London Archives - Page 5 of 158

24Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Bird Grove – Hampstead Theatre

The great and the good were out in force for Bird Grove at Hampstead Theatre. Alison Steadman, Tasmin Grieg, Aneka Rice, Twiggy, Ian Hislop, Stephen Mangan and Joely Richardson, all in one room!? There was a buzz in the air for Alexi Kay Campbell’s return to writing for the stage. His glittering CV positions him as one the UK’s most celebrated authors. As an actor, Campbell worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court, and Oxford Stage Company. His first play, The Pride, premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2008 and was awarded the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement, The Critic’s Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, and The John Whiting Award for Best New Play. After a run of critically acclaimed productions, Campbell wrote the feature fil...

20Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Shenoah Allen – Soho Theatre

A therapist created a warning for Allen, ‘you have an unnamed dread’. He has been running from his endless tragedies growing up in his family’s unusual commune style living so Allen found humour in all that made him, himself. The show runs at 60 minutes with a mix of story telling and improv. Unfortunately, the momentum feels delayed and structured too loosely to feel completely free to let yourself go in the piece. Allen arrives on stage with a few fun punches to kick us off, a warm up to the dark material we may explore tonight but as we move through his deep family history, we feel lost by who the characters in his life really were. With no suitable introductions and niche impressions, we have a fairly blank impression on who these people are and therefore no reason to relate. ...

18Feb

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Deep Azure – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Deep Azure, written by the late Chadwick Boseman, who tragically passed away in 2020, is a haunting and deeply moving play. Inspired by the real-life killing of Boseman’s university peer, Prince Jones, the production chooses not to dwell on the events leading up to the tragedy, but instead explores its profound impact on friends, family, and peers. In today’s climate, the themes feel especially resonant, confronting grief, loss, and systemic injustice in a way that is both raw and intimate. Selina Jones delivers a remarkable performance as Azure, the grieving girlfriend struggling with an eating disorder. Her portrayal is both heart-wrenching and compelling. The screams and sobs she unleashes, particularly at the end of the first act, are unforgettable. They are heightened by the acapel...

Space by Luxmuralis – St Martin-in-the-Fields Church

18Feb

By Charlotte MansfieldNo Comments

London

Space by Luxmuralis – St Martin-in-the-Fields Church

It's notoriously difficult to see the stars if you live in London, so it's no surprise that there was a stream of people pouring into last night's opening of Space by Luxmuralis. Following a sold-out tour of the UK, this sound and light show has landed in St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar square for five nights only. Luxmuralis is an artistic collaboration between Peter Walker (sculptor) and David Harper (composer) creating large-scale art, light and sound installations, designed to bring cathedrals and sacred spaces to life and transform the way we interact with them. In Space, the creators have used humanity's curiosity about the cosmos as a basis for their immersive show. The experience begins outside the church, where Renaissance drawings of the heavens and calculations...

18Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Spanish Oranges – Playground Theatre

Former Bond girl, Maryam D’Abo is the star turn in Spanish Oranges, a new piece of writing by Alba Arikha, currently showing at the Playground Theatre in W10. The play forms part of Women's Voices: A Celebration (WVAC) an arts festival which is inspired by International Women's Day. This world premiere is D’Abo’s first stage role in 26 years. Instead of seeking the bright lights and glitz of a West End venue, this theatre is a former bus depot that requires a rather lengthy schlep from Latimer Road tube station. D’Abo co-wrote the book Bond Girls Are Forever (2002) and in 2004 she co-produced the documentary film Bearing Witness, about five female war reporters. She had surgery for a brain haemorrhage in 2007 and after recovering, met up with other survivors and produced a 2009 document...

17Feb

By Maani WayNo Comments

London

The Bodyguard – New Wimbledon Theatre

This romantic thriller, adapted from the 1992 film of the same name starring Whitney Houston, returns to the stage this year, reviving her iconic music for a new audience. It follows former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer (Adam Garcia), hired to protect global superstar Rachel Marron (Sidonie Smith) from a dangerous threat. While the pair anticipate a clash of personalities, neither expects their professional relationship to give way to an unexpected and compelling romance. This show is bursting with energy from the start, a loud bang jolting the audience straight to attention at the beginning. The jump scares do not cease, and they present themselves at later points in the show, which work well, particularly when the threat is introduced to us as an obsessed stalker (James-Lee Ha...

17Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Much Ado About Nothing – Theatre Deli

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more. A wet and wild production of Much Ado About Nothing has rolled into town to take you for a ride. Without a shirt on its back or an ounce of pretension in its other dressings, this wantonly accessible production throws the audience right into the thick of it. Shakespeare's most obnoxious lovers are back on their bull. Beatrice (Bobby Hughes) and Benedick (Zak Rosen) are capricious, ridiculous, captivating rivals locked in pursuit of the audiences' laughter with hearts bound to fall no matter how much they kick and scream on the way down. This high octane production, rehearsed and performed in only a handful of hours, is relentlessly energetic and powered exclusively by the forceful charisma of its cast. Without a set, costumes, or pr...

16Feb

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Sweetmeats – Bush Theatre

In the aftermath of grief, it’s a long and difficult lesson to re-learn: we’re better off with people than without them. Relationships are tedious, those we love exasperating; loss deepens with age, caution grows. It takes courage to start again when experience tells you the best days are past. Sweetmeats’ Hema and Liaquat, a widow and widower who become unlikely friends when they are forced to pair up as the ‘scary Indian woman’ and ‘irritating Pakistani man’ at their diabetes support group, are no strangers to the pain of love. Character-wise, they complete each other. Shobu Kapoor’s Hema is anxious, health-conscious, self-sufficient; as Liaquat, Rehan Sheikh is a joker, childish, indulgent despite his diagnosis. Playwright Kharim Khan makes fun of them with a brilliant, musical wit; ...

16Feb

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Josh Sharp’s: Ta-Da – Soho Theatre

On a late evening at the Soho Theatre, I quite simply have no idea what to expect. I know this show includes 2000 slideshow pages and our comedian/magician is finally ready to come out. This simple and witty bio could not prepare me for such an incredibly moving, hilarious and slam-dunk performance that was received. Sharp must have a brain of a genius, well he does actually in learning he has a masters in Quantum Physics, he brings us back to the beginning of his life and his dreams of becoming a magician. Moving onto his pact with God and a promise to not practice ‘confirming’ his true sexuality and a deeply moving and beautiful time shared with his late mother who gently bullied him to finally come out. After its run on OffBroadway, London has been gifted the opportunity...

16Feb

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

After Miss Julie – Park Theatre

What I find most unsettling about Strindberg’s Miss Julie these days is no longer the play itself, but that it remains one of the most frequently produced plays in the Western canon, a status that feels increasingly difficult to justify. Especially when, in the preface, Strindberg a well-documented misogynist openly articulates his hostility toward women, and feminists in particular, describing Julie as a degenerate product of emancipation, bound to self-destruct. Knowing this, one is left wondering why theatres keep returning to this text, and what is still being sought or defended in bringing it back to the stage. Knowing that, I had hoped Patrick Marber’s After Miss Julie might reframe or redeem the problematic source or do for Strindberg what Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part...