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Yearly Archives: 2019

Queen of the Mist, Jack Studio Theatre – Review

On the cusp of the 20th century, Anna Edson Taylor hit the headlines as the first woman to descend the Niagara Falls and survive. Trained as a physical education teacher and widowed soon after marriage, she found herself heavily indebted and resorted to the daring deed as a way to escape poverty, with a promise for future fame and recognition. Already attempted unsuccessfully by several men and women, her ride was negotiated inside a bespoke pickle barrel, made of oak ...

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The Fatal Eggs, Barons Court Theatre – Review

I really wanted to enjoy So It Goes Theatre’s The Fatal Eggs. I really really did. Having thoroughly enjoyed their reworking of Dante’s Divine Comedy at the same venue previously, I was hopeful that returning again would give witness to another piece of creative theatre. And yes, much like Divine Comedy, they make use of the compact space available, incorporating some lovely visual trickery and some rather subversive direction in an attempt to bring the story to life. But it just doesn’t ...

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Little Potatoes, Old Red Lion Theatre – Review

A rapid return to the Old Red Lion in Islington is always a welcome diversion. A delicious moo pie and pint set me up nicely for Little Potatoes, a tale of matchmaking mums at the Shanghai marraige market, as they aim to get their children hitched. Liuyang (Sarah Curwen) is a teacher and striving to get her daughter Meihua married off. Family Planning Officer Hong (Michelle Wen Lee) has a game-obsessed son who dreams of being an artist. The two ...

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After the Dance, Bridewell Theatre – Review

Taking place at company Sedos’ own residence at Bridewell Theatre on the edge of the City, the not-so-amateur collective brings their rendering of Terence Rattigan’s inter-war drama, After the Dance, to life. The play was written on the eve of the Second World War, and suffered as a result – the looming declaration of the war caused audiences to fizzle out after its debut, and it took a 90s BBC TV adaptation to reanimate it, and a prominent 2010 revival ...

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Butterfly Power, Rosemary Branch Theatre – Review

“Cigarette, dear?”“No thank you, dear.”“I think I might have a cigarette, dear.”“No you won’t, dear.”“Very well, dear.” And so the scene is set: in two inflatable armchairs, presided over by a goldfish on a gold pedestal, sit Mr and Mrs Fox. She – in a luminous, captivating performance by Alice Marshall – is domineering, supercilious, wilfully mispronouncing words and oblivious to the feelings of those around her; he – a foppish, Wooster-like Jack J Fairley – is an ineffectual, waistcoated ...

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WOW Everything Is Amazing, Battersea Arts Centre – Review

At a time when Westminster, it seems, can’t look as far as next week with any confidence, asking a group of fifteen young people from Deptford to look fifty years into the future feels a timely political act. Indeed, WOW Everything is Amazing is a headliner of Battersea Arts Centre’s Homegrown: Occupy Festival which focuses on under-represented communities. So far so worthy. It seems, however, the ‘worthy memo’ didn’t quite reach the show’s diverse ensemble (aged 12-21) who devised the performance as ...

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A Comedy About a Bank Robbery, Criterion Theatre – Review

Mischief Theatre’s third West End production is three years old tonight. From the team that brought us The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong comes another huge hit in the form of a farcical American crime caper. When two felons hatch a plan to break out of the British Columbia Penitentiary in an attempt to steal a prized diamond, it seems that everyone wants a piece of the action and to come along for the ride. Like ...

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The Last Will and Testament of Henry Van Dyke, Tabard Theatre – Review

There is a fine line between being clever and being a little too clever for your own good. The Last Will and Testament of Henry Van Dyke is a play that tiptoes precariously along that line, spending time on either side through its 50-minute duration. Without doubt writer Karrim Jalali manages to create two well rounded characters, simply called Person 1 and Person 2. Both are beautifully brought to life by the chemistry between actors Nathan Wright and Niall Murphy. ...

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The Pitchfork Disney, Ovalhouse – Review

The Pitchfork Disney, Philip Ridley’s debut 1991 play, aims to do two things. Firstly, to disturb the audience (it was credited with introducing “in-yer-face” theatre following its 1991 debut) and secondly, to leave you questioning what it was all about.  Somna Theatre Company, clearly working on a shoestring budget, make a good effort to do both in the small confines of the Upstairs Theatre at Oval House. From the moment we enter our two siblings, Presley and Haley Stray (Pip ...

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The Noises, Old Red Lion Theatre – Review

In the pet stakes no animal comes remotely close to dogs; man’s best friend has become a fully-fledged member of the family. No longer bred for a purely functional purpose, dogs have assimilated human characteristics and a unique personality. This heavily socialised world of a canine is explored in The Noises, a story that concentrates on a dog called Luna, played by Lucy McAllister. Luna’s been a very naughty dog and is now locked in what appears to be the ...

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