REVIEW: Labour of Love at the Noel Coward Theatre

James Graham is fast becoming the leading British modern author with his sharp witted comedies based on well researched insight into the events of recent decades. Our House brilliantly told the story of the hung parliaments in the seventies and Ink, now playing just along the road from Labour of Love explores Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of the Sun at beginning of seventies . Now Michael Grandage Company and Headlong bring his latest play to open in the West End, a revealing comedy about the ups and downs of the Labour Party.

This is a play of two halves. In the first half we travel back in time to 1990 and David Lyons election as constituency MP for Ashfield in the midlands through the events that shaped his career and relationship with the local constituency party who select him. In the second half we travel forward in time over the same events revealing the real truths behind the story . The result is a palindrome of events that reads differently depending on the direction of travel.

Jumpy: Theatre Review

Jumpy, Written by April De Angelis, opened at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court in late 2011 with the production recently transferring to the West End, opening on the 16^thAugust at the Duke of York's Theatre. The story follows Hilary who is a working mum who has settled with her family in London, within the play she faces a divorce from her husband and a rocky relationship with her 15 year old daughter. The storyline made me feel like it was going to be like a soap on stage, it was far from it. April De Angelis writing in this play is fantastic, she's got a serious drama that everyone can watch and relate to but has made it into a comedy. Whilst watching it I could see a lot of myself, my family and most likely every other family in the country portrayed in this play! Very much the same sort of humour as the BBC series 'My Family'.
It is filled with laughs all throughout, however it has a very serious tone; it speaks out to anyone who's struggled at any point in their life.