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Off West End

Ah, the Off West End. For those not familiar with the term, this is where the real magic of the London theatre scene happens. Great shows are born here, in pubs, in 50-seat theatres, in tunnels. Recommended for the adventurous – we can’t get enough of it, and you’ll save a quid or two as well!

War with the Newts, The Bunker – Review

Pro’s: A bright young cast with a concept that dares to be different. Con’s: The promise of an immersive experience never quite materialises in the true sense of the word. Southwark Street is fast becoming South London’s answer to the North’s Upper Street. The Bunker, Menier Chocolate Factory and Katzpace, three fringe theatres all located within a five minute walk of each other. Tonight The Bunker certainly lived up to its name, situated at the end of a long ramp ...

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Love, Genius and a Walk, Drayton Arms Theatre – Review

Pros: A potted history of artistic life in early 20th century Vienna, seen through the eyes of a 21st century writer. Music, architecture, art and psychoanalysis. From Freud to Jung, Klimt to Kokoschka, they all get a look in. Cons: Words get the better of everyone, on and off Sigmund’s couch. If music is the food of love, here both are thwarted in this tale of two composers, one triumphant, the other downtrodden. Gustav Mahler and Sigmund Freud meet in Leiden and ...

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit …, Finborough Theatre – Review

Pros: A great comic turn from Cariad Lloyd, bouncing (sometimes literally) off an equally fine Rob Crouch. Cons: It’s not a title that slips of the tongue is it!  And if the title offends, then so will the play. So let’s start by getting that title out of the way.  I mean really, why would any sane person call a play A funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Of New York? Perhaps ...

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Jekyll and Hyde, Chickenshed – Review

Pros: Immersive and beautiful staging Cons: Slightly difficult to follow This musical adaptation sees Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale transplanted from its original Edinburgh setting to a smoggy, dark and dingy Victorian London. That setting is stunningly brought to life through the staging, which immerses the audience from the moment they approach the theatre door with faded notices adorning soot-covered red brick walls. The classic nineteenth-century urban street setting – worthy of Oliver or Les Mis – gives the cast a huge stage to work ...

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