Pre show, I grabbed a flyer for Sh!tfaced Shakespeare. The early signs were not promising; according to said blurb the show features a cast of professional Shakespearian actors; each night one lucky victim is selected and carefully intoxicated for up to four hours prior to the show. The remaining sober cast members then have to navigate their way around the play with their drunken comrade in tow. The play was introduced by the compare, a blonde sequinned ringmaster who screamed ...

Kudos to the Pleasance for snaffling this big, brash and brilliantly executed Australian export for us lucky Londoners. It’s timely too, providing a perfect antidote to the doom-laden predictions dominating our current news agenda.  The show sets out its desire to perk us up and help us find our mojos by having Haddaway’s classic ‘What is Love?’ pumping over speakers as we take our seats. OK, it’s mashed up with Australian political speeches, but it’s that kind of evening.    ...

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 ...

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 hugely funny and moving one-woman-show, wonderfully staged and my oh my, what a sexy lamp.

A dark comedy about ageing that sails exceptionally close to the wind.

A tasting menu of nine short, sharp, witty plays that leaves you fully sated

Is mental health funny? Is it acceptable to laugh about depression? Fledgling Theatre, makers of Neck or Nothing, definitely vote yes.  The good news is they have created a warm, accessible and laugh-out-loud show as a result. It might well prompt a few of the ‘checking in’ conversations men are increasingly encouraged to have with their mates too. This is presumably why charity CALMZone has backed the project and why there are Q&As with them about the issue planned at ...

a hilarious, informative, moving, and inspiring tribute’

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 ...