It is 50 years since the 1967 Abortion Act 1967 was passed in the UK. The act didn’t decriminalise abortion but enabled women to have one if two doctors certified that she met certain criteria. Abortions in Britain which do not meet these criteria are still illegal and protect the unborn subject to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Keith Hindell has written a new play called Dead or Alive? to look at the issues around abortion 50 years on, especially now that abortion is seen as … [Read more...]
Songs for Nobodies is ‘truly outstanding’ at Wilton’s | Review
Having taken Australia by storm, Bernadette Robinson's story of five everyday women encountering five iconic megastars has its London premiere at Wilton's Music Hall. In a truly virtuosic performance, Robinson embodies Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billy Holiday, Edith Piaf and Callas, from five different ‘nobodies’ perspectives in Songs For Nobodies. Bernadette Robinson is an exceptional singer/actress. Not many singers can truly do FULL justice to the instantly recognisable Garland, then … [Read more...]
Review of The Hired Man at the Union Theatre
As a huge admirer of the music of Howard Goodall and having seen several previous productions I was very much looking forward to another opportunity to see this evocative musical adaptation of Melvyn Bragg’s 1969 powerful first novel in the trilogy of the Tallentire family. The Hired Man starts at the turn of the 19th century, painting the harsh and difficult times when men & women would travel around seeking ever diminishing work as agricultural labourers simply to earn barely enough … [Read more...]
Kentaro Kobayashi’s Mr Potsunen’s Peculiar Slice of Life
Having never heard of Kentaro Korbayashi or Mr Potsunen previously I had no idea what to expect at the Print Room at the Coronet and am happy to report I was completely blown away by an utterly brilliant performance artist. Kentaro is only playing 4 performances here in the UK having arrived from doing 3 performances in Paris last week and all I can do is encourage those who appreciate superb original artistic work to make sure they go and see him by the 8th of July! Kentaro Kobayashi is a … [Read more...]
Review of The Kite Runner at The Playhouse Theatre
In 2003 Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel The Kite Runner took the literary world by storm, clocking up more than 100 weeks on the New York bestsellers’ list. Four years later Matthew Spangler adapted the novel for the stage after meeting Hosseini in San Francisco in 2006. (The play has no relationship with the film that came out in 2007). Spangler spent time researching Afghan history and culture, met with musicians, writers and ‘advocates for the Afghan community’ as well as members of … [Read more...]
The Braille Legacy is beautiful, enriching and humanizing
This reviewer can report I loved every single minute of The Braille Legacy. A labour of love and care beautifully directed by Thom Southerland with great heart and passion. A dramatic real life story that deserves to be told and needs to be heard. I doubt that many people, young or old, know much at all about braille and certainly nothing about the man who invented this remarkable system of reading and communication that opened the word of literature, music, science and more to those who cannot … [Read more...]
Natalia Osipova: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – Russell Maliphant – Arthur Pita
When you’re looking forward to seeing Royal Ballet principal ballerina Natalia Osipova partnered on stage with ballet’s ‘bad boy’ Sergei Polunin, now also her real-life partner, the disappointment when expectations are dashed is acute. Both feted for technical and artistic prowess, with Polunin also famed for drama and excitement off stage as much as on (particularly for unexpectedly walking away from the Royal Ballet when a principal dancer in 2012) expectations are, perhaps unfairly, … [Read more...]