One might wonder what cycling and Brexit have in common; well, truth be told, not a lot - but both are intimately woven into the fabric of John Godber’s latest endeavour, Scary Bikers. This two-hander, written, directed and starring Godber himself, alongside Jane Thornton, drills down to the heart of the decision most Yorkshire-dwelling folk took to vote leave in the … [Read more...]
Holly Morgan: Is A Witch, Get Her! at the Vault Festival
Holly Morgan’s third venture at the Vaults Festival offers an informed and terribly amusing look at the history of witches, charting their inception in the middle ages to the modern witch of today. The premise is simple - travel through time to unpick how witches (and the practice of witchcraft in general) have morphed from their original depiction of herbalists … [Read more...]
Review of Cougar at the Orange Tree Theatre
Rose Lewenstein’s new two-hander, Cougar, is neatly staged in a series of hotel rooms, delineating the relationship between John (an earthy Mike Noble) and Leila (a sultry, mincing Charlotte Randle). What begins as a random encounter after a conference within the hosting hotel, unfolds into a lengthy liaison as Leila (a high- powered environmental expert) invites … [Read more...]
Dealing with Clair by Martin Crimp at The Orange Tree Theatre | Review
Martin Crimp’s breakthrough play, Dealing with Clair, opened in 1988 on the back of the well-documented disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh, a West London estate agent whose last known whereabouts included meeting a mysterious client scheduled in Lamplugh’s work diary as ‘Mr Kipper’. Now, ironically coinciding with the re-opening of the Lamplugh case, Richard Twyman … [Read more...]
The Sweet Science of Bruising – Southwark Playhouse | Review
The Sweet Science of Bruising is Joy Wilkinson’s fascinating foray into the inception of ‘lady boxing’, in the mid-1800s. This fictional account follows four equally compelling narratives, women who often begin boxing out of necessity, using it to exert a form of freedom, yet are driven to continue the sport due to the sheer euphoria they feel within the ring. It’s … [Read more...]
The Egg Rumour at The Old Red Lion Theatre | Review
The issue of egg freezing is controversial; offered by the likes of Apple and Facebook, amongst other companies, it promises to protect a woman’s fertility so she can concentrate on her career in her 20s and 30s. The Egg Rumour by Ellamae Cieslik, transferred to the Old Red Lion from the Camden fringe earlier this month, explores such an option through the eyes of … [Read more...]
Review of Dust by Milly Thomas at Soho Theatre
It’s easy to see why Milly Thomas’ Dust has transferred to the Soho Theatre from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year. It’s transportable, immediate and topical, dealing with the issue of depression and suicide with no qualms. From the off, Thomas (who also performs) gives us Alice, lying on a slab in the morgue, dressed only in a body suit, waking up from her own … [Read more...]
Review of Great Again: The Musical at the Vault Festival
A musical about Donald Trump: hugely topical, thematically intriguing, and imbued with the promise of some real comedy gold. Old Sole’s latest offering, Great Again, playing at the Vault Festival this winter, is written by Isla van Tricht, a writer determined to explore the multitude of potential reasons why some ordinary people in America were moved to vote for the … [Read more...]
Review of Tiny Dynamite at the Old Red Lion Theatre
‘I feel like ever since I met you two, I’ve never felt so happy and so lonely in all my life’. This sentiment, at once so saddening and so intriguing, is echoed throughout Abi Morgan’s Tiny Dynamite, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001. In this revival by Time Productions at the Old Red Lion Theatre, director David Loumgair ensures we feel uneasy … [Read more...]
Review of Misalliance at the Orange Tree Theatre
‘A Debate In One Sitting’ is the subtitle of George Bernard Shaw’s 1909 play Misalliance. And what a debate it turns out to be, twisting and angling at every corner to catch people out, as they sit in their sunny Surrey conservatory arguing about love, capitalism, extra-marital affairs, patriarchy and enforced dependency and the like. This is the home of Mr … [Read more...]
Review of The Dark Room at Theatre503 London
The UK premiere of Angela Betzien’s The Dark Room, staged at the gorgeous Theatre503 in Battersea, presents us with a multitude of issues that are arguably relevant in many Western societies: police corruption, homophobia, domestic abuse, and above all - child neglect. The placement of children by social services into more ‘stable’ environments, a necessity in … [Read more...]
Review of Lot Vekemans’ Poison at The Orange Tree
It’s easy to see why Lot Vekemans' Poison won the prestigious Taalunie Toneelschrijfprijs award in 2010, denoting its place as ‘best Dutch play’ that year. In this translation by Rina Vergano – the version that was a hit in New York in 2016 – Poison presents us with a man and a woman (‘he’ and ‘she’), meeting for the first time in 9 years, since he walked out on her … [Read more...]