Simon Ward reviews Jo and Sam Find Themselves In Woking at The Hen and Chickens Theatre A bare stage, save for a couple of chairs and a projector screen. Suddenly the screen lights up, Edmund Jolliffe’s music kicks in and we are taken through a rather good whistle […]
Simon Ward reviews QT Presents Ray Gelato at The Green Room Sometimes you find yourself in a world that you never knew existed. Or perhaps you suspected that it did, but didn’t think you could ever be part of it. Those movies where Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby […]
Simon Ward reviews Alarms and Excursions at Greenwich Theatre During rehearsals for this production of Michael Frayn’s collection of short plays and sketches, the playwright apparently wrote to the director to query whether the various technological devices which conspire to confound and torment his characters were now too […]
Simon Ward reviews Indecent Proposal at Southwark Playhouse Jack Engelhard’s bestselling novel was published 33 years ago. The movie version came out 28 years ago. So it is a curious decision to return to the notorious moral dilemma at the heart of this piece now, in 2021, in […]
Simon Ward reviews Snowflakes at The Old Red Lion Theatre The fashion over the last few years has been for plays to run for 90 minutes or so with no interval. There is a certain intensity gained by knowing that the full plot will unfurl without a break. […]
Simon Ward reviews Tomorrow May Be My Last at The Union Theatre This show – described as a ‘music-driven play’ – is not for the faint-hearted. It is a loud, sweaty romp though the all-too-brief life of its inspiration and its star – Janis Joplin – lovingly brought […]
Harry Bignell reviews Zoo at Vault Festival 2020. A touching tale of two socially-awkward animal-enthusiasts crossing geographical boundaries and cultural chasms to be socially-awkward and enthusiastic about animals together; Zoo is a delight from bizarre beginning to emotional end. The play opens with Miami based zoo keeper Bonnie, played […]
Simon Ward reviews Undetectable at The King’s Head Theatre As we enter the room our two protagonists are already ensconced under a frankly hideous purple duvet beneath a colour-changing globe light and a thumping soundtrack. This makes the regular, and of course very worthy, funding pitch from the King’s […]
Simon Ward reviews JEW…ish at The King’s Head Theatre I think it was Jonathan Miller who came up with the line “I’m not really a Jew; just Jew-ish, not the whole hog.” Writers Poppy Damon and Saul Boyer (who also plays Max) have taken the gag run with […]
Simon Ward reviews Skin In The Game at The Old Red Lion Theatre Watching plays in pub theatres is often an intense experience. The enforced intimacy of actors performing just inches away can be claustrophobic. And if there is tension in the air, it crackles. So it is […]