REVIEW: Poisoned Polluted at the Old Red Lion

Kathryn O’Reilly’s second play tackles traumatic and painful subjects head on. Child abuse, drug addiction and growing up are all on the agenda of Poisoned Polluted. Against a backdrop of luscious green forestry, the two sisters flashback and forward retelling the trauma of their childhoods and reliving the games, the pleasures and the memories of their past. 

Kathryn O’Reilly plays Sister, the older and more weathered of the two. She tackles Sister’s addiction and psychosis with honesty and truth, utilising her wonderful physicality to truly embody the crippling anxiety and excruciating pain that Sister experiences throughout her life.

Her is played by Anna Doolan. The more grounded of the two characters, Her is constantly reaching out to help her sibling, often with little effect. Doolan plays the desperation and the helplessness of Her with precision and clarity. The two actresses work brilliantly together to push and pull the text and embody the story.

REVIEW: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at the Chiswick Playhouse

It’s hard to know whether to hate or admire a musical that rhymes “thrill us” with “Bruce Willis”. I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change has book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, who is probably better known for his work on the Tony award winning Memphis, with music by Jimmy Roberts. Originally produced off-Broadway in 1996, it has been significantly reworked and now opens the inaugural season at the newly anointed Chiswick Playhouse in its first UK performance since being re-written. This musical revue sees four actors playing a multitude of characters all singing about love, sex and dating. With so many musical numbers it’s no surprise that some are more forgettable than others, but with catchy melodies and relatable lyrics, this show has a winning formula.

REVIEW: Chemistry at the Finborough Theatre

The European Premier production of Jacob Marx Rice’s award-winning Chemistry is an intimate and honest look into the world of mental health and its preconceptions and misconceptions. The haze-filled auditorium is in traverse layout with the stage space being dominated by a floating rectangle of scaffolding which houses the two characters throughout. Following the shape of the scaffolding is a maze of wires and lights across the floor. The story follows Steph (Caoimhe Farren) and Jamie (James Mear) as their lives combine after a chance meeting in a waiting room. 

Farren’s depression-stricken Steph is sharp-witted and Farren seems to revel in her characters playfulness. She also masterfully tackles the intricacies of Steph’s depressive episodes with truth and an individuality appropriate for such a complex and diverse illness. 

Mear is brilliant as unipolar manic Jamie. His performance was gut-wrenchingly real and had beautiful moments of guttural pain and frustration which was painful to observe in all the right ways.

REVIEW: Soho Cinders at the Charing Cross Theatre

Old Compton Street in the heart of London is the setting for this modern twist on a classic tale. Robbie, the Cinderella of this story, is stuck working in a Laundrette after the passing of his mother and is forced to pay rent to his ugly step sisters. The two best things in his life come in the form of his best friend and colleague, Velcro, and his secret lover, James Prince; who incidentally is married to a woman and also running for Mayor of London.

Unashamedly camp, Stiles and Drews show takes pride in showcasing both light and dark sides of the LGBTQ+ community. From rent boys and sugar daddies to lap-dancing and simulated orgasms, Soho Cinders certainly isn’t as family friendly as its classic pantomime counter-part. That being said, the sharp wit and zinging one-liners make for some good laughs for a more age-appropriate audience.

REVIEW: Gaslight at the Watford Palace Theatre

A play-within-a-play set in a women’s refuge, this production of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslight boasts an all-female cast. The cast are all escaping domestic abuse at home and perform Hamilton’s classic thriller in the living room of their refuge while stage directions are read out through a microphone in true Brechtian style.

Hamilton’s writing is suspenseful and exciting whilst being somewhat predictable due to its simple structure, but this doesn’t take away from the standout performances of the night. Sally Tatum takes on the role of Bella Manningham, the downtrodden and abused wife of the man of the house, Jack Manningham (Jasmine Jones). Tatum’s performance stays honest and true throughout which is no easy task with so much fear, anger and distress in a character. 

Inspector Rough, traditionally an older gentleman, is portrayed by Tricia Kelly who tackles the confident, strong and humble Inspector with ease and joy.

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.