Soho Theatre Archives - North West End UK

20Nov

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Jurassic – Soho Theatre Upstairs

Tim Foley’s short sixty-minute play is a satirical spin on the film franchise Jurassic Park. Boxed up and packaged in such way that the actors themselves physically and figuratively fight it out in true dinosaur style. Set within a financially stricken university the Dean calls in Jay an academic in palaeontologist to his office. Jay is faced with being laid off due to academic losses, poor performance, scandal and anything the Dean could put upon him. Examples of failings ‘losses’ Jay appeared on countdown and lost to a ‘little old lady’ his performance Dean explained brought the university into disrepute. Jay hangs out in the student bar and is too familiar with the female students, “you are bringing the university into disrepute” time after time. Unhappy with his fate Jay takes steps to...

Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People – Soho Theatre

10Sep

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People – Soho Theatre

Fresh from a run at Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance, Lorna Rose Treen is an agile one-woman show, consistently humorous and wonderfully well-rounded. Belly laughs are a guarantee at this Diner! Opening with an original song, akin to a Studio Ghibli tune, Treen takes us on a masterclass in audience interaction, perfectly integrated within the show and the narrative. Even where playing with the audience was at its riskiest (with one audience member being asked to read lines for several scenes) Treen did not drop the ball once. The spirit of madness is infused into this show, from a poem underscored by ratatouille soundtrack, to the ridiculously long-limbed trucker, to the pre-show mock menu offering a taste of what’s to come. Each character inhabiting the diner is joined up to the ne...

26Jun

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

This Bitter Earth – Soho Theatre

Following his recent turn as Emcee in Cabaret, American actor Billy Porter has clearly developed a taste for the West End. This time, however, he’s on directing duty, as he stages a new production of Harrison David Rivers’ play This Bitter Earth at Soho Theatre. It follows the relationship between Black playwright Jesse (Omari Douglas) and his white BLM activist boyfriend Neil (Alexander Lincoln), with fragmented snapshots of their love story playing out against the tragic backdrop of the killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and more Black people facing police brutality. Porter’s jaunty personal style translates to a slick and energetic staging, weaving the non-linear narrative together carefully through simple movement, props, and lighting changes. There are no other characte...

Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America – Soho Theatre

20Jun

By Zak RosenNo Comments

London

Kieran Hodgson: Voice of America – Soho Theatre

Kieran Hodgson, the avowed atheist bisexual vegetarian Brahms-enthusiast, wants to be a Voice of America. He even orchestrates a US presidential campaign style entrance to the theatre, complete with standing, chanting, and a great deal of handshaking. But he doesn’t quite let us forget that there is one voice hoarding all the oxygen when it comes to speaking of, and for, the United States, and he asks some vital questions about how to relate to the country, to its hope and promise, when trapped by the totemic power of that voice. Hodgson is hilarious, with every joke pulling peals of laughter from the audience, combining clever writing and delightful impressions (minus He Who Must Not Be Named) and a surprisingly dense amount of British cultural reference with an extended riff on Hodgso...

31May

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Failure Project – Soho Theatre

Yolanda Mercy’s Failure Project is a sharp, cathartic and touching story of a woman who just can’t seem to catch a break - professionally, personally or creatively. It’s a sobering reflection of the theatre industry for emerging and mid-career writers, and the realities that face anyone trying to forge a career in the arts. The story follows a 33-year-old playwright, Ade, who is commissioned by a London theatre to write a script about her time on a scholarship at a posh private school. Over six months, her story is distorted beyond recognition by a production team that sidelines her as soon as the script is done. She is dismissed as an actor, interrupted and ignored. Still, the commission stands. To the outside world, Ade is a success. Mercy digs into failure in every facet of Ade’s...

29May

By Sadie PearsonNo Comments

London

House of Life – Soho Theatre

Mad, glitzy and totally camp, what a glorious night of theatre House of Life is. A silly show with heaps of heart, The Raverend (Ben Welch) and Trev (Laurence Cole) take their audience on a journey of joyous enlightenment through a 6 step plan to get happy quick. Mad as a concept, the performance is less of a story and more of a cabaret-come-religious-experience, with glorious concoction of house, gospel and a cracking set of pipes (the Raverend in particular knocking it out the park vocally every time). Attacking the audience's insecurities with mantras of radical self love, honesty and community, House of Life’s great success is that it leaves no audience member un-nurtured. Chickens often the theme - an unsubtle metaphor for rebirth - we are offered egg-maracas (as well as f...

A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy – Soho Theatre

15May

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

A Small Enclosed Room with Alfie Murphy – Soho Theatre

A Small Enclosed Room With Alfie Murphy is a unique and funny show that sometimes struggles to deliver on its strong themes and ideas. We begin as a one-man style show. Alfie confides in us about his life, telling us about his band ‘The Camden Stoners’ and the struggles he has with his more sociable, but rather shallow bandmate Jai. From the moment our other performer, Anna Constable, puts her head through the curtain (as Alfie’s ghostwriter dressed as a ghost), the show moves at lightning speed. Alfie falls out hard with Jai, travels to India to lose become a guru, and suddenly finds himself thrown into a particularly aggressive talk show interview before the fourth wall comes crashing down as Constable begins to object to all the costumes and roles, she is forced to put on in order to...

All The Happy Things – Soho Theatre Upstairs

10Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

All The Happy Things – Soho Theatre Upstairs

If your sister has died, are you still a sister? All The Happy Things explores the devastating effects of grief and loss. Overwhelmed by grief at the death of her older sister Emily, Sienna struggles with all aspects of her life without her. She imagines that Emily is still there with her, arguing, remembering their past, listening to music. Emily shadows her at work, at home and in her relationships. On top of this delusion, Sienna is dealing with her father's decline into dementia and the likelihood of him having to leave his care home because of his aggressive behaviour. Written by Naomi Denny (who also plays Sienna), All The Happy Things initially sounds like it will be a depressing piece, but it's told with great warmth and plenty of light-hearted moments, e...

The Bollywood Guide to Revenge – Soho Theatre

4Apr

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

The Bollywood Guide to Revenge – Soho Theatre

Where there is Bollywood, there is melodrama. There is song and dance. There are beautiful faces. Shafeeq Shajahan’s cabaret brings all these to the stage and uses them to pick at some scars and talk about healing. And yes, revenge. As his springboard, Shajahan (who is also the writer and director of this performance) picks “Satyam Shivam Sundaram”, a 1978 Hindi movie about Rupa, a woman with a heavily scarred face, and her suitor Rajiv, who fails to see beyond the scars. It forms the backdrop not only to an exploration of his own life, but also to his mother’s, who grew up in Singapore as a neglected dark-skinned girl and found resonance in Rupa’s character. Photo: Marc Sirsi Through songs, storytelling and some playful interaction with the audience, Shajahan talks about his grow...

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

22Mar

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson or God Whoever Reads It First – Soho Theatre

A Letter to Lyndon B Johnson is a brilliant piece of physical storytelling, at times funny, thought-provoking, and touching. It follows two boys, Ace (Natasha Roland) and Grasshopper (Xhloe Rice), who are scouts at the time of the Vietnam War. Through child-like inventions we see the world through their eyes, with the lines between playing soldiers at home and being soldiers at war are blurred. Photo: Morgan McDowell The strength of this show comes through its roots in physical theatre and clowning. Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, performers and co-creators, use this to evoke the child-like world of their characters. The extent of the ‘set’ is one large, black rubber tyre, but through clowning the two are able to produce so much from this one item: a piece of cover under enemy fire, t...