London Archives - Page 98 of 114

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

28Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

When an overwhelming wave of grief and disbelief hit you suddenly, especially in the midst of what was supposed to be a beautiful moment in life, the biggest fallout isn’t from the first hit but from the almost never-ending ripples it leaves in its wake. This sentiment plays out thoroughly in Cordelia O'Neill’s new play Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough, currently being staged by the Small Things Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse. With its tightly-knit dialogue, intimate staging and breathtaking performances, the show takes us through the different stages of a couple’s relationship, from the first date to the bittersweet arguments, focusing on the loss of their stillborn child, and the crippling isolation and unhappiness it brings forth. At the centre of the story ...

28Sep

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

The Weekend – Bloomsbury Theatre

“I’m at the theatre. There is an inflatable dinosaur” “Are you ok? Do you know what month it is? Or the current monarch?” Thus, the WhatsApp exchange between myself and a friend kicked off my Sunday night. The stage is set, a picture of modern suburbia with five – yes five – sofas planted for cast and chorus to observe and be observed from. Incongruous and never really explained is the rampaging inflatable dinosaur, who I was sad to note did not make another appearance further down the line. Highbury Opera Theatre present The Weekend – an operatic adaptation of Michael Palin’s 1994 play which charts the eventful Saturday of Stephen Feeble. Torn from his morning newspaper by the unwelcome news that his daughter will be visiting with her trying husband, uncommunicative teenage daugh...

26Sep

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

The Great Gatsby – Immersive LDN

The Great Gatsby, London’s longest-running immersive show directed by Alexander Wright, is a stage adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 novel of the same name is back with a bang. The show is set in Gatsby’s extravagant mansion, envisioned by Casey Jay Andrews, its lavish art-deco design and dim speakeasy lighting created the perfect setting to transport you back in time for an evening. Most of the action and the dancing happened in the main space whilst characters led crowds of audience members into smaller rooms for more intimate moments. Each room was meticulously decorated, from Daisy’s dazzling dressing room with an enviable collection of pretty dresses to Gatsby’s ominous oak-panelled library, all the details were extraordinary and really added to the opulent ‘20s ch...

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

26Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

After a sold out run at VAULT Festival 2020, Robert Holtom’s comedy that explores what it means to be gay returns at the Pleasance Theatre’s main house cabaret. Directed by Tom Wright and produced by Hannah Elsy Productions, the show is a nostalgic hug to coming of age, coming out, and growing up with Harry Potter. For Holtom, the story comes from a deeply personal place, inspired by real-life incidents that shaped their childhood. Recounting the script’s development process from early 2019 until its first run in February 2020, Holtom believes it serves as a testimony to the strength and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. The story centres around the growing up years of Jack, a young boy whose fascination with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is perhaps exceeded only by his infatuati...

24Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Last Five Years – Garrick Theatre

Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years comes to the West End a year after its sold-out London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse. The show originally premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and has been produced in Northern America and internationally ever since. The musical takes us through five years in the relationship of New Yorkers Jamie and Cathy, an emerging author and actress respectively, and the toll their demanding professions take on their lives as they fall in and out of love. The action follows a non-linear approach with Jamie's story told in chronological order, starting at the first encounter between the two, whilst Cathy’s story plays out in reverse chronological order, starting just after their marriage has ended. Their individual timelines play out i...

24Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Blithe Spirit – Harold Pinter Theatre

Noel Coward’s comedy about death and spirits has been playing at theatres around the world since 1941. Enjoying immense success during a time of war when death hung over every household like a persistent mist, it tapped into our innate fascination with the supernatural to tell us more about our present circumstances. Not only was it been adapted into a musical and a feature film, but it also continues to remain a popular choice for adaptation by theatre companies around the world. I remember seeing a version of Blithe Spirit myself in the University of Delhi, wherein the story had been contextualized for an upper class contemporary Indian society. This universal relatability of the text and its characters is an ode to its timeless nature, still drawing packed audiences to date. In this pro...

Funny Girls – New Wimbledon Theatre Studio

23Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Funny Girls – New Wimbledon Theatre Studio

In his new play Funny Girls, English playwright Roy Smiles imagines a fictional encounter between two American pop culture icons, Barbra Streisand and Joan Rivers. From their first on-stage gig as co-actors in an off-Broadway show called ‘Driftwood’ (an event that actually happened in real life) to their run-in many years later at the height of their stardom, this two-hander play examines their friendship built on shared Jewish identities and insecurities about a life in show business, among other things. This production is created in collaboration with Ambassador Theatre Group’s Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre as part of their new Premieres Season, travelling Upstairs at The Gatehouse Theatre next month. Throwing a spotlight on their early lives and the decisions that influenced their car...

23Sep

By Natalie J RomeoNo Comments

London

Rock Of Ages – New Wimbledon Theatre

For a show that defiantly publicised itself as the worst show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the atmosphere at the New Wimbledon Theatre yesterday evening was one of indisputable excitement. Rock of Ages, the undeniably funny musical that has lavished audiences with classic rock anthems that have been our guilty pleasures for decades, has returned to a packed out theatre. It’s understandable why some just won’t like this show- the obvious objectification (and dismissal) of women being a prime example. This is obvious from ten minutes in when Sherrie Christian (Rhiannon Chesterman) bends down to pick something up whilst wearing very short shorts, giving Dennis Dupree (Ross Dawes), the owner of The Bourbon Room, the Hollywood bar where most of the show takes place, all the motivatio...

20Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Is God Is – Royal Court Theatre

To say Aleshea Hariss’ new play is a tale of revenge would be a bit reductionist, for it wouldn’t do justice to its innate exploration of abuse and trauma through the lens of its titular character. The story follows 21-year-old twins Anaia and Racine (played by Adelayo Adedayo and Tamara Lawrance respectively) who travel across the South Western belt of the United States on a mission from ‘god’, a self-christened sobriquet for their mother who they believed was dead for the last 18 years. As kids, the twins managed to survive a gruesome fire that had not only brought their ‘god’ a life of gradual decay, but also had shaped their entire life with visible scars they carried, on their bodies and otherwise. They are now on a quest to find their father, seeking 18 year's worth of answers, justi...

16Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Catching Comets – Pleasance Theatre

Imagine that an extinction-level event that threatens the fate of humanity is unfolding right before your eyes. You there? Good, now imagine the heart wrenching moment where you know you have to break up with your partner. While it is unlikely that you’ve actually lived through both of these extraordinarily scenarios in the same lifetime, chances are your imagination is likely to associate a grandiose quality to the first scenario and a smaller, more contained quality to the second. In writer and director Piers Black’s play Catching Comets, audiences witness the interplay of these two scenarios – a disaster movie about the end of the world and a rom-com about falling in (and out of) love – each playing out at the same time. After an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, this one-m...