London Archives - Page 69 of 111

Distinguished Villa – Finborough Theatre

14Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Distinguished Villa – Finborough Theatre

"Refined" is the word around which Kate O'Brien's 1926 play hinges. Mabel Hemworth is unrelenting in her control of her immaculately cleaned suburban home and her downtrodden husband, Natty. A woman claiming permanent illness and anxiety, frigid and childless, she is constantly on edge and desperate not to attract the negative judgement of the neighbours on their quiet avenue in Brixton. Even her husband's singing along to a record she regards as outrageous due to what she considers to be racy lyrics. She has also ruled over the life of her sister, Gwen, a young woman seeking escape from this situation through marriage to the unremarkable John. Mabel represents the tied-down morals of the Victorian era, with even vague references to "issues of the night" causing her to have a fit of the va...

13Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Yellowman – Orange Tree Theatre

Written by Dael Orlandersmith, this beautifully written two-hander is a masterpiece in storytelling of epic proportions. Whilst incredibly simple in design, the work is also superbly complex and intricate in nature, as Orlandersmith has interwoven duologue, storytelling, and testimony to narrate, in a poetic style, the intricacies of love, hate, bigotry, loss and difference that has haunted the African-American communities for hundreds of years. ‘Yellowman’ tells the story of two childhood friends. Alma and Eugene have grown up together. Alma, a dark-skinned African American girl, with a gin-sodden mother and dreams of a life beyond the confines of their small town. Eugene is lighter skinned, mixed heritage, educated and from a wealthier background. The story is one of raw contrasts, an...

Gabriel Byrne: Walking With Ghosts – Apollo Theatre

13Sep

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Gabriel Byrne: Walking With Ghosts – Apollo Theatre

It would be fair to say that my approach to Gabriel Byrne’s show was cautious and slightly disdainful. Reading from a best-selling memoir is de rigeur for a book launch, but is it really theatre? As someone with three Irish parents (don’t ask), my blood pulses with Celtic pride, but I’m wary of romantic stereotypes, fuelled by sentimental Americans or Irish hustlers looking to make an easy buck. Walking With Ghosts brings Hollywood dazzle to London’s West End, but is this A-list glitter a symptom of celebrity mania, filling theatres with gawping fanatics? Gabriel Byrne has starred in more than 80 feature films and been directed by Ken Loach, David Cronenberg, the Coen Brothers and Wim Wenders. Those creative choices throughout his career suggest a thoughtful artist, rather than a red-ca...

13Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Rehab The Musical – Playground Theatre

Inspired by the personal experiences of writers Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young, ‘Rehab The Musical’ is a brutally open and honest, dark comedy window into the world of addiction, the journey of recovery, and the bravery of the many different characters who check themselves into rehab. Set in 1999, at the dawning of a new millennium, this new musical tells the story of young protagonist Kid Pop (Jonny Labey), a child star and manufactured pop artist, who as they often do, gets caught up in a hedonistic world of alcohol, drugs and parting, and ends up on the front pages of the tabloid press in a compromising situation. Up in court on drugs charges, Kid Pop is sentenced to 60 days in rehab, a punishment which, for Kid Pop anyway, is seen as a walk in the park. However, as articulated...

Professor Brian Cox presents Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey – The 02, London

1Sep

By Ely KingNo Comments

London

Professor Brian Cox presents Horizons: A 21st Century Space Odyssey – The 02, London

As someone who has always been fascinated by space, but never had the brain capacity or time to learn more, I jumped at the chance to be able to see Prof. Brian Cox live. This show may be seen as a glorified lecture to some, and Cox even referred to it as such, but this was so much more. With a huge HD LED screen at his disposal, the scientist used it to display some of the most fascinatingly beautiful images I will ever see. From real images taken from telescopes to simulations and artist renditions to live equations, this screen was used for it all. The highlights for me were when he displayed real life imagery taken by the James Webb Space Telescope and The Hubble Space Telescope, we even had the delights of seeing a ‘selfie’ from a Mars Rover! For two and a half hours the a...

