Tag: New Writing

On the left Malcolm (played by Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson); in the middle Harriet (played by Laurel Marks); on the right Regina (played by Gabrielle Nellis-Pain). They are all wearing dark undertaker-style clothes and looking quizzically at something off camera to their right.

★★★Dead Funny

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Simon Ward reviews Grave Mistake at the Hope Theatre Matthew Ballantyne and Toby Hampton’s new play is a Joe Orton-esque farce set in a funeral home. Burke and Sons has been a family business for generations and is now in the hands of sisters Regina (Gabrielle Nellis-Pain) and […]

On the left Paddy (played by Eoin Sweeney), seated cross-legged in school uniform of white shirt, black trousers, purple blazer with crest and purple and yellow striped tie. He is gesticulating wildly with his right arm raised. On the right is Mick (played by Matthew Blaney) also cross-legged and wearing the same school uniform. He is wearing glasses and looking terrified.

★★★★Oh Boy!

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Simon Ward reviews Derry Boys at Theatre503 This piece comes closest to my own personal experience of anything I have reviewed in all my years writing for The Peg. Though I wasn’t born there, I was raised in Derry, so I would almost certainly qualify for entry to […]

Crouching figure of Eleanor Hill on the left, wearing a grey sweathsirt and barelegged, with her hand over her chin looking at a phone; projected on the back of the stage the phone screenshot of Eleanor Hill's face.

★★★★Laughter On The Edge

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Simon Ward reviews Overshare at the Greenwich Theatre At one point during this hectic cavalcade of a show, creator-writer-performer-producer Eleanor Hill pauses for a beat to wonder whether her last remark was a bit of an overshare. The joke is, of course, that the whole thing is one […]

Marianne (played by Halli Patterson) in the foreground pensively seated on the left wearing a pale blue filly nightdress; Peter (played by Boyan Petrov) in the background on the right dressed in vest and shorts, holding their bay and smoking

★★★Chekhovian Summer Blues

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Simon Ward reviews The Summer After Dad Died at the Hen and Chickens Theatre Written and directed by Danish playwright and actor Sarah Majland, The Summer After Dad Died is set in Denmark in the hot summer of 1985. Three sisters, Marianne (Halli Patterson), Tina (Milja Martilla) and […]

Sitting on the left Robbie Curran (playing He) in uniform burgundy polo shirt and wearing headphones is staring straight ahead; sitting on the right, in the same uniform, Alice Victoria Winslow (playing She), is also staring straight ahead. Projected onto the screen behind them is a black and white image of an army firing squad.

★★★★Who Watches The Watchers?

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Simon Ward reviews Moderation at the Hope Theatre Making its UK premiere at the Hope, Kevin Kautzman’s searingly topical new play, Moderation is the darkest of dark comedies. It is unmistakably an American work, but its themes resonate across the world, just as the actions of the techbro […]

Left hand side, seated - Calvin Dean as Sam's Friend, Ricky; right hand side, seated - Lanre Damola as Sam's Friend Archie; centre, standing, Samuel Normington as Sam.

★★Care Bear Blues

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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 […]

Black and white photo. David (Boyan Petrov) and Phoebe (Lyndsey Ruiz) back to back on a bed. He in white sleeveless vest, she in dark top. He is looking to the left, she is looking straight ahead towrads the camera.

★★★Love Will Tear Us Apart

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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 […]

Four characters dressed in black. In the foreground Kitty Evans playing India is standing reading a book. In the background are Emily O'Mahony as Tango, Ben Watts as Kilo and Conor Rowlett as Charlie.

★★★Teetering On The Edge

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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 […]