It’s the impossibly distant year 2020, and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. King Nigel Farage rules the Disunited Kingdom of England and Northern Ireland, and Trump’s popularity is higher than ever: “He gave us our jobs back,” exclaims one satisfied voter, “I’m now a full-time Muslim hunter.” Trump The Musical plays, as the central character tells us, to “the biggest musical theatre crowd there has ever been”. A riotous evening of song and dance, satire and ...

A celebration of life, and a reminder that the fight is far from over.

The posters displayed around the always welcoming lobby of Waterloo East Theatre ask the questions “Love Kylie? Love the 90s? Love Soap?”. The worrying thing is I can confidently state the answer is “no” to two of these questions; as for the 90s, I have vague recollections of them, usually of being in some dark dingy venue watching long forgotten bands. So even before taking my seat I was a little concerned I was not the shows target audience. Thankfully ...

A winning romp of a musical

This production could easily be dropped into a West End venue

Having only lasted two weeks on Broadway in 2002 Amour has finally moved across the pond to try its luck closer to its French setting, with its London debut at the Charing Cross Theatre. Its hard to work out who to attribute blame to in this stoney production, but with moments of brightness it isn’t a completely wasted evening. Following bank clerk Dusoleil (Gary Tushaw), whose lonely existence is transformed by the ability to walk through walls, the story is ...

The Astonishing Singing Fish! is sweet, charming, and tremendously funny.

This musical will make you smile!

OVO Theatre’s Twelfth Night opens with Viola and Sebastian performing their dance double-act on a cruise ship. This scene sets up many of the themes and problems that continue throughout the show. These include raucous humour that’s like jazz hands tirelessly shaking for 95 minutes, with the plot being used as a means of taking a step towards the next laugh, the next spectacular event of debauchery. Also a lack of consistent focus; seemingly clever suggestions that subtly reveal some ...

Emily Hutt’s tell-all cabaret on the 1930’s limelight icon Mae West follows almost pedantically the chronology of her life events, to the detriment of a sought-after dramatic climax. West – embodied by the talented Bella Bevan – takes centre stage with the accompaniment of pianist Kieran Stallard, and alternates tales from her past with some of her most recognisable songs. A promising opening scene involves some of the biting one-liners that made the artist famous, smattered with sexual innuendos and ...