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
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
Strongly recalling visits to London’s National Theatre (another prominent example of 1970s brutalism architecture), it appears the Gillian Lynne Theatre in Covent Garden also mastered an auditorium without bad seats. For the price we paid, we are more than happy with our seats in the first row of the balcony to the right, despite the apparent restricted view: Even the … Continue reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the West End’s Gillian Lynne Theatre
In early Spring 2020 Fat Rascal’s podcast was the soundtrack to my first lockdown jigsaws, while theatre company founder Robyn Grant busied herself and the team with expanding Unfortunate’s story and the amount of songs to an evening filling production: The potty-mouthed retelling of Disney’s The Little Mermaid from sea witch Ursula’s perspective offers sheer … Continue reading Celebrating Ursula under the waves– Fat Rascal’s Unfortunate at the Underbelly Festival
After experiencing discrimination in their native India in the 1970s, a Hindu couple decides to migrate to Canada with their teenage children, and with the zoo they run. The massive containership transporting them does not only refuse vegetarian food but seems to be run by a dodgy, vicious crew as well: A fatal storm leads … Continue reading Life Of Pi enchants the West End
My non-fluent visitor from abroad has never heard of the most successful animated film ever and does not recognise pictures of the Pixar film, let alone the Oscar-recognized soundtrack. I had my suspicions already but still gasp when this is being confirmed over and over, even by someone who lives pop culture-wise under a stone … Continue reading Frozen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane – a triumph
Invited to forget about the ills of the world for an hour I celebrate one of the few GMT opportunities to join Peter Michael Marino’s live figure theatre take for all ages, streamed live from New York, on the 1968 cult classic film Planet of the Apes. I fell in love with staged science-fiction since … Continue reading Planet of the Grapes – a cava-crowned celebration of lockdown crafting
Reviewing a recorded play of Charles Dickens’ uber-classic A Christmas Carol, aimed at 4-11-year-olds comes with a challenge when, however hard I try, I do not fit in the target audience. Luckily, I can rely on Eliana, six, and Nico, four, who happily help out, and with the assistance of their parents we all connect digitally and watch this 15 minute show from our screens miles apart together. The video starts … Continue reading Watching Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol on cardboard – with Polka Theatre’s key audience as judges
Penelope is mainly known as the wife of the ancient Greek hero Odysseus, a king and warrior who first spent ten years in the Trojan war and then another ten struggling to find his way home to Ithaca – monsters aimed to destroy him and gods tried to prevent his return home, aiming to keep … Continue reading Punkt Collective’s Penelope at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town
It’s an amazing feeling to buy musical tickets for someone to see a show with when this very someone has taken you to the cinema years ago to watch the film this show is based on. The massive impact of The Lion King was even felt by my primary school self in late 1994 while … Continue reading Hakuna Matata at the Lyceum Theatre – The Lion King is still stunning
Sadie takes the Stage 