REVIEW: That Girl at the Old Red Lion

Brighton’s Broken Silence Theatre and their artistic director Tim Cook present “That Girl” at the Old Red Lion in London, a play by Hatty Jones about friendships that change with the digital age, the comfort in being defined by a job, and the importance of listening. 

Madeline! What girl doesn’t remember the children’s books about the young positive orphan walking around Paris wearing her little hat? Well, in 1998, a Hollywood film was made, and Hatty Jones, also acting in “That Girl”, was picked out of hundreds of girls to play the young heroine. Twenty years later (has it been that long?), following drama school, her character is now working in advertising, a normal job that reassures her in its simplicity because it doesn’t bring with it thousands of questions – unlike when you tell people you’re an actor. 

Hatty has been living with her best friend (Alex Reynolds) in Camden, and we meet them as they are preparing to move out, as their other flatmate is getting married. 

REVIEW: Much Ado about Nothing at Gray’s Inn Hall

Gray’s Inn is a beautiful quiet location just a few minutes from Chancery Lane station and as the sun sets over the square and you enter Gray’s Inn Hall, you will find yourself transported to Southern France where a bar is waiting for you with drinks and snacks, and you will be invited to take your seat around the traverse stage for Antic Disposition’s latest production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. 

Directors Ben Horslen and John Riseboro set the stage in 1945 as troops are returning home and stopping by the little town of Messina, where the soldier Claudio falls in love with the local Governor’s daughter Hero and Beatrice and Benedick, after having sworn off love, seem more and more drawn to each other as the days progress. Indeed, their friends will engineer situations and fake conversations to bring the two closer together and make them fall in love. The play is one of Shakespeare’s witty, light and very summery plays and the result is a warm and enjoyable production.

The set design by John Riseboro and the lighting by Lizzy Gunby are lovely, submerging the space with warmth, romantic colours and a dreamy sense. 

REVIEW: The White Rose at The Brockley Jack Theatre

Now in its fifth year, the Arrows & Traps Theatre Company is back with a heart breaking and grippingly human story of a group of young activists, The White Rose, led by Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans, who in 1943 published underground anti-Nazi leaflets calling for the peaceful overthrow of Hitler and paid for it with their lives after being discovered.

The show opens with images and words from Hitler laughing at how the English think the Germans will soon fold and are tired of war. This only makes his rage bigger and we watch how the war machine grows, how people become consumed with only one fatal aim: absolute war. This can’t help but set an uneasy feeling in the theatre, and soon after, we discover Sophie Scholl being interrogated by Robert Mohr. The interrogation is interspersed with scenes of friendship and fun with her sibling and friends with whom she studied philosophy and biology at university in Munich. While continuously bantering about Kant and Goethe, they are also organising the distribution of thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets around the country.

REVIEW: As You Like It at Regent’s Park, Open Air Theatre

We used to go on the internet to connect with the real world. Now, we turn off all our devices to be able to finally connect with it. The forest of Arden seems to be this place where everything is turned off, and we can connect to nature and the people we come across, really listen and not resort to violence but choose communication and love. In the times we are in, this Forest could not seem timelier. And what a better place than Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, with its Roman architecture and enchanting gardens and lights, to help us reconnect with our senses?

“As you like it” is the comedy by William Shakespeare that keeps restating the endless existence and importance of love. Sometimes it hurts, other times it keeps you alive. After being banished from the Court, Rosalind and her dear friend Celia flee to the Forest of Arden, Rosalind dressing as man to protect herself. Orlando, who has fallen in love with Rosalind at first sight after an earlier wrestling match, also escapes the Court in his lovesickness. The lovers’ paths will cross, but Rosalind, now Ganymede, will not reveal who she really is until she feels she can do this safely. In the forest, games of seduction, battles of wit and musical cheerfulness by its many colourful characters warm us with increasing humanity. 

REVIEW: For King and Country at the Southwark Playhouse

Every man was a boy once. Whether he is following protocol, correcting his posture or relying on his uniform, that boy never leaves.

“For King and Country” is a court room drama that takes place in 1918 on the Western Front. Private Hamp is facing a trial following his desertion. Only we learn that he has little active memory of that desertion, that it wasn’t a brave act but a symptom of his need to just leave, as he just couldn’t take it anymore. After seeing his friend blown to pieces and ending up drowned in mud following an explosion, he was shell shocked, and just “couldn’t take it no more”. 

This show directed by Paul Thomlinson and playing at Southwark Playhouse until 21 July, is an intensely sad two hours fuelled by moments of surprise, desperation and hope. 

