- Posted on May 12, 2008 12:39 PM
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Never Forget
Savoy Theatre
First Night Review
Review by Zarina Raja
As an original Take That fan – although obviously excited - I was apprehensive about the re-enactment of the creation of the best boy band to emerge in the UK.
Seated amongst reams of hyper, middle-aged, women, I felt oddly at home. A tinkling excitement wrapped itself round the Savoy theatre as if we were about to witness the real Take That.
As a gorgeously old-school TT song pumped through the Savoy – possibly It Only Takes a Minute Girl, I was too excited to take note – the crazed women in my row let out a cackling and infectious whoop of delight. If anything, Never Forget managed to carry the ecstatic atmosphere that a real TT concert has.
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- Posted on May 7, 2008 5:19 PM
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Your Line or Mine?
The Mayoral Elections!
Landor Theatre, Clapham
April 27 2008
Review by Tim Kernutt
Sunday-Funday is a term that has been in vogue for the last few years, and clearly Abandon Theatre has caught the fever as well as their Sunday evening comedy improvisation show, "Your Line or Mine", was about as entertaining a Sunday evening as you can possibly get. However, judging by the reaction of the audience, several people were unceremoniously and horrifyingly cast back to drama class at school.
If the audience members weren't up to the improvisation task, the cast-members certainly were and their physically and mentally challenging performance was rewarded by the crowd's overwhelmingly positive reaction to the fare on offer.
Whilst being a show based on traditional theatre sports is by no means new – cast your minds back to "Whose Line is It Anyway?" – the talent of the cast-members was impressive. Unfortunately, the size of the crowd did not do the performance justice, but such is the comedy circuit.
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- Posted on May 7, 2008 12:37 PM
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Tell Me…Lies
Arts Theatre
7 May 2008
Review by Zarina Raja
Tell Me…Lies is a production depicting mental illness. The play itself stays away from dramatic scenes of madness by subtlety locating mental illness in the life of Abi. It reveals the everyday tussles that one may face when they are confronting mental illness.
The play centres around Abi and Emma, two bereaved sisters, who are struggling to come to terms with the death of their mother.
Emma - the sister with a successful career, boyfriend, and the ability to process her grief - is torn between wanting to help Abi and getting frustrated with her irrational and sometimes selfish behaviour.
From the audience’s point of view, Abi is desperately trying to get back on track after her mother’s death. It appears that she has two friends to help her out, Fleur and Matt. Fleur, however, is not the person that we think she is.
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- Posted on April 17, 2008 5:45 PM
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Harper Regan
National Theatre 16th April
Review by Kate Spieg
Harper Regan, as both play and character, pulled no punches, was not afraid to shirk round any of the issues of grief, racism, paedophilia and love.
Set against a minimal and effective backdrop, desolate London scenes and echoing sound effects of snippets of conversations, we followed Harper Regan and her family in their journeys over three days.
In the opening and slightly wooden scene, Harper is begging her boss for time off to go and see her estranged dying father, who interspersed refusing her request with pontifications on his enthusiasm for ‘these immoral last days of the enlightenment’ where you can ‘get anything you want from the internet’.
The audience was gradually drawn into Lesley’s compelling performance, following her as she left her husband and daughter, job, and financial crisis, without a word of explanation, and headed North to be at her father’s side.
She was too late. And was a 2 day trip to Stockport turned into an epic including a stabbing in a pub at 11am, an elicit encounter with a strange man in a hotel room met on the internet, and the discovery from her mother after a gap of two years that her father was not the hero she’s always thought him to be.
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- Posted on April 17, 2008 11:28 AM
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THE LITTLE MERMAID
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Broadway at 46th Street
Review by Katie Spain
“How do mermaids pee?”
It was a question that plagued my childhood years and one that Disney’s animated film didn’t answer. After all, Disney doesn’t ‘do’ bodily functions. What he does do however, is a cracking storyline and enchanting characters. I’m old enough now to realise that mermaids don’t lower themselves to toilet matters, so the latest questions to burn my brain ran along the lines of “Will the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid live up to the film?” and “Will the tails look tacky?”. A recent trip to The Big Apple provided the perfect excuse to find out.
