London Archives - Page 46 of 148

19Jul

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Defamation – Riverside Studios

Presented as part of the Riverside Studios Bitesize Festival, this is an intriguing piece of theatre written by Zen Tucker. Said to be inspired by the events of the Depp versus Heard defamation lawsuit in the US, it is situated in a liminal space between life and death. Five of Shakespeare's best-known female characters are obliged to spend interminable time awaiting the decision of an afterlife court as to whether they should be dispatched to heaven or hell. The setting is a library with somewhat irregular shelves and two small tables. The characters are Desdemona, Lady Macbeth, Hermione, Ophelia and Hero. For those not familiar with Shakespeare, the character sheet provides a useful summary of their roles their respective plays. The play, which is written in blank verse, involves the ...

17Jul

By Louise PennNo Comments

London

Knives and Forks – Riverside Studios

In Danielle James's ambitious but uneven play, Iris and Thalia live in a flat share. Firm friends who share a life of carefree partying and fun. But Iris is hiding a catastrophic secret that will rip their world apart. Knives and Forks, directed by Annah Calascione, has a strong story at its heart, one of love and acceptance in the face of the ultimate ending. Where it becomes a little problematic is in the additional elements utilised to tell this story. Both Iris and Thalia have shadows, or 'psyches' who dress like them and express themselves through movement and words or art, added to a huge canvas backdrop. Now and again, it is a clever shorthand to highlight what is not being said. But as both an emotional device, and a practical one to tell us where we are in the non-linear...

17Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Conversion – Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Precarious Theatre is taking its shot at proselytizing without any precarity to it. In both the writing and staging of its new play, Conversion, there are shockingly few risks taken and very little grit for audiences to sink their teeth into. As promised in its advertising, the play, written by Precarious Theatre founders Liam Grogan and Marc Biasioli covers an excerpt from the life and times of St. Augustine of Canterbury (David Allen). Beginning with his dispensation from sunny Rome and following his journey to the strange and savage land of Britain, this play is not shy of including multitudes of characters in its opening scenes. With more the aura of a school pageant than a fringe theatre production its cast galumphs and galivants across the stage in mock pagan revelry before...

Kaleidoscope Festival – Alexandra Palace Park

16Jul

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Kaleidoscope Festival – Alexandra Palace Park

The Kaleidoscope Festival, set in the lush Alexandra Palace Park with stunning views across the London skyline, offered a vibrant array of activities, music, and performances throughout the day. The festival was exceptionally well-organized and maintained, providing ample space for attendees to enjoy the grounds, views, and diverse performances. One of the standout features of the festival was its cleanliness. There were plenty of bins and garbage bags strategically placed around the venue, ensuring that the festival remained mostly clean throughout the day. Additionally, the festival provided a large number of portable toilets, which were sufficient to accommodate the crowd without long queue times. Inside the building, where the Fringe Stage was located, there were also indoor toilets...

12Jul

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Dog Sh!t – Theatre 503

With a title like ‘Dog Sh!t’ and a promotional poster featuring a cartoon canine caught in that very act, audiences watching Bellaray Bertrand-Webb’s play at Theatre503 should know to expect the unexpected. Selling out an acclaimed run at the Dublin Fringe Festival last year, Dog Sh!t has transferred to London’s Theatre503 for two nights, directed by Ursula McGinn. The 70-minute play focuses on four characters: the existentially melancholic Emma (Laura Brady), passionate thespian Raven (Gracie Oddie-James), creative-turned-corporate Nora (Breffni Holahan), and Nora’s boyfriend Obi (Aaron Shosanya), the tech bro with a surprising obsession with Greek philosophy. Advertised as a satirical comedy, I’m happy to say that Dog Sh!t definitely isn’t all bark and no bite. Firstly, the c...

12Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Dressing Gown – Theatre at the Tabard

Have you been bed rotting? Are you in your dressing gown? Is it mostly clean? Are you itching to get out and get dressed, or get dressed and get out? It’s amazing how the trappings of coziness can feel so oppressively snug when certain conditions of comfort are not met. The intimacy of the the Tabard Theatre for instance shifts into something else entirely under the influence of Andrew Cartmel’s new bedroom farce, aptly if unimaginatively titled Dressing Gown so called after its leading man’s essential predicament and sole comfort. Jamie Hutchins stars as Ash, a theatre director whose morning recumbence is interrupted by a series of visitors who each come bearing a unique challenge to his efforts to finally clothe himself. Much like the play’s title, its characters and plot are p...

11Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Interview with the Vamp – Soho Theatre

A love letter to the lost and found art of vamping, this rambunctious queer song-cycle has it all. We get logos in a well-reasoned critique of the sinister ascendance hyper realistic cakes, ethos in the unimpeachable credentials provided by Dr Adam Perchard’s perfect hair, and just almost surfeiting pathos in ten top notch cabaret songs each braver, funnier, and filthier than the last. Perchard’s uneasy chemistry with composer and pianist Richard Thomas juxtaposes well with their easy command of the eager audience instantly won over by their unique mixture of sheepish charm and operatic bravado all bundled up in a scintillating gold trained over gown that can’t help but sparkle. Composed of a lot of singing and a little talking, Interview with the Vamp comprises about an hour’s w...

11Jul

By Dave SmithNo Comments

London

Accolade – Richmond Theatre

It is the late 1940s and the Nobel Prize winning author, Will Trenting (Ayden Callaghan), has just been announced to receive a Knighthood to the delight of his wife as Rona (Honeysuckle Weeks). It turns out that Sir William has been leading a double life, as his alter-ego ‘Bill’ arranges and attends orgies above a pub in Rotherhithe. As his second life starts to crossover into his real life the consequences of his scandalous personal life become increasingly serious. The intent is clearly to create a deliberately paced play, to allow a sense of tension and a feeling of the walls closing in – but instead it feels slow and sluggish throughout. Each act brings a twist, but none feel delivered significantly, if anything they feel rather ho-hum. Many performances border on caricatures so if ...

11Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Bindweed – Arcola Theatre

What can you do about domestic abuse? Martha Loader’s whopper of a one act, Bindweed, begs the question. Directed by Jennifer Tang, the play follows Jen (Laura Hanna), a group counsellor for men who have committed acts of domestic abuse. Although the bulk of the play’s plot comes apart in these facilitated sessions with the men she is attempting to rehabilitate, Loader does not confine her heroine exclusively to the therapeutic setting. We see her on a date with disappointing romantic prospect, Peter (Shailan Gohil), having drinks with married friends Nina (Josie Brightwell) and Ed (Simon Darwen) and in check-ins with her supervisor Alistair (Sean Kingsley) each played by an actor who also takes on a role in the world of the sessions themselves. This double casting and its both troublin...

ShakeiTuP: The Improvised Shakespeare Show – The Other Palace

10Jul

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

ShakeiTuP: The Improvised Shakespeare Show – The Other Palace

How do you review a show which changes every night? Which is what ShakeiTuP: The Improvised Shakespeare Show which is currently playing at the Other Palace Theatre studio claims to do. The format of the show is that at the beginning of the first half the audience is asked, by acclamation, to choose which of the three genres of Shakespeare's plays; histories, comedies and tragedies they would like to see. On press night we chose histories. The audience is then then asked to suggest a lead character. Avoiding obvious suggestions like King Charles, possibly for fear of litigation, an audience member suggested a friend of theirs, an entrepreneur and horticulturalist: so, King Keith it was. Suggestions were then asked for a location and from various improbable suggest...