About two-thirds of the way through The Gulf, it suddenly struck me that there hasn’t been a critical incident yet in the show - one of those all-encompassing sudden events in the narrative that changes everything and blows the worlds of the show’s characters apart, irreparably and in perpetuity. … [Read more...]
Bat Out of Hell The Musical Review London Dominion Theatre
Those who like it, love it, and those who don’t, loathe it - Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell The Musical, to give it its full title, has its enthusiastic supporters as well as its detractors, which is far better than having most people think of it as merely satisfactory. That there was a lot of love … [Read more...]
Free Solo is ‘A spirited and thoughtful production’ | Review
Free Solo: A New Musical seems, at face value, a peculiar choice for a show. The term ‘free solo’ refers to outdoor climbers who make their way up rocks without a rope or protective equipment of any description. They climb high enough such that a fall would result in serious injury, or death. As … [Read more...]
Chicago review London Phoenix Theatre | West End Musical
You may well have been in a situation before where two or more people are saying something at the same time. In the melee of words streaming forth, nobody’s voice stands out, and whatever was being said, by whoever, is lost: all that is heard is a wall of sound. Such was the feeling I had part-way … [Read more...]
Moliere’s The Misanthrope at Theatro Technis | Review
Some re-imaginings of classic works are, to be blunt, in need of further development. Others, like this adaptation of The Misanthrope, set in twenty-first century London, as opposed to the original setting of seventeenth-century France, work remarkably well, perhaps because of the play’s general … [Read more...]
Billy The Kid Live Cast Recording – a ‘sparkling and lively recording’
The National Youth Music Theatre seems to have a tradition of presenting musicals set in a bygone era: in its illustrious history stretching back to 1976, previous productions have included The Ragged Child, set in 19th-century London, Pendragon, about the Arthurian legends of the late 5th and early … [Read more...]
Review of What The… Feminist?! at Katzpace Theatre
Feminism, as a playwright told me recently, is very much the trendy topic to be explored at the moment, particularly in the light of #MeToo and #TimesUp. It is reasonable to expect, for instance, this year’s Edinburgh Fringe offerings to contain a good number of shows looking at feminism in its … [Read more...]