‘Makes you forget the lack of legs’ Life is hard, disappointing and grinding, but unbridled puppet-based silliness might be the answer. Will overworked NHS doctors start prescribing Avenue Q tickets instead of forest bathing? Historically, it makes perfect sense for the 20th (UK) anniversary of the Robert Lopez (music & lyrics), Jeff Marx (music & lyrics), and Jeff Whitty’s (book) ...
“How Charlie Josephine fell in love with boxing and shone a light on Olympic history” As they file into the subterranean Studio Two of Dalston’s Arcola, theatre-goers may almost fall into a literal boxing ring. What follows is the fight of main character Chloe Jackson’s life: a theatrical tussle laying bare gender, race, sexuality and personhood. Charlie Josephine’s play received ...
‘What better way to honour the recent 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death than by exploring her potential queerness in an infamous 17th‑century church?’ he rain hammers down as in a Dickensian novel, and we wind our way to the stark portico of the 1633 Inigo Jones-designed place of worship/bar/theatre – described by the architect himself as the “handsomest barn ...
‘Asks too much’ I genuinely believe in the transformative nature of song, allowing us to voice deeper truths and confront harsher pains. Yet the more complex and portentous the subject matter, the lighter the tread, the bigger the balancing act, and the deeper the gaping chasm below. Aside from that impenetrable and ambiguous opener, Cable Street brings together a set ...
‘A finely tuned watch of a show’ I have an odd relationship with both matrimony and immersive theatre-the two cornerstones of Dante or Die’s recent London premiere I Do. I both love and hate immersive theatre and am currently engaged but unmarried, so make of that what you will. If my fiancé is reading this (unlikely), that was a cheap ...
‘More man than Pan’ So, Christmas is undeniably here, isn’t it? Halloween held it off for half a month, and then the igniting of an alleged 16th-century traitor slowed it some more. But those sleigh bells were always tingling through the month of October, rather menacingly in the background. Of course, it is the Barbican that confirms it. J.M. Barrie’s ...
‘A tale of two cities, and a story of two shows’ Something that has been flashing around in my skull for a couple of weeks refusing to fit neatly into a review format, but will now be expunged into a feature that will encompass two. I sit here, gazing into one larger screen, with a smaller one clamped to my ...
‘Back in the blistering heat of Kingston’ 140 years ago Charles Dillon built the Theatre Royal Stratford East. 88 years later, Perry Henzell and Trevor Rhone brought reggae and a proudly independent Jamaica to the world with their feature film. 34 more full rotations and the musical premiered at Stratford East. Now Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks brings over her New ...
‘Reviving the legend nicely’ I normally avoid tribute acts, grouping them in the same class as magic shows and children’s theatre. Fine for some, but simply not for me. Amy Winehouse, however, is very much a slice of moi, and the 14th of September is a pretty big date in her legacy-what would have been her 42nd birthday. So, it ...
‘more silly than spooky’ Is there room for magic in the modern world? Or have we cancelled out anything enchanting, anything out of the ordinary, anything remarkable? Ben Hart says no–but do we agree? I should preface this by saying that I am not a massive fan of “magic” in general, having been forced up against enough walls by socially ...