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★★★Stories Of Promise

Simon Ward reviews Twisted Tales at the Cockpit Theatre In an otherwise dark theatre, a large book is illuminated in the centre of the stage. As the troupe of actors approach this peculiar object, one of them works out that it can be opened to reveal its secrets. […]

★★★The World Isn’t Listening

Simon Ward reviews in|Secure at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre As a Ukrainian who moved to the UK some six months before Russia’s invasion of her country, Valery Reva has created her own one-woman black comedy about the war, in a deeply personal exploration of the challenges currently […]

★★★★ A Heady Cocktail

Simon Ward reviews Getaway/Runaway at The Lion & Unicorn Theatre There is always a frisson of excitement when the actors are already on stage as the audience enters the auditorium. Sometimes there is some business going on, perhaps even a bit of audience participation. But, when, as here, […]

★★★ More Questions Than Answers

Simon Ward reviews Where Have All Our Women Gone? at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre Elizabeth Huskisson is the driving force behind this. As writer, director, producer and performer, it is clearly a deeply personal piece. She is utterly committed to it and determined to get her message across, […]

★★★★The Pleasure Is All Ours

Simon Ward reviews It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure at Soho Theatre Following a brief run as part of The Vaults Festival in February, this show comes to the Soho Theatre as a slick, well-worked production. Flawbored are a disability-led company, made up of the night’s performers, Samuel Brewer, Aarian Mehrabani […]

★★★★Macbeth Mayhem

Simon Ward reviews The Tragedy of Macbeth at Southwark Playhouse. Flabbergast Theatre have spent years working and re-working this noisy, exuberant, muscular and unnerving version of Shakespeare’s infamous Scottish play. Entering the auditorium is like stumbling onto the enactment of an ancient pagan ritual in a woodland clearing. Characters […]

★★★★★Bear Necessities

Simon Ward reviews Average Bear at the Soho Theatre Michelle Brasier’s Average Bear is billed as comedy, and it is frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious, but it is also thought-provoking and devastatingly emotional. Delivered as a mixture of stand-up, songs and ‘bear-lesque’, the audience never quite knows where Brasier’s irresistible banter […]

★★ Detention Sentence

Simon Ward reviews How To Break Out Of A Detention Centre at the Riverside Studios This is the world premiere of a piece whose themes and message arguably transcend the world of theatre and render any review meaningless. Performed in many languages by performers passionately and deeply engaged […]