Every provincial theatre has to have a pantomime every year and most of them are produced by QDOS “the world’s biggest pantomime producer” who this year are putting on over thirty pantos up and down the land including Snow White at the London Palladium – and you don’t get much bigger than … [Read more...]
Dick Whittington at the Lyric Hammersmith | Review
This production of Dick Whittington at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith marks the 10th anniversary of the theatre’s annual pantomime. They are now to west London what the Hackney Empire is to east London as venerable producers of much-loved annual pantos. This production is an updated version of … [Read more...]
Doctor Dolittle The Musical at Churchill Theatre | Review
In 1967 Leslie Bricusse took Hugh Lofting’s books about a doctor who could talk to animals and adapted them into a movie musical that starred Rex Harrison as Dolittle and Anthony Newley as Matthew Muggs. It was then adapted for the stage in 1998 starring Phillip Schofield as Dolittle and ran at the … [Read more...]
The Pit and the Pendulum at Omnibus Theatre | Review
Before you enter the auditorium at the Omnibus Theatre in Clapham to see The Pit And The Pendulum, you’re handed wireless headphones and briefed on how to use them, for the piece is being staged in binaural sound (more of that later). When we enter the theatre, a young woman in a hijab is … [Read more...]
The Wolves at Theatre Royal Stratford East | Review
The set for The Wolves at the Theatre Royal Stratford East looks like a giant vertical duvet without its cover which is slightly incongruous as Sarah DeLappe’s debut play is all about a group of soccer playing American high school girls and their relationships with each other. At the start of the … [Read more...]
Side Show by Bromley Players at the Bob Hope Theatre
Side Show is a musical based on the incredible lives of Brighton born Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who became stage performers in the USA in the 1930s. A strange subject for a musical you might think but Bill Russell (book and lyrics) and Henry Krieger’s (music) piece is superb theatre. … [Read more...]
An Inspector Calls – New Wimbledon Theatre | Review
Fifteen minutes after the advertised start time of 7:30, the new touring production of An Inspector Calls at the New Wimbledon Theatre still hadn’t started. This seemed to be because a group of teenage schoolchildren didn’t look as if they could find their seats. Then when they were seated and the … [Read more...]