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

There is a song, Angles, by Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, about how nothing is as clear cut and simple as it might seem. In just three minutes and 56 seconds it speeds through four characters, all connected by one incident that has terrible consequences for all involved. Except each character sees themselves as the good guy, and views others involved as the bad one, as the one that is the cause of so many of society’s problems. Look ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

Social inequality is the theme that binds Killymuck and Box Clever together, a double bill of one woman shows at The Bunker. But there is so much else that links these shows. Both have powerful performances from their sole actor, exploring the lives of young women affected by the simple fact they were born into poverty and social inequality, and both are a mixture of laughter and seriousness as they try to present their topics in a way that will ...

Wolfie is a play that is surely destined for a longer life than its few weeks at Theatre503

Homegrown Festival: Occupy He. She. Him. Her. They.  Such little words but with so much meaning.  But as Elise Heaven tells us, gender is a social construct.  There are people who don’t identify as he or she, otherwise known as non-binary.  Such as Elise Heaven, who isn’t he or she, but as is Elise’s wish, the pronoun to use is “they”.  Except they is singular, not plural.  Well that’s going to mess my editor’s head up, that’s for sure. [Ed: ...

Homegrown Festival: Occupy There is an incredible buzz in the building tonight for the grand opening of Battersea Arts Centre’s Homegrown Festival: Occupy, an almost month-long takeover of this lovely old building, by under represented voices.  There is nothing quite like the hum of so many excited and engaged youngsters to make you smile and savour the energy and joy they can generate.  It’s almost worth going along just to sit and enjoy that feeling, but then again, whilst you ...

We Know Now Snowmen Exist takes its inspiration from real life, if very loosely. In 1959 nine people died during a trek in the Dyatlov Pass, Russia, in some very strange circumstances indeed. It’s an incident that has become so infamous that Dyatlov Pass is even named after the leader of the hike. It’s an incident that has been the source of myth and speculation ever since.  Writer Michael Spencer clearly loves a horror yarn, transferring the story from Russia to ...