The infamous Sh!t Faced Showtime are back in London with a festive edition, they have taken Dickens’ classic and put a drunken spin on it. The formula is the same as other iterations of the Shi!t Faced shows, one member of the cast has been boozing, and this time it is John Milton who plays … More A PISSEDMAS CAROL – REVIEW – LEICESTER SQUARE
Drum roll please…(Cue a literal drum rolling across the stage.) The Lyric pantomime is one of traditions with the return of many well-loved jokes and skits. Costumes and sets are all made at the Lyric itself by Good Teeth, with set pieces being reused year on year. This year Cinderella gets the Hammersmith makeover, with … More CINDERELLA – REVIEW – LYRIC HAMMERSMITH
Wishmas is a 60-minute walkthrough immersive experience consisting of 6 magical rooms filled with colourful characters and activities. As you help save wishes alongside the Wishkeepers, reindeer, and the big man himself, to ensure no wish is forgotten. Each room has its own theme – from a train simulator with wonderful soaring scenery video projections, … More WISHMAS: A FANTASTICAL CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE – REVIEW
What appears at first as two latecomers arriving, taking seats at the front row as the house lights dim is the first of many sly twists in this gently metaphysical comedy from writer/director Maggie Marie Casto. Oddly, the young couple (Bailey & Clay) appear from the side of the stage not accessible by the public, … More WEIRD PLACE – REVIEW – UNION THEATRE
When Annie first hit Broadway in 1977, it won a Tony award for Best Musical as well as Best Actress for Dorothy Loudon as Miss Hannigan and has been a staple of the musical theatre canon ever since. Yet perhaps more famous than Loudon is the original young prodigy, Andrea Macardle, whose enormous belt has … More ANNIE – REVIEW – NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE
This month, The Finborough Theatre ends the 35 year absence of Ena Lamont Stewart’s Knocking on the Wall from UK theatres. Despite Stewart’s success with the postwar realist drama Men Should Weep, the rest of her work has never really entered the mainstream, and thus it is wonderful to see the Finborough raise an important … More KNOCKING ON THE WALL – REVIEW – FINBOROUGH THEATRE
There are a huge amount of film-to-musical adaptations currently on, or coming soon, to the West End, and the latest is The Time Traveller’s Wife. The 2003 novel has been adapted into a film, a TV series, and now a musical, with music and lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart, and a book by … More THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE – REVIEW – APOLLO THEATRE
Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted for the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892 – no one else was ever charged with the murders. The case garnered widespread media attention at the time, and remains a topic of popular culture today, with a large number of films, theatre … More LIZZIE THE MUSICAL – REVIEW – SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE ELEPHANT
My first confession is that I do very much heart Michael Ball. In this show, which begins as a semi-immersive meeting of the Michael Ball fan club, I was grateful not to be picked on as writer/performer Alex Millington turned to audience members in the intimate space of the Old Red Lion Theatre, asking them … More I HEART MICHAEL BALL – REVIEW – OLD RED LION THEATRE
The stage is suitably spooky with the heavy haze of dry ice and rumbling soundtrack, swallowed up into the shadowy rafters of the erstwhile St Mary’s Church space, now the Colchester Arts Centre, the host venue of writer/director Noah Alfred Pantano’s 2023 Fringe entry. The air is thick with disquiet and threat of menace even … More STANDING ON A NAIL: A QUEER HORROR STORY – REVIEW – COLCHESTER FRINGE
Carrie Cracknell’s revival of Marina Carr’s rich and mythical tragedy sees its titular character fall into a long-festering wound in a revival that leans into the lyricism of its backdrop. It’s Portia’s 30th birthday, and she spends it drinking whiskey and lingering at home, in the pub, and by the Belmont River where she goes … More PORTIA COUGHLAN – REVIEW – ALMEIDA THEATRE
It is amazing how little the world knows about one of its most famous writers. There are countless books and films about the secret, everyday life of William Shakespeare. With Hamnet, the Royal Shakespeare Company tells the domestic part of the story; it is a story about love, trust, loss, and all the little aspects that … More HAMNET – REVIEW – GARRICK THEATRE
I entered the Breaking Bad parody musical (or methsical, as it brands itself) at the Turbine Theatre with trepidation. Taking on more than 61 hours of television in a 2 hour show is bold, even if parodying it, and the pace of Rob Gathercole’s musical is testament to this. Series three, for example, is condensed … More FAKING BAD: THE UNAUTHORIZED PARODY METHSICAL – REVIEW – TURBNE THEATRE
Michael Frayn’s 1982 comedy Noises Off has had a successful lifespan of different productions over the years. This current production, directed by Lindsay Posner, was first presented at Theatre Royal Bath in September 2022. It then had a run at the Phoenix Theatre at the beginning of 2023 and has now returned to Theatre Royal … More NOISES OFF – REVIEW – THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET
It is often said that trauma is stored in the body. This principle underlies writer/performer Luca Rutherford’s piece You Heard Me, which over forty-five minutes uses predominantly physical theatre to demonstrate the body’s response to sexual violence as she relives the moment again and again. The story, one of being attacked whilst on a run, … More YOU HEARD ME – REVIEW – BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE
Ben Elton’s musical theatre success has been variable, We Will Rock You was famously panned by critics during its premiere, and received a similarly lukewarm response during its Coliseum run this summer. His latest musical follows the life of Twiggy, the 60s cultural icon. The set by Timothy Bird consists of white squares on the … More CLOSE-UP: THE TWIGGY MUSICAL – REVIEW – MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing is a moving, queer love story which has resonated with audiences since its premiere back in 1993 at Bush Theatre. Harvey’s play has been commended for its humour, uplifting moments, and its authentic portrayal of love in the face of adversity. Thirty years later, Beautiful Thing has returned to London under … More BEAUTIFUL THING – REVIEW – THEATRE ROYAL STRATFORD EAST
(PLEASE NOTE: This review contains spoilers!!) I left the brand-new English production of Rebecca with mixed feelings. The highs are exceptionally high: Lauren Jones as the new Mrs de Winter is outstanding. Her voice is a joy to listen to and I found myself excited every time she came on stage. Jones performed the transition … More REBECCA – REVIEW – CHARING CROSS THEATRE
Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations has been adapted by Tanika Gupta and is directed by Pooja Ghai, in this co-production between the Royal Exchange Theatre and Tamasha. Dickens’s classic story of a working-class boy becoming a gentleman still resonates today. Pip’s longing to move beyond his station, Miss Havisham’s desire for revenge against the men who have wronged … More GREAT EXPECTATIONS – REVIEW – ROYAL EXCHANGE MANCHESTER
This is a visually spectacular show which is defeated by a weak first act and the cast’s poor diction. Jesus Christ Superstar is a global commercial success and an important reference point in musical theatre history. This re-imaging of the Easter story as a sung-through rock opera premiered in 1970 and has been revived semi-regularly … More JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – REVIEW – THE PALACE THEATRE
