Simon Ward reviews Mixed Sex at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre Writer Samuel Normington (who also co-directs and stars as Sam) recounts how this, his first full-length play, began in lockdown as he jotted down some anecdotes from his childhood. It then became a monologue before being fleshed […]
Simon Ward reviews Tell Me You’ll Think About It at the Hen and Chickens Theatre In Lyndsey Ruiz’s debut play Tell Me You’ll Think About It , in which she also stars, a young couple have returned to their flat after an evening at the theatre. Ruiz plays […]
Simon Ward reviews And If The Surface Tension Breaks at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre. The title of this piece is a beautiful evocation of the fragility of life that it explores. Written and directed by David Brady, it is a slick and well-worked production, including video projection […]
Simon Ward reviews Heaven at the Southwark Playhouse Borough Following successful runs in Dublin, Edinburgh and New York, this is the London premiere of Eugene O’Brien’s 2022 play. Presented as a series of interlocking and overlapping monologues – tellingly the couple at the heart of the piece never […]
Simon Ward reviews Rosie’s Brain at the Hope Theatre Evelyn Rose, writer, producer and performer of this one-woman tour de force is a whirlwind of energy. From Rosie’s over-enthusiastic entrance as she arrives at college to her inhabiting of all the other characters in the story, there is […]
Simon Ward reviews Put Out His Eyes at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre Writer Michael Hajiantonis’s Put Out His Eyes is a fairytale set in a distant past with an undercurrent of pent-up rage and resentment which feels apposite for our modern world in which none of the […]
Simon Ward reviews James Rowland Dies At The End Of The Show at Camden People’s Theatre Although this is the third part of James Rowland’s Songs of the Heart Trilogy, there is no requirement to have seen the previous parts to make sense of this charming, witty and […]
Simon Ward reviews Glamrou: Drag Mother at the Soho Theatre Drag queen Glamrou is the alter ego of Amrou Al-Kadhi, a British-Iraqi writer, filmmaker and performer. This could be called a loosely autobiographical show – you can’t necessarily believe everything they say, but some of the most outrageously […]
Simon Ward reviews Cutting The Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics From Art at the Arcola Theatre The staging of this collection of short works is an explicitly political act, which aims to galvanise audiences into further political action. Under those circumstances, therefore, it seems crass and irrelevant to […]
Simon Ward reviews Sanctuary at the Hope Theatre Christine Rose’s topical and disturbing new play is premiering in a short run at the Hope in Islington. Directed by Broadway stalwart Donna King and starring Laura Shipler Chico as Cassie and Andrea Milton-Furlotti as Amelia, it presents a vision […]