Simon Ward reviews My Name Is Rachel Corrie at the Old Red Lion Theatre This is a verbatim play created by Katherine Viner and Alan Rickman, based on the emails and diary entries of Rachel Corrie. The facts of Rachel’s life and death are stark. She was born […]
Simon Ward reviews So Help Me Dog at the Hen and Chickens Theatre It can be excruciating being in the audience at a fringe theatre show, typically in a small room above a pub. If a show is not going well, or simply needs a bigger audience to […]
Simon Ward reviews Sunday On The Rocks at The Bread and Roses Theatre Originally emerging in the mid-nineties, Theresa Rebeck’s witty and insightful play is as resonant today as it ever was. Elly (Candace Leung) is pregnant and not happy about it. Boston housemates Gayle (Rachael Bellis, who […]
Simon Ward reviews English Kings Killing Foreigners at Camden People’s Theatre What is it with theatre makers and audience participation these days? Here it’s of the gentlest, even ironic, kind. I have a vivid memory of the late Anthony Sher bringing the house down as he descended into […]
Simon Ward reviews 1884 at Shoreditch Town Hall Set in the imposing surroundings of the Shoreditch Town Hall council chamber, this is no ordinary evening in the theatre. It is immersive and game-based. Unlike many other immersive theatre shows, however, the play does not take place around the […]
Simon Ward reviews Corona Daze at The Hen and Chickens Theatre I was working for a London hospital when news started to filter through about a new, potentially deadly, virus which was spreading across the globe. It seemed surreal to be sitting in a bland meeting room discussing […]
Simon Ward reviews A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Wilton’s Music Hall If you are not familiar with it, and, in fact, even if you are, you should arrive early to enjoy the splendour that is Wilton’s Music Hall. Updated just enough to meet modern health and safety requirements, […]
Simon Ward reviews Mary’s Daughters at The Space Theatre The Space is a theatre and arts venue in the heart of the Isle of Dogs. It is housed in a former Victorian Presbyterian church, which is an intriguing historical artefact in its own right. It was acquired by […]
Simon Ward reviews The W.I.G Of Life: A Conference at Camden People’s Theatre Be warned: this is an interactive show, in which the audience is more or less required to partcipate. However, the particpation is at one remove, in that it is mainly confined to choosing avatars and […]
Simon Ward reviews Cold, Dark Matters at the Hope Theatre Writer-performer Jack Brownridge Kelly’s one man show is endearingly low tech. Aside from an exploded shed (due acknowledgment paid to artist Cornelia Parker on the blackboard outside) and a chair, there is no set. More than once I […]