For theatregoers, cast albums essentially serve two separate purposes. For those who haven’t seen a show before they provide a taste of the show and may influence a decision about whether to visit; for those who have seen the show, a cast album provides the chance to relive the show and to enjoy the memories. So when listening to The Clockmaker’s Daughter I have … [Read more...]
London Theatre Reviews | London West End and Off West End
If you are planning to visit London to see a musical or a play in one of the West End theatres, or a production in one of the many Off West End or Fringe venues, then maybe our London theatre reviews section can be of help? Read one of the latest reviews or use the search button to find one of our previous reviews.
Bizet’s Carmen at Kings Head Theatre | Review
It’s unmistakably Georges Bizet’s Carmen, as the overture and the piano introductions to the opera numbers keep reminding the audience. The anomaly of traditional productions being a French opera set in Spain but sung in Italian (or indeed in English) is commented on in this contemporary makeover, if only as a vehicle to keep in the Toreador Song, perhaps one of the … [Read more...]
Headhog by Tom Jensen at Barons Court Theatre
People who are proud sometimes don’t know it - if they had a greater awareness of the extent of their pride, perhaps they would not be quite so proud. Something broadly similar happens to Molly Reeves (Natasha Zierhofer), who has a foreign object in her body but ends up stubbornly wanting it to remain, against the medical advice of Dr Cheryl Finch (Sheila McCabe), a … [Read more...]
The Rocky Horror Show at New Wimbledon Theatre
I’m certain that back in the early seventies when Richard O’Brien, a struggling actor/horse-riding stuntman from New Zealand was sitting in his tiny flat writing a musical that was to be put on in the Royal Court’s tiny Upstairs theatre, he couldn’t envisage that over 40 years later The Rocky Horror Show would not only still being performed around the world but would … [Read more...]
Fisher Stevens in A Beautiful Noise | Review
“Sweet Caroline! Good times never seemed so good! / I’d be inclined, to believe they never would!” Now, I’m not ordinarily a supporter of audience participation, but such was the infectious atmosphere created during an interesting and varied evening that even this stubbornly reticent reviewer couldn’t resist joining the crowd that had risen to their feet for the big … [Read more...]
Only Fools, The (Cushty) Dining Experience
From the producers of The Faulty Towers Dining Experience, Interactive Theatre International is back with another immersive dining experience; this time it's a tribute to British Sitcom Only Fools and Horses. The production has a residency at the Edwardian Blu Radisson in Tottenham Court Road, as well as performing up and down the UK in various venues. I grew up … [Read more...]
Guildhall presents Phoebe Eclair-Powell’s Fury
Fury is a modern reworking of Euripides’ classical Medea, a play which has become increasingly popular for contemporary, often feminist interpretations. Rachel Cusk’s adaptation played at The Almeida last September; Pecho Mama’s Medea Electronica opens next week at The Pleasance - Islington; International Theatre Amsterdam’s Medea runs 6-9 March at The Barbican. It … [Read more...]
Mandela: The Official Exhibition at 26 Leake Street
With the dreaded half-term fast approaching I have a suggestion for parents and grandparents who wish to introduce their children/grandchildren to Nelson Mandela. Nonchalantly walk them up the stairs from York Way to the Royal Festival Hall as they get to the top they will see the wonderful portrait bust of Mandela. At this, they will inevitably ask “Who was Mandela?” … [Read more...]
We’ve Got Each Other by Paul O’Donnell
It is said that relatively few shows out there break even, let alone make a profit, making investing in live theatre rather risky to say the least. What Paul O’Donnell describes as a ‘jukebox musical’, is really, presented as it is here, the storyboard for one. To ‘see’ the whole thing requires the use of CGI – collective group imagination. We’ve Got Each Other has as … [Read more...]
I Would Like To Get To Know You | Vault Festival
I have never bothered with dating sites, and it is only through shows like I Would Like To Get To Know You that I even have the faintest idea of what it means to ‘swipe right’, or indeed left. There are more definitions in this show, projected onto a large screen, including the acronym ‘IRL’ – in real life – and a hilariously over-emotional definition of ‘ghosting’ … [Read more...]
Review of Lazarus Theatre Company’s The Tempest
How important is gender these days? Worry not, this is a review not a political commentary, but gender has recently been at the forefront of news around the world. The thing I, it's not a new phenomenon, back in William Shakespeare's day, only men were permitted to act on stage - bringing up the vision of a burly bearded bloke in a dress playing the teenage Juliet. … [Read more...]
Tokens of Affection at Waterloo East Theatre
Angry. Violent. Relentless. That’s what’s on the daily menu as teachers try to run an educational refuge for teenage girls who have been shunned by their schools for being - well, angry, violent and relentless. The girls are in educational care, rather than full care, as they still return home each day but these miscreants have little interest in learning, find it … [Read more...]