Etcetera Theatre London - News & Reviews

It’s not entirely convincing, at least not to me. Who gets offered a public sector job these days, on the spot, immediately after being interviewed? Anyway, long before accepting the position of Deputy Headteacher at Manor School, Jack Summers (Luke Harding) will at some point have been exposed to anti-bullying campaigns and strategies in the education sector. Why is it, then, that none of them appeared to be appropriate when he finds himself the victim of a bully even in his position of … [Read more...]

What does happen Beyond The Grave? Whatever goes on there, it must be pretty good: nobody comes back from the afterlife having decided that, after all, living on Planet Earth is more favourable. That’s the sort of level of suspension of disbelief required in this show, which seems to revel in ridiculousness. It’s hammy, it’s very silly, but it works. When a gravedigger (Darren Latham) tells Mr Benson (Ryan Penny) that he doesn’t have a designated employer but works full-time as a gravedigger … [Read more...]

We are informed that Time For Tea is based on the Cowgate, Edinburgh fire of 2002: one of the three characters, Max, gives real-time witness to the conflagration whilst sporting a Deliveroo jacket. Deliveroo was created in 2013. Forgive me then, if I say that this anachronistic mishap left me a little confused - one can’t blame a director’s misinterpretation of the script as the show is directed by writer Lita Doolan. Fortunately, I know Edinburgh well and thus could understand the multiple … [Read more...]

Tightrope theatre company’s Dining Al Desko is a comedy which borders into absurdity which borders into the tragedies of working a 9-to-5 desk job, in a crashing economy which is giving half its staff promotions and the other half redundancies. Through the three inter-weaving monologues of Trish the marketing intern, Julie the office receptionist and Tom the one-man finance department, we’re played out the idiosyncrasies of the open-plan office (the shredding, the stapling, the obsessive sorting … [Read more...]

Café of the Damned is the second play in Jim Mannering’s trilogy, the first being Dark Room (some of you may recall my 5-star review last year). In much anticipation, and hopeful that Jim hadn’t fallen prey to “second work syndrome”, I made my way to the Etcetera Theatre to see what Common Denominator’s Café of the Damned had in store for me. And what can I say other than, Wow! What a comeback this piece this is, it superseded my expectations in every way. The piece stands alone as a great … [Read more...]

Spur of the Moment's A State of Mind is performing in the Etcetera Theatre (above the Oxford Arms). There are 2 shows planned, the first was the 12th March and the second the 23rd April. The piece is both devised and performed by Alyce Louise-Potter. A one-woman show, a piece of verbatim theatre created around the spoken word of "Billie" a woman of a certain age recanting memories and journey from school days until the present day. If you are already forming opinions about 1 woman-shows, … [Read more...]

Life is full of differences. Hopes and dreams regularly turn out not to come true and perception can sometimes be completely different to reality. So it proves for the hero of Saaramaria Kuittinen’s one-act play On Monday Last Week at Camden’s Etcetera Theatre. After six years of waiting, Kamara (Shireenah Ingram) has finally moved from Nigeria to the USA to be reunited with her husband Tobechi. Despite being vastly overqualified for the role, she takes a job as a nanny for Josh (Natalya … [Read more...]