‘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 ...
‘gifted a glimpse into another human’s mind’ A double-hander about a gory break-up might seem a little unexpected for Soho Theatre’s intimate upstairs space. But ardent fringe theatre reinvents the seemingly overdone very much like the heart can flush into glorious vitality once more. At the risk of sounding either smug or pathetic, I have never had my heart broken. ...
‘A case of too many bartenders ruining the martini’ The slurring, bumbling franchise has been going for 15 years, taking the logical extreme of a drinking show to what must surely be its final, shrieking conclusion. Now, it’s very easy for us critics to be snotty about the more boisterous forms lurking in the corners of theatreland. I am normally ...
‘simple and hedonistic’ Is there room for nine straight men on the West End? Choir of Man, the globetrotting fringe hit, has reshuffled its feathers and stepped out-beer in hand, swaying just a little. My first statement might seem more controversial than it is. But we West End Wendies have had a chokehold on the musical genre and, despite the heterosexual content ...
‘Rubs the wrong way’ In the late 90s, almost 20 years after the mere 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers aired, it was still regularly beamed into my now comically tiny TV in South Devon (not far from its setting). Cheeky, shocking and a little outdated even then-but how does another 25 years affect its relevance? Written by comedic powerhouse John ...
‘cheekily self-aware’ As a card-carrying, heel-wearing friend of Dorothy, I am as shocked as you to admit that I have never seen a stage production of The Rocky Horror Show. So following an Australian star, I toddled down to Wimbledon for the kick-off of the next tour, thinking it would be just like the film (which, thankfully, I have seen). How wrong I ...