“I am authentic Basildon, I am”, is the phrase with which we are welcomed to the regional premiere of In Basildon, the hit show by David Eldridge, that opened to critical acclaim at the Royal Court in 2012. Although the atmosphere of having this show performed to a local audience was electric, this production leaves a lot to be desired, outside occasional flashes of brilliance. The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is an impressive size, but Director Douglas Rintoul has made the ...

The charming Jack Studio Theatre in South East London excels at historic drama productions, and the The Silence of Snow: The Life of Patrick Hamilton is another fine string in their bow. Mark Farrelly plays the great English writer Patrick Hamilton (who produced hit plays Rope (filmed by Hitchcock) and Gaslight, and wrote classic novels Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky, Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude) – as well as everyone else in his life in this energetic ...

So what do you do when Claire Foy steals your dream role? Well it’s obvious; you write and perform your own version of The Crown and get your agent to play the male parts. Well at least that’s the plan in the incredibly likeable Crown Dual, now playing at the King’s Head in Islington. Agent Stanley Diamond (Brendon Murphy) had promised client Beth Buckingham (Rosie Holt) an audition for Netflix series The Crown. But he kinda sorta forgot to send ...

What can a play tell us about the world – more than half a century after its debut? I may as well ask why people still watch Shakespeare, but in the case of recent history, I always find myself wondering. Why now? Much like the Bard, it seems that racism will, sadly, always be relevant. Blood Knot is a play about apartheid in South Africa. Athol Fugard’s play about two brothers, one black, one white, premiered in 1961, one year ...

This was my first visit to Above The Stag’s latest premises, and I think it’s the slickest building they’ve inhabited to date. It’s still under railway arches with regular distracting rumbles from the trains, but there’s a large bar area to accommodate waiting audiences, and the main theatre (there’s also a studio space now) is well-designed with a nice stage;seating ratio. Having been a patron of the venue since it actually was above The Stag pub in Victoria, I’m always ...

Only last week I was writing “how adults can instil a sense of adventure into children”. Those words rung even more true tonight as a packed audience watched in pure delight this group of youths perform; a group so clearly inspired by people such as Conrad Murray, one of the men behind BAC Beatbox Academy, the makers and performers of Frankenstein. Conrad acted like the proud father as he introduced not just the show but other members of the academy, ...

Spectators expecting to receive an interpretation of Richard Foreman’s Pain(t) might be utterly disappointed, as this play is intended to be entirely devoid of meaning. This is by admission of Patrick Kennedy, the creative mind behind this European premiere of Foreman’s 1974 play, which is part of a triple bill, celebrating the author’s 50th anniversary of theatrical engagement. In 70 minutes a number of scenes follow each other, connected merely by the recurrence of the same characters. Each vignette revolves ...

Formed in 1993, Yamato has performed shows every year, in 54 countries and carried out nine world tours.  That should give an idea of their universal appeal and high standard of musicianship.  For this show, the ten strong troupe performed a number of pieces, almost non stop, on the theme of passion.  There were small drums, medium sized drums, large drums and couple of ginormous ones. There were wind instruments, other percussion, some singing, some strings, and did I mention ...

Feed presents the surreal and dangerous of online life - high melodrama rather than social critique.”

It’s 1942 in a transit camp in Holland. Four Jewish detainees make up the camp’s concert party: impresario Victor (Lloyd Morris), dancer Anna (Faye Maghan), her sister Millie (Eloise Jones) and Anna’s lover Peter (Nick Devallé). When Millie discovers that their sick mother, Ette (Cate Morris), has been put on the notorious Tuesday List for transportation to a concentration camp the sisters form a plan of action: to ingratiate themselves with the camp’s commandant, Conrad (Mike Duran), in order to ...