Musical theatre isn’t usually the first place you look for a modern horror story, but in this new short creation by Bella Barlow and A.C. Smith, the eclectic mix works incredibly well. While it could do with tightening up in some areas, particularly near the end, the plot moves along with intrigue and excitement, with […]
Britain’s housing crisis is an incredibly relevant premise for a play. Trap Street, a term also derived from cartographers designing fictitious maps in order to exploit plagiarists, addresses the housing crisis for the working class from the post-war period through to the current day (1967-2017). This Kandinsky production takes us on the journey of Valerie […]
The 2003 Tim Burton film of Big Fish is one that I have watched many times and grow fonder of with every viewing. I know it well, and so my response may be different from someone coming in blind. For those who are unfamiliar, the story centres on a father and his adult son – […]
Chloe Lamford’s set presents a box in the Jerwood Downstairs surrounded by scaffolding, which contains the kind of modern, expensive, prefab apartment you see in every part of Central London. It’s typical, and typically furnished, and the performance notes specify that the ‘generic art’ on the walls looks like it’s been ‘chosen by a property […]
I like the elephantine plays. That’s why I went to this, and because of the Tony, and because of the premise. A combo of all. What else do I have to go on? Maybe I should read scripts before applying for press tickets. Maybe. I don’t think Oslo is that elephantine, actually. And it certainly […]
I chose Emergency Chorus’ Celebration to break my review-fast because it exemplifies what I’ve missed and what I’m missing. I mean, God, what the hell have I sidestepped in Central London alone these past months? What I’ve missed: Celebration was born of the NSDF — the National Student Drama Festival — and I can’t tell […]
Follies is, in one way, exactly what you might expect from a 1971 work by the noted musical dramatist Stephen Sondheim, in that it’s a true spectacle, with lyrics that bounce effortlessly off its superb score, and huge, colourful and bombastic set-pieces that leave the audience in awe. On the other hand, the latest revival […]
Late Night, tell-it-how-it-is radio — a premise with the potential for shocking, humorous and meaningful dialogue, but Eric Bogosian’s play lacks depth and originality, with this production feeling in turns forced and unnatural. Barry has risen to fame due to the success of his listener phone-in show, and we join him along with his production […]