When a piece is described as the world premiere of a brand-new piece of fully BSL-integrated hip-hop gig theatre it sparks curiosity and so I popped into the Soho Theatre to see Follow The Signs. This is not a standard theatrical presentation. In some ways, it’s a Ted Talk with lights and music. Everything starts as we take our seats with DJ Gaia ‘G33’ Ahuja mixing the music on stage. Once the show proper starts, we are introduced to writer/performer Chris Fonseca, a young black man who … [Read more...]
DIVA: Live From Hell! at the Turbine Theatre
It's always exciting to go to a premiere of a show. So I was really happy to be invited to go to the European premiere of Nora Brigid Monahan and Alexander Sage Oyen’s musical Diva: Live From Hell. Welcome to the ‘Seventh Circle of Hell’. It's not quite as Dante Alighieri describes it. In fact, it's less “the Hell of the Violent and Bestial” and more a rather nice cabaret bar with little tables, a thrust stage, and a small band (MD Debbie Clarke with Jonnie Grant on drums and Ben Uden on … [Read more...]
Cruise at the Apollo Theatre, London
How would you spend your last night on earth? If you knew the time and date of your departure from this world, what would you do as the hour approached? You could sit at home and contemplate life or maybe spend an evening with loved ones. Alternatively, you could spend your last night celebrating the life you have led and the one you will be missing out on. If this is your option, then you will be just like Michael, the main character in Cruise which has returned to London for a limited run at … [Read more...]
Wonderville: Magic and Cabaret
Cabaret is not just the name of a highly successful musical and film, but according to my good buddies at Wikipedia is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance but usually sits at tables. And if you want a fine example of the artform I can highly recommend that you take a … [Read more...]
COLAB Theatre presents: The West at COLAB Tavern
Howdy pardners, how y’all doing? It’s time to saddle up the old buckeroo and mosey on down to the Colab Tavern for a bit of immersive theatre called The West. Welcome to Olverton, a small town in the old west which is trying to get itself back on its feet after being ravaged by sandstorms. Under the direction of Mayor Adelaide Olver (Grace Dunne), her husband and town sheriff Hank Olver (Owen Jenkins) and their son, and town preacher Francis (Sam Skoog) you will be turning your hand to cowboy … [Read more...]
Letters written by Kashyap Raja – Jack Studio Theatre
When was the last time you wrote a letter? Not a postcard or Christmas card but an honest-to-God handwritten letter to someone that you put in an envelope, added a stamp and put in a post box? No idea? Me neither. Thanks to a whole host of instant messaging services, communication is virtually immediate, and nobody now has to suffer the agonies of waiting for a reply to their missive, unlike the two characters in Kashyap Raja’s one-act play Letters at the Jack Studio Theatre. Josh (Tom … [Read more...]
My Name Is Ricardo P Lloyd – BBC Sounds
I may be a ‘woke’ middle-aged white man with all the privilege that entails, and as such I guess I assume everyone is working to the same standards I hold myself to. This may sound a bit naïve but, as a bit of a theatre aficionado, I’ve always assumed that casting directors, and those in power in the acting world, would cast a role based on ability and skill but that is not necessarily the case. And My Name Is Ricardo P Lloyd was a real eye opener. This podcast is a fascinating study of … [Read more...]