There’s something about Broadway; even when your inbound flight is late and you have to make a mad dash to the theatre. Yes, even when your only salvation is a packet of wet wipes in the back of a yellow cab, you feel a rush when the lights of New York’s theatreland hit your face. After years pounding London’s West End, my first brush with Broadway was all the more exciting. I regressed from my mid-twenties straight back to childhood. I know all the words to The Little Mermaid, I’ve watched the Disney film more times than I’d like to admit and I still think Prince Eric has the most gorgeous eyes in cartoon world. When I was twelve I wanted to be Ariel, I cowered when I heard King Triton’s booming voice and Ursula’s tentacles gave me the chills. So, it was with a skip in my step that I joined the kiddies running towards their seats.
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- Posted on April 17, 2008 10:35 AM
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Gone with the Wind
New London Theatre
Opens April 22 following previews from April 5.
Review by Angela Lord
Gone with the Wind breezes onto the London stage in an ambitious re-working which aims to breathe new life into this classic by setting it to music.
The story follows the fortunes of feisty heroine Scarlett O’Hara as she weathers the storms whipped up in the wake of the American civil war. American Jill Paice makes a superlative Scarlett – an elfin beauty, slight but strong, with a voice clear as a Southern belle.
I have to admit I was taken aback to learn that Darius Danesh has been chosen as the male lead. Darius from Pop Idol? The poseur who didn’t win, but went on to have a hit single with Colourblind? Yes, that’s the one.
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- Posted on April 17, 2008 10:28 AM
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Hamlet
Tobacco Factory Bristol
Until May 3rd
Review by Sophie Pollard
Jonathon Miller guest directs the first production of Hamlet by the Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory (SATTF) company this month in Bristol. Miller’s vision of the quintessential revenge tragedy remains true to the text with an abundance of intrigue, death and madness.
In the Tobacco Factory’s intimate setting, Miller deliberately avoids a modern set design for this production, instead opting for only three pugh’s at the stage centre. This gives the audience (and actors) little chance for their concentration to slip during the shows four hour run, allowing attention to focus on the rich poetic language that is beautifully delivered.
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- Posted on April 9, 2008 1:35 PM
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7 Deadly Sins
New Players Theatre
Review By Zarina Raja
Sorry, but what? I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what I got. The concept of 7 Deadly Sins is great – but the actual production itself didn’t convince me.
7 Deadly Sins depicts wrath, sloth, greed, pride, envy, lust and gluttony through a range of tongue-in-cheek-songs and snippets of an adult version of Punch and Judy.
The Tiger Lilies are a hugely popular three-piece band that put on various Punked up Cabaret shows and have embarked on world-wide tours, scooping up various awards and a dedicated fan base along the way. With this in mind, I was expecting something gloriously dark, fantastically Punk and highly creative. It was – kind of – but it just wasn’t any good.
What with The Tiger Lilies being so popular, I must have completely missed the point. The heart of what the Tiger Lilies represent seemed to sail straight over my head – just like the fake s*** that was thrown into the audience during the performance. I kid you not. Oh, did I mention that the drummer then proceeded to eat his fake excrement?
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- Posted on March 26, 2008 10:30 AM
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Othello
Sturdy Beggars
The Pacific Playhouse
Review by Katie Spain
Before I bombard my keyboard with a review of Sturdy Beggars’ production of Othello, I want to share an observation.
There are two types of people in this world:
1. The type who adores the work of Shakespeare in all its mighty forms.
2. The type who studied it in their youth, hated it, and stubbornly continue to do so.
I’m tempted to add a third slice to the society pie – the type of people who have never come across Shakespeare. The more I think about it, the more absurd it seems. Most people don’t realise it, but our lives are steeped in the playwright’s literary observations. It’s there in advertising, in modern-day movies, in the quotes we use to impress our mates, and in the people we meet. If only Shakespeare could have observed the domestic I had with my boyfriend after leaving the three-hour marathon that was Othello. I’m sure there’d be a play in it.
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- Posted on March 19, 2008 5:37 PM
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The Immodest Tease Show
Koko, London
18th March 2008
Review by Katie Spain
Where’s an espresso martini when you need it most?
Unfortunately, Koko doesn’t ‘do’ martinis… well, not usually.
The last time burlesque beauty Immodesty Blaize pointed her tasselled bosoms in my direction was at the Pigalle Club in central London. It was opulent, it was intimate and I came out raving about the beauty of curves. I expected the same from her larger scale ‘Immodest Tease Show’ at Koko. By the looks of the never-ending line of people, the punters did too.
You’ve got to hand it to burlesque fans – they go the aesthetic distance. Shiny metallic trousers, sequins, glitter, perfectly sculpted hair (and that was just host Julian Clary!). Meanwhile, we decorated ourselves with finery in the hope to light that Immodesty fire within.
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