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 […]
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 […]
Simon Ward reviews God Don’t Live On A Council Estate at the Hen and Chickens Theatre Dean Stalham’s 2010 play, God Don’t Live On A Council Estate, directed here by Jonathan Linsley, gives us another insight into the world that I was first introduced to in June of […]
Simon Ward reviews Monster at the Seven Dials Playhouse Abigail Hood’s play, Monster, is set over a twenty year period in Glasgow. It centres on the lives of two girls, teenagers when we first meet them, Kayleigh Grey (played by Hood herself) and Zoe Douglas (Lauren Downie). They […]
Simon Ward reviews The Pitch at Theatre503 Philip Catherwood’s new play, directed by Thea Mayeux, is not the first to investigate the thorny issue of land and its use on the island of Ireland, but his approach is refreshingly free of the weight of history which normally surrounds […]
Simon Ward reviews BuzzFest at the Wanstead Curtain Theatre As chestnuts are falling from the trees and an autumnal chill is in the air, writer-director Marissa Landy’s ode to the summer musical festival season lands in a sweetly nostalgic moment. Much like the reluctant revellers at the end […]
Simon Ward reviews Lorna Rose Treen: 24 Hour Diner People at the Soho Theatre As the autumnal gloom envelops tube strike-ridden London, it is an absolute delight to escape into the garish world of Lorna Rose Treen’s Blue Tit Diner. The upbeat soundtrack as the audience gathers sets […]
Simon Ward reviews Tango in Silk at the Etcetera Theatre The first thing to note about Xi Liu’s Tango in Silk dance piece is that it is very short, perhaps ten minutes long. It is perhaps best understood as a showcase for what Liu (along with partner Mingcong […]
Simon Ward reviews Romeo and Juliet – The Hate Story at the Hen and Chickens Theatre Directed by Annie Araba, this is the debut play of Brazilian writer-performer-producer Lucas Luan Lima. He and co-star George Bird play Romeo and Juliet, plus a number of the other characters familiar […]
Simon Ward reviews Improv The Dead at The Bridewell Theatre One of the joys of a Fringe festival is, of course, to move out of one’s comfort zone and try out something a bit different. I confess that the danger element of improvisational theatre has often left me […]