An evening’s entertainment comprised of five short plays by different writers is always going to somewhat resemble a packet of Revels – some you like, some less so and some you’re like: which vicious bastard disguised toffee for coffee and, more importantly, whose paying for my new dentures? […]
I like comedy. I like it a lot. I like musicals too. Musical comedies, I absolutely love, therefore, so much so that this is the second one I have seen this year based on the well-known hospital-where-the-male-love-interest-is-in-a-coma-for-most-of-the-show formula (see Shock Treatment). But the people around me wouldn’t have […]
The State vs John Hayes details the final hour of the convicted murderess/murderer (I say this as she brings a whole new meaning to idea of gender neutrality and fluidity of persona) Elyese Dukie as she awaits the electric chair. Over the course of this hour we are […]
And Now: The World! is a somewhat meandering commentary on the impact of the internet on modern life. An English language premiere of an award-winning German play, it explores one young woman’s experience of life lived in a predominantly digital world. The play is a monologue set in an […]
Titus isn’t renowned as Shakespeare’s greatest play, although it is his goriest. With fourteen deaths, a live burial and some rape and cannibalism thrown in for good measure it’s more than likely to unsettle the audience. The gory story follows the Roman general, Titus Andronicus, who has returned […]
Peter Hamilton’s Playground is billed as a murder mystery set in a fragmented, broken society. Supposedly, it follows an investigation into the decapitation of several small children, all of which are found with an Enid Blyton novel laid open on their murdered bodies. In reality, the premise of this gruesome story is […]
Made in China’s last show, Gym Party, was praised for its distinctive voice and their new production, Tonight I’m Going To Be The New Me, is just as quirky and unique. It’s almost a one woman show, with Jessica Latowicki taking centre stage to dance, discuss and generally […]
‘Wait… wait… Hammerstein…Bernstein…Sondheim… Gershwin – they were Jewish? You could knock me down with a matzo.’ Thus will not be the train of thought of any but the dopiest of theatre-goers. The title of this show (yanked from Spamalot)has the remarkable property of being both obvious and wrong. […]
An empty room full of boxes, an absent mother and two warring sisters. ‘The Backward Fall’ is billed as a play about Alzheimer’s, but it’s less about the mother who suffers from the condition and more about the effect it has on her daughters. The sisters’ relationship reflects […]
A pair of one-act Noel Coward plays make up this double bill—“We Were Dancing” and “The Better Half”—with both taking on the subject of marital affairs. These are both relatively obscure Coward plays, and in fact the latter was never actually published in the playwright’s lifetime, only rediscovered […]