School of Rock opens with an announcement from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. He said he is asked all the time whether the children really do play their instruments live. "The answer is an emphatic yes, they do." Already, the audience was cheering. Our world needs a bit of the feel-good factor at the moment, and this is the ultimate feel-good musical. The 13 children, aged 10 to 13, are talented and joyous but so are the adults. Ebullient David Fynn as wannabe rock star and imposter … [Read more...]
The Shakespeare Revue at Richmond Theatre – Review
The best bit about The Shakespeare Revue, currently at Richmond Theatre, is the talent on the stage. Their performances awoke in me a strong desire to return to the original and re-read more of Shakespeare. The original production in 1994 at the Barbican was devised by Christopher Luscombe and Malcolm McKee for the Royal Shakespeare Company. McKee here is director and MD of this touring production, and in this show is the consummate professional on stage on the piano throughout. Lizzie Bea … [Read more...]
Where The Hell Is Bernard? at The Space
The innovative Haste Theatre is fast developing a reputation for entertaining audiences with drama that involves dance, music and physical theatre but is also thought-provoking. Where the hell is Bernard?, in the great Space Theatre near Canary Wharf in East London, is their latest and once again it does not disappoint. Just because it is Orwellian does not mean it should be dismissed as old hat. In fact the hat motif - used in a brilliant new way - is central to the personification of the … [Read more...]
Review of King John at The Rose Theatre Kingston
A timely production of Shakespeare’s King John is on at the Rose in Kingston, just a year after the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, and playing through the weeks before Britain votes on staying or leaving the EU. It is not an easy play to do but director Trevor Nunn succeeds, helped by a strong and entertaining cast. Three hours of lies and plotting take us to the heart of the perils of power. Like all Shakespeare’s tragedies there are plenty of deaths but it is the laugh-out-loud comedy … [Read more...]
Lord of the Flies at Richmond Theatre – Review
The extraordinary thing about this production of Lord of the Flies was that within a few minutes of the opening, and the arrival of two of the main characters on stage, I kept forgetting it wasn’t actually happening. I kept having to remind myself it was just a play. Pigs, horrible young men, bullied youths, young men desperately trying to be decent, the sullied innocence of a child - it was truly difficult not to think of the politics of today, of the Bullingdon, Tories, Labour. Having … [Read more...]
Goodnight Mister Tom at the Duke of York’s Theatre – Review
“Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye,” is the war-time song that opens Goodnight Mister Tom at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End. It draws the audience in to the story right from the start. David Wood’s adaptation of Michelle Magorian’s children’s classic is always a tear-jerker but with war, God and abuse of children so present in the public mind this Christmas, this one is particularly evocative. The song is a theme that occurs throughout, the pure treble voices of the boy performers … [Read more...]
5-star Annie Review – Book Tickets While You Can! – Review
Every avid theatre-goer is familiar with the sensation. It’s one of the reasons we keep going back for more. It’s that soul-tingling feeling when a little-known actor or actress steps on to the stage, opens their mouth to sing, and the heavens fall silent. The silence is one of reverence, because we are witnessing the birth of a star. So it was last night at Annie at the New Wimbledon Theatre, the tour’s only London venue. All the orphans are perfectly cast. All the actors are outstanding, … [Read more...]