by Zahid Fayyaz
Now a very popular Netflix sitcom, Kim Convenience reverts back to its theatrical roots for a second run in the current London theatre season. Previously at the Park Theatre, Ins Choi’s production is now on at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios. With Choi playing the patriarch of the family, ‘Appy’, this is a family drama with both humour and pathos in equal measure.
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by Diana Miranda
The fringe theatre in the UK takes pride in being a haven for new writing, offering platforms such as R&D workshops, scratch nights and fringe festivals. While the model has its quirks and shortcomings, it remains a space for showcasing and tweaking new work. However, artists navigate a product-oriented landscape that puts pressure to deliver new work.
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by Diana Miranda
It’s often said that storytelling sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. What no one says is that telling stories is no rudimentary act, but a labyrinth of tangents, digressions, and U-turns. Enter Brave Mirror Productions and Attention Span, “a series of short sketches for people with short attention spans,” as its creators put it. This high-energy satire turns the mind inside out to dive into its rabbit holes, unravelling the tangled web within the human brain.
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Photo by Rachel Burnham
By Luisa De la Concha Montes
My Plan for Tomorrow follows Piers (Alfie-Lanham Brown), a frustrated character who wanted to be a writer, but didn’t get into Oxford, so now he splits his time between delivering job-hunting masterclasses, attending comic-con conventions and telling people how great his (unfinished) novel is. When he runs into an old acquaintance from university, Tomas (Chris Capon), Piers becomes obsessed, as Tomas represents everything Piers wishes he could have been: a successful comic illustrator with a big following.
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by Diana Miranda
Who needs another romance song? The question is potentially dangerous, considering that Swifties are pouring out from every crevice in London towards Wembley Stadium this weekend. But after a successful run at Brighton Fringe, Isabel Songer has no fear of bringing up the matter in her solo piece, Flat 4. Following a young woman stepping into the world of independence, this drama offers a peek into the joy and complexities we may find not in a partner, but in friendship.
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By Diana Miranda
Leave all your Granny stereotypes at the door. Harriet Waterhouse’s debut dramedy Sex Chat Granny offers a unique perspective on a woman working on sex chat phone lines as she navigates the challenges of middle age and unpaid bills. The play provides glimpses into her life – stories filled with longing and stagnant dreams – interspersed with calls to her mother, who has dementia, and men seeking companionship.
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by Zahid Fayyaz
Viral hit Jazz Emu (real name – Archie Henderson) has launched his new show and forthcoming tour after garnering millions of views of his music videos on social media platforms. Down in the theatre’s lively cabaret space, the conceit of the show is that the character Jazz Emu is warming up just before he gets on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal Variety Performance. However, Jazz has a secondary objective: he wants to be the one knighted by the King that evening, as apparently that’s how all Royal Variety performances end. The only person in his way is his arch nemesis, Kelly Clarkson, as well as his own failure to comply with various laws and financial guidelines.
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by Archie Whyld
What do German theatre directors eat in the morning? Why, Brechtfast, of course. Early on in Polly (The Heartbreak Opera), a similar, and admittedly better, Brechtfast joke was subtly slipped in, in a moment of metatheatrical gorgeousness, and so, being a lover of all things Brecht, I thought – this is for me.
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by Zahid Fayyaz
Following on from his success run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023, Jason Byrne brings his one-man play to London for a few dates. On a stage set up to look like his dad’s ‘man cave’, with a Perry Como record and red lemonade prominently displayed, it certainly looks the part for what follows.
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by Stewart Robson
For five performances only (sadly this not a full run), Dragonboy Productions have produced this adventurous adaption of five Chekov short stories: The Lady with the Little Dog, The Chemist’s Wife, At a Summer Villa, An Avenger and The Bear. Eliot Giuralarocca has skilfully adapted and directed these five stories. A brilliant cast of five, including Giuralarocca himself, give the stories a dynamic, farcical structure which plays brilliantly in the large space at Southwark Playhouse.
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