Alan Cox Archives - North West End UK

London 50-Hour Improvathon 2025 – The Pleasance Theatre

12Apr

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

London 50-Hour Improvathon 2025 – The Pleasance Theatre

Improvisation - a theatre skill that is underrated, under paid, and underrepresented, but at the Pleasance Theatre from the 4th-6th April, the London Improvathon showed the audience, why the Improvathon, is in its 15th year. This fifty hour, or three thousand minute event, pushes the boundaries of what is physically and mentally possible for a group of improvisers (and some audience members), who create a story in a loose framework, with many deviations, but with a strong emphasis on character development, to give this event a soap-like feel. The inspiration for this event comes from the Canadian company Die-Nasty who originated the Soap-A-Thon and in 2005, the then director of Die-Nasty Dana Anderson worked with Ken Campbell the British theatre impresario to bring the Soap-A-Thon...

London 50 Hour Comedy Improvathon – Pleasance Theatre

28Mar

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

London 50 Hour Comedy Improvathon – Pleasance Theatre

Spectacular, Spectacular! And it is sure to be a spectacular weekend of improvisation if previous events are anything to go by. Whether you love improv and wish to immerse yourself in the whole weekend, or if you wish to dip your toe into a pool of new experiences, then this is for you! Each year the creative team invent a new idea for this double marathon of none stop improvising, inviting the best in the world to take part in the whole event if they dare, or they may choose to perform in a few episodes. Adam Meggido and Ali James act as director, with Su Young Shon assisting, steering this improvising tanker through some choppy seas - lifejackets may be needed, but they have never not brought the tanker home, safely into dock. This year, the Pleasance Th...

17Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

South East

The Marlowe Sessions – Marlowe Theatre

Two years ago, I went along to watch the recording of Tamburlaine II, intrigued by this ambitious plan to record all seven of Christopher Marlowe’s plays in quick succession, here is the link to my interview with one of the cast members Alan Cox - https://northwestend.com/spotlight-on-actor-alan-cox-and-the-marlowe-sessions-at-the-malthouse-theatre-canterbury/, which sheds some light on this project. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) the poet/playwright, was controversial to say the least, his open homosexuality during a period of gay sex being outlawed, atheism, and his involvement as a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, are evidence enough of his unorthodox thinking. This spilled over into his plays, the blood thirsty Tamburlaine, the gay Edward II, and the ambitious necromancer, Doc...

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall

13Mar

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall

After taking time to catch up on sleep and sustenance, it is comforting to reflect on what a special event the London Improvathon is. I covered the whole show but had breaks to grab a couple of hours sleep and to eat, so you could consider me to be a lightweight in comparison with these improvathoners. For cast and audience, there is an invisible bond that forms over the fifty hours, the commitment to perform, or to watch the equivalent of twenty-five shows back-to-back, binds the two together, and the final bows are met with celebration. For those who do not wish to commit to fifty hours, there was an option to buy a two-hour episode ticket. The history of the Improvathon goes back to 1993, when the first Canadian Improvathon took place, and then some years later Ken ...