Category: review

Matthew Brady (Hal Fowler) arms spread wide behind Mary Lincoln (Keala Settle) standing bathed in light in an elaborate pink Victorian dress.

★★★Keeping Up Appearances

Simon Ward reviews Mrs. President at the Charing Cross Theatre When Keala Settle makes her entrance as Mary Lincoln in John Ransom Phillips’s play, there is a momentary pause when she poses, framed and majestic, as though waiting for the applause with which a Broadway audience would greet […]

Her (played by Toyin Ayedun-Alase)

★★★★Family Matters

Simon Ward reviews Mother.Dad at the Omnibus Theatre This two-hander comprises the narration of two, apparently unrelated, stories by ‘Him’ (Andy Sellers) and ‘Her’ (Toyin Ayedun-Alase), and is performed with utter conviction. Playwright Doug Deans’ writing manages to convey a panoramic overview of life in Britain today, but, […]

★★Beware The Boline

Simon Ward reviews The Boline Inn at the Hope Theatre For anyone who might be unaware, a boline is a white-handled ritual knife used in Wicca. So, much like The Slaughtered Lamb pub in the 1981 comedy-horror classic movie An American Werewolf In London, the name of the […]

Standing on the right in white shirts and dark trousers Gregory Wilder (played by Thomas Billiouw) and Gloria Wilder (played by Dany Van Brabant) ; standing on the right are Phyllis Amberhide (played by Jess Vince-Moin) and Sherryll-Anne Bowman (played by Kgalalelo Thakadu). Phyllis is holding a collection bucket.

★★★★Savagely Funny

Simon Ward reviews Wilder! at the Etcetera Theatre This barely categorisable play written by its leading actors Thomas Billiouw and Dany Van Brabant deserves to be seen by a wider audience than can cram into the tiny Etcetera Theatre. The punning title must surely include an homage to […]

Two men in chorus line style. On the left is Tom Clarkson in bright yellow suit, yellow tie and holding a yellow bowler hat and a yellow microphone; on the right Owen Visser in a bright red suit, red tie and holding a red bowler hat and a red microphone.

★★★★★Humbug Free Zone

Simon Ward reviews The Christmas Thing at the Seven Dials Playhouse This is an utterly gleeful slice of Christmas slapstick fun, irresistibly written, directed and hosted by double act Tom Clarkson and Owen Visser. Clarkson is the front man, holding the microphone and ringleading the action; Visser is […]

In blue light, four surgeons in white hazmat suits and with head torchs shining surround a suspended surgery bed. A projection of blue dividing cells hangs above the bed.

★★★Who Wants To Live Forever?

Simon Ward reviews Continuity at The Cockpit Theatre As a technology entrepreneur, we can take it that the insights that David Sear shares in this dystopian satirical black comedy are based on concepts being seriously considered in the world of the tech bros. Set in 2034, the world […]

Three actors peeping through the backstage curtain to look at the audience. Top to bottom - Nathaniel (played by Jake O'Hare), Olivia (played by Lucy Blunt) and Sadie (played by Rebekah Nicol).

★★★★Murder By The Stage Door

Simon Ward reviews Kill For The Part at the Canal Cafe Theatre Written and directed by Lucy Blunt, who also plays Olivia/Eleanor Deluse, this is a witty and beguiling romp which interleaves a classic cosy murder mystery with the back-stage shenanigans that arise when the cast believe themselves […]

Olly Hawes, standing up holding a microphone, bloodied arms, blood-stained grey sweatshirt

★★Dead End Street

Simon Ward reviews Old Fat F**k Up at the Riverside Studios Olly Hawes has set up camp at the Riverside Studios – as well as this show, in a week or so, he will be alternating performances with his previous play F**king Legend so he must be doing […]

A group of female mechanics dressed in blue overalls arranged in a dance group. Left to right - Terry (played by Sia Kiwa), Carol (played by Eva Scott), Bev (played by Nancy Brabin-Platt), Dipstick (played by Lucy Mackay) and Dance Captain Georgina Coram

★★★★★Anything But Grim Up North

Simon Ward reviews Gwenda’s Garage:The Musical at the Southwark Playhouse Borough Following a successful run at the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse in Sheffield, this is the London premiere of a new British musical. Based on the true story of three female mechanics who, frustrated by their inability to find […]

Two men seated at a restaurant table. On the left, Ben, played by Sam Danson, in a dark shirt and beige cords; on the right Tim, played by Dior Clarke, in a midriff-revealing turquoise T-shirt and cargo pants. They are toasting each other with wine glasses.

★★★Grindr’s Not A Dating App

Simon Ward reviews Daddy’s First Gay Date at the Seven Dials Playhouse Rather touchingly listed on the venue’s website as ‘Writer, Producer and Ben’ this show is clearly Sam Danson’s baby. Billed as a romantic comedy, much humour is found in the culture clash between the straight world […]