London Archives - Page 49 of 150

3Jul

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

I’m Still Here – Ambassadors Theatre

Debbie Wileman found viral success during the pandemic whilst performing a ‘Song a Day’ as Judy Garland. She has now performed worldwide as Garland, singing the songs that we love and also the songs that we never got the chance to hear. A whirlwind start to her career has allowed her to release a debut album called ‘I’m still here’ in which she impersonates Judy Garland throughout a range of her repertoire and a few personal favourites that she wishes Garland could have sung. There is no doubt that Debbie Wileman possesses an incredible talent- her impersonation is staggeringly accurate and effortless. The difficulty in this performance is expert level but she holds her own. Beginning with a very famous ‘I’m Still Here’ and title of the album, we begin the show with a bang- conductor...

28Jun

By Robert BartleyNo Comments

London

Next To Normal – Wyndhams Theatre

When cult favourite ‘Next To Normal’ was announced at the Donmar Warehouse in 2023, critical acclaim and incredible word-of-mouth made it a sell-out smash, and one of the highlights of the year for many theatre fans. The Donmar’s intimate space meant many fans missed out on seeing it, and if you were one of them, you need to be heading to Leicester Square’s Wyndhams Theatre, where the show has returned for another limited run. Reassembling the Donmar’s celebrated cast (including Broadway belter Caissie Levy), the multi-award winning musical explores mental illness and grief in the face of trying to maintain a “normal” suburban family life, set to a rock-based score from composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey. Wife and mother Diane Goodman (Caissie Levy) is struggling wi...

28Jun

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

The Marilyn Conspiracy – Park Theatre

Who did it? What caused it? “The Marilyn Conspiracy" is a thought-provoking play that invites the audience to ponder the events leading up to Marilyn Monroe’s death. From the outset, it is clear that extensive research went into creating this magnificent play, which takes you on a journey of what could have happened and the reasons behind it. The play immediately introduces important historical characters who were "friends" of Monroe and perhaps involved in covering up something more sinister. Genevieve Gaunt embodies Monroe, showcasing the strong emotions that Marilyn was feeling on the day she died. Was she depressed, drunk, lonely or perhaps all three? The show highlights these emotions whilst allowing you to draw your own conclusions about what happened that night. The set initia...

28Jun

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

George – Omnibus Theatre

George, penned by the multi-talented French writer and actress Léa des Garets, is an enchanting blend of entertainment and education that delves into the life of George Sand, a French figure whose notoriety for wearing men's clothing has often overshadowed her literary genius. Sand (des Garets) is grappling with her next big literary project. Together with her muse and lover, actress Marie Dorval (Inki Mariano), Sand Birthes "Gabriel," a play on a 17th-century Italian aristocrat who was raised as a man, only to discover at age seventeen they were biologically female. The play proves to be way ahead of its time in 1830s Europe and becomes a vehicle of meta-reflection for Sand’s own gender identity. Developed with the support of the Institut Francais du Royaume-Uni, this collaboration ...

28Jun

By Mary FoggNo Comments

London

Closer To Heaven – Turbine Theatre

A musical by Jonathan Harvey & Pet Shop Boys. "Let us Take you back to the Millennium for the night of your life...London's club-land is thriving. Suddenly what was wrong seems right..." Writer Jonathan Harvey’s zesty and often outrageously risqué gay club land musical has once again landed into London since it first premiered in 2001 at The Arts Theatre. There have been subsequent new productions, more recently in 2015 and 2019 and to celebrate a season of queer love at The Turbine Theatre, Harvey's Closer To Heaven which features an original club score by Pet Shop Boys is once again giving audiences the opportunity to step back in time as the cosy and intimate theatre metamorphises into 'Vic's Club' for an evening. Closer To Heaven the musical is filled with a superb Pet Shop B...

The Secret Garden – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

27Jun

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

The Secret Garden – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

When a new adaptation of a favourite childhood novel is announced, you approach it with trepidation – will the experience of the book be ruined, will they change it so much that it is unrecognisable? With this production of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, you have nothing to worry about. Created by Holly Robinson and Anna Himali Howard, it is delightfully fresh and endearing, with new layers of love and acceptance that only add to the tale’s magic. Mary Lennox (played to perfection by Hannah Khalique-Brown) is growing up as a neglected, spoilt child in India when an outbreak of cholera orphans her. She is transplanted from the only life she has known to the foreign new climes of Yorkshire, to Misslethwaite Manor with its 100 rooms. The maid, Martha (Molly Hewitt-Richards), is her fir...

Hourglass: A Suffragette Story – Soho Poly

26Jun

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Hourglass: A Suffragette Story – Soho Poly

‘Hourglass: A Suffragette Story’ was advertised as a dark comedy, but I could count on one hand the number of times any audience member could be heard laughing. It felt as though five acts had been thrown into hamster wheel of amateur dialogue and could not disembark. This was not helped by a hefty running time. Set in the time before and during World War One, we watch a mother, daughter and their maid experience and support first wave British feminism. It seems that the men surrounding them has something to gain they seek to protect their social status, defend their gender or make their money. During Act 1, great ladles of pathos were heaped onto Kitty (Penny Bosworth), the maid-turned-beggar, by swamping the audience with repetitive scenes of her begging us. She is then offered reside...

25Jun

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Beckett Trilogy – Coronet Theatre

How much Beckett is too much Beckett? For performer and producer Conor Lovett it seems the limit may not exist. His prodigious memory and inexhaustible articulation are well displayed in this production of three plays from the novels Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable all written by Samuel Beckett. Alone on stage but very much confederate with a captive audience eager to absorb what they can from his nearly three-hour monologue, Lovett is tremendously impressive and knows it too. Directed and designed by Judy Hegarty Lovett, his conspirator in Gare St Lazare Ireland, a touring production company specializing in “presentations” of Beckett’s various works. The style of this production is extremely presentational and clearly preoccupied with faithful interpretation of the great ...

Mario the Maker Magician – Underbelly Boulevard

25Jun

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Mario the Maker Magician – Underbelly Boulevard

After an incredible whirlwind of success in the USA, London finally gets to witness the incredible Mario the Maker Magician- currently sold out for June at the Underbelly Boulevard. Mario has made whistle stop tours on Sesame Street and Jimmy Fallon and although the show centres and celebrates the children in the audience, it is definitely not just a kids show. It’s a hug to your inner child and a beautiful reminder that you should ALWAYS do what you love. The stage is seemingly cluttered with old broken objects, inflatable tins of soup tower over the magician as he enters with the most breathtaking energy- I couldn’t quite believe how a person might keep it up. But he did. The most difficult audience is an audience of children, keeping them in their seats and excited all the same ti...

The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience – Soho Theatre

24Jun

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience – Soho Theatre

Daniel York Loh’s semi-autobiographical piece, new to the Soho Theatre is a non-linear experience following a young British Chinese young person growing up in the West Country. Their experience is washed with extreme racism in the playground, difficulty with exclusion which leads to an unhealthy drug habit and after stealing a car has to deal with a racist police officer believing they ‘will be dead by 21’. Our two actors (Melody Chikakane Brown and Aruhan Galieva) bring this story to life supported by Daniel himself on the side, guitar in hand. An important part of this story is its rage through punk rock- sudden bursts of pent up fury, beautifully poetic writing in the genre of rock. Our younger performer’s personal purpose is to write the Dao of the British Chinese experience in w...