Pleasance Theatre 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...

2Apr

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Down The Hatch – Pleasance Theatre

What began as slightly self-conscious soon developed into a showcase of joy for this young collection of enthusiasts. The premise was simple: a tavern with a collection of characters who told their stories through song and dance. It reminded me of Jim Cartwright’s TWO but the stories were somewhat thinner, each tale being bound by the lyrics of a particular song. My favourite was the traditional Irish ballad, Aililiú Na Gamhna, sung by second-year, Lily Hodge. It was pitch-perfect and filled with tender anguish. The blocking enhanced the sentiment of the piece. Ewan Robertson has a fine, sweet voice living within the body of a construction worker - tall, wide and muscular. He concluded the first half with a stunning lift of Elham Khosravipour who seemed anomalous in her belly-dancing...

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...

13Nov

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Nine Sixteenths – Pleasance Theatre

Nine Sixteenths, created and starring Paula Varjack, is a dynamic play centered on Black female role models and their portrayal in the music industry. The performance is short, fast-paced, and includes a few comical moments that had the audience laughing alongside the cast. The highlights included some spirited dancing and outrageously funny lip-syncing, adding a light-hearted touch to the production. However, the play frequently broke the fourth wall, with Varjack sharing her motivations and inspirations behind the production—a choice that occasionally disrupted the flow. The central focus of the play was the cultural impact of Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl moment, examining both how Jackson navigated this incident and how it reverberated across the industry, particularly for...

Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) – Pleasance Theatre

15May

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) – Pleasance Theatre

Sharp Teeth Theatre and Marie Hamilton resurrect an age-old play and story, adding their own chatmates of satire, camp, and 18 original songs! Prepare to get bedazzled at the sheer variety of characters, costume changes and diversity of pitches four women belt out on stage. It's an impressive labour of love that evokes pathos, laughter and disdain for the bedfellows of patriarchy and imperialism. The first half paints the sordid picture of how women are treated, the petty fights between women to hold power, male attention and position. At points, the background score music is overarching the performers, and at some points, the different scales need to be heard clearly. The first half of the play probably stays truthful to the 1729 John Gay's banned sequel to The Beggar's Opera, 'P...

13Apr

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Giselle Remix – Pleasance Theatre

Giselle Remix leaves you feeling inspired. Dare I say hopeful and courageous? You don't have to be gay or queer or pining for unrequited love. You come for the debauchery of cabaret but stay for the heart wrenching poetry of Raison d'être of life. Giselle Remix arrives at the Pleasance Theatre after a sold-out premiere at the Royal Opera House. Giselle, considered a masterwork of the classical ballet canon created in 1841, has been brought to many a stage in the past 183 years. This brainchild of the Pleasance Associate Artist Jack Sears and Royal Ballet Soloist Hannah Grennell has created a rapturous thunderclap in its universality of emotions and expression that is timeless. Before anyone comes on stage, the lights and orchestra fill it up. The music of an era gone by fill...

1Jun

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

30 and Out – Pleasance Theatre

Kit Sinclair's new work '30 and Out' chronicles the ins and outs of understanding one's gender and sexual expression, albeit not in one's teens. Based on Sinclair's honest journey, the solo show also intersperses audio recordings of interviews conducted with lesbians from diverse ages and lived realities. The show is funny, engaging and heartwarming. Kit Sinclair is such a talented artist; with her wit, charm, and an eclectic multiverse of characters, she brings to the front so many nuances of accepting oneself and allowing them to flourish as lesbian/non-binary. Following a successful sell-out Brighton Fringe run, '30 and Out' is spending this week in London at The Pleasance, ahead of concluding its mini tour at 53two in Manchester. Presented by Prentice Productions and assisted by her...

24Mar

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Slow Violence – The Pleasance Theatre

We are on the sixth floor of the office building of Happy Holidays. Claire is welcoming a new team member, Peter. Initially, things get off to a promising start, although there is a clear mismatch between the personalities; Claire, controlling but clearly needy, and Peter who is more restrained but wants to fit in and make a good impression. As the days turn into weeks and months the constraints of working in that office environment become dominant, it is far too hot, but the "people upstairs" will not allow the radiator to be turned down, the watercooler dispenses stagnant water, the electricity starts fusing, and there is flooding in the lower floors of the building water plus a leak from the ceiling. This is a brilliantly devised piece by Laura Ryder and Harry Kingscott,...

24Mar

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Trade – Pleasance Theatre

Ella Dorman-Gajic's Trade comes to Pleasance theatre. A gripping tale with powerful performances by Katarina Novkovic, in the lead role of Jana, superbly supported by Eleanor Roberts and Ojan Genc. Trade follows the life of Jana, who gets hoodwinked into the European trafficking industry but rises to power to claim her autonomy. Trade was awarded an OffComm commendation by the OFFIE Awards. Trade gives us a taste of some of the manipulation, deception, and violence meted out on women to submit to being involved in the sex trade. It can reflect on the socio-economic politics of gender lack of sexual health awareness of the clientele survivors of trafficking, and modern slavery has to put up with. The artistically integrated captions make Trade accessible to d/Deaf audiences...

17Feb

By Gonzalo SentanaNo Comments

London

Love Rash – Pleasance Theatre

First impressions can deceive. When the stage lights up, we see the least believable face possible, with a weird rictus in the face, and an even weirder voice filling the space, then the fear of having to endure a whole show like that becomes strong. Oh, my, how first impressions can deceive. Weirdness was just the tip of the iceberg (…or should I say fatberg?). From writer/performer Natasha Sutton Williams, this one-woman show of comedy at the Pleasance Theatre is an exhilarating and alienating incursion into human beings' desires and lust for connection. The first character (and the last) to appear is Gary Strange, a curious and thoughtful individual who screams offering for help from the sewers to the people who he records with his cassette recorder. He introduces us to the other cha...