REVIEWS Archives - Page 494 of 548

Madame Modjeska’s Fairytale – Edinburgh Fringe

23Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Madame Modjeska’s Fairytale – Edinburgh Fringe

Madame’s Modjeska’s Fairytale, co-produced by Counter Balance Theater and Helena Modjeska Foundation, is a beautiful piece of art, combining beautiful illustration, hypnotic narration, and original physical theatre and expressive dance. Adapted and directed by Annie Loui, and based on the original text and illustrations from Titi, Nunu, Klemobolo or the Adventures of Two Lilac Boys and a Six-legged dog, by Madame Helena Modjeska, this is a pretty and unique adaption. The piece opens with an embroidered book cover creaking open, and hand drawn illustrations dated 1896. A dedication to a grandchild is the opening to the magical and strange world of the fairytale, narrated in the dulcet tones of Ellen Dubin. Beautiful art and stunning footage are bordered by the page edges of the book t...

AngloViking Invasion Before Naptime – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

20Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

AngloViking Invasion Before Naptime – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Thor and Joshua were right. No one saw an invasion quite like this one. As Joshua Mason Wood waited on a boat with his bohemian parents, Thor Stenhaug stopped by the job centre and stumbled into comedy. The result? For the cost of nothing, you can see them for free. Yes, the Edinburgh Fringe is notorious for being hit and miss with it’s coming and goings of rising stars, especially amongst the free arm of the festival. But these guys stand out amongst what can be tawdry offerings of festival’s past and find themselves somewhere on the journey to paid tickets. While this may not be the gem of the Fringe (yet), they are the gem of the Free Fringe. Appreciating Stand Up is based on taste, and while I thought Stenhaug at times a little safe and Mason-Wood a little too crude, it’s undenia...

20Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

London

Murmur – Camden Fringe

Magpie’s Murmur, written and directed by Susanne Colleary, is a surreal fairy tale audio play, which explores trust and confidence against a backdrop of rich and intricate sound effects and a bizarre and original story of friendship and encounters with strangers. Ren (Orla McSharry) is the expectant mother of Baba who lives in a ramshackle dwelling in the woods. Mag (Isabel Claffey) spots her and points her out to Bee (Sandra O’Malley) who then invades Ren’s home and mind with talk of health and safety, responsibility and welfare, before offering a number of solutions. But this Emperor’s New Clothes style tale teaches Ren that not everything or everyone is as they seem, and the best person to keep her and Baba safe, is probably Ren herself. Haunting singing throughout the piece pairs...

The Complications of Being Ernest – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

20Aug

By Nicky LambertNo Comments

Scotland

The Complications of Being Ernest – Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Take a famous Oscar Wilde play, throw in some actors with personal problems, questionable acting ability and over-large egos, perform the whole thing via Zoom and what do you have? An absolutely hilarious hour of entertainment written by Kieron Rees and brought to you by The Unknown Theatre Company. The entire play is done live via Zoom and you watch it via Zoom but with your own camera turned off and the sound muted. We join the actors a few minutes before the play starts and unbeknown to them, we have all been let in out of the Zoom waiting room so we see and hear all their issues with each other. Jen and Ren (Vicky Davies and Michelle Kay) are scrapping over Ben (Harri Herniman) and Shaun, the Director (David Millard) is a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Rebecca (Kimber...

19Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Tell Me Straight – King’s Head Theatre

Tell Me Straight is a new two-hander play written by Paul Bradshaw about a gay man on a path to self-improvement. Staged as part of the Queer Season at the King’s Head Theatre, the show is produced by Gartland Productions and directed by Imogen Hudson-Clayton. With inimitable performances and quick-witted dialogues, the audience witnesses the many layers to dating in the modern age and how our relationships with our sexuality, identity and self-worth are far more intertwined than what we perceive. The lead character, played by Bradshaw, has set himself a solid 30-day plan to bring order back to his life – no booze, no fast food and most importantly, no more random hookups. His friend Dani (voiced by Stephanie Levi-John), whose disembodied presence is manifested through funny voice...