REVIEW: Grotty at The Bunker

I would say that any show announced at The Bunker is worth seeing. It’s one of the newest off-west end theatres and is presenting incredible new writing, shaking up the London theatre scene! Until 26 May, it is presenting Grotty, a new play by award-winning writer Izzy Tennyson that takes us right into 2018’s London lesbian scene. It takes its main character Rigby (played by Tennyson herself) to stinky basements and girlfriends’ “lovely” but sometimes dangerous flats. 

Alcoholic drinks are consumed, as well as hard drugs, and Rigby, who is dealing with her first sexual experiences with women, is searching for something. It takes us a while to find out what that is and more specifically why she keeps going back to people and locations that may not be so good for her, especially as she is still discovering so much about herself. 

REVIEW: Moormaid at the Arcola Theatre

When it comes to understanding the times we live in, going to see a play written by French-German writer Marion Bott and directed by the Greek theatre director Zois Pigadas seems like the perfect activity to gain new perspectives and take a step back from ourselves to see a bigger picture.

This new show at the Arcola Theatre, produced by The Alchemist and Fine Line, takes us into the world of Melissa (Sarah Alles), an art teacher living in Berlin who we meet just as she decides to hang herself from her artist workshop’s ceiling with her favourite red cashmere scarf. Luckily, at least for us, her husband calls her mobile and soon enough, one of her ex-students, Mehdi (Moe Bar-El), appears on her doorstep. He is looking to reconnect with her, and we soon understand that the two have a past as lovers. While Mehdi can’t quite express what he’s feeling and seems haunted by his past (his deceased friend Khan is appearing to him), Melissa encourages him to pick up a paintbrush and join her in a night of expressive artistic expression. 

REVIEW: Coconut at the Ovalhouse

“Coconut” is a brand-new show about Rumi, a British-Pakistani young woman who becomes torn between pleasing her Muslim family and pursuing her love story with a white guy. It is produced by The Thelmas, an intersectional, female led and a New Diorama Theatre Emerging Company. This show, which is refreshing and catches you off guard is not to be missed.

Meet Rumi (played by Kuran Dohil): she is a twenty-something British-Pakistani who does admin work but is also a food blogger. Although she was raised a Muslim, she eats bacon and drinks alcohol. Some people call her a Coconut, because she’s brown on the outside and white on the inside! 

She also has an imaginary friend, Riz (Tibu Fortes), who she shares her frustrations about life with, especially when it comes to men. After going to a Halal Speed Dating event, she meets Simon (Jimmy Carter) in a bar. The two fall for each other, and start spending more and more time together, away from Rumi’s family’s eyes. After a few months, she makes it clear to Simon that if they are to be together and get married, he needs to convert to Islam. Simon, whose mother has just died after a long illness, is ready for a new start in his life and accepts the conversion. Soon enough, Simon develops a taste for his new religion and, wanting to practice it correctly, starts worrying Rumi with the extent of his enthusiasm. 

REVIEW: Carmen at the Union Theatre

As part of the Union’s Theatre ESSENTIAL CLASSICS 2018 season comprising of Shaw’s HEARTBREAK HOUSE and Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD, we are transported to Seville with CARMEN, a re-conceived musical theatre evening based of course on Bizet’s popular opera. The classic melodies bring warmth and memories to mind in this fun, sensual and funny show filled with talent.

Carmen takes place in 1808 at a time of civil unrest and political uncertainty, when Spain was occupied by the French. Down in Seville, it is hot and the cigarette factory workers, men and women alike, are resisting the occupation as much as they can. A local gypsy, Carmen, acts as a spy to try to get information from the Spanish collaborators. When a love story ensues between her and young Captain Velarde, who was previously very dutiful, love becomes blinding and leads to tragedy.

REVIEW: Cyril's Success at the Finborough Theatre

Last night was my first time at the historic Finborough Theatre in Earl’s Court and I loved it! The evening was a real escape, especially thanks to the production of Cyril’s Success by Henry J. Byron, produced for the first time in London in 128 years. It is produced in the context of FINBOROUGH150, which marks 150 years of the building. This year, they are only staging plays from 1868. 

The theatre prides itself on staging new work as well as work that has not been staged for a long time, and the result is refreshing.

Cyril’s Success is the story of Cyril Cuthbert, a writer who has found fame within the circle of theatre managers, critics and actors. His wife is growing jealous of his success, mostly because it means it takes him away from her. On the evening of their wedding anniversary, as Cyril makes very clear that he has completely forgotten the date and goes out to mingle with his peers, she finds a letter and mistakes it for a letter from a mistress. What follows are confusions about relationships and a series of farcical quid pro quos involving ex-spouses, lovers and action behind closed doors in a semi-autobiographical satire about Byron’s trials and joys of marriage and of a life in the theatre. In the end, what is success without a partner to share it with?

