The Phantom of the Opera (music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart) is one of the most successful musicals ever written and has gained devoted fans all around the globe. I count myself among these people, having been lucky enough to see the musical a few times on both sides of the Atlantic and having bought the soundtrack CD and DVD recording of the Royal Albert Hall production; so, I was intrigued when I found out that a graphic novel version of the musical was being released just … [Read more...]
The Cherry Orchard at Theatre Royal Windsor | Review
After a troublesome year of intermittent lockdown and cancelled productions, Theatre Royal Windsor finally reopened early in the summer with a universally acclaimed staging of Hamlet, led by Sir Ian McKellen and directed by Sean Mathias. It was a record-breaking production that was extended week after week until the end of September. The same stellar company, joined by Martin Shaw, is now presenting The Cherry Orchard, a melancholic comedy/tragedy written by Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) in … [Read more...]
Red Peter by Grid Theatre at the Vault Festival | Review
Red Peter (directed by Chris Yun-Ward) is the stage adaptation of the 1917 novel “A Report to an Academy” by Franz Kafka. If you are familiar with some of the Bohemian novelist’s work, you will know that a certain level of absurdity and weirdness is always present, and this story is not different. Red Peter is the name given to an ape that decided to become a human to escape life in a cage in a zoo and is now invited by an academy to give a speech on his transformation. Red Peter (played by … [Read more...]
Ride by Bottle Cap Theatre at the Vault Festival | Review
It is relatively easy to decide what to see in the West End because nearly all performances are high quality and are very polished shows; it is more complicated with brand new productions where often little is known besides the brief description available online. Somebody once said it is a lottery, you may be lucky, or you may lose a couple of hours of your life. Well, let me say, last night at the Vault Festival I won big with the show Ride - A New Musical: I laughed, I listened to great music … [Read more...]
Notch by The Thelmas at the Vault Festival 2020 | Review
Notch (directed by Madelaine Moore) is a very topical one-woman show written and performed by Danaja Wass, a young Croatian artist, tackling issues like immigration, xenophobia, mental health, sexual assault, homosexuality and homelessness (just not to miss any difficult topic). Clearly, this is not a light-hearted performance, it is intense to the point that the flyer of the show has the phone numbers of the Samaritans and Crisis UK in case “you have been affected by issues in the … [Read more...]
Madame Ovary by WildChild Productions at the Vault Festival | Review
It is easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of different shows that the Vault Festival offers; while the quality is generally very high, there are productions that should not be missed. So, let me help you: Madame Ovary by Rosa Hesmondhalgh (Wildchild Productions) is a must-see one-woman show that will make you laugh and cry, often at the same time and it is one of the best ways to spend an hour of your life. In February 2013 at the tender age of 23, Hesmondhalgh was diagnosed with cancer: … [Read more...]
How To Save A Rock by Pigfoot Theatre at the Vault Festival | Review
I have been interested in climate change since well before Greta Thunberg made the topic fashionable, both on a personal level trying to reduce my carbon footprint, and on a professional level, doing research into fuel cells. So, I was very excited when I read that How To Save A Rock, a show described as a “multi-award-winning musical comedy about how to still have hope”, was coming to the Vault Festival, after its well-reviewed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show is presented by … [Read more...]