Tag: Musical Theatre

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 […]

★★★Blue Sunday

Simon Ward reviews Dagmarr’s Dimanche at the Crazy Coqs The louche 1930s glamour of the Crazy Coqs in the Brasserie Zédel is arguably the best place in London to experience a real cabaret experience. A smallish room dotted with tables, champagne and cocktails readily available throughout from the […]

Tracey Yarad, standing, singing passionately, wearing her dyed-black wedding dress.

★★★Healing Powers

Simon Ward reviews All These Pretty Things at the Etcetera Theatre As we enter the small room above the Oxford Arms, Tracey Yarad is already in meditational pose, wrapped in a blanket and with Om Shanti on the screen behind her. We sense that she is gathering her […]

Evelyn Rose holding an upright acoustic guitar and looking thoughtfully up to her right

★★★★★Funny Girl

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 […]

Drag queen Glamrou standing looking out at the viewer wearing a white embroidered dress and silver white wig

★★★Glam Rocks

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 […]

★★★Let’s Talk About Sex

Simon Ward reviews The Catalogue of Sexual Anxieties at the White Bear Theatre Written and performed by Aniqa Charania, Marion Poli and Charlotte Szabo, who together make up The Hysterical Ladies, with original music in a 1940s Andrews Sisters style by Patrice Peyrieras, this is a fun romp […]

★★★★Hooray for Bollywood

Simon Ward reviews Frankie Goes To Bollywood at the Queen Elizabeth Hall My first exposure to Bollywood was in the late 1980s as I tried to block out the garish colours and blaring noise from the TV sets supposedly designed to while away the boredom of a long […]

★★★★All Killer, No Filler

Simon Ward reviews Bangers at the Arcola Theatre Written by Danusia Samal, who also co-stars, this is a mash-up of a club night where composer and sound designer Duramaney Kamara’s tunes mixed with some classics keep the dancefloor humming and a touching exploration of two young people – […]