Everything Theatre Reviews, interviews and news for theatre lovers, London and beyond

Pros: A powerful, charged work featuring a strong central character Cons: The second performer appears awkward, never having seen the script before; neither actor produces emotional engagement A man and a woman stand in front of microphones on a largely bare stage, their actions filmed from two angles and projected onto a screen behind them. She’s confident and authoritative, as well she might be, for she both devised and wrote this play. He’s nervous, unsure of himself; he’s never seen ...

Pros: An enjoyable, fun show.  Excellent cast and venue. Cons: Will not work if you are not familiar with the original Fairy Tales. The problem with seeing a family show on press night is that the ratio of adults to children can be a bit skewed. Happily, there were a couple of fairly large school groups attending on the night to balance out the adults and provide a noisy air of excitement. The production is perfect for this venue, but ...

A relaxing evening of storytelling for grown-ups. Entertaining but bland.

A brilliantly entertaining send up of disaster movies.

Perfect theatre for those who enjoy hauntingly beautiful love stories.

Pros: Striking design, beautiful dancing and a focus on building new audiences Cons: Sometimes felt more like a PR stunt than it should have done The New English Ballet Theatre is a young ‘neoclassical’ ballet company whose (admirable) mission is to  create opportunities for excellence across the creative spectrum of dance. Everyone is an impeccably trained dancer. The rest of the team commit earnestly to outreach with a ‘Ballet Boot Camp’ for bloggers,  music festival gigs and more. Now, Quint-Essential: ...

Pros: Well-executed choreography Cons: The ‘princess’ failed to connect with the audience Do not be fooled by the title – Stuart Saint’s Princess is an unconventional tale of feminism expressed through movement and an electro-pop soundtrack. Not expecting a dance piece, I was surprised by this 65 minute show that features non-stop movement by six talented female and male dancers/actors, accompanied by the protagonist princess played by Jennie Dickie. Throughout the piece we see the journey of the princess, who ...

Pros: A high-energy cast kept up the pace with talent and panache. Cons: The syrupy storyline oversimplified the serious and difficult subject matter. Rumpy Pumpy takes its inspiration from the true story of Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels, two women who campaigned for the legalisation of prostitution in 2006, following outrage over the murder of six sex workers in Ipswich. As part of their research these two formidable women travelled the world in pursuit of the “perfect brothel” in an ...

A play about terrorism that approaches a hot topic with lukewarm arguments.

Ahead of the revival of Her Aching Heart at The Hope Theatre, producer Andrea Leoncini talks risk, reinvention, and putting LGBT stories in the spotlight.