For the first time after leaving college I am back in Hamburg’s Thalia Theater. Founded in 1843 you can spot a real Hamburg citizen by the way the first syllable of Thalia is emphasized. I cannot remember seeing a single play here which I did not like – with productions chosen close to the curriculum … Continue reading Thalia Vista Social Club – a local institution in Hamburg’s Thalia Theater
When her Evil Stepmother does not allow her a mobile phone and she feels she is missing out, 21 year old Ella starts speaking in emojis and hashtags. Luckily the Fairy Matchmaker understands her pain and because we are in an adult panto it does not take long for Ella to admit that has signed … Continue reading An Adult Panto – Tinderella at the Canal Café Theatre at the Regent’s Canal in London
Exactly a year ago we came to London’s Bridge Theatre for the first time. It had only opened recently but we were standing in front of closed doors. Not even the foyer lights were switched on. I had bought the tickets a month before when looking for a Christmassy night out; not something as loud as a … Continue reading Hans Christian Andersen in London – A Very Very Very Dark Matter at the Bridge Theatre
On what seems to be the rainiest weekend this season in London a friend has come to visit from Hamburg. In advance we agreed that I’ll show her Brighton (I have never been during Christmas time) but before we head there I cannot see us drinking cocktails in a beer garden under a patio heater … Continue reading The Brighton Academy’s Sister Act in Clermont Hall, East Sussex
Finally I am in the same city at the same time as Toruk, Cirque Du Soleil’s take on James Cameron’s Avatar. I wanted to see it since I first stumbled upon a call for puppeteers in the newsletter of the Jim Henson Association years ago. Now I am in Bologna, a lively city on a … Continue reading Bioluminescence in Bologna: Cirque Du Soleil’s Toruk, based on James Cameron’s Avatar
I wanted to visit Kingston’s Rose Theatre since their collaboration with paper artist Su Blackwell but missed the show when jet-lag won. When Friedrich Schiller’s Don Carlos was announced in May, I got tickets immediately – after all, this tragedy was a big part of my college exams and I must have read it several … Continue reading Don Carlos at the Rose Theatre in Kingston
The London suburb of Bromley is technically already in Kent but better connected than some other boroughs of the capital. The Churchill Theatre is in the middle of its high street in a concrete building, currently half wrapped in scaffolding but the warm staff makes up for it. And after all it is a very … Continue reading Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley
After I shared my struggles on deciding for a translation of Homer’s Odyssey after a visit to the British Museum I looked into the options available and decided for Emily Wilson’s new translation which got a lot of praise. The long Easter weekend was sorted, and I was enchanted by the power and modernity of … Continue reading A long way home: The Odyssey Live Reading at the Southbank Centre
I am where I wanted to go since passing the glittering façade of the Shaftesbury Theatre during our pub crawl leading to the jazz night at Ronnie Scott’s. An endless amount of Motown tribute shows and revues are now touring and rotating through the stages of the whole planet. I have been assured that Motown … Continue reading Feeling sound in the West End – Motown The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre
One of this season’s most exciting guests plays for one night only at Twickenham’s Exchange, in what is a monodrama written by starring Apphia Campbell as jazz legend Nina Simone. There is no mentioning of this being a musical but you cannot tell any musician’s story without their music. Nina has locked herself in a … Continue reading Apphia Campbell starring as Nina Simone in Black Is The Color Of My Voice at Twickenham’s Exchange
