REVIEW: Bonnie and Clyde at the Garrick Theatre

Wanted: London’s Most Wanted Musical, and winner of Best New Musical at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2023! You want a tip-off? You can find them at The Garrick Theatre, in the heart of central London in the form of Bonnie & Clyde the Musical.

Romanticized by the media at the time, the story of Bonnie and Clyde was far from your traditional love story. However, despite their appalling legacy of violence, it was in fact their undeniable dedication and love for one another that has made its mark in the history books.

The story follows two small-town kids from rural America, each with dreams of their own, thrust together into a life on the run, full of adventure, passion, and crime.

REVIEW: Orlando at the Garrick Theatre

Michael Grandage has a remarkable track record of West End success and of attracting the very best talent to his productions as well as tackling fascinating topics in highly theatrical staging. His latest production Orlando brings Emma Corrin back to the West End (after her success on video in the Crown and My Policeman) in a sparkling adaption by Neil Bartlett of Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel. It is a highly engaging and fast-paced exploration of human sexuality and what it is to be a man, or a woman combined with an extraordinary rapid journey through British history from the time of Queen Elizabeth (1596) to the twentieth century and revelling in its meta theatricality as it explores the evolution of theatre and spoken word. It reminds us that “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players”, in this case, Orlando seems to get stuck as a lover for four hundred years without ageing.

Brilliantly reminding us that this is theatre is Mrs Grimsditch, magnificently played by Deborah Findlay, Orlando’s servant who accompanies the character on their journey, assisting with costume characters (“I just do wardrobe”) and regularly punching through the fourth wall with her asides and observations. She adds a welcome dose of reality and comedy to this otherwise serious critique of the role of gender in society and keeps us on track while providing the best moments of the production.

REVIEW: The Last Five Years at the Garrick Theatre

Nothing says ‘relationship’ quite like a five-year emotional rollercoaster, it seems the perfect way to capture and depict the constant highs and lows is to stage it in chronological (Jamie - Oli Higginson) and reverse chronological order (Cathy - Molly Lynch). Here we get to see everything The couple go through, following their successes and failures, waiting on bated breath to see just how ‘The Last Five Years’ have been for them. 

Initially revived as a smaller staged production in its original venue, now comes the challenge of a much bigger theatre and stage Though it must be said the staging wasn’t affected at all. If anything the production itself benefited from a bigger stage, allowing the actors more space to move around and showcase their acting and instrumental abilities throughout. When the pair play the piano around each together it’s intimate and personal, it becomes their story and we’re just spectators. 

REVIEW: Cirque Berserk! at the Garrick Theatre

Cirque Berserk! bills itself as a real circus for the Theatre and invents a new word to describe its acts, “Berserkus” but in reality, its good old-fashioned variety back in the West End in a spectacular slickly produced death-defying and exciting show where the traditional acts from Zippo’s touring Big Top show are cleverly integrated into a fast-moving, wordless, exhilarating demonstration of dangerous-looking acts from around the World.

It is brilliantly staged against a dramatic musical soundtrack that adds to the drama and excitement of the performances and which seems perfectly synced with every twist and turn. The Garrick stage looks small and restrictive especially with the huge Globe of Death for the Lucius Motorbike riders dominating centre stage to close both Acts. Indeed, having seen up to five riders inside one of these Globes before, this version seems a little routine despite the addition of a man with an extinguisher in case anything goes wrong. The noise and smell of the bikes does add to the spectacle, fills the auditorium, and you just have to admire the two and three rider’s bravery as they spin around inside. 

COMING HOME: Oli Higginson, who will be starring in The Last Five Years at the Garrick Theatre in September

Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back! 

If there's one name in Musical Theatre, that has popped up and made everyone aware of who they are very quickly, it's Oli Higginson. Having actually trained as an actor at Guildhall, rather than in musical theatre, he made an absolute splash playing Jamie in The Last Five Years at the Southwark Playhouse. The show was playing before the lockdown and was actually one of the few shows that got to play its final performance on the evening of the 16th March 2020. But this wasn’t the end of the road for the show. After rave reviews, the show returned in October 2020 and was also filmed and streamed at the beginning of 2021. It has also recently been announced that Oli and his co-star Molly Lynch will reprise their roles for a West End transfer. The Last Five Years will play at the Garrick Theatre from the 17th of September to the 17th of October 2021. 

For his role in The Last Five Years, Oli was nominated for the Stage Debut Award for Best Performer in a Musical and also for an Offie Award for Best Lead Performance in a Musical. But even though he is a new name on the scene, he’s certainly been busy! As well as his performance in The Last Five Years, Oli has appeared in The Haystack at the Hampstead Theatre, Maggie & Ted at the White Bear Theatre, has played John in the hit Netflix show Bridgerton (in which he his reprising his role for its second season), layed Colin in The Pursuit of Love for the BBC and will be playing Saul in This Sceptered Isle for Sky Atlantic which is due for release in 2022. 

