Park Theatre Archives - North West End UK

18Dec

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

Cyrano – Park Theatre

Cyrano at the Park Theatre is an exceptionally entertaining evening out. Virginia Gay’s reworking of Edmond Rostand’s 19th century play is transformational, turning an old, ossified tragedy into an uplifting and heartfelt exploration of queerness and love. The play follows Cyrano, who has a brilliant mind but is deeply insecure in her body. She falls for the equally intelligent Roxanne, who instead falls for the handsome yet ineloquent Yan. Unable to express her love openly, Cyrano takes to seducing Roxanne through Yan, feeding him the right words. Through this tension, Cyrano explores unrequited love, self-hatred, arrogance, and manipulation. Virigina Gay and Jessica Whitehurst flourish as Cyrano and Roxanne respectively. Their chemistry is compelling as are the barriers to their ro...

7Dec

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

Bette and Joan – Park Theatre

Bette and Joan is a lively exploration of the rivalry between two Hollywood legends, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, set against the backdrop of the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. Directed by Sue Jenkins, this production offers a humorous and sharp dissection of their frenemy dynamic, blending biting wit with illuminating glimpses into their shared struggles. Photo: Simon Annand The play thrives on the fiery chemistry between the leads - "two queen bees in one hive” battling for the same crown. Neil Gordon’s masterful set design, paired with gorgeous costumes, features opposing dressing rooms without actual mirrors. The actresses’ reflections are thus projected onto one another, cleverly underscoring how deeply intertwined their lives are. The initial exchange of barbs an...

13Aug

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

When It Happens To You – Park Theatre

Firstly, a trigger warning - When It Happens To You deals with issues of sexual assault and violence from the outset and throughout, and there’s nowhere to hide from it in this gutturally raw and confronting 90 minute performance. But Tawni O’Dell’s tale of a family dealing with the aftermath of tragedy is a tale of compassion, of surviving, and ultimately of love. Told through a series of monologues interspersed with conversation, Amanda Abbingdon is our focal point as a mother struggling to support her daughter and her family in the wake of a terrible assault. The action unfolds from Abbingdon’s point of view, with her heartfelt performance moving the narrative from the night of the attack. Abbingdon is arresting - she has the audience hanging on her every word as she wrestles with he...

3Aug

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

I Love You, Now What? – Park Theatre

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes anticipatory grief? Written by actor and comedian Sophie Craig, I Love You, Now What? is a play that weaves its way through the chronology of courtship just as it plows headlong through each of the stages of grief. Craig plays Ava, a young musician who idolizes her father (Ian Puleston-Davies) both musically and personally. When he is diagnosed with a terminal illness Ava tries to blow off steam with a young actor named Theo (Andy Umerah) and instead finds herself completely fogged up in love. As their romance blooms and her father’s health fades, the intermingling of joy and grief becomes too potent a force for one woman to bear and Ava begins to lose her grip on all the things she loves most. Director and dramaturg Toby Clarke a...

28Jun

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

The Marilyn Conspiracy – Park Theatre

Who did it? What caused it? “The Marilyn Conspiracy" is a thought-provoking play that invites the audience to ponder the events leading up to Marilyn Monroe’s death. From the outset, it is clear that extensive research went into creating this magnificent play, which takes you on a journey of what could have happened and the reasons behind it. The play immediately introduces important historical characters who were "friends" of Monroe and perhaps involved in covering up something more sinister. Genevieve Gaunt embodies Monroe, showcasing the strong emotions that Marilyn was feeling on the day she died. Was she depressed, drunk, lonely or perhaps all three? The show highlights these emotions whilst allowing you to draw your own conclusions about what happened that night. The set initia...

12Jun

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Miss Julie – Park Theatre

August Strindberg’s Miss Julie formed part of my GCSE drama syllabus, so I approached yesterday’s performance with a warm, hazy nostalgic feeling. A classic love/lust between the classes scandal, set in the midst of wild and carefree Midsummer celebrations – maybe this production would compensate for the current lack of summer and merriment London currently seems to be experiencing and I’d be able to lose myself in high drama and raw passion for a short while. Kit Hinchcliffe’s traditional set is detailed for the relatively small space, with the action so close that you can see and sometimes even smell everything that’s happening in front of you. Servants (and partners) Jean (Freddie Wild) and Christine (Adeline Waby) are setting about their evening when the Count’s daughter, Miss Julie...

20May

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Sniff – Park Theatre

Pissing on stage has never been more popular. From Travis Alabanza’s Overflow to Sam Grabiner’s Boys on the Verge of Tears plays set in bathrooms proliferate. It seems all the best new writing owes its inspiration to some form of cubicle poetry. Poetry this play is. Lewd, brash, and at times nauseating poetry it may be but it is poetry and a very powerful sort at that. With spectacular writing and performances by Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson & Felix Grainger under Ben Purkiss’s deft direction the chemistry between Liam (Fogarty-Graveson) and Alex (Grainger), two men who meet in a pub toilet, genuinely sizzles. Fogarty Graveson is especially undeniable as Liam, a character so intensely charming and menacing that he is somehow impossible not to root for even as he gets up to nothing but b...

20May

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Cold Water – Park Theatre

Cold Water is fantastic writing by Philippa Lawford who also directs this both uproariously and understatedly funny small-scale, world-premiere production. The play is exceptionally well cast, a necessity in a two-character, full length play of any scale. Whereas some two-handers will focus on generating unbearable tension or palpable chemistry, Cold Water is the rare theatrical experience in which connection does not come at the cost of comfort. Both actors are thoroughly convincing in their characters both together and alone on stage. Under wondrously ambient lighting design by Ed Saunders even dim transitions between scenes feel captivating and revelatory. This is a play it is impossible to tear your eyes away from, not because it keeps you on the edge of the seat or fearmongers an e...

14May

By Anisha AnantpurkarNo Comments

London

A Song of Songs – Park Theatre

A ‘song of songs’ was developed by Berkley-based Ofra Daniel as a one-woman show in 2013. Originally called 'Love Sick’, It travels for its European debut to the Park Theatre supported by trained voices and dancing of Ofra Daniel, Laurel Dougall, Rebecca Giacopazzi, Shira Kravitz, Ashleigh Schuman, Joaquin Pedro Valdes and Matthew Woddyatt. The energetic four-women chorus superbly complements an orchestra that tugs at the heart with its sweet longing and tender overtures. Original songs written and performed by Ofra with an incredible diversity of instruments supported superbly by the sounds of the modern European Flamenco and Klezmer have the audience in raptures. It reminded me of an adaptation of the ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ with its youthful anticipation of marriage and community celeb...

17Mar

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Hide and Seek – Park Theatre

Touching on issues like identity, peer pressure, friendship and the negative impact social media culture is having on young people, Hide and Seek doesn’t feel like entirely untrodden territory. Written by Italian playwright Tobia Rossi and translated and directed here by Carlotta Brentan, Hide and Seek charts the course of an unlikely friendship formed by two boys, Gio (Louis Scarpa) and Mirko (Nico Cetrulo) under quite bizarre circumstances. Bullied and belittled by his classmates, Gio retreats to a cave to escape after leaving a final mark on social media. Mirko finds him, and the two bond over their shared role in sensationalising Gio’s disappearance to feed the ensuing media circus, resorting to some fairly drastic measures to twist the story and stay relevant. As their friendship b...