London Archives - Page 94 of 114

The Seven Pomegranate Seeds – Rose Theatre

11Nov

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Seven Pomegranate Seeds – Rose Theatre

Fifteen years after it was commissioned and performed as a staged reading, Colin Teevan’s contemporary amalgamation of mythical stories receives a stunning production at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Directed and designed by Melly Still, the text brings to life the legends of female characters from Euripedes’ plays, namely Persephone, Hypsipyle, Medea, Alcestis, Phaedra, Creusa and Demeter, and situates them in the present-day UK. Each story touches upon different themes – rage, fear, vanity, obsession and more – and are tied together with a larger thread of motherhood, grief and loss. The show is backed by formidable performances by Niamh Cusack and Shannon Hayes who rely on rhythmic vocal delivery and effortless movement quality to bring out the best in Teevan’s text. Hayes’ embodimen...

11Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Boy Out The City – Turbine Theatre

Welcome back, to a time quickly forgotten but deep rooted- the pandemic, 2020. Oh yes, lurking in the corner is a time most of us dread to think about just yet but in Declan Bennett’s one-man piece exploring his 3 lockdown special, we move through time, through cities and through all the alcohol in the house. Immediately we are thrown into an underground theatre, blasting 90’s house and the scheduled timing of the overground tube. Declan enters the stage, Guinness in hand and face mask on- which he proceeds to take off with great difficulty once attached around his mic, as a glasses owner- I understand this. This was an honest re-telling of his time alone in a countryside home during Christmas, as we know, possibly the hardest lockdown for a lot of people. As his boyfriend’s success all...

10Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Milk and Gall – Theatre 503

2016, a woman giving birth and an election. This play follows Vera, (MyAnna Buring) trying to understand being a mother in a very hopeless climate, one she certainly didn’t wish for and one she may have even decided to not have a child in- if she could start again. We are with Vera as she experiences the first year of her child’s life, a very honest and open experience of what new mothers may experience with all the sharp edges and hidden corners. The struggles matched with the consistent worry of the outside world, the wanting to do more and fighting politics with her husband’s mother. Photograph © Jane Hobson. I thought this writing was fantastic, Mathilde Dratwa led us through this year beautifully well and never fell short to surprise us. Their view on this world is abstract a...

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

8Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Footfalls & Rockaby – Jermyn Street Theatre

Writer Samuel Beckett wrote ‘Footfalls’ between March and December 1975. It premiered at the Samuel Beckett Festival in 1976 at the Royal Court Theatre, when he directed the play himself. From the amount of stage directions written for this play, it is clear that Beckett had a very strong vision of how these plays should be presented. ‘Rockaby’ was written and performed later in New York in 1981. The accurately titled ‘Footfalls’, is aptly titled. A woman called May is pacing the floor with a need to hear her footfalls as she paces. It’s as though the rhythmic sound helps her to make sense of her thoughts. We hear May’s mother’s voice in the background, talking and occasionally counting the steps before May wheels around and begins pacing in the opposite direction. Beckett stipulated in...

The Girl Who Was Very Good at Lying – Omnibus Theatre

5Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Girl Who Was Very Good at Lying – Omnibus Theatre

The Girl Who Was Very good at Lying written by Eoin McAndrew is a quick, intelligent piece dipping into a moment of a young woman’s daily life but today was different- today she met an American man. Catorina lives in a small Irish town where she must come home every day and tell her mum everything that she’s done, listing the most mundane of tasks. She works in a pub; she likes watching TV and she likes to light matches. When this mysterious man walks in, very aware of the accent she forms a plan to guide him around the town- as she is obviously very interested in History and knows the story of everything in this place, or at least she’s very very good at lying about it. We follow the pair throughout the day, each lie getting more bizarre although you wouldn’t know with her confidence i...

5Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The Sugar House – Finborough Theatre

‘The Sugar House’ receives its first production outside of Australia after being nominated for ‘Best New Australian Work in the Sydney Theatre Awards after a showing at the Belvoir Street Theatre in 2018. The Finborough Theatre is renowned for breathing new life into old rarely performed plays or helping new writers to establish themselves. Alana Valentine has written a very powerful, thought-provoking play set in three different time periods. It begins in 2007, with Narelle Macreadie (Jessica Zerlina Leafe) looking around a posh flat in Sydney which was situated in a converted sugar factory. It becomes clear that this building stimulates old memories, and she begins to reminisce about her childhood, spending time with her father Sidney Macreadie (Patrick Toomey) who worked at the facto...

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) – Criterion Theatre

4Nov

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) – Criterion Theatre

I don’t know what I was expecting walking into an all-female Pride and Prejudice, but I left with ready for a complete re-write of literature and Isobel McArthur to lead the revolution. The energy, commitment, enjoyment they had to be there was streamed through this theatre, it felt like a gift to witness. Isobel McArthur, writer and performer was commissioned to write a stage production of Pride and Prejudice for Tron Theatre four years ago after having never read the book. Since then she has been developing this play to finally land at the Criterion Theatre in London where 5 actors enter the stage as we enter our seats only to assure us that it hasn’t started yet- they just need to grab their rubber glove from the chandelier. Everything is very much in their gloved hands, as they r...

3Nov

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

SIX – Vaudeville Theatre

SIX, the feminist pop musical written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, which has taken the world by storm, has reopened at the Vaudeville Theatre. SIX focuses on the wives of King Henry VIII, Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Katherine and Catherine giving them the mic to tell their stories as a powerful girl group. The six women sing their hearts out about their shared experience being married to the monarch, arguing who had the worst time in a pop princess-inspired musical contest. Dressed in glittering Tudor-style outfits, each queen had their own opportunity to shine with solos inspired by modern musical stars and shine they certainly did. From emotional power ballads to head-bopping R&B tracks, SIX masterfully conquers a plethora of genres whilst re-imagining history in a fresh and enj...

31Oct

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Night, Mother – Hampstead Theatre

Marsha Normon’s 1983 Pulitzer-winning drama “‘night, Mother” returns to the Hampstead Theatre after its European premiere at the same venue in 1985. Directed by artistic director Roxana Silbert and designed by Ti Green, this two-hander explores the complicated relationship between a mother and a daughter in what would have otherwise been an ordinary, quiet evening in their isolated house in the rural American hinterlands. Touching upon the themes of suicide, mental health and isolation, the show unfolds as a series of conversations between the two characters about a disturbing decision that awaits them, and us in the audience, at the end of the night. With measured performances by Stockard Channing and Rebecca Night, it is a hauntingly gripping experience that seeks to remind us about the ...

31Oct

By Natalie J RomeoNo Comments

London

Tender Napalm – King’s Head Theatre

No set, no props, no effects except a few subtle lighting changes; just two barefoot actors and a full house. It is shows such as these that remind us, trudging through our day to day reality, of what it is to imagine, and how easy it is, if all the elements are right, to become completely immersed in a scenario totally removed from normality—immersed enough that it makes you squirm. The audience last night was fully immersed in this 10th anniversary in-person production of Tender Napalm, directed by Max Harrison at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington. Trapped on a remote Island—as we are told—a Man and a Woman tell each other stories, passing time, playing much in the way children might. However, there’s an edge to these games. An undercurrent of pain runs through most, of resentm...