REVIEW: Death Drop at the Garrick Theatre

The Garrick reopens post-pandemic with a new play as a vehicle for two of Ru Paul’s Drag Race stars, Courtney Act and Monet X Change to strut their stuff on the mainstream West End stage with an overlay of Potted Panto at other times to use the socially distanced capacity more effectively. It’s a bold move and its commercial success in bringing these two talented performers to a wider audience will depend as much on whether London remains Tier 2 for Covid restrictions as on the show itself.

The plot, as far as there is one, is a cross-dressing of Agatha Christie’s book and play “and then there were none” (a story that itself had to change its name to be politically correct) and the breakout commercial success of “the play that goes wrong”. No doubt the marketeers were thrilled by both the title “Deathdrop”, a reference to particular drag artiste manoeuvre and the tag line “Dragatha Christie murder mystery” which should leave the audience in no doubt what to expect from the show.

The programme notes highlight that drag has been part of the mainstream West End stage for a long time and sets up comparisons with the great stars that have gone before such as Danny La Rue, “La Cage Aux Folles”, Lily Savage, Edna Turnball in “Hairspray” and “Kinky Boots” all of which I have seen and enjoyed in shows with high production values and witty clever scripts. “Deathdrop” does not pretend to have either and revels in its cheap-looking set, boudoir pink lighting, and a broad basic camp humour verging on slapstick. There is a running gag about diarrhoea (which prevents Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer appearing), dated references to cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, Fab ice lollies, and Vienetta and bad taste gags about Jim’ll fix it and Rolf Harris. It is after all set in 1991!

REVIEW: Potted Panto at the Garrick Theatre

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! 

Sadly, following the extremely challenging year the world continues to endure, I think a vast handful of people are shouting “OH NO IT ISN’T!”. 

Well, that certainly is not the case at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End, whom, despite all the odds and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have managed to reopen their doors to spread some festive cheer through the magic that is live theatre, just in time for Christmas!

The Garrick Theatre are one of the few venues in London that have managed to reopen as part of the NIMAX Theatre Group. They are currently showcasing three productions within their December and New Year schedule: Death Drop, Showstoppers: An Improvised Musical, and Potted Panto. 

“Potted Panto”, a one act pantomime that puts a unique spin on seven classic tales within seventy minutes. The show is headed by double Olivier nominees Dan and Jeff, who are fresh off their world tour and Las Vegas residency of Harry Potter parody “Potted Potter”. This year marks their tenth anniversary festive season of “Potted Panto”, and within the first five minutes alone, it was clear to see why this dynamic duo have returned year after year to packed audiences in London’s West End. 

REVIEW: Showstopper! An Improvised Musical at the Garrick Theatre

‘I’m the safety inspector at a nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union’ wasn’t the punchline I was expecting when I walked into the Garrick on Monday evening but I laughed none the less when I got it. 

It might be my worst nightmare to go on stage in front of about 350 people without a single idea of what to say, but The Showstoppers didn’t miss a beat. The ‘improvised musical’ really does what it says on the tin. The audience sends in suggestions for story, character, place and style and then get given what they ask for. In my case, that was a musical about out of work actors who can’t help but make their new jobs a show. Ouch. Despite it hitting a tad close to home, myself, the 6 person cast, 2 piece band and 349 other out of work theatre people laughed at our own misfortune for 75 minutes straight. 

The cast was led confidently by chairman Dylan Emery and, with fabulous versatility, sang their way through the stylings of The Rocky Horror Show, Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King. In isolation, each and every cast member boasted hugely impressive voices, and in pairing this with their impeccable comic timing, they couldn’t really go wrong. It would be remiss of me not to applaud the funny bone of my fellow audience members as well, who were not short of inspiration for the show, somehow making Chernobyl a call back for the characters, which came out of nowhere but somehow worked… (you had to be there). I guess that’s what’s great about improv shows though. They’re totally unique and that makes the night special.

REVIEW: Noises Off at the Garrick theatre

The Lyric Hammersmith’s production of Noises Off opens in the living-room of a picturesque country home. “HOLD IT THERE” comes the booming voice of Lloyd Dallas, played by Lloyd Owen. Dallas is the director of Nothing On which is currently approaching the midnight hour of the dress rehearsal in Weston Super-Mare. This is the first of many interruptions that threaten to derail the production.

This play-within-a-play, or more accurately a farce-within-a-farce, centres around an acting company attempting to stage a bedroom farce as their relationships and the show itself descend further and further into chaos. In the first act we see the hours slipping away as the actors try to remember their blocking and lines as Dallas pulls his hair out and the poor Stage Management team of Poppy and Tim (Anjli Mohindra and Adrian Richards respectively) struggle to keep the show afloat and their nerves in check.

The choreography of this show is an utter masterpiece. As each visitor to the house darts through a door another swings open; every character misses the others with timing so impeccable you could set your watch too it. The choreography in the second act steps up a level; axes, sardines and bottles of whiskey fly across the backstage that is now presented to us. Flowers, sheets and costumes get whipped around in a frenzied whirlwind of perfectly executed slapstick comedy and all in silence as we hear the performance take place through the doors and walls of the set which now shows us its unkempt backstage side.