A misjudged riff on famous deaths Speculation already defines American public life. I am writing immediately after midterm election results; over the last two weeks, all kinds of conjectural graphs, polls and far-flung theories have flashed onto my phone. Speculation still delivers a kick. Marylebone Theatre’s latest play runs with this idea. Stage veteran Trevor […]
The Revlon Girl – Park Theatre
A moving play about the Aberfan disaster The Aberfan disaster is burned into the national conscience. In October 1966, a coal tip collapsed onto the village of Aberfan, South Wales, killing 116 children and 28 adults. A sorry picture of institutional neglect and cover-up has emerged over the years since. In 2019, hit Netflix series […]
Garry Starr’s Classic Penguins, anarchic comedy cabaret at The Other Palace
How to save Penguin paperbacks from extinction? Perform them naked whilst wearing flippers Run, don’t waddle, to feeding time at the zoo: two months of this literary lunacy has arrived from Edinburgh to Victoria. An evening commencing with full-frontal nudity, bum-blown smoke farts and cheeky penile wobbling isn’t my husband’s usual Friday night entertainment, but […]
CADEL: Lungs on Legs – Riverside Studios
Highly evocative one man show portraying the highs and lows of Australian cyclist Cadel Evans’s bid to become the first Australian Tour de France winner
Dog Mom – Southwark Playhouse
Well-meaning canine comedy goes astray Dog Mom, which comes to London after running in the U.S. plugs into the contemporary trend for dog ‘humanisation’, emotional rescue and where ‘fur babies’ become an alternative to the human version. So no surprise in seeing human actors playing dogs in this comedy from writer Tate Hanyok. Sarita (Vinita […]
Some Woman – Dorfman National Theatre
Some play – Anne-Marie Duff triumphs as a woman of resistance Some Woman starts with Julie (Anne- Marie Duff) coming into a normal suburban kitchen. She leans against the table clearly in some pain, emotional pain but her reflex is still to clear away the morning’s dishes. Something has happened – an incident at the […]
Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody (Underbelly Boulevard Soho)
A musical romp that parodies the hit ice hockey-themed TV series Heated Rivalry transfers from a successful Edinburgh Fringe run to the West End.
Blood of my Blood – Royal Court Theatre
Antebellum ancestor drama powerfully evokes the complications of legacy At the opening of Blood of my Blood, Talulah (Jodie Campbell) sings ‘You got a right to the tree of life’. She is a young Black British woman who has come to South Carolina to conjure her ancestor. The set, upstairs at the Royal Court, consists […]
Affluenza – Riverside Studios
Andy Sandberg’s new play about how wealth and privilege can distort one’s moral compass gets off to a good start before losing its way
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – @sohoplace
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? stars Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup as a warring, alcohol-fuelled married couple