What can I say about Hungry? Quite simply, I loved everything about this play. The script, the acting, the set, the music. It's been a while since I last saw something that hit me as hard or made me feel so many emotions, and the intimacy of the venue made it all the more intense. When Bex arrives as a waiter for an event Lori is catering for, sparks fly. They start a relationship but as they go deeper the fundamental differences between them start to become starker. The show explores so … [Read more...]
Written off Theatre Presents Careless at the Hen and Chickens Theatre
Old friends and flatmates Bryony and Sam are planning a post-COVID housewarming/birthday party, but what should be an exciting, carefree night becomes the ultimate test of their friendship and their morals. Careless, written and performed by Emma Francois (Sam) and Eva Tritschler (Bryony) is a sharp and witty play which explores the concept of what it is to care, both for our friends and for other people. Bryony, a struggling actor, cares too little, blaming her inability to get a job on her … [Read more...]
The Breach at Hampstead Theatre
How far would you go for the people you love? What lies would you tell? What sacrifices would you make? That’s the question at the heart of The Breach, a compelling play which explores these ideas through teenagers living through 1970s America, and their adult selves 30 years later. Jude and Acton are brother and sister. Their dad is dead and Jude will do anything to protect her brother and look after her family. Acton, however, finds other protection in two boys, Hoke and Frayne, with … [Read more...]
MEASURED at The Hope Theatre | Review
Measured is ostensibly a play about eating disorders, and Emma O'Brien, the writer, has written the play with her own experiences of eating disorders in mind, but it feels like it's so much more than that. I have written before that plays about mental health seem to be two a penny at the moment, and often they all start to feel very similar, but this one was different; a really unique exploration of the impacts of the illness on relationships with others which was both touching and … [Read more...]
The Formidable Lizzie Boone at The Hen and Chickens Theatre
Lizzie Boone (played by Selina Helliwell) is in therapy and we are about to find out why. From bullying at primary school to sexual assault in sixth form, it is clear that her experiences as a child have shaped who she is today. Through a mixture of conversations with her therapist, Marie (voiced by Carla Kayani-Lawman), and a series of flashbacks to key moments in her life, we get to know Lizzie, a quirky, and if I’m honest, somewhat irritating, character. Selina Helliwell makes Lizzie seem … [Read more...]
Nick Payne’s Constellations On Demand at the Vaudeville Theatre
With just one free evening to review Constellations, I was immediately faced with the impossible decision of which cast to watch out of a star-studded choice of four. In the end, I settled on Russell Tovey (Roland) and Omari Douglas (Emmanuel in this play, Marianne in other versions) for the simple reason that my friend had seen them live and loved it. I had thought, on starting out, that I may be able to squeeze a second cast in after the first, but as it turned out, watching the play once put … [Read more...]
Skin Tight at The Hope Theatre | Review
What are the moments that make up a lifetime? As Elizabeth and Tom reminisce about their lives together from school to old age we realise the most memorable moments as a couple are in many ways the most mundane - eating an apple, washing your hair, everyday chores on a farm. Skin Tight is a funny yet poignant reflection on years of love (and sometimes hate) and marriage. The play starts and ends with two impressive physical theatre sequences and I especially enjoyed the music that these … [Read more...]