It’s Hard to Conceive
The Harmony Test
by Richard Molloy
Putney Theatre Company at the Antony Bridges Studio, Putney Arts Centre until 16th May
Review by Harry Zimmerman
The Harmony Test weaves together two distinct storylines, with large dollops of comedy and serious sorrowful angst in equal measure, as we follow the fortunes of two couples at very different stages of their relationship.
We firstly meet teacher Zoe and terminally unemployed actor, Kash, who are trying for a baby. Zoe takes a pragmatic, clear eyed and common-sense approach to the task with almost military precision. She has a distinct fertility plan, incorporating vitamin supplements, a strict diet, planned conception timetabling broken down into optimum times and dates and even the judicious intimate application of a bag of frozen peas to maximise the prospects of success.
Kash is more laid back, preferring to let nature take its course, although his almost puppy dog desire to be helpful and proactive extends not only to the icing of certain body parts at appropriate times, but also spending money he doesn’t have on an extremely dubious “aid” to conception from a fellow actor he bumped into in Holland and Barrett, providing one of the comedic highlights of the show.
Read more…A Musical Fable of Broadway
Guys and Dolls
by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
TOPS Musical Company at the Hampton Hill Theatre, until 16th May
Review by Polly Davies
It is hard to beat the classics, especially in this sparkling, fresh production of Frank Loesser’s romantic comedy Guys and Dolls from TOPS at the Hampton Hill Theatre. Maybe the otherwise excellent musicians could turn down the volume a little, but everything else about this show was first class. I was trying to work out why this production, which faithfully followed the familiar script, felt so fresh and modern. Then I read the programme note, which explained how director Charlie Booker had changed the gender balance in the gangster gangs; notably introducing Harriet Law as the more than equal partner to Christian Scales’ Harry the Horse; and a star performance from Jenny Simpson-Wood as the truly scary Big Jule.
Read more…Reel-to-Real
Krapp’s Last Tape
by Samuel Beckett
Godot’s To-do List
by Leo Simpe-Asante
The English Stage Company at The Royal Court Theatre, Chelsea until 30th May
Review by Patrick Shorrock
It’s quite a shock to realise that the plays of someone as implacably avant garde as Samuel Beckett are old enough to have been subject to the censorship of the Lord Chamberlain. It’s worth remembering that the Lord Chamberlain, an official of the monarch, used to have power to demand cuts in any publicly performed play until 1968.
For all that Krapp’s Last Tape had its premiere in 1958, it has not lost its modernist edge. Nevertheless, it does give away its age, from time to time, not least in its use of spools of reel-to-reel tape rather than cassettes, let alone something entirely digital. Whilst the Lord Chamberlain expressed concern about the sexual language in the 1950’s, the only trigger warning deemed necessary today is about sudden loud noise.
Read more…Seeing Red
Labour of Love
by James Graham
The Questors Theatre at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 9th May
Review by Polly Davies
What better timing is there for a political play than the week before the local elections. Except the Questors production of James Graham’s Labour of Love is not political. Well not political in the sense of Sky News or Newsnight. The razor- sharp witty script is far more about the essential nuts and bolts of politics rather than the personality dramas regularly rehashed on TV and phone screens. This is a very funny play.
Read more…Hitting Home
The Sweet Science of Bruising
by Joy Davidson
The Questors Theatre at the Questors Studio, Ealing until 2nd May
Review by Alex Tustin
I was somewhat surprised to learn that women’s boxing was not included in the Olympic Games until London 2012. It must have been one of the last sports to reach gender parity. It had taken a long time to be accepted. The Sweet Science of Bruising takes us right back to its earliest days and is set in 1876 in Victorian London. And although the play professes to be about female competitive boxing it is actually about so much more than that.
