John Tothill: Thank God This Lasts Forever, Soho Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

This is the sophomore effort from a former teacher turned stand-up comedian, after his critically acclaimed debut from last year The Last Living Libertine. This time around, the ‘modern day libertine’ talks about how he became a teacher, his mouse infestation, his weeknight escapades spent drinking, and how you can make money from participating in medical testing. The latter constitutes the meat of the show, as he explains how a malaria experiment almost went disastrously wrong.

Continue reading

Arcade, London Film Festival

by Zahid Fayyaz

As part of the London Film Festival’s ‘Expanded’ section, Darkfield return to London’s Southbank for what is their most sophisticated immersive show to date, yet still within their familiar shipping container performance space. In past Darkfield works, you’d be lying down on a bed or sitting in an airplane seat, whilst the production used surround sound and sensory effects to take you into the world of the performance piece. This is generally done with noise cancelling headphones and total darkness, which is also the case here for Arcade.

Continue reading

Statues, Bush Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

At the west London’s prestigious new writing venue comes the world premiere of Azan Ahmed’s latest play, a two-hander in the theatre’s intimate studio space. Running for a tight 70 minutes, the story is about teacher Yusuf, played by Ahmed himself. He is going through his recently deceased’s father’s things, and finds some old tapes which reveal that he used to be a rapper. Listening to the tapes, he begins to understand more about his father, whilst also going through the process of grieving a man who was a ‘statue’ in front of the TV for most of his life.

Continue reading

Sophie Duker: But Daddy I Love Her, Soho Theatre

by Zahid Fayyaz

Former winner of Taskmaster and Celebrity Mastermind, and following regular appearances on Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and The Last Leg, Sophie Duker tours her new show to London this month. This is the sequel to her award-nominated 2019 debut, But Daddy I Loved Her, a play on the trademark phrase from Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, is a loud, brash and electric show from Duker.

Continue reading