The day after her 12th birthday and Josie K is innocently finishing off some leftover chocolate cake before school when her world is changed by the appearance of a ‘Bureaucrat’ who tells her that she is on trial. "Maybe it’s for something good" her best friend Becca suggests optimistically, and so starts this inventive whirlwind of a play. Josie K whisks you along on her journey as she tries to make sense of the surreal and search for answers amongst unasked or confusing questions. This … [Read more...]
Pick n Mix at Pleasance, London
Kat Rose-Martin’s debut full-length stage play shows lots of heart, humour and promise. Following a successful run in West Yorkshire, the Bradford-based play has come to London and for 80 minutes we get to be part of the Pick n Mix world. We follow the lives of Oliva (Charlotte Ellis), Kim (Natalie Davis) and Aisha (Sonja Wrightson) as they navigate their way through the perilous world of dating, teenage kicks and adult activities. It’s lots of fun and there’s some gorgeous dialogue and … [Read more...]
Kim Noble: Lullaby for Scavengers at Soho Theatre
The blurb for Lullaby of Scavengers didn’t really prepare me for the show, sure it mentioned that there may be some explicit content and there was something about living in a sewer and something more about a fox and a dead squirrel, and I noted that this was a show about ‘human loneliness of longing,’ - but the actual performance is extraordinarily challenging - and I like to be challenged and would fight (nicely) for the right for theatre to be provocative and transgressive, that’s what art is … [Read more...]
Little Women at The Roman Theatre of Verulamium St Albans
As theatre productions go this is a memorable, magical experience filled with heart and love and so many tiny thoughtful details, that I’m not sure a review can do it justice, but I’ll try. The Roman Theatre of Verulamium is an open-air theatre set in fields on the edge of St Albans, and OVO have taken it over for the summer with productions as varied as War of the Worlds, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Rent. Little Women is their penultimate production and it’s a joyful, theatrical … [Read more...]
Peaky Blinders: The Rise at The Camden Garrison
This is one hell of a show, it’s a party, a family gathering, a conspiracy and a whole lot of fun, from the moment you join the queue by the Peaky Blinders caravan in Camden Stables you are gleefully cajoled into another world. It’s steeped in influences from the global sensation that is the TV Series Peaky Blinders, and of course, if you’re a fan of the show then this will be an extra special treat, but it stands as a show even for those who’ve never watched an episode. The main … [Read more...]