London Archives - Page 66 of 122

16Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Wasteman – Vault Festival

Attended Wasteman at the Vault Festival on the same day it was announced that the subterranean performance jamboree is currently under threat. Having run in the formerly derelict tunnels in Waterloo since 2012, VAULT Festival has helped build the reputation of The Vaults over the past 11 years, bringing over 3,000 shows to more than 400,000 people. It’s like having an intense, bijou Edinburgh Festival in the depths of the capital and one might argue, it’s a tad more affordable and easier to manage. According to the Urban Dictionary, ‘wasteman’ is what ‘you call a boy who’s a waste of space and is gonna be nothing in life’. British MC and rapper, Lady Leshurr extended the insult to a former Prime Minister in Queen’s Speech 7, "Who stood up when Grenfell? Where's all the money we raised t...

The Oyster Problem – Jermyn Street Theatre

15Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

The Oyster Problem – Jermyn Street Theatre

Gustave Flaubert's most famous work, Madame Bovary, made him one of France's most celebrated 19th century writers. A trial on obscenity charges arising from the novel created a scandal that raised the novel's public visibility. Orlando Figes' debut play is not about that period of Flaubert's life but looks instead at what happened to him after his fortunes dwindled, an investment into the sawmill of his niece's husband crashed, and his work came to all but a standstill. Figes (a renowned historian of Russian and European History) takes his material for the play from a series of letters written between Flaubert and members of his literary circle, along with other historical records. Flaubert's close friend was the celebrated Russian author, Ivan Turgenev, with Emile Zola, the youngest...

15Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Windfall – Southwark Playhouse

After an acclaimed run in New York last year Windfall has arrived at the Southwark playhouse. From director Mark Bell comes a story about five office workers, so miserable with their current situations, are willing to risk it all on a $500 million lottery prize. This show explores the relationships between these people and with their evil boss, but most importantly how they ended up stuck in the office and exploring what they’d do to get out of it. The atmosphere in the theatre was amazing, the music during the preshow and the interval was in the style of a radio show playing hits from the 80s and 90s. This style mainly links to act one and early parts of the play which feel like a 90s sitcom set in an office. A sitcom with classic characters, the evil and uncompromising boss, and 5 qui...

Pride and Prejudice (*Sort Of) – Richmond Theatre

14Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Pride and Prejudice (*Sort Of) – Richmond Theatre

After an extremely successful run in the West End, this retelling of Jane Austen’s most famous love story is on tour, and I had the pleasure of viewing their Richmond theatre stop. This is the classic story we all know told through a very different lens. Pride and prejudice (*sort of) is a masterclass in comedic storytelling and audience engagement. The story starts with the servants of Austen’s iconic characters detailing their involvement in making sure these love stories end the way we all know and love. This is one of the funniest plays that I have seen in a while with so many laugh out loud moments, that I think I was laughing for 2 and half hours straight. There were multiple points in the show where the audience burst into spontaneous applause born from the sheer hilarity of t...

13Feb

By Gonzalo SentanaNo Comments

London

Cirque Berserk! – Riverside Studios

Imagine you could fly. Imagine that the air is your house, and that floating above the ground is where you thrive and show your true self, shining and gliding without any efforts. And then, you will understand what it feels to see Cirque Berserk! Celebrating its tenth anniversary with a series of performances in Riverside Studios, this amazing theatre-circus spectacular combines contemporary circus-style artistry with a very traditional circus feeling in some of its acts. Inside of the stage, from the very beginning of the performance there is a huge cage in the shape of a ball, creating anticipation for what is presented as the main event, although every single moment of this show is charged with as much adrenaline and astonishing acrobatics. Starting with a group of acrobats jumpin...

13Feb

By Gonzalo SentanaNo Comments

London

She – Tara Theatre

Come into the life of two or 14 characters, from birth to death, and live, laugh, sing and cry with them. We challenge you not to. That could be in the doorstep of Tara Theatre when "SHE" is on. "SHE", written by Anthony Clark, is a play comprised by seven short plays. Though largely unconnected, the stories remain attached one to the other through the work of the two young actors on an almost unchanging space, that becomes resignified through the words and actions of the characters in each piece. The interestingly simple design of the space, in charge of Jessica Curtis, domestic but ambiguous, makes us believe that all those spaces could actually look like that, precarious and almost decadent, yet endearing and warm. Loosely inspired by the Seven Ages speech in Shakespeare's As You ...

12Feb

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

This is the Land – Vault Festival

Five ghost-like, unidentifiable, unreal performers, all in black, inhabit the stage from start to end and present a visceral and powerful series of images, movement and sound sequences occasionally breathing life into props around- chairs, threads of cotton, grocery and coats! Directed by Mary Steadman and created in collaboration with performers Leeza Jessie, Alice Barton, Xavier De Santos, Samuel De La Torre, and Sofia Velez, This is the Land indeed creates an atmosphere of dream-like liminality using themes associated with the cycle of seasons. It does so by channelling some narratives or images that might emerge using the archetype of Trickster- the one who defies conventional behaviour and is not afraid to experiment. While it was not always possible to comprehend a singular na...

Live to Tell (a Proposal for) The Madonna Jukebox Musical – Omnibus Theatre

12Feb

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Live to Tell (a Proposal for) The Madonna Jukebox Musical – Omnibus Theatre

You may have noticed that Madonna is having a moment. Again. She’s announced a tour that’s seen a demented scramble for tickets. Her appearance, following surgical face-tuning is hotly debated on TV, TikTok and the 77 bus to Tooting. The 64-year-old appears to be getting high and hanging out with hip-hop dons and trans stars, while sharing her exploits on Insta like a gobby teen. This showbizzy noise almost drowns out her musical back catalogue and it’s all a stark contrast to her revolutionary HIV/AIDS activism in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Madonna bigged up safe sex, challenged HIV stigma and supported the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) on her 1987 tour. She delivered this advocacy loudly, when it was controversial and potentially damaging to her career. Madonna released ...

The Lehman Trilogy – Gillian Lynne Theatre

12Feb

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

The Lehman Trilogy – Gillian Lynne Theatre

“He dances so hard, he doesn’t hear the music stop” Sam Mendes’ production returns with terrific direction from Zoe Ford Burnett. It is 1844 and embracing America with wonder, Henry Lehman (Nigel Lindsay) starts a fabric business with his brothers, Mayer (Hadley Fraser) and Emanuel (Michael Balogun). The three begin to build a business empire of magnificent scope. We watch the Lehman men across several generations; their brotherly disputes, marriages and how the business grows and expands and its drastic fall in 2008. Where to begin – this was an exquisitely crafted production, with all of the elements feeding beautifully into each other to tell the brimming story of the Lehman family. The concept of evolving is introduced early, as Henry changes his name from a less pronounceable Je...

12Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

David Copperfield – Riverside Studios

David Copperfield is one of the best-loved of Charles Dickens' novels and is believed to be at least a semi-autobiographical narration of his life. He said that Copperfield was always his "favourite child". Dickens' family were extremely poor; he was forced as a young boy to work in a factory in conditions that informed his later efforts to achieve social reform by highlighting the cruel lives of London's poorest. Dickens ensured that his writings could reach the general public by publishing in magazines, so that the poorer in society could read them when they could not afford books. Simon Reade's innovative adaptation re-imagines the story as a Victorian Music Hall performance, a popular form of theatre in the 19th century, which reflects the period of Dickens' and Copperfield's lif...