This dance production of Dangerous Liaisons is set both at the time of writing and into the near future - perhaps a year or two leading up to the 92nd Academy Awards, not to take place until 9th February 2020, and then its aftermath. To set all the dancing in context, a relatively brief preamble in the form of a news magazine programme called ‘All Access Hollywood’ … [Read more...]
Graceland Live: With Josh Turner as Paul Simon | Review
Graceland Live would do well to follow in the footsteps of The Simon & Garfunkel Story (different show, same production company) and get into a West End theatre for a few dates. The original live event, Graceland: The African Concert, was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1987, and featured several South African musicians, most notably Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), Hugh … [Read more...]
Irish Coffee at at Calder Bookshop & Theatre | Review
There’s nothing new about stories appearing in the press whose details may or may not turn out to be true after all. Irish Coffee is, at least in part, about two journalists investigating the actual whereabouts of the body of Eva Perón (1919-1952). Tomas Eloy Martinez (1934-2010) (Giorgio Galassi) works for La Nación, or at least he did until he was fired as their … [Read more...]
The Glass Elephant – Goodenough Theatre Company | Review
Christmas can be a stressful time for many. The soap opera storylines will be as eventful as ever, but seem to hit closer to home, at least for irregular viewers such as yours truly, during the festive period, and there are plenty of people in the world who spend time with people whose presence they would, if they had things their way, rather not be in. Rupert (Tom … [Read more...]
The Good Scout by Glenn Chandler at Above the Stag | Review
It seems extraordinary to think of it now, but according to files released by MI5 in 2010, Lord Baden Powell (1857-1941), who founded the Scout movement, held talks with German ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946) and the Hitler Youth leader Hartmann Lauterbacher (1909-1988) in 1937, such was Baden Powell’s fondness of the Fuhrer. There is no evidence that … [Read more...]
Last Orders: The Haunting of The Old Red Lion | Review
“We can’t be sure” is perhaps the most memorable line in Last Orders: The Haunting of the Old Red Lion, and it might be (I wasn’t keeping a tally) the most repeated one too. Everything in the show is a true recollection, whether dramatized or described or a mixture of the two, of the events of an overnight stay in the Old Red Lion pub, five minutes away from Angel … [Read more...]
Breaking The Code at the Tower Theatre | Review
The inevitable comparison is made between Breaking the Code and a motion picture called The Imitation Game, but it’s hardly a like-for-like comparison, given that the film wasn’t released until 2014 and the play premiered in the West End in 1986. Breaking the Code also has a much broader narrative, whilst not diminishing the importance of Alan Turing’s (1912-1954) … [Read more...]
Priscilla Queen of The Desert The Musical at New Wimbledon Theatre
Priscilla Queen of the Desert has gained enough currency over the years to be familiar with most people who would enjoy this sprightly revival, and while there are always newcomers to the show, it seemed to me that most of the audience at New Wimbledon Theatre were people who had already geared themselves up for the chart music extravaganza that this show is. It is … [Read more...]
One Man, Two Guvnors at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch | Review
A good mix of music, comedy, dramatization and storytelling make for an enjoyable and eclectic evening. Set in 1963, One Man, Two Guvnors isn’t, as the title might suggest, a straightforward three-hander, and in all the twists and turns of the plot, there’s much to keep audiences engaged throughout. I must qualify this, however - at the performance I attended, not … [Read more...]