“There isn’t an actor who does not love the Richmond Theatre”, starts the chapter on tonight’s venue in the highly recommended doorstopper London’s Great Theatres by Simon Callow and Derry Moore. Pre-lockdown intensive renovations went ahead at this beauty on Richmond Green. A blue plaque refers to theatre architect legend Frank Matcham. Insisting that we … Continue reading When Darkness Falls – from Guernsey to Richmond Theatre
Curiosity on what a Botox party is, the need for a good laugh and a girly evening out has made me return to the Bread & Roses Theatre for The Real Housewives Of Codswallop by Lisa Gaye Wright. The title does not hide what type of TV programs it refers to: Either the viewers’ guilty … Continue reading Bring on the bling – The Real Housewives Of Codswallop
After a long, busy and grey January, comedy is what’s needed, and the Pleasance Theatre has not let me down so far when in need of mid-week laughs. Gladly, the trend to start one-act plays at 7pm continues – London’s theatre-affine commuters living outside the Underground network, desired more of this long before Covid. The … Continue reading Kat Rose-Martin’s Pick N Mix at The Pleasance
I once heard someone saying that if you understand The Lion King, you understand Hamlet. Frankly, my knowledge of William Shakespeare’s most quoted tragedy, completed in 1601, consists of communication with a ghost and with a skull in Denmark, and a couple of famous character names. I also realise that it’s the first indoor performance … Continue reading To be or not have been – Hamlet at the Southwark Playhouse
I am back at London’s worse kept secret, the East End’s beautiful historic gem Wilton’s Music Hall. Their festive family show this Christmas season is a new take on the children literature classic The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Having grown up with the book or any film or … Continue reading The Wind In The Wiltons near the river Thames
After his cabaret success A Jellicle Life (a Power-Point ode to the musical film flop Cats) and a trip to the hairdresser Linus Karp is back: The best and bravest prop for his next car crash of fandom celebration (pun not initially intentional) is his Princess Diana’s hairstyle – the one from the era when most boomers wanted Meg Ryan’s hair gel-supported crops. Dare requesting … Continue reading Untrue Diana by Linus Karp at The Pleasance Theatre
There is something genuinely autumn-like about celebrating the 120th anniversary of the release of the most popular Sherlock Holmes story with a staged audio play – even if not staged in an historic estate in Dartmoor or in London’s Baker Street but at the tour start at the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill, Surrey. Audio plays … Continue reading Sherlock Holmes and The Hound Of The Baskervilles – a touring audio play on stage
If the Dungeons sound just a tad too “family entertainment” to you, 1797 – The Mariner’s Revenge is your maritime hauntology alternative for this Halloween season: No silly shiver-me-timbers, no franchise pirates and no Hans Zimmer tunes but instead grown-up madness, all comical, cruel, chaotic and strange. Immersive theatre, but cast-led. Yes, there can always … Continue reading 1797 – The Mariner’s Revenge at the Old Royal Naval College’s Admiral’s House
The freshly opened Marylebone Theatre has moved in what was London’s Steiner Theater, dedicated to the Austrian founder of the anthroposophy founder Rudolf Steiner. In his independent private schools, student theatre is a fundamental part of the curriculum; I remember seeing Krabat and Albert Camus’ The State Of Siege staged in Hamburg, even before “I … Continue reading Schiller’s Demetrius evolves to Dmitry at London’s Marylebone Theatre
If you loved Arrow & Traps’ theatre-on-demand cycle on ancient Greek gods making their living in nowadays London as much as I, do not by any chance miss Persephone at the Brockley Jack Theatre in Lewisham, the capital’s Borough Of Culture 2022. As in the virtual Talking Gods, Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and … Continue reading Talking Gods on stage: Persephone at Brockley’s Jack Studio Theatre in London’s Borough Of Culture
Sadie takes the Stage 