Nope - that’s not a spelling mistake. Mulan Rouge is a mash-up of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and Disney’s Mulan. Expect plenty of outrageous dancing, big music numbers, cross-dressing and gender exploration. All the good stuff. When Mulan’s father receives a call-up to the International Forces Union, to defend against the approaching Hun, Mulan decides to go in his place, disguising herself as a man, and finds herself posted to Paris, in the Moulin Rouge nightclub. No, I don’t know why, … [Read more...]
ATHENA written by Gracie Gardner | Review
High school fencing as a setting for a play: I’ll be honest, I was sceptical. I was wrong. Athena is exhilarating theatre at its very best. Athena (Millicent Wong) - her ‘fencing name’; it adds to her mystique - has just beaten Mary Wallace (Grace Saif), acquiring her number fifty-four seeding, presumably in the New York Junior Women’s Épée League, and Mary Wallace isn’t taking it well. But brash, speak-her-mind Athena sees the opportunity, and invites her well-matched opponent to become her … [Read more...]
How to Survive an Apocalypse at Finborough Theatre | Review
Great acting and some zinging one-liners have me laughing out loud, but in the end, can’t save a script that doesn’t feel built on solid foundations. How to Survive an Apocalypse begins with editor Jen (Kristin Atherton) struggling with her lifestyle magazine about to fail. The board parachutes in alpha male consultant, Bruce (Ben Lamb) to save it. Instead, his presence reveals Jen’s doubts about her marriage to steady-but-feeble Tim (Noel Sullivan). Jen’s high school best friend, Abby … [Read more...]
Jacksons Lane and Lost in Translation present Luminosa
While Jackson’s Lane Theatre’s huge rebuilding project rumbles on (due to complete at the end of October), they have reopened with Luminosa by Lost In Translation. We enter the auditorium through a tarpaulin-and-bunting temporary side corridor, and while it’s great to be back in the (original) auditorium of London’s circus-centric theatre, I can’t help but feel that this show seems unfinished too. We’re welcomed in by Peter Reynolds, an edge-of-the-stage MC, musician and vocalist whose … [Read more...]
Interview with Luke Hallgarten, artistic director of the Revel Puck Circus
We’re talking to Luke Hallgarten, artistic director of the Revel Puck Circus and the director of their latest show, the Wing Scuffle Spectacular. Ben: Tell me about the company. Luke: The Revel Puck Circus formed a few years ago. We have a great passion for tented, outdoor touring and are trying to reposition circus’s public image more into 21st Century culture. The public’s perception is more of a classical circus. They often think of animals and red-nosed clowns and ringmaster’s with … [Read more...]
The Perfect Crime: a new immersive theatre experience | Review
For fans of Ocean’s Eleven or The Thomas Crown Affair, the opportunity to carry out a heist is a movie dream made real. The Perfect Crime gives you the chance to crawl through vents, dodge lasers, disable alarms and come into possession of priceless artworks. It’s fun and fast-paced with some added elements to up the tension, but needs some attention to detail to make this the perfect experience. While this is marketed as an immersive theatre experience, it is more escape room than … [Read more...]
The Revel Puck Circus at Leyton Jubilee Park | Review
From the moment we cross into the circle of caravans leading up to the big top we are transported into a different world. A lighter world of frolic, leaving eighteen months of stress and solitude outside. Revel Puck Circus hits all the right notes in creating an evening of joy, escapism and just a sprinkle of fear. Let me share with you a secret about circus. Warning: spoilers! All circus shows come with more or less the same structure. They’re a series of individual acts, strung … [Read more...]