REVIEWS Archives - Page 3 of 580

26Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Two Halves of Guinness – Park Theatre

It’s a lovely day for a Guinness but the Park Theatre hasn’t got any on tap. Their replacement, radio host Zeb Soanes, is a captivating storyteller but unfortunately not a convincing Sir Alec in this biographical one man show marking the twenty fifth anniversary of the great actor’s death. It is a testament to his charisma as a performer and his mastery of Mark Burgess’s script that he is able to keep the audience’s attention for what is ultimately a pretty uneventful two hours. Set and costume designs by Lee Newby and lighting design by Michael Fox are just at the level of competence, capable of communicating context well enough but never rising to the level of inventive expression or even attempting any degree of theatrical flourish. This is particularly disappointing considering the ...

Much Ado about Nothing – Augustine United Church

26Apr

By Wendy McEwanNo Comments

Scotland

Much Ado about Nothing – Augustine United Church

There are pranks aplenty in the Edinburgh Rep Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing – only some of which are benevolent. Benedick (Declan Jennow) and Beatrice (Beth Eltringham) have one thing in common: they never want to get married, and they are particularly horrified at the suggestion that they might marry each other. They both talk about this a lot. They are clearly destined to be together; their friends just have to help them break the ice. Meanwhile, the wicked Don John (a softly spoken Colby Scott) is scheming and plotting. Hero (Erin Frances Spiers) walks beaming down the aisle (we are in an actual church, after all) arm-in-arm with her proud father Leonato (Kyle Paton). But Don John has framed her as a wicked harlot! Her fiancé Claudio (Patrick Foxwell) sl...

Sorry (I broke your arms and legs) – Pleasance Theatre

26Apr

By Charlotte MansfieldNo Comments

London

Sorry (I broke your arms and legs) – Pleasance Theatre

Twelve-year-old Sam Wilson is convinced that he will be named Head Boy, so when he realises that he has a rival for the position, his jealousy leads him into increasingly awkward and hilarious situations. Written and performed by James Akka, this 60-minute, one-person show will have you laughing throughout. Akka bubbles with the energy of a pre-teen as he and his power-point presentation take us through the circumstances leading up to Sam’s apology. From worrying about the volume of his hair, to a disastrous attempt to gain popularity by playing football, the neurotic and likeable Sam catalogues his mistakes while continually telling us how good he is at everything (except P.E.). With the gangly physicality of a boy in early adolescence, Akka fills the empty stage; his only se...

26Apr

By Charlotte MansfieldNo Comments

London

Down to Chance – Pleasance Theatre

Based on a true story, Down to Chance, follows the events in an Alaskan town during the biggest earthquake that’s ever hit the US. Advertised as Come from Away meets The Play that Goes Wrong, this show is much more like Come From Away, as very little goes wrong in this slick, fast-paced tale of disaster and courage. Written by Ellie Jay Cooper and Directed by Caleb Barron from Maybe You Like It theatre company, the story follows Genie, a radio journalist in 1964, whose gender is hampering her ambitions. When the earthquake strikes though, she is the only experienced reporter available, and together with her teenage intern, they keep the residents of Anchorage informed and entertained during a terrifying night. A set of radio mics, portable recording equipment, and a c...

Should I Still Be Doing This? – Soho Theatre

26Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Should I Still Be Doing This? – Soho Theatre

Susan Harrison's parade of weird and wonderful characters was a big hit at the Edinburgh Fringe and it's not hard to see why. This hilarious mixture of stand-up, improv and character comedy is sharp, original, and best of all, funny. Depressed Sindy is a particularly brilliant and original skit, as the doll looks back on her life of always being negatively compared to her more successful American counterpart, Barbie. Angry panda from Chester Zoo makes cogent observations of how people view zoo animals and intrude on their private moments. Over-the-top “influencer” Fleur is recognisably cringe-worthy. Harrison also takes a deep dive into the surreal with her girl stuck in a well inside a woman - a bizarre alter-ego but strangely believable which even draws the...