REVIEW: There or Here at the Park Theatre

It is not every day that theatre with characters of Asian descent, whether South Asia or East Asia, are portrayed in a well-rounded and non-stereotypical way, especially within stories that are often overlooked.

This month at the Park Theatre, a real first-class off West End Theatre, you can see “There or Here”, a play by American writer Jennifer Maisel, directed by Vik Sivalingram and produced by Special Relationship Productions, which strives to find work that features underrepresented demographics and casts and hires talent in line with this.

The play presents characters from around the world, emigrants and travellers, who are honest and searching for their truth and emotions. The stories centre around Robyn (Lucy Fenton) and Ajay (Chris Nayak), a New York couple that decides to go to India to outsource their pregnancy to a local woman after they find out they can’t have a child of their own. 

REVIEW: Woman Before a Glass at Jermyn Street Theatre

A few months ago, I found myself in Venice for a day on my way to another destination, and a stroll took me to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, directly on the Grand Canal. What an exquisite place to live and keep a collection of art – “children”, as Peggy would call hers. 

If you are looking to escape the cold streets of London this month, head down to the Jermyn Street Theatre and be taken away to Venice. With humour, heartbreak and grand hauteur, “Woman before a glass” offers the unforgettable story of the woman who discovered, encouraged and subsidized many of the greatest Expressionist and Surrealist painters of the first half of the Twentieth century, and was responsible for smuggling her enormous collection out of Europe and out of the hands of the Nazis. 

As soon as you enter this charming little theatre space, you are transported, thanks to Erika Rodriguez’s set design, with vintage dresses and furniture, and Ali Hunter’s lighting design. The sunshine quality of the lighting blinds Peggy (played by Judy Rosenblatt) as she gives instructions to the photographers who are about to take her picture for an interview.

REVIEW: 31 hours at the Bunker Theatre

31 Hours by Kieran Knowles is the type of explosive play that makes you watch your every step on the way home from the theatre, afraid something may fall on you, or you may bump into someone. It presents what theatre offers at its best: a mirror to society, making the audience dread and embrace every word that is coming. 

“Every 31 hours someone takes their own life by jumping in front of a train. They are ten times more likely to be male.” 

31 Hours is the story of four men who clean up after rail suicides. Four actors (Abdul Salis, James Wallwork, Salvatore D’Aquilla and Jack Sunderland) enter in their Network Rail orange work gear, and don’t leave the stage for about ninety minutes. They switch roles, going from the employees to the employers, family members to suicidal characters. Not only do these four workers have to face the aftermath of suicide and “incidents” every week, but the hard work they put in leaves them isolated, not willing to talk. This in turn brings its own questions about why they are doing this job at all and even what they are living for. 

REVIEW: Story Jam at Albany Theatre in Deptford

A teacher reminded me this week of how distracted we are, how so many things demand our attention from the moment we wake up to when we walk out the door and travel someplace. Story Jam, an event happening once a month until Christmas at the Albany Theatre Deptford and Canada Water Theatre, demands our total attention, as its performers take us through songs about stories and stories about songs. The attention that one storyteller receives is quite magical if you listen to how silent the room becomes, all while offering a fun, scary, surprising and sensual experience.

Our imaginations are also evolving in this new digital century: images are all around us and definitely inform how we imagine things. That is why I loved the amount of details that the storytellers gave us during their stories about faraway lands. From the smell of sheets to the noise that a branch makes, and from the beat of a heart to the image of a bloody hand, we are totally there. Performer Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, the first of the evening, was my favourite as she took us through a first story about womanhood in Romania, and then to Finland with a woman looking for her warrior son. The soothing element is that these stories end well.

REVIEW: Dante’s Divine Comedy at the Barons Court Theatre

Theatre company So it goes has just started a run at the Barons Court Theatre with Dante’s Divine Comedy, showing until 30 September. It was my first time visiting this theatre, which is small but has very good acoustics and provides great intimacy. Somehow, the audience feels it is watching something hidden, unique, and the space also fits very well with Dante Alighieri’s epic poem taking us through inferno, purgatory and heaven, hopefully to find his true love Beatrice as well as himself. 

The stage’s back wall is lit by the image of a broken screen as the audience enters, and during the show, it often becomes to background for Dante’s ascent during his quest, showing shadows of terrifying creatures and elements gone wild (played as a magnificent ensemble of five female actresses). I very much enjoyed the use of lighting and the animations by Matthew Kirke and Douglas Baker, which gave me a cave-like feeling and truly took me to where Dante was. One of the last kaleidoscopic moving images of Dante’s face was particularly strong. 

