As a trainee journalist back at the London College of Printing in the early 1980s, we were taught that to capture the heart of a “story”, it was essential to talk to the taxi driver who took you to the job. Those were the days when it was taken for granted that journalists still took expenses-funded taxis everywhere. Over subsequent decades I had lots of conversations with taxi drivers. Bluebird, which premiered at the Royal Court in 1998, revisits that past with compelling authenticity. But … [Read more...]
Review of The Pirates of Penzance at Richmond Theatre
My mum always insisted I was named after Ruth in the Bible, but ever since seeing my dad in an amateur production of Pirates of Penzance at Cheadle near Stoke-on-Trent I've suspected something different. They were nuts for Gilbert and Sullivan and that would have been a classic joke by my late father. I guess many theatre goers like me have seen many amateur G&S operettas, given their popularity, so they are in for a treat with Sasha Regan’s all-male production which had its tour press night … [Read more...]
Review of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ The Musical
As someone who went through adolescence in a Midlands backwater near the border between Staffs and Derbyshire just before The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 was published in 1982, I had a particular and personal interest in this production. I read every word of the book avidly, over and over, and tried to apply what I learned from it to relationships at that time with disastrous results. But even with a good memory and personal fascination, I had no recollection of a scene where the … [Read more...]
5 star review of CATS starring Nicole Scherzinger as Grizabella
Nicole Scherzinger, brilliantly cast as Grizabella, is hauntingly feline in lacy silver-grey. This is her West End debut and she is truly catlike as she picks her way carefully through old age in search of her memories. It would not do justice to her technique to say she “belted” her epic number, Memory, in the second half. It was not opera, nor pop. It was pure musical theatre in its evocation, passion and soaring vocal ability. Tears poured down the cheeks of audience members as she landed … [Read more...]
5 Star Review: Grimm Tales for Young and Old at The Bargehouse
If I were a teacher looking for a seasonal theatrical show to take a bunch of kids to, this season I would choose Philip Pullman’s re-telling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales which opened last night in London. Adapted and directed by Philip Wilson from Pullman’s Grimm Tales, this fantastical show is set in the Bargehouse, a four-storey warehouse which has retained its internal industrial landscape as part of Oxo Tower Wharf on the South Bank. Generally it is used for exhibitions, shows and … [Read more...]
5 Stars for Blackout New Room Theatre production at The Hope Theatre
Blackout is often a play's final stage direction. However, at the Hope Theatre in Islington it is both the title and the starting point of a journey through the ravages of alcoholism. You often hear stories of pub theatres where an errant drunk has taken a wrong turning out out of the toilet, lurched through a couple of doors and stumbled out into the show. This didn't happen on the night we were there, but if it had, the bloke - it's usually a bloke - would have found himself upstaged and … [Read more...]
Review of FIERCE at Camden People’s Theatre
The warm, intimate setting of Camden People’s Theatre was perfect for this radical one-woman play, written and acted by Kathryn Griffiths. It was completely sold out, as is Sunday, but there are still a few tickets left for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (15th to 18th October '14). Although CamdenPT is not large by West End standards, it was nevertheless notable that the people packing it out were precisely those that the big theatres are trying to attract - under-30s, young … [Read more...]