There were nearly 250 episodes of The Goon Show aired on the BBC Home Service between 1951 and 1961, many of which were written by Spike Milligan, who was born 100 years ago, so it must have seemed a good idea to resurrect three of them, including the Famous Batter Pudding Mystery, and perform them live onstage to celebrate Spike’s centenary. The idea behind this was the brainchild of Julian Howard McDowell, principal of the Pauline Quirke Academy in Brighton, who not only directs the stage … [Read more...]

Jermyn Street Theatre has a well-deserved reputation for staging new work, and their latest production, About Leo, can only enhance this. It is difficult to believe that this beautifully written, atmospheric play is the first one by playwright Alice Allemano. Eliza Prentice, whose character is clearly influenced by the playwright’s own life (‘I’d always wanted to write but didn’t quite feel qualified to do so’) arrives in Mexico City, an inexperienced, wannabe, journalist, to interview … [Read more...]

This superbly acted play by Plymouth playwright Glenn Waldron is alternately hilarious and very dark, and certainly, sends one out of the theatre thinking! Commissioned by Plymouth Theatre Royal, and premiered there in March 2017, it looks at what would happen if, as seems likely at some date in the future, antibiotics no longer work, and the world is hit by a disease which cannot be stopped. The first scene of this 90-minute piece is exceedingly funny, yet also dark and ironic. It takes … [Read more...]

The pocket-sized Jermyn Street Theatre, just south of Piccadilly Circus, has made an inspired choice for this year’s Christmas production: an hilarious, three-handed adaptation of Conan Doyle’s The Hound of The Baskervilles. The play has been directed (the highly talented Lotte Wakeham) at breakneck speed, with terrific energy, sense of pace and, above all, a true sense of style, and is performed by just three actors, all of whom are either on-stage all the time, or changing costume. The … [Read more...]

James Meunier is currently in the UK Tour of Sunset Boulevard understudying the role of Joe Gillis. The EP is produced by Auburn Jam (Nikki and Joe Davison), including original arrangements by Joe Davison, and featuring live musicians - including Richard Meunier on guitar and string players. The EP will be available from iTunes and for delivery from www.jamesmeunier.com It has been a very pleasurable voyage of discovery listening to James Meunier’s EP. He has an attractive light high … [Read more...]