London Archives - Page 55 of 107

<strong>As You Like It – Soho Place</strong>

17Dec

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

As You Like It – Soho Place

Doing absolute justice to the title As You Like It, director Josie Rourke reinvigorates Shakespeare’s classic comedy making it inclusive, accessible, and thus relevant. In the Forest of Arden, characters explore possibilities of not just their individual pursuits but also by who has played them impregnating Shakespeare’s lines with multiple layers and meanings. It's up to the audience to interpret how they like it! While certain parts are played by gender-fluid, non-binary, and trans performers, Celia is played by Rose Ayling-Ellis who is a deaf performer and Rosalind played by Leah Harvey use sign language to communicate. This production is elevated by how it celebrates its casts’ identities and uses them to theatrically add meaning and value to the play bringing it closer to a more real ...

<strong>Paradise Now! – Bush Theatre</strong>

14Dec

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Paradise Now! – Bush Theatre

Paradise Now! reflects the growing empowerment of women in our society, showing both unity and darker, more toxic aspects. The play begins in Gabriel and her sister’s living room, showing a stark contrast between Gabriel’s depression induced exhaustion and Baby’s post work fatigue. When Gabriel meets Alex who sells essential oils for a company called Paradise, her life is given a new sense of purpose. The two go on to recruit more members of the team, we meet Rose and Laurie. All driven by money and success, they repeat the same spiel about connecting to your inner goddess to drive sales. Some climb up the ladder and others struggle, as they eventually reveal hidden truths about themselves in an intense team building workshop. Shazia Nicholl plays Alex, the forcefully ambitious leade...

<strong>Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre</strong>

14Dec

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre

Dickens' tale of poverty, inequality and transformation has been a staple of the holiday season since it was first published in 1843. While Dickens was highlighting the terrible deprivation of the London slums, Dolly Parton's new musical takes the audience to the Appalachian Mountains in 1936, at the height of the Depression. As in the original tale, Ebenezer Scrooge owns everything in the town, having taken over ownership of the mine, shop and bank from his partner, Jacob Marley. The inhabitants of the town work all hours for a pittance for Scrooge, struggling, scrimping and saving, but finding joy in their families, and in their hopes and dreams. There's no such joy in Scrooge's life, and he focuses all his time and energy on making and saving money. He has no-one and regards Christmas a...

<strong>Jazz Emu: You Shouldn’t Have – Soho Theatre</strong>

13Dec

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Jazz Emu: You Shouldn’t Have – Soho Theatre

A screen cycles through a mixed bag of tweets sent to the mysterious Jazz Emu (Archie Henderson) as we wait for the show to begin. The elaborate, bright red set designed by Bonson Bonsonson JR matches his grandiosity and has a talk show feel. He parades out in a metallic emu helmet and begins a song about his proficiency and brilliance while his equipment malfunctions. Jazz emu’s eclectic character is like the result of putting a scientist, evil mastermind, superhero and a presenter in a blender. Henderson is a natural performer with his expressive darting eyes, an array of physicality and sharp comic timing directed by Adam Flynn. We are welcomed into his existential, disco-like, jazz-emu-centred world where if he’s not thinking about himself, he’s wondering about how microwaves wo...

<strong>Sons of the Prophet – Hampstead Theatre</strong>

13Dec

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

Sons of the Prophet – Hampstead Theatre

I begin watching any show by giving it my full attention, like any respectful audience member. But how long can one keep the focus if the production doesn’t meet you halfway? Sons of the Prophet, unfortunately, doesn’t do much to keep the audience engaged through story or performance. The production design by Samal Blak is elaborate, with the stage accommodating multiple settings spanning across two levels. Such expanse is more typical to larger shows and musicals that have larger-than-life storytelling. For this story exploring the intimacies of a family in rural Pennsylvania, constantly moving across different spaces in 105 minutes took away from the inner conflict and intricate complexities of the themes being explored. Each scene is titled like a book chapter and takes place in a di...

12Dec

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Hex – National Theatre

Merry Christmas from the National Theatre in their extraordinary retelling of Sleeping Beauty’s story in the obscure and utterly brilliantly unusual ‘Hex’ directed by Rufus Norris and based on the book by Tanya Ronder. This piece threw what I know about the story at the wall and dissected everything. What it means to love, who to love and why we make the choices that we do. Paired with stunning composition by Jim Fortune, we are left leaving with the biggest smile mixed with awe asking “How. Did. They. Do. That.” To begin, a mega shoutout to Neïma Naouri who plays the understudy of ‘Fairy’. I am so glad I got to watch their performance as they brought such sweet naivety and passion to this role, truly a stunning performer to keep us engaged, at the end of our seats thinking ‘There’s no ...

<strong>Who’s Holiday – Southwark Playhouse Borough</strong>

11Dec

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Who’s Holiday – Southwark Playhouse Borough

The Ru Paul Industrial Complex continues its imperial sashay to every corner of the globe. This franchise mission creep can be viewed as a be-wigged beacon of tolerance or a toxic cash machine that bleeds underground culture. Drag Race alumni find themselves yanked from skanky obscurity to meet-and-greet mania in a matter of weeks. For the truly talented, this can offer a unique chance to shine and earn some coin after decades of thankless graft. Miz Cracker was a popular contestant on Ru Paul’s Drag Race Season Ten and made the final 5. She came back for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season Five and was placed in the top 3. Since then, she has been deservedly busy; podcasts, academic seminars, YouTube channel, one-woman comedy TV specials and a cookery show. Cracker has c...

Grandad, Me and Teddy Too – Polka Theatre

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Grandad, Me and Teddy Too – Polka Theatre

Encouraging children to experience theatre at a young age can be difficult, as parents and grandparents know, asking a child to sit in a restrictive environment to watch a pantomime or similar, which can be two hours long, is not ideal. Polka Theatre in London offer the chance to combine theatre and play in their building which is especially dedicated to children. The theatre combines a café, playground, garden with access to books, colouring-in and dressing up. Grandad, Me and Teddy Too has a target audience of 2–5-year-olds and is performed in the Adventure Theatre. This space allows children to sit on the floor or sit around the edge of the theatre in seats. The feeling is of informality and provides a less stressful environment for parents and children alike ...

<strong>Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre

One could say that it is a brave choice to put on a play about mental health at Christmas whilst the populous spreads festive cheer, and shops, bars and restaurants play Christmas music on a loop. But I guess this IS the time to put on such a play, as many people struggle with loneliness and isolation, feelings that are magnified at Christmas. Threedumb Theatre offer their second Steven Berkoff play of the year, having performed Dog/Actor at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. When Berkoff wrote this play which was first performed at the Donmar in 1985, he received responses from many people who felt similarly, that this time of year overwhelmed them and exaggerated feelings that during the rest of the year, they could just about cope with. Harry (Stephen Smith) lives al...

<strong>Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor – Park Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Wickies: The Vanishing Men of Eilean Mor – Park Theatre

Park Theatre have teamed up once again with the team that gave us ‘When Darkness Falls’ in 2021. This play delves into the mystery of the disappearance of three ‘wickies’ (lighthouse-keepers), who were staffing a lighthouse on one of the remote islands in the Outer Hebrides called Eilean Mor in December 1900. Their task was to keep the light always working to aid ships in the hostile seas and severe weather. Eilean Mor was uninhabited apart from the lighthouse keepers. As the play explains, this is the bleakest place on earth to do your wickie shift, and the weather was particularly bad when the men went missing. Their disappearance was discovered after a particularly bad storm hit Eilean Mor, and the supply vessel managed to reach the island after being de...