Mary Manning’s monologue about JFK’s mother Rose Fitzgerald is charming, chilling and challenging. Go, Lovely Rose tells the fascinating story of the 17-year-old Rose Fitzgerald. Siobhan Gallagher plays the young Rose to perfection. The play begins with Rose sitting at her desk reading a letter and smiling into the distance. She is over the moon because not only has … [Read more...]
About John OBrien
Stones Theatre Company’s production of SAGA | Review
Saga, based on August Strindberg’s A Dream Play (1901) is an engaging, entertaining and enterprising 60-minute piece. The quartet of Frida Storm, Julia Florimo, Olivia Skoog and Marie Rabe are fantastically talented. Michael Currell’s script is sharp and direct and Olivia Stone's direction is fast-paced and economical. Daughter of the Gods, Saga (Frida Storm) falls … [Read more...]
Can Can! The New Offenbach Musical | Review
Transport yourself to Paris in the naughty 90s (the 1890s that is) and savour a rich blend of acting, music, singing and above all dancing. The multi-talented Phil Willmott Company bring together a who’s who of the Parisian fin de siècle and La Belle Époque (from the artist Toulouse Lautrec brilliantly portrayed by Jordan Nesbitt, to Jacques Offenbach (Sam Woods), the … [Read more...]
Mandela: The Official Exhibition at 26 Leake Street
With the dreaded half-term fast approaching I have a suggestion for parents and grandparents who wish to introduce their children/grandchildren to Nelson Mandela. Nonchalantly walk them up the stairs from York Way to the Royal Festival Hall as they get to the top they will see the wonderful portrait bust of Mandela. At this, they will inevitably ask “Who was Mandela?” … [Read more...]
Hedda Gabler at the Mary Wallace Theatre, Twickenham
Tucked away down by the river Thames in Twickenham is a converted protestant mission hall which is now the home of the good people of the Richmond Shakespeare Society (RSS). The theatre is named after Mary Wallace a local woman who left money in her will to pay for the adaptation of the mission hall into a venue for live theatre. There is a bust of Shakespeare just … [Read more...]
Dead Poets Live – The Dead by James Joyce
James Joyce not only wrote the greatest novel of the twentieth century Ulysses (1922) but also the greatest short story The Dead (1906). Both are set in Dublin and both contain the most memorable endings in literature written in English. Ulysses the famous unpunctuated monologue from Molly Bloom which ends with the repeated, emphatic and sexually charged “yes, yes, … [Read more...]
A Christmas Carol adapted and performed by Clive Francis
The Coronet is the perfect venue to recreate the Victorian/Dickensian world of A Christmas Carol (1843). Itself a product of the Victorian age (built 1898) to enter The Coronet is to travel back in time. The architectural features are as they were over a hundred years ago. The lighting, fixtures and furniture are authentically Victorian. The set features a lectern, … [Read more...]
Stig of the Dump at the Tabard Theatre
Stig of the Dump is a children’s classic which in my opinion is up there with Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, The Railway Children, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear. Richard Williams has brilliantly adapted Clive King’s novel. His “lossless compression” of the original means we can enjoy all the action of the novel in one hour of … [Read more...]
Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s The Snowman at The Peacock Theatre
Since its first showing on Channel 4 in 1982, The Snowman has established itself as a Christmas must-do activity alongside presents, the tree, mistletoe, sending cards, turkey, A Christmas Carol, Carols from Kings College Cambridge and The Sound of Music. Based on the book by Raymond Briggs the 1982 animated film was elevated to another level in large part because of … [Read more...]
Macbeth, a gender-fluid version abridged by Moira Buffini
The National Youth Theatre have been given the opportunity to perform in the wonderful Garrick Theatre (in the afternoons) and boy do they grasp the moment with both hands. This production of Macbeth is engaging, energetic and enthralling. Moira Buffini’s abridgment manages to retain the heart of the tragedy within one hour forty-five minutes, no interval. Director … [Read more...]
The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar | Review
The Recruiting Officer (1706) by the wonderfully named Irish dramatist George Farquhar is a classic of English comic satire so it is most welcome to have the pleasure of seeing Charlie Ryall’s adaptation at the historic Red Lion pub (built in 1415, customers include Hogarth, Dr Jonson, Dickens & Orwell) in the Angel Islington. Charlie has also written a new play … [Read more...]
Melinda Hughes: The Satirical Diva Live At Zedel
Melinda Hughes is indubitably the most glamorous goddess of comedic cabaret Britain has produced since Millicent Martin and the legendary That Was The Week That Was back in the 1960s. Relevant and irreverent her every pun packs a punch, her satirical surgical strikes take down the pompous, the preposterous and the powerful without fear or favour. She is delightfully … [Read more...]