Read more…Looking Into the Heart of Light
The Waste Land
by T S Eliot
Q Extra at the Questors Studio, Ealing, 27thApril
Review by Polly Davies
With the world in its current state or turmoil it is important to step out of the constant news cycle now and again. Maybe this is why this workshop needed overflow seating as the audience flowed in and quickly filled the seats in the small Studio at the Questors. Or maybe many in the audience had, like me, studied and loved this enigmatic poem when young and welcomed the chance to renew their acquaintance with it. In either case it worked.
The intimacy of the Studio space was ideal and Guy Smith’s thoughtful introduction set out the context — Eliot’s personal turmoil, the failure of his marriage, the environment of the country post-World War One and the influence of Ezra Pound on his work.
Broken Winged Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Ellen Kent Productions, Richmond Theatre until 23rd April, then on tour until 15th May as part of the Ellen Kent Farewell Tour
Review by Heather Moulson
It’s 1904 in Nagasaki. Against a backdrop of a lovely Japanese house, surrounded by vibrant colourful flowers and blossom, all seems idyllic. What could possibly go wrong in such a beautiful setting?
But, for this tragic and iconic tale of devotion and betrayal, the floral setting is pure irony.
Read more…Tilting with Flair
Don Quixote
by Carlos Acosta after Marius Petipa, music by Ludwig Minkus
Birmingham Royal Ballet at The Sadler’s Wells, Islington until 25th April
Review by Ravenna Vale
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Don Quixote, under the direction and choreography of Carlos Acosta, is nothing short of a visual and musical feast, an evening where classical ballet tradition meets theatrical brilliance with irresistible flair. This production does not merely revive a beloved classic; it reimagines it with intelligence, warmth, and a palpable sense of joy that radiates from stage to audience.
From the very first moments in the bustling morning market scene, the production announces its ambition. The town square is alive, bursting with movement, colour, and detail. The ensemble here deserves particular praise. Their energy is electric, their precision razor sharp, yet nothing feels mechanical. Every dancer contributes to the illusion of a living, breathing Spanish village. It is one of those rare moments in ballet where the corps de ballet does not simply support the action, they are the action.
Read more…Persuasive Persuasion
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, adapted by Sarah Rose Kearns.
Q2 and BCP at The National Archives, Kew until 25thApril
Review by Andrew Lawston
I ought to come clean, and please don’t tell my mother, but I’ve never read Persuasion. So I entered the National Archives for this Q2 and BCP co-production of Sarah Rose Kearns’s adaptation with some trepidation but an open mind. Having read pretty much everything else by Jane Austen, I was expecting a romantic tale of multiple marriages, complicated by a bounder, and in this I was of course not disappointed. If you ever find yourself in a similar position, you can always spot the dashing leading man as he’ll be the one wearing the nicest frock coat.
Persuasion stands out among Austen’s works in that her protagonist Anne Elliot is more mature, though this means she has reached the venerable age of twenty-seven. The story is effectively a second chance romance, chronicling her relationship with the gallant Captain Wentworth, with whom she broke off an engagement at the age of just nineteen.
Read more…Spar Treatment
Private Lives
by Noël Coward
Reading Rep Productions at the Reading Rep Theatre until 9thMay
Review by Sam Martin
Reading Rep’s Private Lives is a fizzing, gloriously overblown revival that understands exactly where the comedy in Coward’s classic lies. It embraces the play’s “hysterical nonsense” with confidence and flair, allowing the absurdity of the plot to generate an evening filled with laughter from start to finish. This is a thoroughly entertaining production, driven by exceptional acting across the company, sharp comic timing, and a bold sense of theatricality that suits the material perfectly.
At its heart, Private Lives is a play about incompatibility, and this production leans into that brilliantly. The exaggerated nuances of each character sharpen the sense that these are couples fundamentally ill-matched, and that misalignment becomes the engine of both the humour and the jealousy. What could risk becoming merely brittle instead feels buoyant and alive, because every emotional outburst, every withering glance and every piece of comic business is played with clarity and purpose. The result is a production that revives the play not as a polite period piece, but as a vibrant, larger-than-life comedy of romantic chaos.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 