LondonTheatre1

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

View All Shows Booking Now
  • Home
  • Top Selling Shows
    • Musicals
    • Plays
      • A Christmas Carol
      • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
      • The Mousetrap
      • The Woman in Black
      • Witness for the Prosecution
    • & Juliet
    • 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
    • Only Fools and Horses
    • Pretty Woman the Musical
    • The Book of Mormon
    • The Drifters Girl
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • Piccadilly Theatre
      • Richmond Theatre
      • Savoy Theatre
      • Trafalgar Theatre
  • News
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • UK Shows
    • Alexandra Theatre
    • Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
    • Brighton Theatre Royal
    • Bristol Hippodrome
      • Bristol Theatre Seating Plan
    • Edinburgh Playhouse
    • Glasgow Theatre Royal
    • Grand Opera House York
    • King’s Theatre Glasgow
    • Kit Kat Club London
    • 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
Home » Reviews » Review of LADYLOGUE at Tristan Bates Theatre- CAMDEN FRINGE 2015

Review of LADYLOGUE at Tristan Bates Theatre- CAMDEN FRINGE 2015

August 20, 2015 Last updated: April 28, 2018 9:07 pm By Terry Eastham

LadylogueAnother visit to the Camden Fringe and another fine show. That’s my top level view of the Thelmas production of “Ladylogue!” at the Tristan Bates Theatre.

This particular show consisted of six one act plays all written and performed by women. We started off with “Ghost” by Lucy Foster. In a small bedroom a young lady by the name of Alex (Kim Burnett) is getting ready for a job interview. In a Bridget Jones way she has a self-help book on interviewing skills and is practicing everything from her firm handshake to decide if she is a people person or not. As she prepares, she talks about herself, her relationship with her parents, particularly her mother, and her older sister, Sally – and we come to realise that who initially came across as quite a fluffy type of girl is in fact a deeply troubled person whose insecurities, started as a child, have come to dominate her later in life.

Story number 2 was Madeline Gould’s “Ladykiller” and I can’t tell you very much about it as this has to be spoiler free. What I can say is that the action concerns a hotel chambermaid (Hannah McClean) who has done something very bad indeed. All I am going to say is that Madeline has written a truly awesome script and Hannah performed one of the finest pieces of acting I have ever seen – and going by the shocked reaction of the audience around me, I wasn’t the only one to think that way.

Play number three was the wonderfully titled “My Sons are Doctors” by Mina Maisuria. In a supermarket toilet, a young Indian lady (Asha Kingsley) rushes in to avoid Mrs Patel. Her reason for this avoidance? Well, there are a few but mainly it’s about societal expectations. After all, Mrs Patel’s sons are all doctors – as she is proud of boasting – whilst our heroine has been through a horrendous tragedy in her life and now dotes on her son, who she spoils rotten. You get the feeling that she needs help, as she has never got over previous events and feels isolated from those happy, successful people around her.

If you want a salutary lesson on the good and evil of social media, then play number four “Family (Mis) fortunes” – written and performed by Maria Yarjah – is the play for you. A young girl is living her life and sharing everything on Facebook – especially her love and relationship status. Well everyone does it, don’t they? Unfortunately for her, all of her, rather conservative, family are her friends on Facebook and, especially in the case of her father, definitely do not approve of the things she is doing – particularly the ‘partying’ boyfriend. This leads to a final showdown all of which is captured and spread through the power of the same social media the girl used to show how great her life was.

On to the penultimate play – “The Night Tella” by Sarah Milton. In what we assume is a hospital room, a young girl (Joana Nastari) is talking to her friend Amanda – who appears to be in a coma following a horrific attack – and trying to get her to wake up by reminding her of things that have happened to the two of them. Now, I will be honest and say that I really didn’t get on with this piece – poetry and I are not comfortable bedfellows – but my companion really liked it and even a poetic philistine like me could see the work and skill that had gone both into writing the piece and the performance itself.

Finally, we were treated to “Zero” by Serena Haywood. Sarah Cowen is keeping an online blog as a way of dealing with her agoraphobia. Her room has become her spaceship and the world outside is the vastness of space. Many times she sets off for a space-walk but never quite makes it through the ‘airlock’ despite the, often lukewarm, support of her blog readers. And then one day, she decides enough is enough and gets ready to put the ship into self-destruct mode until something occurs which may give her the courage to take that ‘small step for woman’

So, six plays from six writers covering a range of subjects, “Ladylogue!” was a really great piece of theatre that I and my companion enjoyed and talked about for quite a while after. We both agreed that “Ladykiller” was the outstanding piece of the show and had quite a heated debate about the nuances of “The Night Tella” which, at times hinted at a story behind the story. A thoroughly enjoyable and thought provoking evening that delivered some excellent entertainment great performances to an appreciative audience.

4 stars

Review by Terry Eastham

The Thelmas return to the Tristan Bates Theatre with 6 new one-woman shorts, written by some of the UK’s finest emerging, female playwrights. Be they hopeful or just plain hopeless, these tales reveal the inner lives of women dealing with whatever the world throws at them, by all means necessary!

Directed by Madelaine Moore. Produced by Madelaine Moore & Claire Evans.
Written by Lucy Foster, Madeline Gould, Serena Haywood, Mina Maisuria, Sarah Milton and Maria Yarjah
Twitter: @thethelmas
www.thethelmas.co.uk

Tuesday 18th – Saturday 22nd August, 6.00pm
Tickets £12 / £10 concessions
http://tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/

Thursday 20th August 2015

Search for Tickets
A Streetcar Named Desire

Wish You Were Dead at Theatre Royal Brighton

Wish You Were Dead is the sixth of Peter James’ crime novels to be adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna, each featuring the enigmatic Superintendent … [Read More...]

Flabbergast Theatre presents Macbeth at Southwark Playhouse

The need to come up with a fresh take on something as renowned as Shakespeare’s Macbeth is understandable. But I trust it is not too much to ask to be … [Read More...]

Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley at Stones Nest

The text of James Baldwin and William F. Buckley’s 1965 Cambridge Union opposing speeches should be part of the national curriculum. For this reason … [Read More...]

Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

The death of Giuseppe Pinelli (1928-1969) by defenestration, the anarchist in the title of the play, was not at the forefront of very many, if any, … [Read More...]

Marjorie Prime at Menier Chocolate Factory

When our loved ones die, many of us wish that we could have spent more time with them. Alas, it is not possible and things that were unsaid when they … [Read More...]

London Theatre 1 and London Theatre One are Registered Trademarks Copyright 2023 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

As an Amazon Associate our website receives a commission from qualifying purchases from Amazon.