REVIEW: The Hunting of the Snark at the Vaudeville Theatre

Wow, when did we all become so polite? Going to plays for “adults” on a regular basis means that I unfortunately become annoyed if a fellow theatre goer is chatting during a play or perhaps sniffling. What I noticed this week is that if you are attending a family play, those rules disappear! I love how during The Hunting of the Snark, a play for the whole family currently playing at London’s Vaudeville Theatre before going on a national tour, the atmosphere is completely relaxed and people of all ages are having fun, responding, singing along, playing with the actors and eating! New note to self: don’t take theatre going so seriously!

The musical play, written by Annabel Wigoder and directed by Gemma Colclough, is based on the “nonsense” classic poem by Lewis Carroll. It tells of a diverse group of people - the Banker, the Boy, the Butcher, the Baker, the Bellman and the knitting Beaver - who sail off to the mythical Snark Island to find the mysterious Snark – is it an animal? A monster? The crew definitely want to find out! Our hero, the Boy, even hid on the boat against his father the Banker’s orders to know the truth!

REVIEW: Groomed at Soho Theatre

Groomed is an autobiographical one-man play which lasts around 60 minutes and is written by award winning director Patrick Sandford, who is returning to his roots as a performer. When he was not even ten years old, his school teacher abused him sexually – at school, in his home and more. Others didn’t seem to notice, or didn’t want to call out the teacher. It took Sandford nearly 30 years after that to reveal his trauma to the world, after keeping it repressed and letting it handicap his life and relationships for all that time. 

This is far from just being a monologue explaining Sandford’s trauma. The hour swishes by, not only because of the utter focus everyone feels in the room when listening to his story, but also because of the quality of the writing: the actor dramatises various parts of his life, playing different characters such as his mother, his attacker, himself as a young boy and older. He also juxtaposes his story with anecdotes of a Japanese soldier who remained at his defence post for almost 30 years after World War II was over, and the Belgian inventor of the saxophone. This instrument is beautifully introduced to the play thanks to a saxophonist who does not leave the stage and intersperses the text with short and often surprising musical interludes. 

REVIEW: Othello at Wilton's Music Hall

The villain: we love him, we hate him, we can’t stop talking about him – or her! Amongst Shakespeare’s plays, I believe Iago in Othello has surpassed Richard III as the worst villain for me. This is because you can never exactly put your finger on why he is acting the way he is: lying, manipulating, pushing to murder and destroying. While Richard warns us from the start why he is cruel, Iago just uses the word “hate” and lets our imagination go wild.

Othello, currently showing at Wilton’s Music Hall, is the story of the Moor of Venice, a Venetian and Muslim army general on the way to Cyprus with his troops to beat the Turkish enemy. He has just married Desdemona, a Christian, fair and energetic young woman and they are madly in love. While their marriage was at first cause for concern, notably for Desdemona’s father, Othello has assimilated to Venetian and Christian life and convinces him by his charisma and strong presence. Iago, Othello’s standard-bearer, hates him so much he manipulates him in believing his wife is cheating on him. The tragic play moves between scenes of war strategy and the love story.

REVIEW: Voices from Chernobyl at Brockley Jack Theatre

There are many kinds of disasters. Some come from nature, like earthquakes and droughts, others from war, where civilians die unjustly, and some are man-made creations that end up hurting those who created them. 

The disaster of Chernobyl on 26 April 1986 was one of those: the town of Pripyat, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and its surrounding areas, were infected by radioactivity due to the core of a nuclear power plant exploding and contaminating everything around it. Not only did nature suffer, but people did too, and thirty years later, they still do: the radiation levels hurt children, adults, their food and their clothes without them even truly realising it at first. What is more, thousands of people from all around the Soviet Union were called up to deal with the consequences of the explosion, putting themselves in danger. While these people probably saved the rest of Europe from a similar disaster, one could say that their pain is not acknowledged enough or too often subject to people looking away. 

REVIEW: Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways at Cruising Association of Limehouse

I believe the best way to enjoy Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways will be once the good weather has kicked in and audiences watch and discuss the origins of the expression “Idle women” with its performers for long after the shows, preferably in a garden at the back of a pub overlooking a canal!

Idle Women of the Wartime Waterways is a storytelling event presented by writers and performers Kate Saffin and Heather Wastie. Their two-part show presents different stories of women working on narrow boats on the canals between Limehouse and Birmingham during World War II. 75 years ago, the Women’s Training Scheme started: young women, from mostly middle class backgrounds learned to handle 72′ narrowboats with 50 tons of cargo. Just another example of women stepping up to the mark and taking on jobs no one thought they could do (although generations of women from the working boat families had been doing just that for years).