At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when theatres were closed, and we had to spend Christmas isolating ourselves from everybody else, English actor and TV presenter Peter Duncan decided to do something to save the panto season and bring some joy to everybody: he filmed a pantomime in his garden and made it available online. It was a wonderful idea for those like me starved of theatre; since then, Duncan has repeated the endeavour in 2021 and again this year with the production of Pantoland. … [Read more...]
Catch Me by Arnoud Breitbarth & Christian Czornyj
Catch Me is a new musical written by Arnoud Breitbarth and Christian Czornyi and directed by Adam Lenson, that debuted in 2016 at the Arts Theatre in London and was recorded live at the Stone Nest in London and made available in digital format by Theatrical Solutions, with a strong West End cast. I watched it online, the video and sound quality is flawless, and the production is top quality, I did not feel I missed anything by not being able to attend the live show. The musical tells the … [Read more...]
Cookie Jar at The Space Theatre
One of the very few good things about the COVID pandemic is that the opportunities to live stream theatre performances have increased exponentially, allowing people to access productions and theatres that normally would be difficult to attend in person. I was not able to physically attend the debut run of the play Cookie Jar at the Space Theatre in London, but I still had the chance to follow the performance's live stream on YouTube. While nothing compares with in-person theatre, in my opinion, … [Read more...]
The Phantom of the Opera Graphic Novel
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...]