London Archives - Page 79 of 114

The Girl on the Train – Upstairs at The Gatehouse

10Jun

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

The Girl on the Train – Upstairs at The Gatehouse

Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Able’s stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ hugely successful novel The Girl on the Train has been given a revamp in this new production, following its tour and West End debut in 2019. Directed by Joseph Hodges, the story focuses on Rachel Watson (Katie Ray), a struggling alcoholic that has lost her job and her husband Tom (Tom Gordon) who has moved on with his new partner Anna (Tori Hargreaves) and their baby. Rachel travels on the train to London every day, as it stops, she has a perfect view of the house where she lived with her ex-husband as well as the couple two doors down. As Rachel watches neighbours Megan (Chrystine Symone) and Scott (Scott Hipwell), she enviously imagines what life could be like for this couple she doesn’t know. When Megan suddenly goe...

9Jun

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Dreamers – Omnibus Theatre

Papergang theatre are presenting their stories on the Hong Kong Protests in 2019 through an interactive, high-energy piece in which the audience are listening upon different retellings of loss, courage and hope for better future. Still to this day, members of the community live in fear of being caught out, aware that someone may always be listening. It is a form of protest that this group decided to put on this piece and share it with an audience who mostly have moved on from this event, who much like myself had no idea the devastating affects it had on the community. Upon arrival they ask you to participate with the piece using the app Telegram which is incorporated into the piece as it was a vital form of communication during the protests. Once in a group chat, you can decide how acti...

8Jun

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

No Particular Order – Theatre 503

Directed by Joshua Roche, we are shown a fascinating insight of a near future world in which those in charge although not present in this telling, decide the fate of the community they speak for which result in war, environmental damage and protesting. This take place over a long period of time although told in short episodic chapters with 4 actors (Jules Chan, Pandora Colin, Pía Laborde-Noguez, Daniel York Loh) taking a new role in each scene and tell the stories of those willing to give up everything for the causes they believe in and remind us they are just like us, not ‘heroic or remarkable’ but people fighting for sustainability of community. We are transported through lifetimes watching the after effects of believing in our leaders, the damage of glorifying one person and that allows...

8Jun

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

Foundations – New Wimbledon Theatre

As part of a series of Fringe shows, WrongTree Theatre and Ultraviolet Production’s Foundations had its one-night run at the snug New Wimbledon theatre studio. MJ finds herself dissatisfied with her workplace and out of curiosity, wanders around the factory where she discovers another factory within a different world. This coraline-esque show is dazzling in its fluidity and imagination. It is a tale of friendship but also offers insights about humankind, stimulating for both children and adults. The simple but captivating plot was easy to follow, and the writing was accessible and flowed well. The concept is unique whilst also evoking nostalgia as it reminds me of Charlie and Lola which I watched growing up. The cast brought vividly brought their world to life with cleverly co-or...

7Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Starcrossed – Wilton’s Music Hall

While in Verona a few years ago, I was lucky enough to eat Polpette di cavallo at Osteria Sottoriva, the oldest eatery on the medieval arcade that runs along the bank of the Adige river. That city in Veneto, Italy is the romantic setting for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. One can ponder the balcony and courtyard said to have inspired our William’s tale of feuding families and adolescent co-dependence. Sadly, it’s an architectural fiction (from the 1930s) and a cynical ploy for travellers’ coins. Despite this deceit, it’s a scene of frenzied selfies and chaotic milling from pushy tourists. Truth and accuracy are far less alluring than the illusion of romance. Did Shakespeare visit Verona? There is no evidence of it, so while Romeo and Juliet rema...

2Jun

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Britannicus – Lyric Hammersmith

This intense adaptation by Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by Arti Banerjee explores a dictator’s rise to power and the intense jealousy that bubbles in those that seemingly have the love of a nation but no genuine love around them. This is the inciting fire for Nero to punish his brother Britannicus by demanding his love Junia for his own, in hopes that it’ll settle that lacking inside him and banish any enemies that threaten his position on the throne. However, with this tragedy you get a real inside of Nero’s vulnerability towards his mother and how her passiveness has affected how he loves other people, a man who is the most powerful leader in the world seeking only the approval of his mother and in not getting it, turns to resentment and devastation onto others. Nero played fan...

The Concrete Jungle Book – The Pleasance Theatre

2Jun

By Khushboo ShahNo Comments

London

The Concrete Jungle Book – The Pleasance Theatre

Twisting the colourful Disney version of The Jungle Book, reproducing the grimness of Rudyard Kipling’s classic, interpolating it with live rap music, grime, reggae and spoken word, the Highrise present a dynamic and reverberating Hip-hop musical The Concrete Jungle Book at the Pleasance. Written and directed by Dominic Garfield, the play explores homelessness, abandonment, and survival in a concrete jungle where “there’s no fair when there’s hunger in the air…” Set on the streets of London, the opening scene invites the audience into a run-down, dark, sketchy neighbourhood with a pulsating score often drowning the words of the actors. Nonetheless, their performance energy and commitment to the ensemble successfully transports the audience into a surreal world created brilliantly by jux...

We Will Rock You – New Wimbledon Theatre

31May

By Lewis DownhamNo Comments

London

We Will Rock You – New Wimbledon Theatre

It’s hardly 'A night at the opera' as Queen and Ben Elton’s musical We Will Rock You stomps into New Wimbledon Theatre. This jukebox musical features all the classic Queen songs you know and love intertwined with a quirky and futuristic storyline. The show is set far in the future in a dystopian world where children choose to live their lives through social media. They forget what it means to live in the real world and how to make real friends that aren’t just followers online, while listening to new and upcoming autotuned state-controlled songs. However, the bohemians lead by 'Cliff’ (Michael Mckell) slowly learn of the musical legends from the past and make it their mission to bring rock and roll back into the world. This show falls into the trap that many juke box musicals follow,...

Tomorrow May Be My Last – Old Red Lion Theatre

27May

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Tomorrow May Be My Last – Old Red Lion Theatre

In the Second Summer of Love, during the late ‘80s, I went full-tilt psychedelic. I tie-dyed my clothes, listened to Janis Joplin’s Pearl and read the infamous sex and drugs memoir, ‘Going Down with Janis’ by Peggy Casserta. Unlike Janis, I lived to tell the tale. In post-modern 2022, that teenage flirtation with psilocybin and flares seems very distant. Tomorrow May Be My Last delivered a patchouli flavoured flashback to my flower powered youth and is probably the nearest one can get to experiencing a Janis Joplin live show. Nobody sings like Joplin. That’s a fact, but Collette Cooper brings an impressive range to the table in this one-woman show, exploring the life and work of the iconic rock goddess. It’s a tall order, but at times, Cooper totally nails the vocals, esp...

Legally Blonde – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

26May

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

London

Legally Blonde – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

It’s inspiring when women want to be more than a pretty face, which is the popular appeal of Legally Blonde. Based on the 2001 movie, Lucy Moss has revamped the story for today’s audience, while still keeping the nostalgia cues alive for those who love the original. The plot is simple: boy ditches girl because she’s not clever enough for him and his glittering Harvard Law School career. Girl decides to prove him wrong and turns her fun, party life around securing a place at Harvard where the plan is to win back the douche-bag by proving she’s not an air-head, but a totally ass-busting-legal-whizz. For me, that’s the first (of many) yawning stereotypes and a source of friction, but I tried to set my morals aside and get into the fizzy, fun time. This is a big stage production and the ...