London Archives - Page 6 of 147

The Soon Life – Southwark Playhouse Borough

20Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

The Soon Life – Southwark Playhouse Borough

The Soon Life opens with precise staging, a brightly lit room with a sofa, table and garniture you would expect to see in any home. However, this was different a birth pool was inflated and positioned to one side of the room. Birthing books visible, a moses basket assembled, a sign of welcoming a new life, a baby. This was a planned home birth during a time of unknown risks from Covid 19, and hospital considered an unsafe place to give birth. Phoebe Mcintosh is Bec a mixed-race young woman, pregnant and in the early stage of her labour. Whilst bouncing on her birthing ball in a zen state, calm, in control, listening to direction from her headphones, in walks the ‘ex’, Alex, (Joe Boylan). This disruption sets the tone of the play and the couple’s timeline in their relationship which brou...

19Oct

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Fanny – King’s Head Theatre

Fanny is a hilarious and clever play that blends fact and fiction to retell the story of Fanny Mendelssohn. Set in the nineteenth century, the play explores the life of Fanny, sister to the famous composer Felix Mendelssohn. While classical music lovers may be familiar with Felix’s work, Fanny’s contributions are often overlooked, despite evidence that she co-composed several of his pieces. The play highlights how Felix discouraged her from publishing her own music, adding a bittersweet edge beneath the comedy. This production offers a brilliantly funny introduction to the Mendelssohn family and the colourful cast of characters surrounding them. The story focuses on Fanny as she’s courted by Wilhelm, played by Riad Richie. Richie’s sharp timing, quick wit, and playful energy delivered s...

17Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Private Lives – Rose Theatre Kingston

What a life of ruse, where “Love and Chaos Collide” in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. It is evident that some knowledge of Noel Coward,his character as a playwright, composer and director, would stand you in good stead to appreciate this play. Coward was a distinguished actor flamboyant full of wit and charm using the English language like a tool to convey drama, comedy in a unique style that became his trademark. Private Lives a 1930 Coward’s comedy classic has seen many revivals in the past and this new production directed by Tanuja Amarasuriya has a sleek “modern connection” to the original. Written about the lives of a couple separated by divorce only to meet again on their honeymoon night with their new spouses. Their eyes meet on the hotel balcony, the chemistry reignites, and rekin...

The Flowers of Srebrenica – Jacksons Lane Theatre

17Oct

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

The Flowers of Srebrenica – Jacksons Lane Theatre

The novel The Flowers of Srebrenica was written in 2022 by Aidan Hehir. In her director's notes Lara Parmiani states that this play is not intended to be an adaptation, but rather the spark for its conception. As a result, the play has a feeling of being devised in a theatre workshop rather than following a prewritten script. It is highly visual with a slight narrative and is performed by actors from three countries that have experienced recent civil wars. The play is performed in English, although some of the diction was not always clear. It tells the story of Aidan, an Irish lecturer, visiting Bosnia to expand his knowledge of the conflicts about which he teaches. He is driven to Srebrenica by Mohammed, who turns out to have been much involved in the conflicts, and who leads Aidan to ...

Top Hat the Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

15Oct

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Top Hat the Musical – New Wimbledon Theatre

Top Hat, a musical genre from bygone days comes to the New Wimbledon Theatre with style and grace. What is striking from the outset is Peter Mckintosh set designs which spin round and glide on and off stage to create the perfect scenic backdrop for this timeless performance. Together with Yvonne Milnes their costume design was exquisite and transports you right back into the grandeur of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this did not disappoint. This 1935 crazy comedy with quirky storylines and ‘goofy’ mishaps is reflected very well in this version of Top Hat. A catalogue of mistaken identity, love and romance sees Jerry Travers played by Phillip Attmore shine with his toe tapping dance moves, sublime and joyous to watch. Complimented by Lindsay Atherton as Dale Tremont. In this perf...

14Oct

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Lifers – Southwark Playhouse Borough

As part of my drama degree in late ‘90s Liverpool, we were required to complete a Theatre In Education project (TIE). The aim was to bring live performance to a civic space where such larks are rare or unlikely. Stage a grime-infused Macbeth at an inner-city school. Perform avant garde ballet in a local authority funded care home. That type of thing. Together with my crew of fellow misfits on my course, we opted to bring our theatrical talents to the most captive of audiences, prison inmates. The concept shattered when faced with the complex, frustrating and brutal reality of staging anything in a prison. Simply visiting an inmate at a UK correctional facility is never less than a bureaucratic, dystopian terror trip. Do-gooding, weed-fuelled drama students are likely fall hard at the fi...

Radio Live: Next Generation – Battersea Arts Centre

13Oct

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Radio Live: Next Generation – Battersea Arts Centre

Radio Live: Next Generation is not really a play, nor does it claim to be. It is something else altogether. Over two hours, Aurélie Charon speaks to two interviewees: Oksana Leuta, from Ukraine, and Amir Hassan, from Gaza. They recount stories of their childhood, their families and their communities. Then they tell us about the wars that have disrupted all of these things. It is an even-paced few hours in the theatre, never really seeking to grab you, but never lagging either. Whether the memory being discussed is extreme or more every day, it is approached in a similar fashion, with Charon asking her questions simply. Crucially, the focus of the interview is entirely on the experiences of Hassan and Leuta. The politics of the play are thus firmly grounded in the personal. This is th...

13Oct

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Da Vinci’s Laundry – Riverside Studios

What gives a piece of art its value? Is it purely aesthetic? Is it arbitrary, decided in reverse once a piece’s price is set? Why did Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sell for nearly $60 million? These are the questions grappled with by auctioneers Christopher and Milly in Da Vinci’s Laundry when they are forced to go through with a $450 million sale of a recently uncovered Da Vinci that they know is a fake. Keelan Kember's’ choice of high-end art as a subject is full of potential. He paints a picture of a world run by the dirty rich, where art experts’ opinions are reduced to box-ticking exercises that can in any case be overruled by those with enough power. Christopher, the timid auction house representative, is threatened with a 100-foot plummet from a gangster's balcony if he refuses to sell...

Arcade at Darkfield – Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

13Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Arcade at Darkfield – Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Stepping into ‘Arcade’ at Darkfield’s shipping container village feels like entering another realm entirely. You are walked into a brightly lit container, handed a headset, plugged into an arcade style game unit and then plunged into complete darkness. Suddenly you are surrounded by the hum of machines, the click of coins, and a disembodied voice that seems to know way too much about you. It is immersive theatre stripped to its essence, with no visuals and no visible actors, yet it feels completely cinematic and totally immersive. The sound design is remarkable, creating a 360-degree world of nostalgia, menace, fear and intrigue that makes your pulse quicken even though nothing traditional is taking place. ‘Arcade’ plays with ideas of memory and control, turning a simple arcade game...

10Oct

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Death on the Nile – Richmond Theatre

This is quintessential Agatha Christie. There’s murder, intrigue, a roomful of suspects, and that Belgian detective whose keen eyes miss nothing. Throw in some brilliant set design and beautiful period costume, and you have a charming little murder mystery unfolding on stage. In this version of Death on the Nile – adapted by Ken Ludwig and directed by Lucy Bailey – an ancient sarcophagus that has been on display at the British Museum is being transported back to Egypt. On this cruise is an ensemble of travellers including benefactors of the museum, an Egyptologist, an MI5 agent, and Hercule Poirot. Also present are the glamorous (and rich) Linnet Ridgeway, her new husband Simon Doyle, and to add drama, his ex-lover Jacqueline de Bellefort. Soon enough there is a smoking gun and a dea...