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

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 ...

As you enter the small 60-seater basement space of the Pleasance Theatre you see a cast of five: three musicians playing Eastern European folk music on a cello, a guitar and an accordion, with two young men unaccountably wearing dresses, swaying in time to the music. Enter Madame Fanny (Kate Stokes), who’s also credited as the lead writer. She explains that it’s some time in the late 18th Century, and that she’s about to relate tales of her travelling exploits. ...

It’s 1942 in a transit camp in Holland. Four Jewish detainees make up the camp’s concert party: impresario Victor (Lloyd Morris), dancer Anna (Faye Maghan), her sister Millie (Eloise Jones) and Anna’s lover Peter (Nick Devallé). When Millie discovers that their sick mother, Ette (Cate Morris), has been put on the notorious Tuesday List for transportation to a concentration camp the sisters form a plan of action: to ingratiate themselves with the camp’s commandant, Conrad (Mike Duran), in order to ...

Entering the small space to the sound of gunfire we saw all four cast members on stage in poses hinting at their roles to come.  Some of the audience seating was a bit wobbly, but it was a short production and engrossing enough to detract from any discomfort.  Firstly, new teenage mother Leanne (Anna Hallas Smith) is being interviewed about her three day old baby son, Jax.  The interviewer (David Leik) is from DOLCO -Department of Life Choice Options – ...

A bare footed lady, head to foot in black, slowly walks from behind us to the stage. It’s a compelling sight to open any play. But it’s not the first thing that stands out for Everything Theatre’s first visit to Ram Jam Records in Kingston. Before the show even starts there is the delight of discovering this venue, hidden away behind the Grey Horse Pub, just a couple of minutes’ walk from both bus and train stations. For a lover of good ...

Following texted directions to the secret location “somewhere on the Victoria Line”, you make your way to a disused warehouse on the outskirts of town. Welcomed by a woman dressed as a 1930s aviator, speaking an imaginary language that hovers somewhere between Japanese and Klingon, you’re handed a beer – never a bad thing in a theatre – and led into the dining room. This turns out to be a vast octagonal space, hosting a dozen round 8-seater tables, mounted ...

Playwright James Saunders presents us with a classic scenario. A younger couple and an older couple gather together in a living-room, having not seen each other for nine years. Each spouse has cheated with the spouse of the other, and no-one is really sure why they agreed to meet. Chaos ensues; drama is born. This is the first staging of Bodies since 1979. Certainly Saunders is not a playwright I’ve encountered much in my long and lovely affair with drama. ...

The residents of Avenue Q are a somewhat peculiar pick ‘n’ mix of colourful puppets, unlikely couples and a monster or two, all sharing in dreams, concerns and uncensored humour. It’s children’s programme styling -denoted by chirpy repetitive tunes, bright colours and teaching video-esque animation screens- paired with it’s very adult content, made for an atmosphere of juxtaposition in which the very upfront nature of this shows comedy absolutely thrived. Avenue Q is able to effortlessly weave the hysterically obscene ...

Stratford Circus is the younger, sleeker looking neighbour to the Theatre Royal Stratford East.  Living in the shadow of a theatrical giant is no easy task, but I’m pleased to report the Circus occupies its own niche, with a wide range of community-based productions. Flight Paths draws inspiration from the Goze; blind female storytellers and musicians who travelled the length and breadth of medieval Japan, making a living from performing epic tales. Two blind performers, Amelia Cavallo and Sarah Houbolt, ...

As a Londoner born and bred, a book lover and aspiring writer to boot, I am ashamed to admit I’d never heard of the London Library. Tucked away in St James’s Square, just behind Piccadilly, it houses over one million books. First editions, antiquities and periodicals stretching back five centuries; a treasure trove of history, knowledge and wisdom. How could I not have known about this place? Another startling fact: Bram Stoker joined the library in 1890 and did his ...