolly (Jessica Clark) performing what appears to be a stand-up set, convincingly authentic with sharp and attentive comedic timing. A waitress by day and comic by night, Dolly interestingly interacts with the audience. As her set continues, material covering sexual harassment emerges as more prominent until it becomes ...

26Oct

By Zandra OdetundeNo Comments

London

Romeo and Juliet – The Questors Theatre

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers have met their untimely end more times than anyone could count. Yet, at Ealing’s Questors Theatre, Romeo and Juliet have found themselves in one of the finest productions of the tragedy I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. Directed by Patrick Wilde, the production makes wonderfully easy work of Shakespearean English. The dialogue flows so naturally that, even at its most elaborate, you could almost forget you’re listening to words written more than four centuries ago. Much of the credit belongs to the cast, whose performances are excellent across the board. The titular lovers, played by Luke Baverstock and Nerea Idigoras, are wonderfully matched, with Idigoras in particular seeming to have stepped straight out ...

26Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Complicité – Jack Studio Theatre

This is the new play written and directed by Finn Lanchester. It is 65 minute whirlwind of humour, ideas and physicality. Simon a primary school teacher has been handcuffed to a tree as part of an anti-oil climate demonstration and abandoned by his colleagues. At 3 am in the morning he is encountered by Benoit, a smoothly dressed French oil company executive slightly worse for drink. Thus, the scene is set for a heated debate on the merits or otherwise of oil extraction and the threat it poses to our planet when out of blue an immediate existential threat manifests from a completely different source. This is a very fast-paced piece performed to a very high standard by the two actors. Alex Westwood made a very believable Simon: naïve, sexually repressed with views based...

26Oct

By Phil MeikleNo Comments

London

The Master Builder – Arcola Theatre

Staging any Henrik Ibsen play is always an event, as he is one of the greatest masters of playwriting to have ever lived, and his work consistently tackles taboo subjects. In The Master Builder, Ibsen takes a magnifying glass to one of the most unsettling subjects he ever wrote about: the grooming of a minor and gaslighting. He couples this with his protagonist's inherent mistrust of, and fear of, the young. Halvard Solness (Greg Hicks) is a selfish, arrogant man; a self-taught builder who never officially qualified to call himself an architect. His days of building grand churches with impressive steeples are behind him, shown quite literally here as model buildings line the bare brick back wall of Robert Innes Hopkins' elegant backdrop. Solness fears that his young apprentice, Ragna...

23Oct

By Prateek SonnyNo Comments

London

him. – The Union Theatre

Fun. Flamboyant. Fantastic. Written by Natalie Ekberg and directed by Simon Fielding, him. follows Jane (Hannah Chalmers), her gay best friend Charlie (Niall Sheehy), and his husband, Osmond (Gary Tushaw). Through a non-linear narrative, the play explores love, friendship, sexuality, marriage, and individuality. As we enter, Osmond is preparing for a party. The party is for Charlie’s fortieth birthday, and everything seems well until an unexpected guest arrives. Jane, whom they haven’t seen in sixteen years, walks through the door, much to Osmond’s dismay. What follows is a story that moves between the present and the past, slowly revealing why Jane left and what brought her back. Through flashbacks, we see Jane and Charlie’s younger days in London, where the two were inseparable...

Life Would be Pretty Dull Without Sex, Raves and MDMA – Bread and Roses Theatre

22Oct

By Holly LilyNo Comments

London

Life Would be Pretty Dull Without Sex, Raves and MDMA – Bread and Roses Theatre

After debuting in Edinburgh in 2025, winning the Keep It Fringe Award, and then appearing as part of Brighton Fringe, Life Would be Pretty Dull Without Sex, Raves and MDMA has found its way back to writer Bex Wall’s home: London. With bright lights, loud music and some funky dance moves (and yes, make sure you’ve got your own ones ready too), this play is guaranteed to have you laughing out loud and then shedding a tear, all within the space of 60 minutes. Writer Sarah Asante Gregory and co-writer/performer Bex Wall have written a play about grief and the fact that there is no correct way to deal with it. We see Bex deal with the loss of her brother and receiving her cancer diagnosis by embracing 90s rave culture, having lots of sex and dabbling in a few drugs… maybe more than...

Derren Brown: Only Human – Apollo Theatre

22Oct

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Derren Brown: Only Human – Apollo Theatre

The legendary Derren Brown returns to the stage with his latest show, Derren Brown: Only Human, a fascinating blend of storytelling, mind reading and seemingly impossible predictions that leaves audiences questioning just how much control we really have over our own fate. Are our choices entirely our own, or could the future be more predictable than we think? These are just some of the questions that linger long after the curtain falls. Watching Brown appear to anticipate what audience members will do or say before they have even done so is an experience that is difficult to comprehend. Is he genuinely predicting their next move, or is he such a master of illusion that he can subtly influence events to unfold exactly as expected? Whatever the answer, the uncertainty is part of what ...

21Oct

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Moment By Moment – Genesis Cinema

First performed as a concert in 2013, Alexander Sage Oyen's song cycle Moment By Moment has made it to the big screen courtesy of director Louis Rayneau. Following ten different characters in New York City, Moment By Moment explores universal experiences including love, loss, and self-discovery through Oyen’s eclectic score. The movie features a stellar cast, including Cassidy Janson, Chloe Saracco, and Cleve September, and it starts strong by introducing the ten characters via the titular group number. Featuring frenetic shots of the iconic New York cityscape interspersed between scenes of the characters interacting and dancing, it’s an energetic opening that seems to set the movie up for success. Starting in black and white, moments of colour gradually emerge, and this is a ...

The Visions of The Lovers of Adonis – Bread & Roses Theatre

21Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Visions of The Lovers of Adonis – Bread & Roses Theatre

As part of the Lambeth Fringe festival The Visions of the Lovers of Adonis had two nights at the Bread & Roses Theatre. This short play explores the timeless complexities of love, desire and power through the lens of Roman mythology. Drawing on Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the mythological world of gods and goddesses, the play brings together a cast of characters whose competing desires drive the narrative. “Venus is in love with Adonis, Diana has sworn off love, Mars seeks power, and Cupid longs to see his parents reunited”. Through these intertwining motivations, the play examines the contradictions of the heart and the often-conflicting nature of human desire. The acting style is reminiscent of Shakespearean tragedy, with elements of soliloquy that heightens the performance. This...