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Review: As You Like It, @sohoplace

Review: As You Like It, @sohoplacelondon Plays interesting with gender and access

Josie Rourke’s As You Like It plays interestingly with gender and access at the brand spanking new @sohoplace “I’ll have no husband, if you be not he” Though I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive new theatre @sohoplace for sitting on the grave of the much-loved Astoria, it really is a lovely intimate space, the Donmar on steroids with something of the aesthetic of the Bridge in there too. As You Like It…

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Review: Sons of the Prophet, Hampstead Theatre

Review: Sons of the Prophet, Hampstead Theatre

I rather enjoy the lowkey pleasures of Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet at the Hampstead Theatre “We’re like the Kennedys without the sex appeal” Stephen Karam’s Tony award-winning The Humans wasn’t a play that set my soul on fire and so news of the arrival of another of his dramas, also a Pulitzer Prize finalist, got a measured response chez Clowns. Written four years before The Humans,…

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Review: LIVE AT LOLA’S A Musical Chat Show with Stars of the West End

Review: @liveatlolas A Musical Chat Show with Stars of the West End Some moments of sublime musicality, some moments of fabulously chaotic energy too!

Christine Allado, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Hadley Fraser and Isaac Hesketh give some great cabaret and chat at Live at Lola’s “I have somewhere exciting to go” She may have been a showgirl but Lola has herself a very swankily appointed space beneath The Hippodrome. Lola’s Underground Casino, incredibly, is a converted water pool from the venue’s old days as a theatre but in its luxe new form, it…

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Review: Kerry Jackson, National Theatre

Review: Kerry Jackson, National Theatre Baffingly misconceived IMHO

Despite the best efforts of all concerned, including Fay Ripley, Kerry Jackson is a thundering disappointment at the National Theatre “You are disauthenticating me” After what has largely been a brilliant year, the National Theatre is wobbling just a little at the last. April De Angelis’ Kerry Jackson lands like a lead balloon in the Dorfman, billed a biting comedy but ultimately toothless as it…

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Re-review: Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Re-review: Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre Well, Callum Scott Howells is a bit good ain't he

Callum Scott Howells and Madeline Brewer do wonderful work leading the new cast of this still-striking Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club at London’s Playhouse Theatre “That is what comes from too much pills and liquor” I would have loved to see Fra Fee and Amy Lennox in Cabaret’s first lead cast change but the truth is, the presence of a certain someone in the supporting cast meant that I would be…

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Film Review: Aisha (2022)

Film Review: Aisha (2022) Stunning work from Letitia Wright

Letitia Wright excels as the title character in this sobering Irish refugee drama Aisha “Try and put them in the room…” Frank Barry’s film takes no prisoners in its unflinching look at the grim realities of trying to seek asylum in the Western world. Aisha may be set in Dublin but it could be set in too many different countries, where the process of seeking leave to remain is utterly…

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Review: Baghdaddy, Royal Court

Review: Baghdaddy @royalcourt Even if it ends up a touch uneven, this is still thrillingly adventurous theatre

Even if Jasmine Naziha Jones’ Baghdaddy now playing at the Royal Court ends up a touch uneven, it is still thrillingly adventurous theatre “The number you have dialled has had the shit bombed out of it” You can see why some might consider a show like this challenging but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. In fact, I was left respecting the hell out of first-time writer Jasmine Naziha…

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Review: La Maupin, Lion & Unicorn Theatre

Review: @FantasticGnds' La Maupin @LandUTheatre Come for the cassoulet references, stay for the frankly outstanding new musical that this show is

Delving into the entertaining depths of undersung queer historical figures, new musical La Maupin proves to be a rip-roaring success at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre “If anyone mentions cassoulet again, I’ll disembowel them with my toasting fork” Whilst the Comte de Limoges might disagree, any show that mentions the deliciousness that is cassoulet is a winner in my book. It just so happens that…

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Review: Wasted, Jack Studio Theatre

Review: @MICATHEATRE's Wasted @BrocJackTheatre A refreshed and refreshing new look at @kaetempest's look at South London life

