The performance graduate in me loves an immersive theatre production, so when the opportunity arose to join 27 Degrees’ latest offering, Behind Closed Doors in East London I jumped at the chance. 24 hours before the production I received an email asking me to check the audio link on my phone was working. I was informed that the production was designed to be an individual outdoor experience using my mobile phone and headphones. I was also told that the piece would be entirely outdoors and … [Read more...]
…cake at Theatre Peckham | Review
Tapping into Theatre Peckham’s remit to produce work that showcases emerging writers and performances that resonate social realism whilst illuminating local emerging talent, bukilwa's work is a deep dive into a fractured mother-daughter relationship where mental health and disassociation is rife. ... cake is a kitchen sink drama for the 21st century; Set in South London in the noughties; bukilwa has created their work with an Afrocentric, queer lens, however, there are many universal … [Read more...]
LAD by Alan Mahon and Rhys Dunlop at the Vault Festival | Review
Have you ever wondered what that little voice in your head looks like? Maybe it's a small child, a 'devil-like' figure? Some would have you believe it's a chimp! Well, One Duck Theatre have the answer, and in Lad, the lastest production from writer-performer duo Rhys Dunlop and Alan Mahon, that voice in your head is a twentysomething manchild!, attired in an oversized patterned shirt, very tight cycling shorts and in possession of an oh-so seductive Irish accent! His primal aim in life is to … [Read more...]
Review of Sticky Door starring Katie Arnstein at the Vault Festival
The final installment of the It's a Girl Trilogy - Sticky Door is currently showing at the Vault Festival. Following on from Bicycles and Fish and Sexy Lamp, Katie Arnstein's Sticky Door is a self-penned one-woman show true to its original form; raw, intelligent, funny, emotional and empowering. As with her previous two productions, Arnstein's show comes with free sweets for the audience, monologues that amplify her comedic talent and firmly places her in my top ten list of female storytellers, … [Read more...]
Tryst by Karoline Leach at Chiswick Playhouse | Review
"There are two kinds of people in this world, those who take and those who are taken" says actor Fred Perry as he reprises his role of Mr George Love in Tryst. Love is one of two characters we meet in Karoline Leach’s reinvigorated production currently playing at the revamped Chiswick Playhouse in Turnham Green. The play itself is based on real-life events that took place in the UK in Edwardian London, without giving too much away (and I beg you not to read ahead and research the piece before … [Read more...]
Feeling Lonely at Parties at The Space | Review
Feeling Lonely at Parties is back and this time it's playing at The Space Arts Centre near Canary Wharf. The production is a devised piece of physical theatre, just shy of 60 minutes in length. It's an ensemble piece with a cast of 9 emerging artists from Middlesex University. The show is promoted as a production where "five broken individuals seek love in the face of oppression." I'm not sure that I interpreted the production in the way it was meant to be received, neither did my +1. I was … [Read more...]
Review of Sweet Charity at The Donmar Warehouse
Sweet Charity is Josie Rourke's farewell production completing her tenure as Artistic Director at The Donmar Warehouse. The piece runs at 2 hours 40 minutes (including an interval) and is a celebration of the swinging 60s. The set is designed by Robert Jones as a homage to Andy Warhol's "silver age" Factory, this works really well with the piece and triumphantly sets the production in the period. The summer of love (1967) is on stage in front of us, hippie fashions, an ode to love and drugs and … [Read more...]