Wilton’s Music Hall Archives

12Jun

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Romeo and Juliet – Wilton’s Music Hall

Flabbergast Theatre have returned to Wilton’s Music Hall, this time with a visceral reimagining of Romeo and Juliet. A thunderous, and unrelenting feat of physical theatre that carries an energy that brings something entirely fresh to Shakespeare’s tragedy. Renowned for rejecting classic Shakespeare, this latest production from Flabbergast is fiercely modern and embraces a raw, and highly expressive way of presenting the story of star-crossed lovers, injecting a whole new level of modern storytelling into the text. From the moment the audience enters the auditorium, it’s clear that something unusual, is about to unfold. The ensemble is already on stage, shifting and murmuring with an unnerving intensity. It’s difficult to tell whether they are intoxicated, possessed, or gripped by some ...

Run At It Laughing – Wilton’s Music Hall

13May

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

NEWS

Run At It Laughing – Wilton’s Music Hall

Produced by Run At It Shouting and Flying Colours Productions, playwright Mark Ravenhill is behind a fund-raising event, raising money for the Hackney based NIA Project, who help women and children who have suffered abuse. Ten plays have been developed and directed by Ravenhill using Italian stage actor Flamingo Scala’s collection of scenarios first published in 1611. These fifty scenarios of commedia dell’arte plays pre-date Shakespeare and his Renaissance theatre contemporaries and were published under title ‘Il Teatro delle Favole Rappresentative’, in which one was a tragedy, nine were fantasy, and the remaining forty were comedies, and the shows that we have seen over the weekend came from the latter category. Scala, provided Ravenhill with the framework to work with,...

The Play’s The Thing – Wilton’s Music Hall

9Apr

By Ralph JeffreysNo Comments

London

The Play’s The Thing – Wilton’s Music Hall

Mark Lockyer’s The Play's The Thing is a completely exhilarating performance, and an incredibly impactful version of Shakespeare’s classic. A one-person Hamlet is a serious challenge to any actor and has become something of a byword for something you should probably give a miss. Do not miss this one. Mark Lockyer is a truly singular actor, and probably one of the few whose inventiveness, energy, and total command of the language allows for this incredible feat to come off so perfectly. Taking us through director Fiona Laird’s very cleverly abridged version of the play, Locker utilises deft characterisation to bring the cast of characters to us. There are subtle changes in voice, and neat, repeated gestures and mannerisms that make the complex task of following an actor switching ...

23Mar

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

Mary and Hyenas – Wilton’s Music Hall

‘Mary and Hyenas’ recreates the life and times of trailblazer Mary Wollstonecraft with tongue-in-cheek humour and peppy indie rock music. Written by Maureen Lennon collaborating on original music and lyrics by Billy Nomates and directed by Esther Richardson, it is a sincere adaptation that must not be missed. Laura Elsworthy brings alive Mary’s bold and assertive character. We are moved by her portrayal of the vulnerable child singlehandedly questioning patriarchy to her pining for unrequited love and inspired by her passion to live a life different from the sensibility imposed on her. We resonate with the tiredness and humaneness of a leader who is making mistakes and figuring out her purpose, safety and vocation while battling poor mental health herself and making bold choices like ch...

29Apr

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Moby Dick – Wilton’s Music Hall

You know the story. Boy meets whale. Whale eats boy’s leg. Boy never gets over whale. The enduring power of the novel, Moby Dick is difficult to relate to in this modern day and age for audiences without a special interest in whale anatomy or sperm oil derivation methods. Some productions take on this difficulty by recontextualizing the story, playing up its tragic or romantic elements, and this production, by the theatre ensemble simple8 technically checks both of these boxes. Our narrator/protagonist Ishmael (Mark Arends) and his beloved bunkmate Queequeg (Tom Swale) have more than a hint of chemistry and jokingly allude to a sea marriage. The doomed Captain Ahab (Guy Rhys) and his gloomy mate Starbuck (Hannah Emanuel) both take their respective roles in spreading their component element...

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall

13Mar

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

London

The London Improvathon – Wilton’s Music Hall

After taking time to catch up on sleep and sustenance, it is comforting to reflect on what a special event the London Improvathon is. I covered the whole show but had breaks to grab a couple of hours sleep and to eat, so you could consider me to be a lightweight in comparison with these improvathoners. For cast and audience, there is an invisible bond that forms over the fifty hours, the commitment to perform, or to watch the equivalent of twenty-five shows back-to-back, binds the two together, and the final bows are met with celebration. For those who do not wish to commit to fifty hours, there was an option to buy a two-hour episode ticket. The history of the Improvathon goes back to 1993, when the first Canadian Improvathon took place, and then some years later Ken ...

10Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

What It Means – Wilton’s Music Hall

In the realm of theatrical productions that aim to explore important historical events and their relevance to contemporary society, 'What It Means' by James Corley certainly stands out for its ambitious premise. Based on the groundbreaking 1971 article 'What It Means to Be a Homosexual' by Merle Miller, this play endeavours to shed light on the struggle for LGBTQ+ equality, a topic of paramount importance in the current climate. However, whilst the play's intentions are noble, it is, unfortunately, an absurdly and unnecessarily long production that bears a striking resemblance to a dry academic lecture rather than a traditional piece of contemporary theatre, and this ultimately leaves audiences fighting to reach the finish line. The central pillar of 'What It Means' is the (near) solo p...

17Aug

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Express G&S – Wilton’s Music Hall

As if Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas weren't already bonkers enough, along comes the Charles Court Opera Company to pile on additional splendid craziness. This is a murder mystery tour in G&S song, with myriad references along the journey to many of their well-known, and some not so well-known works, from Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, to Princess Ida and The Sorcerer. Some songs are kept intact, others rewritten to fit the narrative. There are puns both subtle and groan-worthy, clues and red-herrings galore, appropriately melodramatic and over-the-top acting by the three cast members and a slew of great sight gags. To make this show work though, it needs the attention to detail that G&S always brought to their writing, the superb diction to perform those word...

A Dead Body in Taos – Wilton’s Music Hall

28Oct

By Riana HowarthNo Comments

London

A Dead Body in Taos – Wilton’s Music Hall

Sam is informed that her mother’s dead body has been found in the desolate region of Taos. She handles the news surprisingly well, but grief turns into anguish as she receives a letter from her mother’s pocket: Do not grieve me, I am not here. It transpires that her mother, Kath has been investing in new technology which allows her consciousness to function after death. As Sam discovers her mother’s past and interacts with her bodiless form, she comes to terms with their relationship and unresolved conflict. Eve Ponsonby is electric as Kath as she is resurrected in snapshots of her life. Brewing with rage and propelled by an interminable search for meaning or truth, Kath jumps between different ideologies. Ponsonby expertly captures her stubborn, unbound spirit governed by a deep inner ...

Only An Octave Apart – Wilton’s Music Hall

3Oct

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Only An Octave Apart – Wilton’s Music Hall

It might sound like an unlikely coupling, a world-famous opera singer and a cabaret legend described as the “the best cabaret artist of [their] generation", but Anthony Roth Costanzo and Justin Vivian Bond really do bring the magic to the stage in their two-person show ‘Only An Octave Apart’, which is currently playing at Wilton’s Music Hall. ‘Only An Octave Apart’ is a juxtaposition of styles in every way possible, vocally, stylistically, and creatively, the pair (with direction by Zack Winokur) have created a fluid and yet genuinely sincere 90-minute musical extravaganza that is truly charming, and that burrows deep to warm the soul. For those unfamiliar with the two performers, Bond, is a pioneer of alternative live performance, a true diva, a legend, with a smoky and inviting ton...