A refreshed and refreshing new look at Kae Tempest’s gorgeously lyrical Wasted at Jack Studio Theatre “You know what your problem is, mate? You just sit around, expecting life to happen for you.~Waiting for it all to just land in your fuckin’ lap…“ MICA Theatre’s name stands for Matters I Care About, this brand-new theatre company choosing to make an apposite statement with its debut production,…

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News: Ain't Too Proud offers some serious temptation with their Temptations

News: @AintTooProudLDN offers some serious temptation with their Temptations

The producers of the smash hit Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud are thrilled to announce the West End quintet taking on the iconic roles of The Temptations at the Prince Edward Theatre from Friday 31 March 2023. Cameron Bernard Jones as Melvin Franklin, Kyle Cox as Paul Williams, Sifiso Mazibuko as Otis Williams, Tosh Wanogho-Maud as David Ruffin and Mitchell Zhangazha as Eddie…

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Review: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, Battersea Arts Centre

Review: Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World w/@javaadalipoor @battersea_arts Probably one of my favourite shows of the year so far. And I'm still waiting for my nougat.

The kind of show that is impossible to do justice to in a written review, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World at Battersea Arts Centre is probably one of my favourites of the year so far “Why is this thing happening this way?” An exploration of ex-pat existence between the global north and the global south. A podcast about the murder of an Iranian pop star. A musing on the power…

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Review: Dinner with Friends, Golden Goose Theatre

Review: @FrontFootT's Dinner with Friends, Golden @GooseTheatre

A quartet of strong performances mitigate much of the smugness of Donald Margulies writing in Dinner with Friends at the Golden Goose Theatre in Camberwell “One lousy handjob could have saved your marriage” Front Foot Theatre mounted a particularly emotionally devastating production of Rabbit Hole earlier this year so I was intrigued to see what they would make of another Pulitzer Prize-winning…

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TV Review: Cranford

TV Review: Cranford Such a fun rewatch, though I'd forgotten how much they put poor Miss Matty through

As the nights darken, a rewatch of the delightful Cranford might be just the thing “What about the trout? ‘The trout can wait'” I’ve long been planning a rewatch of Cranford as I’ve never actually seen it again since it aired back in 2008 and happily, it didn’t disappoint. What I didn’t remember though, is how much it is Dame Judi Dench torture porn as her Miss Matty is put through the wringer in…

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Review: Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre

Review: Tammy Faye, Almeida Theatre It looks good but... Also, do we think US theatre creatives are coming up with musicals on UK 80s TV stars? Bella Emberg the Musical anyone...

Immensely spectacular creative work and some corking performances can’t quite hide the hollowness at the heart of Tammy Faye at the Almeida Theatre “You opened your heart and people wanted to come in. It was like the opposite of church” I don’t know anything about the world of US TV evangelists. And I wonder how many Brits really do, aside from seeing the film The Eyes of Tammy Faye last year,…

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News: auditions for Open Door taking place across the UK

News: auditions for @Opendoorpeople taking place across the UK, apply before 10th Nov for this amazing opportunity

The award-winning charity Open Door – which counts the likes of Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Riz Ahmed, David Morrissey and Amanda Redman among its supporters – is to hold auditions for its 2023 intake in six cities across the UK as it seeks to unearth new stars of stage and screen who would otherwise slip through the net.  Due to the financial barriers that are associated with the interviews…

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Review: Faustine, Hope Theatre

Review: @LAM_Theatre's Faustine, @TheHopeTheatre A bit belated but it wouldn't surprise me if we saw more of Faustine and Mephi...

Light at Midnight’s fierce and fresh reimagining of Doctor Faustus is devilishly good fun as Faustine gets a short run at the Hope Theatre “Try the devilled eggs” Making a statement one way or another about horror in theatre doesn’t generally go well for me. Having declared that it was a genre that didn’t work for me, Terrifying Women proved me wrong; having enjoyed its sequel and stating that…

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News: Hampstead Theatre reveals The Art of Illusion

News: @Hamps_Theatre reveals #TheArtofIllusion

Hampstead Theatre has announced the full cast for the UK premiere of Alexis Michalik’s critically acclaimed, The Art of Illusion. Having premiered in Paris in 2014, where it is still playing today, this new staging translated by Waleed Akhtar and directed by Tom Jackson Greaves opens at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs on 17 December and runs until 28 January. The Art of Illusion will feature Rina…

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