London Archives - Page 36 of 123

Lemn Sissay – Poetry Club at the Coronet Theatre

24Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Lemn Sissay – Poetry Club at the Coronet Theatre

In 2016, I shared a green room with Lemn Sissay. We were both guests on BBC 2’s Newsnight. I’d been roped in at the last minute to discuss ‘bisexual erasure’. Sissay was on the show to highlight National Poetry Day and to mark the occasion, he delivered a blistering and hypnotic performance of ‘Architecture’. It’s a poem about awesome potential, chaos and evolution. Look it up YouTube. One minute and nineteen seconds that will leave you breathless. To be honest, I was more excited about being in a room with this exceptional poet, than being on live television or getting grilled by Evan Davis. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA-nominated, award-winning one-man dynamo. He’s written collections of poetry and plays, while his memoir My Name Is Why was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. His work i...

23Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Hir – Park Theatre

Vomiting all over the kitchen-sink dramedy, Taylor Mac’s black comedy shakes a cynical showmanship and irreverent discursiveness into an acidic concoction that’s a good deal easier to swallow than it is to digest. Hir (pronounced ‘here’) is a tough watch. Content warnings for “strong profanity throughout, along with discussions of sex, sexuality, and descriptions and visual evidence of domestic violence, rape and drug abuse” can be found by hunting through the production’s online listing and should be heeded. As bashful as its humour is bleak, the play’s darkest scenes are also its most illuminating. Depicting a vision of the American family life metaphorically and literally set in Malvina Reynolds’ “little boxes” it is a claustrophobic environment with a set not quite big enough for its b...

22Feb

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Hadestown – Lyric Theatre

In recent years, the West End has welcomed musicals based on films, books, and even historical events. But Greek mythology was yet to receive the big-budget musical treatment — that is, until Hadestown came stomping into the Lyric Theatre, where it is currently running until December 2024. Created by singer-songwriter Anäis Mitchell as a folk-opera back in 2006, Hadestown has been on a shapeshifting journey — including a sold-out run at the National Theatre in 2018 — which culminated in the Tony Award-winning production that took Broadway by storm in 2019. As soon as its West End transfer was announced last year, directed by Rachel Chavkin, musical theatre fans were bubbling with anticipation to discover whether this new production would live up to its Herculean hype. A story fundame...

20Feb

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Dear Octopus – National Theatre

This was a tender play about family dynamics which takes its title from a speech in the second act that praises the family unit as a ‘dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape’. On the eve of World War Two, we bear witness to the reunion of the Randolph family, which forces them and their servants to confront the elements of romance, hatred, jealousy and shame that underscore their interactions. I enjoyed the wit that laced through the piece, as is characteristic of Dodie Smith’s writing. This was present in the conversation of the family quarrels, but also in repeated motifs, i.e. the fact that each character is aware of Fenny’s love for Nicholas, which added a comical touch to the action. A primary issue was the play’s dated narrative; for instance, the reason for Cynthi...

17Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Deathtrap – The Mill at Sonning

What would you do for a great play? In Deathtrap by Ira Levin the answer turns out to be nothing good. With all the aesthetic drippings of a juicy whodunnit and a cast of characters each less winsome than the last, this play is powered by plot twists but never gathers quite enough steam to even fog up a window. Written in 1978 and set in the then not too distant future of 1979 Westport, Connecticut, Deathtrap does little to induce nostalgia in viewers even as it convincingly harkens back to the era of rotary phones, carbon copies, and illicit homosexuality. Fans of the play or film adaptation of Rope will find a dynamic worth exploring here that is ultimately left tantalizingly under investigated by the severely dated script and frustratingly conventional staging. Director Tam Willia...

16Feb

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Lear’s Shadow – Jack Studio Theatre

The pandemic was, of course, a disaster for theatres and those involved in the performance arts. But it is striking how many of those affected used their time to develop their creative skills and produce new work, which would otherwise possibly never have seen the light of day. One such is Lear's Shadow devised and performed by Colin Hurley, and now performed in the Brockley Jack Theatre. The Jack performance space is almost bare except for a round wooden table and a bench. Enter an old man with dishevelled hair and greying beard, dressed in a dressing gown and long johns, with bare feet. He carries a modern looking box full of his props. Although looking like a Lear, the programme notes make clear that this is not Lear: it is an actor very familiar with the Bard's w...

The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium

14Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium

Act normal. Wear a black dress or pinstripe suit. Paint your face and snap along. At the London Palladium it’s Halloween in February. Copious amounts of fog billow forth from the palatial stage and the theatre is bathed in purple light as audiences amble in, many dressed for the special occasion and already buzzing with excitement. The orchestra, unlike the assembled spirits of the dead, remains unseen but makes its presence known in a vigorous overture playing jauntily under conductor Andrew Hilton, and is energetically reinforced by a skilled ensemble dancing in choreography by Alistair David. Consistently visually interesting even as the plot stretches itself thin and tired jokes leave audiences groaning, this rendition of a mid-tier musical is nonetheless entertaining and well perfo...

When You Pass Over My Tomb – Arcola Theatre

14Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

When You Pass Over My Tomb – Arcola Theatre

Finger-licking, or rather phalanx licking, good, When You Pass Over My Tomb by Sergio Blanco and adapted and directed by Daniel Goldman, is laden with content warnings (for assisted suicide, mentions of necrophilia, mental health, and blasphemous language) but where it might be expected to sink under the weight of its unwieldy themes, instead sails through increasingly murky waters with ease. Photo: Alex Brenner Neither linearly nor exclusively following the story of playwright Sergio Blanco himself as his fictionalized counterpart prepares to undergo assisted suicide and engages in flirtation with the convicted necrophiliac he plans to donate the majority of his body to, this three-hand play dips its toes into many different stories and traditions, including funerals, children’s gam...

13Feb

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Self Raising – Soho Theatre

Self Raising is a moving account of the autobiographical story of Jenny Sealey, Funny, poignant, witty and intelligent. Using the memoir form she paints the significant moments, adults and photographs that have left an inedible mark on her life. The joy of being in a theatre with so many diverse patrons itself is Self Raising’s biggest achievement. Disabled members of our society do not have many venues that are accessible, productions that are sensitive or innovatively incorporate signing and live captions in their performance. When Jenny Sealey and her interpreter walk on stage encouraging the audience to continue talking, but no one does because she has our undivided attention. Jenny’s unfettered candour warmth and generosity make our curiosity and investment in her story grow with t...

The Hills of California – Harold Pinter Theatre

10Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Hills of California – Harold Pinter Theatre

Jez Butterworth graces us with another play with depth and wonder, beautifully directed by Sam Mendes. The play currently resides at Harold Pinter Theatre in which the world is clear and grand as we walk into a house with a huge staircase, old wooden design and a little bar filled with very old alcohol. The staircase seems like it goes up and on forever, set in a hotel in the 80s which once in the past housed very many visitors but always 4 young girls and their mother. We switch from present day to past, now the mother is dying, the girls all await their eldest sister Joan to come say goodbye. In the past we watch the mother run the home, military style as the girls practice their singing and dancing with the biggest dreams of making it to the London Palladium. Their mother also, pushing ...