REVIEW: Ballistic at the Kings Head Theatre

Ballistic tracks the journey of a 22 year old Man; Detached from friendship groups, shamed by those around him, bullied by his peers, distant from his family relations. Mark Conway takes us on a heart racing, emotional and at times hilarious journey through his life from the age of 11 to the present moment.

Without giving too much away, the piece has been inspired by real life events and feels even more topical right now with the recent tragedy in a United States college.

Conway really made me sympathise with his character, which made the final scenes so hard to watch. I had an overwhelming internal battle between condemnation for his actions and the yearning to look after him and save him from himself.

REVIEW: A Passage to India at the Park Theatre

Based on the renowned E.M. Forster novel, this period drama centers on the dynamics between British colonials and native locals in India during the 1920s. 

‘A passage to India’ has been beautifully adapted for the stage by Simon Dormandy, and flawlessly directed by Dormandy & Sebastian Armesto. Helped seamlessly along by Original Music by Kuljit Bhamra.

As a lover of Forsters novel I was hugely impressed by this stage production. I felt it really captured the essence of Forster’s language and his descriptive narrative was perfectly coherent through the Beautiful amalgamation of adaption, direction, performance and music. I was transported to a hot Indian summer and was swept along the warm breeze by a really sensational performance from Asif Khan as Dr Aziz. He was funny, endearing and perfectly cast.

REVIEW: A Girl In School Uniform (Walks into a bar) at the New Diorama Theatre

On walking into the space, your eyes take a short while to adjust to the dimly lit stage. Total darkness everywhere apart from the small playing space in the centre of the room; above, a series of lights of varying shapes and sizes. Sudden Darkness. Then we are introduced into a world not too dissimilar to our own, possibly set in the near future where blackouts are a regular occurrence of every day life.

Bell (Bryony Davies), a barmaid with a biting, quick and extremely dry sense of humor meets Steph (Laura Woodward), the ever-persistent schoolgirl who is looking for her friend Charlie/Charlotte who has gone missing during the mysterious blackouts.

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW: Atlantic - A Scottish Story at the Assembly Hall

A girl looks across the ocean and longs to discover. But if she is left behind, she must still find a way to live. Is it a curse to stay? What if we couldn't travel, could never leave home and see the world? Can we still be happy?

A superb cast bring to life this breath-taking piece of new writing. The cast is 16 strong and lead by the fearless Caroline Lyell as Evie. We see Evie grow from a boisterous child to a strong courageous woman with a secret. I was absolutely mesmerised by her performance, when she was happy the audience smiled with her and in the more solemn moments the audience were moved to tears. Caroline held us in the palm of her hand from start to finish. 

Reed Lancaster is charming and charismatic as Quinn. He breathes life into the character and is equally believable as both a young excited child and a captivating adventurer. His vocals seem effortless and his story telling truly excellent. 

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW: Thrill Me - The Leopold & Loeb Story at the C Too

Chicago, 1924. A Shocking true story of two law students who kidnapped and murdered a 14-year-old boy in their desire to commit the perfect crime.

Recent graduates Ellis Dackombe & Harry Downes play beautifully opposite each other in this thrilling production. Downes impressively captures Leopold’s seeming vulnerability in his performance and Dackombe’s Loeb is the perfect concoction of psychopath and charmer. Superbly directed by Guy Retallack, the two gentlemen manoeuvre around the stage with ease taking the audience on a journey of love, mystery, murder and deceit.

Special mention must go to Musical Director Kris Rawlinson, who plays pretty much none-stop for almost 90 minutes. He pours life into the score and brings a huge amount of animation to the piece, moving the musical along and proving to be the final element to complete this fantastic production. 

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW: Atlantic: America & The Great War at the Assembly Hall

“Atlantic: America & The Great War” tells the story two African American sisters who on the eve of WWI uncover their complicated European ancestry. When one disappears while tracing their lineage overseas, the other must leave home for the first time to find her. 

A leading cast of 4 actors, supported by an ensemble of 12. From the moment they stepped on stage I was captivated. Although this is a new musical, it felt familiar and welcoming. It was easy to follow and immerse oneself in.

Annabelle (Abigail Stephenson), Jane (Mariah Copeland), Jesse (Neal Davidson) & Martin (Preston Smith) lead this fierce cast in an exciting hour-long adventure. Seamlessly Directed by David H. Bell, there isn’t a moment in the production where the energy dipped. With a very well utilised minimal set the audience is transported on ships, trains, coaches & into the battlefield. 

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW: Showstoppers Kids Show at Pleasance Courtyard

5 Actors, 2 Musicians, Multiple Cardboard Boxes, 100% audience participation and you have the recipe for the most fantastic hour of family fun The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has to offer. 

On walking into the theatre I was greeted by the Actors singing a little ditty and making observations on audience members. This set the mood straight away, the kids loved it, the grown ups loved it and right from the word go the Showstoppers had their audience in the palm of their hands.

For those unfamiliar with Showstoppers; they take ideas from the audience and transform them into an all singing all dancing 1-hour interactive musical adventure performed by 7 extremely talented individuals. For example our musical was about a Haunted Fireplace in which lived several ghosts with names such as ‘Newt’ & ‘Bob The Dumb Crank’. We were taken on a journey to meet Flying Sandwich making Unicorns & Sharks who enjoyed behaving instead of being silly. All the suggestions stemmed from the active imaginations of the excited, captive audience of children.

REVIEW: Staff Room at The Bunker Theatre

My first trip to ‘The Bunker Theatre’ and I instantly felt right at home. This cool, underground, gem of a venue is a welcome haven to the hustle and bustle of London Bridge. Within 5 minutes of arriving I already wanted to come back.

‘Staff Room’.. What can I say? Three Teachers. One Staff Room. There’s not much else to it really. This play really does speak to the Netflix generation. It plays out like a sitcom on stage, a series of short scenes with bursts of conversation from the 3 teachers; Alison (Hilary Murnane), Hugo (Craig Webb) and Ria (Faye Derham).

With a minimal set consisting of 2 chairs, a small sofa, a table covered in papers and other accouterments one would expect to find in a Staff Room. The back wall is covered like a noticeboard in various sheets of paper, one of which is situated above a tea tray and reads; ‘THE CLEANING FAIRIES DON’T WORK HERE!!!’. The actors really are exposed without any elaborate set or gimmicks to hide behind.