Hypnotic Fragility
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
Rose Theatre, Alexandra Palace, and Belgrade Theatre at The Rose Theatre, Kingston until 4th May, then on tour* until 1st June
Review by Brent Muirhouse
Upon taking a seat in the Rose Theatre, I fell into an instant hypnosis beginning on an empty stage graced with a solitary, central neon sign with the single word, ‘PARADISE’. As the dialogue began, this centrepiece spun as the narrative’s whirling pendulum, and it was clear that audiences would be treated to a mesmerizing interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ classic, The Glass Menagerie. Through a meticulous blend of visual and auditory elements, Atri Banerjee’s direction breathes a zest – an almost steely oxygen – into a tale of family, dreams, and disillusionment taking place in America’s Deep South.
Read more…Lithe Show
Sophie’s Surprise 29th
Three Legged Race at the Underbelly Boulevard, Soho until 28th June
Review by Denis Valentine
First and foremost, Sophie’s Surprise 29th is a ninety-minute highly entertaining and skilled circus-cabaret romp. All the performers are elite level talented and at the top of their craft, with credits from the likes of La Clique, The 7 Fingers, Cirque du Soleil to their names. They have come together to put together a fun and accessible close-up show environment that entertains its audience on a variety of different levels.
Read more…Elephants not Required
Aïda
by Guiseppe Verdi, libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni
Kentish Opera at The Stag, Sevenoaks until 20th April
Review by Patrick Shorrock
Verdi’s opera is a hugely demanding piece that makes exorbitant demands on any opera company, with its frequent scene changes, dance interludes, and costumes, even if, these days, there is a feeling that elephants are not actually required. It also ruthlessly exposes any vocal limitations in the cast – especially the title role – in a way that makes you question whether Verdi has provided something of a musical obstacle course rather than a beautiful musical line. However, Verdi gives his roles music that is at the limit of what singers can manage as a metaphor for people who are being put through the emotional mill and are facing the limits of what human beings can endure. That means that beautifully sung Verdi is an all too rare phenomenon and one that can endanger the credibility of the drama.
Read more…Loitering Within Tent
1 Tent 4 Girls
by Amber Charlie Conroy and Rosalie Roger-Lacan
Talkers and Doers at the New Wimbledon Theatre Studio until 13th April
Review by Heather Moulson
As we took our seats at the black box space in Wimbledon’s studio theatre, we couldn’t help but admire the four actor’s cramp-defying discipline, as they froze as a tableau there in front of us. One of them was actually horizontal. They created more impact than if they’d actually walked on. I willed the time away in empathy so they could at least move again. In the 1 Tent 4 Girls plot, their character were to freeze in a different sense, as they camp out in a tent with no guys, in several senses.
Four twenty-something girls come vibrantly to life, right up-front from the start. Laden with walking boots and punishing rucksacks, they had laboriously arrived in Wales to camp at the presciently named Worm Field in the eponymous one tent for girls. We can clearly see from the beginning that this is actually going to be a journey to Hell. With appalling weather, and a long hike to the very basic site, things could only go one way. And there is a limit to how much anyone can whistle to keep the spirits up.
Read more…Sour Puss Puts Women in a Pickle
Vinegar Tom
by Caryl Churchill
YAT at the Coward Studio, Hampton Hill Theatre until 13th April
Review by Steve Mackrell
Born out of the anger of the 1970’s feminist movement, Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom is a disturbing reminder of the past, and indeed present, oppression of women which, in this play, is exemplified using powerful images of injustice as seen through the lens of a seventeenth century witch-hunt. This ensemble production from YAT (Youth Action Theatre) in the Studio at Hampton Hill Theatre is a stark reminder of a darker past which, for many women, was filled with fear and intimidation.
Read more…Dashing
The 39 Steps
by Patrick Barlow, after John Buchan
Fiery Angel at Richmond Theatre until 6th April, then on tour until 3rd August
Review by Harry Zimmerman
I knew that we were in for an unusual night when, a full three quarters of an hour before the performance, the audience were milling around the beautiful façade of Richmond Theatre, casting admiring glances at a vintage racing car, (identical to the models that graced my very first Scalextric set when I was a young lad), as it was hoisted into position outside the theatre entrance, offering unusual selfie opportunities. Upon entering the auditorium, a selection of jazz and big-band classics from the 1930s further helped set the mood.
Read more…(Part) Finger Food
Bull and Cock’s Pies
Richmond Theatre until 1st April
Review by Avril Sunisa
The problem with being a standby drama critic is you sometimes get requests for reviews at short notice. The perk is that sometimes exclusive press performances come your way. (Alas, in my case usually once a year.) However, I was not expecting a telephone call in the small hours of a bank holiday. 2024 is however is unusual in its concurrence of Easter and the clocks being altered.
This was my excuse for not being at my most alert at 5am (or was it 4am; or 6am; which way do the clocks go in the spring?). Of course it could have my overdoing the chocolate eggs or overindulgence in the succulent lamb that Margaret, the crofter’s wife up at Killin, had given me on my pre-Easter trip to Perthshire, or more likely the excellent bottle of Hannay’s Canadian Whiskey.
There was so much crackling on the line that I thought the piggery down the road was on fire, so the detail was difficult to catch. “A review”, I thought the voice said, of “spatchcock’s pies”.
Read more…Roaring Success
The Lion Inside
by Sarah Punshon, after the story by Rachel Bright and Jim Field, music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer
Rose Original, Nicoll Entertainment, Curve, MAST Mayflower, and Unicorn Theatre co-production at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 14th April, then on tour until 29th August
Review by Steve Mackrell
Another school break providing yet another challenge for parents to conjure up some Easter entertainment to distract their youngest from holiday boredom. A helpful diversion could well be the stage adaptation at Kingston’s Rose Theatre of the popular best-selling children’s book The Lion Inside, written by Rachel Bright and Jim Field and first published in 2015. It’s a simple story of a meek mouse and a strong lion and how even the smallest of us can overcome adversity and find our true voice.
Read more…Meeting Pointed
Appraisal
by Tim Marriott
Take Note Theatre, Epsilon Productions and Smokescreen Productions at the Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick until 13th April
Review by Andrew Lawston
As popular office humour puts it, meetings are the practical alternative to work. Team meetings, interviews, catch-ups, one-to-ones, board meetings, committee meetings, follow-up meetings, pre-meeting meetings, and of course annual reviews and appraisals. Even the biggest fan of meetings – which mostly take place on company time and generally involve sitting down and eating biscuits, after all – would have to admit that they are ripe for satirical exploitation.
Tim Marriott’s one-act play Appraisal takes no prisoners, lampooning corporate newspeak and office culture, while also exposing the vicious attitudes that can lie beneath contemporary office politics, disguised with smooth words and passive-aggressive posturing.
Read more…Chocolate Tears
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics Scott Wittman, book by David Greig after Roald Dahl
Dramacube Productions, Twickenham Purple B Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 23rd March
Review by Gill Martin
It’s a recipe for success. Toe-tapping live music, exuberant ensemble, hilarious comedy characters, crackling script and….chocolate. You couldn’t pack more scrumptious calories into one production without inducing a diabetic fit.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Willy Wonka, the crazy character imagined in Roald Dahl’s internationally famous novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, no doubt inspired by his boyhood job as a taster for Cadbury, when he fantasised about working in a chocolate inventing room. For chocoholics – and there were few exceptions in this pre-Easter sweetie-chomping audience – this was irresistible entertainment.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 