LondonTheatre1

London Theatre: Tickets | Reviews | News | West End | UK Touring Productions

ATG Tickets
  • Home
  • Top Selling Shows
    • Musicals
    • Plays
      • A Christmas Carol
      • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
      • The Mousetrap
      • Witness for the Prosecution
    • Back To The Future
    • Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
    • Dirty Dancing
    • Frozen The Musical
    • Heathers
    • Jersey Boys
    • Les Misérables
    • Mamma Mia
    • Matilda the Musical
    • Moulin Rouge
    • Pretty Woman the Musical
    • The Book of Mormon
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Aldwych Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Apollo Victoria Theatre
      • Cambridge Theatre
      • Criterion Theatre
      • Dominion Theatre
      • Duchess Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Garrick Theatre
      • Gielgud Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • His Majesty’s Theatre
      • Kit Kat Club London
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • Lyric Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • Noel Coward Theatre
      • Novello Theatre
      • Old Vic Theatre
      • Palace Theatre
      • Palladium
      • Phoenix Theatre
      • Piccadilly Theatre
      • Playhouse Theatre
      • Prince Edward Theatre
      • Prince of Wales Theatre
      • Richmond Theatre
      • Savoy Theatre
      • Shaftesbury Theatre
      • Sondheim Theatre
      • St Martin’s Theatre
      • Trafalgar Theatre
      • Vaudeville Theatre
      • Victoria Palace Theatre
      • Wyndham’s Theatre
  • News
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • UK Shows
    • Alexandra Theatre
    • Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
      • Norman Bragg Studio
    • Brighton Theatre Royal
    • Bristol Hippodrome
      • Bristol Theatre Seating Plan
    • Edinburgh Playhouse
    • Glasgow Theatre Royal
    • Grand Opera House York
    • Granville Theatre
    • King’s Theatre Glasgow
    • Leas Cliff Hall
    • Liverpool Empire
    • Manchester Opera House
    • Manchester Palace Theatre
    • Milton Keynes Theatre
    • New Theatre Oxford
    • New Victoria Theatre Woking
    • New Wimbledon Theatre
    • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
    • Princess Theatre Torquay
    • Regent Theatre Stoke
    • Rhoda McGaw Theatre
    • Richmond Theatre
    • Stockton Globe
    • Sunderland Empire
    • Swansea Arena
    • Victoria Hall Hanley Stoke
  • Newsletter
  • West End
  • Theatre Breaks
Home » Reviews » Reboot Festival at Baron’s Court Theatre

Reboot Festival at Baron’s Court Theatre

October 29, 2022 Last updated: October 29, 2022 6:32 pm By Tom Carter

A somewhat mixed bag of pieces, Reboot Festival offers new writers the opportunity to try out very early versions of pieces they are working on. It is great that there are opportunities for those new to the industry, unfortunately, the quality was lacking in this collection of scenes. The evening was comprised of six short pieces made by a variety of different writers and directors. While these are pieces early in their development, they left a lot to be desired in the overall quality of the evening.

Credit Kibo productions.
A Beautiful Distraction – Credit Kibo productions.

Son of Man
The first opens with a figure, maybe Jesus, maybe the devil, approaching a man living on the street, offering him a conversation with God. Seb Lopes gives us an intriguing presence, on better days it might gesture towards something Beckettian. But that is about as far as it went, the acting wasn’t grounded and the script would have benefitted from a subtler tone in its philosophical questions.

Possum Trot
Kathy Rucker’s monologue, performed by Gerrie Skeens, takes us to a middle-American farm owner contemplating selling her farm. Again, an interesting leaping-off point, but it never really develops, and the characterization is not given room to breathe. I couldn’t quite pin down what the impetus for this piece was, but maybe I don’t need to.

My Beautiful Distraction
Jonny Brace introduces us to two old school friends, now grown up and apart. They meet once a year at the end of a garden to smoke and watch the clouds, but their growth apart is becoming a problem. The simplicity of this scene holds potential but demands a chemistry and natural presence on stage that was lacking between Hannah Dormer and Olive McHugh.

Moon Child
“We go to the moon when we die,” says a young daughter, moments later, she and her mother are on the moon. In bursts, a roman soldier, a beekeeper and eventually a doctor tells her it was all a fever dream of some kind. Nina Tolstoy (writer) asked interesting questions, explored mother-daughter relationships, and had moments of comedy. The problem was that these moments were so clouded by a lot of confusing events and unimaginative staging that I was left confused and underwhelmed.

The Soprano
Probably the strongest of the evening, Amalia Kontesi’s piece takes place between a soon-to-be disgraced opera conductor and his former student and lover, now cynical of his innocence as accusation crop up from other students. Performance from Veronica Sano and

Mark Keegan both have their moments and were generally believable. This was an interesting post-MeToo piece asking how we reconsider past encounters.

Winter Tales
This one has me stumped. It opens with a man miming dancing with another woman, then a couple are watching the news report of Sabina Nessa’s murder, Father Christmas sexually assaults a girl then there is something about killing Jews. I don’t understand what Alina Rios was doing. These are complex topics to make theatre about, let alone in a ten-minute scratch night of new writing, and even then this approach was scattershot and lacked any dramaturgical footing.

Review by Tom Carter

​The Reboot Festival returns to Barons Court for three weeks this October to showcase some of the most exciting emerging writers from around the world.

Each week features a different lineup of new writing gems. Book for an individual night or get a pass for the festival and don’t miss a single thing.

There’s truly something for everyone in these funny and heartbreaking gems of new writing.

Reboot Festival 2022
18 – 29 October 2022
29 November – 3 December 7.30pm
https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/

Black Friday Ticket Offers

Latest News & Reviews

Titanic the Musical at the Bridewell Theatre | Review

Twenty-one named characters plus an eleven-strong ensemble would make … [Read More...]

Wicked Announces 2024/25 London Cast

WICKED, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the … [Read More...]

She Stoops to Conquer at The Orange Tree Theatre | Review

I first read She Stoops to Conquer in 1986 whilst studying English … [Read More...]

A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic 2023 | Review

Born in 1812, Charles Dickens endured a harsh upbringing: when he was … [Read More...]

Lady J at Waterloo East Theatre | Review

This was my first visit to Waterloo East Theatre: tucked away under … [Read More...]

For Black Boys Who Have Considered… Returns to the West End

The Royal Court Theatre and Nimax Theatres have today announced that … [Read More...]

The Witches at the Olivier Theatre National Theatre | Review

Given the title of the production, a coven of fifteen witches (yes, I … [Read More...]

Copyright www.LondonTheatre1.com
By using our website you’re confirming that you’re happy to accept our use of cookies.
Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising - About Us - Newsletter - Contact Us