King’s Head Theatre Archives

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First – King’s Head Theatre

7Sep

By Sadie PearsonNo Comments

London

A Letter To Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First – King’s Head Theatre

A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God: Whoever Reads This First is a powerful exploration of the pressures which shape a childhood, devastating loss of innocence, and the path which American foreign politics carved out for a generation of working class boys. Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice) and Ace (Natasha Roland) roll onto the stage as impossible-not-to-love Boy Scouts. Scruffy, mud covered, scamps! Spending a summer camp play-fighting imaginary enemies for the elusive praise of Lyndon B Johnson, a comically God-like father figure in their whimsical imaginations, the duo give magnetic, vulnerable and tender performances, creating characters you instantly invest in. As the story unfolds, folklore and propaganda blends with harrowing truths, and suddenly the looming pressures of manhood and w...

17Aug

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Northbound Boy – King’s Head Theatre

Northbound Boy, staged at the King's Head Theatre, stars Neil Ashton as Ken, Sarah Moyle as Aunt Ivy, and Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Rory. The play opens with Rory, a nineteen-year-old hitchhiking his way to Blackpool. It's during this journey that he meets the older Ken, who offers him a ride at a service station. The set design for the production is minimalist, consisting of a simple sofa, chair, and table to represent Ken's living room. Despite the minimalism, the fast-paced dialogue delivered by Neil Ashton and the charm exuded by Cormac Hyde-Corrin quickly draw you into the world of the play, making you forget the simplicity of the surroundings. While the play takes time to reveal its direction, it soon becomes clear that it is an exploration of the different ways homosexuality a...

Diva! Live from Hell! – King’s Head Theatre

8Jun

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Diva! Live from Hell! – King’s Head Theatre

Diva: Live from Hell! is a one-man musical performed by the sensational Luke Bayer. If you're anything like me, you might be sceptical about how one person can pull off a musical solo. Well, brace yourself to be engulfed by the flames of hell as you dive into a story that's unbelievably hot and laugh-out-loud funny. Bayer is an absolute menace on stage, seamlessly shifting between characters and embracing the role of an extravagant diva with exceptional ease, all while belting out great and catchy songs. This show is incredibly camp and nothing short of enjoyable from start to finish. The story starts off with a high school musical vibe, complete with catchy songs and energetic dances. It touches on themes of self-discovery and sexuality before spiralling down a devilish path, where the...

6Feb

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

FutureQueer – King’s Head Theatre

Alexis Gregory’s one-man show did exactly what it said on the tin: it facilitated a co-imagining of future in which queerness is ubiquitous. Gregory’s ironic repetition of right-wing frenzied slogans (‘it’s woke gone mad!’) to open the show provided us with an effective comic introduction. The rest of the piece featured an enjoyable mix of contemporary journalistic articles and queer scholarship, notably the literature of Esteban Muñoz, as well as the presentation of imagined characters from the late 21st Century. For example, Gregory interpreted the role of ‘Futura’, an A.I. drag queen, who invited us into the possibilities of ‘alternative intelligence’, all the while serving us ‘deepfake realness’ and (garnering audience laughter along the way!). We journeyed through the ‘speculative ...

12Jan

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Exhibitionists – King’s Head Theatre

The King’s Head Theatre holds a special place in my heart, as it was the scene of my first ever written review. In 1986, as coursework for my Drama ‘O’ Level, I travelled from the depths of sleepy Surrey to lively Islington for an experimental interpretation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. The production was less memorable than the concept of being squidged in a room at the back of a pub with an audience brought together by existential angst. I’d not only found my people, but learned that theatre could be uncomfortably intimate, messy and weird. In 2015, I played a sexual health and drugs counsellor, in a production of The Clinic at The King’s Head. My character was based on renowned ‘chemsex’ expert David Stuart (RIP) who was also one of the show’s producers. It was a thrill to perform ...

29Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

One Minute – King’s Head Theatre

The Working Actors Studio have revived Simon Stephens 2003 play One Minute at the King's Head Theatre. 'One minute' refers to the time it takes 11-year-old Daisy Schults to vanish, and the play depicts five characters impacted by her disappearance. In part this is a police drama, with the two detectives, played by Frederick Lysegaard and Lee Lomas, leading the investigation into her disappearance, but later being left on their own as other resources are taken away due to their lack of success. But it is much more an emotional study of the interaction of the five characters. The story unfolds slowly through numerous short scenes, many of which are only tangentially linked to the actual events of the disappearance. For example, the two characters of Mary Louise and Catherine, played by Im...

19Feb

By Zara OdetundeNo Comments

London

Text & Delete – King’s Head Theatre

We’ve all had a flatmate we’ve hated right? Two women who are each other’s complete opposites attempt to coexist in a flat share, and after deeply hidden secret is revealed, we explore the continuum from enemies to budding friends. A fantastic new show, from In Her Element theatre production bringing together drama and comedy for a one act production full of laughs and unexpected comfort. The staging of this show at the King’s Head Theatre was well done, the small space was made to look like a living/dining room through furniture and through characters being off stage when they were in bedrooms or the kitchen. This made the production feel so intimate, like we were spectators sitting inside their living room. Both actresses multi role in this show and they do it fantastically. ...

<strong>And Then The Rodeo Burned Down – King’s Head Theatre</strong>

21Jan

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

And Then The Rodeo Burned Down – King’s Head Theatre

Coming direct from New York City in association with theSpaceUK, following a successful week-long debut run in Edinburgh and winning the coveted Fringe First Award; Chloe Rice and Natasha Roland have been collaborating for nearly ten years, writing, and performing their own material. Ye hawing their way into the King’s Head Theatre, their rodeo clown show packs a lot into the hour. With country and western music piped into the theatre, the clown puts on her make up ready for the show. Star of the show is the lassoing cowboy, and oh boy, does Dale the clown want to be a cowboy, but our clown has a shadow, someone who wants to be a clown. Dressed in cowboy clothes, the pecking order of life is dissected, with the cowboy representing the top of the food chain and the s...

<strong>Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre</strong>

11Dec

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Harry’s Christmas – King’s Head Theatre

One could say that it is a brave choice to put on a play about mental health at Christmas whilst the populous spreads festive cheer, and shops, bars and restaurants play Christmas music on a loop. But I guess this IS the time to put on such a play, as many people struggle with loneliness and isolation, feelings that are magnified at Christmas. Threedumb Theatre offer their second Steven Berkoff play of the year, having performed Dog/Actor at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. When Berkoff wrote this play which was first performed at the Donmar in 1985, he received responses from many people who felt similarly, that this time of year overwhelmed them and exaggerated feelings that during the rest of the year, they could just about cope with. Harry (Stephen Smith) lives al...

13Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Fame Whore – King’s Head Theatre

‘Fame Whore’, written and directed by Tom Ratcliffe holds up a morality mirror (and light ring) to modern societies desperate desire for attention, relevance, and the ultimate goal, “followers”. It highlights the lengths that people will go to achieve fame, and the pitfalls for some once they achieve this, as well as the ever-evolving cancel (or call-out) culture that is growing within many online communities, that can leave some entirely ostracised from their friends and fans. Part one-man play, part cabaret and part social narrative, ‘Fame Whore’ introduces the world to Becky Biro (Gigi Zahir), a hard-working drag performer, with a modest social media following, but a wild desire to be the next Drag Factor contestant. Beck feels she “deserves” fame, and having been rejected from Drag ...