1Sep

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Not F**kin’ Sorry – Soho Theatre

Presented by Not Your Circus Dog Collective and Access All Areas, the frank and honest cabaret ‘Not F**kin’ Sorry’ dives headfirst and unapologetically into the topic of disability discrimination in a highly provocative, hilarious, and seductive way. Not Your Circus Dog is a collective of learning disabled and neurodivergent performers who all, in their own right take command of the performance space to share their own story and those of others, and with serious content warnings, knock down all barriers on the sexuality, lifestyle, and fantasy of disabled people. The 60 minutes performance is impactful from start to finish. It is a curated piece that balances between the points of audience laughter and dancing, and points where they are stunned into silence and grim sadness. It’s a s...

Ride: A New Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

1Sep

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Ride: A New Musical – Charing Cross Theatre

In 1894, Annie Londonderry set off on a solo circumnavigation of the world by bike. That her name and this radical accomplishment is almost entirely unknown is as big a mystery as is the real story of her travels. She was born in Latvia, emigrated to the US as a child and suffered the loss of her parents, leaving her at just 16 to care for her younger siblings. She married in an attempt to achieve financial stability and had three children. But it seems it was the death of her younger brother that was the seminal moment that propelled her towards her pioneering ride around the world. There's talk of a wager, adventures with the myriad people she meets along the way, relationships developed and abandoned. On her triumphant return to the US in 1895, following an initial wave of media a...

Descendants: Ghost Written – Museum of Comedy

27Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Descendants: Ghost Written – Museum of Comedy

As a fan of improvised comedy, I was keen to go along to see The Descendants, who are a part of Hoopla Impro’s house team, who on this occasion are offering a long form improvised show, with suggestions being taken at the beginning only. This style of improvisation allows the performers to make the decisions as to the direction the story will take, but they use the initial suggestions given by the audience. Tonight, the team asked for a place that the play should be, the weather, and a name of a character. The audience suggestions were a maternity ward, snow and Gill Jacobi, let’s see what The Descendants can make of that little lot! Tina and Colin are having a baby, and Tina is already in labour in the maternity hospital being supported by Donovan, a work colleague who i...

Elizabeth Fry: The Angel of Prisons – Canning Town Library

27Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Elizabeth Fry: The Angel of Prisons – Canning Town Library

Created and written by James Kenworth, this production is the latest instalment of The Newham Plays. These are locally focussed plays, site-specific and digging into Newham’s history. This collaboration between writer James Kenworth and director Martin Charlton, draws upon the talent from the local schools of Newham, and youth theatre groups, under the guidance of a director and professional actors. Staged at the Canning Town Library, this celebration of the life of Elizabeth Fry, who fought for the improvement of conditions in prisons, especially for women. Fry and her husband lived locally in West Ham and she helped the local gypsy community by giving them food, clothing, and medicine. Elizabeth Fry or Betsy as she was known, is played by three different per...

David Hoyle: Ten Commandments – Soho Theatre

27Aug

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

David Hoyle: Ten Commandments – Soho Theatre

Humanity is paying a price for not listening to David Hoyle. In the heady ‘90s, when Hoyle performed as the Divine David, he would howl at the crowds, ‘Don’t go to the gym, go to the library’. The message, delivered with smeared mascara, spit and rage was driven by a righteous fear that society’s obsession with external appearance would destroy intellectual evolution and spiritual growth. That sage decree was delivered long before Twitter thirst traps, armies of Instagram charlatans and the quiet destruction of public libraries. Hoyle was a queer canary down the mine. Today, young children are increasingly cursed with eating disorders, Botox is bigger than de Beauvoir and since 2010, at least 773 libraries have closed. Even if we wished to heed Hoyle’s advice, it’s too la...