26Apr

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Cock – Colab

As a theatre space, Colab Tower in London Bridge offers quirky novelty and elements of mystery to the uninitiated. Prior to the performance, audience members were asked to wait in The Gold Bar, before being called to the show. The bar features an abundant range of drinks (2 types of stout!), plush theatrical drapes, a cabaret stage, art installations and the vibes of a private members club. From this cosy, bohemian space, the audience were then called en masse to descend a labyrinth of bland, office block stairs. Like a drunken office party on an unscheduled fire safety tour, we arrived in the unpolished bowels of the building. The room we were then ushered into felt like the lair of a serial killer. Exposed pipes, peeling paint, industrial lighting and plastic chairs only added to the sin...

Smoke + You Are Loved Panel – Omnibus Theatre

23Apr

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Smoke + You Are Loved Panel – Omnibus Theatre

SMOKE is a savage queer comedy thriller. A play written and performed by Alex Gregory. spotlighted by the non-profitable charitable work of ‘You are loved’ YAL. Gregory invites you to witness his lonely intimate experience dealing with grief, addiction and psychosis a life dominated by his everyday thoughts and actions. His openness about his previous drug taking is divulged early on within the play and there is no reference to drugs and sexual content thereafter. The focus here is the aftermath of a life lived with pain, loneliness and misconceived biases. Alex fights with his demons and becomes activated when he ‘receives’ or ‘perceives’ an Instagram message asking “how are ru” no question mark- that is sent to his phone from his dead partner Ben. The narrative weaves its...

Jack Docherty in The Chief: No Apologies – Traverse Theatre

23Apr

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Jack Docherty in The Chief: No Apologies – Traverse Theatre

Jack Docherty has had a much longer, and varied, career than many may be aware of. Having started at the Fringe in his home town of Edinburgh in 1980, he’s been on stage, in front of and behind the camera and as a writer for such legendary TV shows as Alas Smith & Jones, Spitting Image, Vic Reeves and Lenny Henry. Heck, he even had a chat show on Channel Five for a year or so in the late 90’s. But it’s Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson (from Scot Squad) that’s finally given him his oeuvre and the opportunity to roam unrestrained across any subject he cares to choose. Tonight’s very much like a stand-up routine but in two acts, with an interval. He’s written a book, ‘The Chief: No Apologies’ and treats us to excerpts, ‘treats’ being the operative word for we are privileged to be t...

23Apr

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

Nayatt School Redux – Coronet Theatre

I once described a Wooster Group production to a prospective theatre date as a “massage for the brain”. She was intrigued and tagged along. She and her hyper-rational brain then spent two hours beside me in quiet agony. Six years later, I texted her to say I was giving them another try, joking there might be a plot this time. She did not ask for a ticket. Probably for the best. Nayatt School Redux by the Wooster Group is less a play than a controlled act of disorientation. Conceived as a reconstruction of a partially lost 1978 production, giving center stage to T. S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party, it embraces fragmentation as both method and message. It begins with Kate Valk, a long-time Wooster Group member and deadpan narrator, who delivers an avalanche of archival detail about the or...

23Apr

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

The Waves – Jermyn Street Theatre

Virginia Woolf’s poetic, genre-resistent novel The Waves might not feel like an obvious candidate for a theatrical adaptation, but Flora Wilson Brown takes on the challenge with aplomb in this excellent new production at Jermyn Street Theatre. Director Júlia Levai reimagines the lives of friends Rhoda, Bernard, Susan, Neville, Jinny, and Louis in a loosely ambiguous time period, set against Tomás Palmer’s stark, metallic set design that becomes etched with the sextuplet’s memories — both literally and figuratively. Costume Designer Annett Black initially has the characters dressed in white t-shirts emblazoned with their names, which they shed as they grow up and into themselves, trying to discover who they are while also acknowledging the extent to which they are the sum of their experi...