Dark Spirits, Black Humour – Edinburgh Fringe

19Aug

By Nicky LambertNo Comments

Scotland

Dark Spirits, Black Humour – Edinburgh Fringe

Billed as “a love letter to haunted stages, story-soaked speakeasies and the other strange places and lengths we go to find community”, ‘Dark Spirits, Black Humour’ is a one man show presented by InHouse Theatre and Assembly. The platform is Zoom so he can see us and we can all see each other. The setting is a low lit, atmospheric cocktail bar with our barman, played by Mark Jude Sullivan. He’s very personable and immediately likable. He spends some time mixing a (very strong) cocktail and speaking about the ingredients. He then encourages us all to share something or someone we would wish to commemorate from the past year and most of us do this, myself included. He offers condolences to those of us who wish to commemorate a lost loved one. He then goes on to tell a story from his li...

19Aug

By Eugene GriffinNo Comments

London

Jersey Boys – Trafalgar Theatre

Jersey Boys has always been a huge favourite amongst the group of Jukebox Musicals. It is not difficult to see why: A compelling story to success, the music of the Four Seasons is perfectly structured and paced to allow each member of the Four Seasons to have their full character explored through monologues, which are spoken directly to the audience. Brickman and Elice’s book moves at a thunderous pace with numerous scene changes happening within a single song. As soon as the show opens, you are whisked away with Tommy De Vito’s snappy account of the boys meeting and the formation of the group. Benjamin Yates' performance as Tommy bounces off the stage with energy, wit and humour- a great way to open the show! A recent Mountview graduate, Ben Joyce takes on Frankie Valli with youthfu...

Shut Up, and Drive! – Lion & Unicorn Theatre

18Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Shut Up, and Drive! – Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Sitting your driving test is a very nerve-wracking experience and as most people today tend to learn to drive, this play will resonate. Robert Jones (Garth Oates) is sitting in the reception of the driving test centre with his driving instructor Kelly Preslie (Jemma Carlton), waiting to take his driving test. He is nervous and his instructor is not helping to calm him down with her inappropriate comments. John, the examiner (Phil Broomhead) breezes in to take him for his test and its all good so far. Rob visibly relaxes and he chats to the examiner, maybe relaxing a little too much. All of a sudden, he does an unscheduled emergency stop, as a man is standing in front of the car pointing a pistol at them and tells them to get out. At this point Rob has...

Spells for a Broken Heart – Hen & Chickens Theatre

18Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Spells for a Broken Heart – Hen & Chickens Theatre

What is the worse way that someone can break up with you? If you are involved in the dating scene this is a thorny issue and one that is tackled by ‘On the Common Theatre Company’. After graduating from The BRIT School in 2019, the company have been working on writing and devising plays that feel fresh and exciting. This play is their take on modern dating with all its joys and heartbreaks. As we walk into the theatre, we are handed a very cute little booklet that accompanies the show which includes the recipes for spells that help to mend a broken heart. This is a lovely touch and something that is frequently overlooked, that clever marketing can help to keep the image of your play in your audience’s mind, even when they have left the theatre. The play revolv...

Tell me on a Sunday – Frinton Summer Theatre

18Aug

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

South East

Tell me on a Sunday – Frinton Summer Theatre

Tell me on a Sunday may be the smallest musical Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written, but as a one-woman musical, it packs enough punch to keep the audience enthralled. The key to this success, in a Frinton Summer Theatre first, is the casting of Shona White and the accompanying live six-piece band. White, whose credits include Mamma Mia, West Side Story and Wicked, is clearly used to a big stage; she has a big voice and a big presence – precisely what you need to carry off a one-woman show. Tell me on a Sunday is the story of an ordinary English girl journeying to, and across America, looking for love. Her romantic misadventures are hapless and humorous and feel very Bridget Jones. This was originally written in the 1970s, a time when the male gaze and women defining themselves thro...