Southwark Playhouse Archives - Page 5 of 6

Anyone Can Whistle – Southwark Playhouse

6Apr

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

London

Anyone Can Whistle – Southwark Playhouse

What is a miracle? What is madness? What is normal? These are just some of the questions you’ll be thinking as you tap your foot to Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ 1964 musical. But this is a musical like no others – this is as surreal as it is subversive, an off-the wall political satire that’s hugely unconventional, but all the more clever for its presentation as a song and dance show with huge layers of meaning. ‘Anyone Can Whistle’ is the story of a corrupt Mayoress, Cora Hoover Hooper (Alex Young), who along with her crack team of adulating men (a greedy but brilliant businessman, the town treasurer and the chief of police) devise a plan to make their bankrupt town money. The plan is simple: fake a miracle, this will then result in people paying pilgrimage to see the said mir...

2Mar

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

The Woods – Southwark Playhouse

David Mamet’s ‘The Woods’ has always been a topic of conversation in its fantastical and mythical approach to the question of heterosexual relationships, and with Southwark Playhouse’s revival it’s likely to continue to be. However, since being written in 1977, I’m not sure of the play’s relevance to today/ what we are questioning since the rapid change of thought regarding our classic male and female stereotypes. Mamet’s original question was to ask why male and female’s fail to get along and where our differences to natural desire to ‘nesting’ lies- in that classically males may dream of it but fear once it becomes reality and female’s may feel most at ease when their nest has settled. When watching, it’s very frustrating to see that not once is this couple on the same page and can fo...

Operation Mincemeat – Southwark Playhouse

19Jan

By Robert BartleyNo Comments

London

Operation Mincemeat – Southwark Playhouse

One of the craziest true stories in Britain’s history, ‘Operation Mincemeat’ was a wartime deception that somehow successfully fooled Hitler into changing his invasion plans in 1943, and all thanks to the well-dressed corpse of a homeless man who’d died by ingesting rat poison and was shipped off to Spain with a briefcase full of fabricated documents. Production company SpitLip got their hands on this fascinating historical nugget, thought “that would make a great musical”, threw in some ‘Monty Python’-style shenanigans alongside the catchy tunes, and the result is a brilliantly entertaining show that is playing right now at the Southwark Playhouse, after enjoying successful runs in 2020 and 2021 following its 2019 debut at the New Diorama Theatre. ‘Operation Mincemeat’ is the ...

17Oct

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Yellowfin – Southwark Playhouse

Yellowfin: Marek Horn’s second play and hilarious dive into the mindset of a life in a possible near future? Set in one room, we watch Calantini (Joshua James) interrogated by three senators: Marianne (Nancy Crane), Stephen (Beruce Khan) and the very sweet Roy (Nicholas Day) who reminds us all of our favourite family elder who cannot help but share their favourite memories of a time before. This play tackles a theme of which we are all apart of but also touches on something only a few may admit too: responsibility of the outcome. Calantini is questioned harshly about the death of his brother in relation to the disappearance of fish. He floats through their attacks skilfully with humour and pace, something this cast excelled at. Although this runs straight through with no interval, the a...

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

28Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough – Southwark Playhouse

When an overwhelming wave of grief and disbelief hit you suddenly, especially in the midst of what was supposed to be a beautiful moment in life, the biggest fallout isn’t from the first hit but from the almost never-ending ripples it leaves in its wake. This sentiment plays out thoroughly in Cordelia O'Neill’s new play Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough, currently being staged by the Small Things Theatre at the Southwark Playhouse. With its tightly-knit dialogue, intimate staging and breathtaking performances, the show takes us through the different stages of a couple’s relationship, from the first date to the bittersweet arguments, focusing on the loss of their stillborn child, and the crippling isolation and unhappiness it brings forth. At the centre of the story ...

1Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

Salomé – Southwark Playhouse

Salomé written by Oscar Wilde, was originally written in French in Paris 1891, and was later translated into English. For many years, Salomé was banned from British theatres due to a censorship law forbidding the staging of scriptural characters. It wasn’t until after Wilde’s death in 1900, that a private performance took place in London (in 1905), and then later in 1931, the first public performance took place. Critics at the time believed that time had lessened the impact of such a play and were less than enthusiastic. Lazarus Theatre Company have taken up the challenge of staging this play, but in their own style. Their reimagining of classic tales brings a freshness to the telling of the stories and after performing Salomé previously at the Greenwich Theatre,...

27Jun

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Staircase – Southwark Playhouse

Presented by Two's Company and Karl Sydow in association with Tilly Films Staircase is a revival of late English playwright Charles Dyer’s play from the late 60s that explores the relationship between an ageing gay couple who own a barber shop in Brixton, London. Set in a time when homosexuality was not fully decriminalized in the UK, the play shines a light on the various social pressures and anxieties suffered by gay couples who often had to resort to living an undercover life to stay clear of the law. Presented by Two’s Company, who are known for their revivals of texts from the previous century and staged at The Southwark Playhouse, this production is a striking glimpse into the lives of Charles and Harry as they struggle to get past personal differences, estranged family relationsh...

30Apr

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

REVIEWS

Money – Southwark Playhouse

Money. It makes the world go round. We all need it to live. But where does it come from, and does its source really matter? That’s the question at the heart of ‘Money’ by Isla van Tricht, a digital co-production with Southwark Playhouse. The Nyoni Youth and Community Project does great charitable work to help local people, but the pandemic has decimated its finances. Enter the Anders Corporation who have offered a large donation. Not only will it help the struggling charity and so many worthwhile causes, it will enable the charity to thrive – helping more and more people. But is it worth it? What cost does this money have? What are the implications of accepting such a large donation? How do the Anders Corporation make their money and is it ethical? The questions are real...

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Southwark Playhouse Stream

26Feb

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Southwark Playhouse Stream

After the exciting rise of new British musical theatre came to a dreary halt last March it feels immensely hopeful to finally catch a new offering, in the form of Ben Morales Frost and Richard Hough’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, as our industry slowly comes back to life. Due to have had its premiere at the Southwark Playhouse (an innovative home for new musicals) earlier this year, the production now finds itself shifted online in the form of a three-week stream. Taking inspiration from J. W. Goethe’s 18th century poem, which went on to inspire Dukas’s orchestral piece, a section in Disney’s Fantasia and its subsequent 2010 live action adaptation, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in its new musical form sheds most of these skins until it is mostly unrecognisable aside from its magical danci...

16Jan

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

London

Public Domain – Southwark Playhouse

Written and performed by Francesca Forristal & Jordan Paul Clarke. Produced and directed by Adam Lenson. This is a very interesting concept, and the authors are to be commended for their efforts in putting together a very different and challenging piece of theatre. All the text is taken from words spoken and written on the Internet (particularly Facebook) during the past 12 months in an attempt to show a picture of the digital world which we all now inhabit. It is certainly a very fast paced production and describes itself as a “high adrenaline, electronic thrill ride”, which certainly is a fair and accurate description. It could also be described as very dark, giving us a terrifying insight into what the digital world has the potential to become (if it has not already arrived at...