by Laura Kressly
When Denise was a teenager in Southend, she was desperate to become a Hollywood star and willing to do anything to achieve it. Now, decades later, she’s living in a caravan and working as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator in Las Vegas, far removed from the life she dreamed of. Soap star Michelle Collins embraces the quirky and troubled Denise but the concept’s execution – an extended monologue to a pet snake – is contrived and dramaturgically flat.
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by Anne-Charlotte Gerbaud
In Saria Callas, Seemia Theatre and Sara Amini deliver a powerful solo show that explores identity, memory, and freedom. This multimedia production traces the journey of Saria, who fled Iran to escape a life of restriction, only to realise that her decision may also have paved the way for her child to live freely in ways she couldn’t have imagined.
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by Zahid Fayyaz
After several years of development and subsequent building works, the Soho has opened its north London outpost in Walthamstow, in the beautiful former Granada Cinema that’s also a Grade 2 listed building. A lovely, glitzy venue, and with a capacity of just under 1000, this space debuts with Natalie Palamide’s award nominated Edinburgh fringe show, Weer.
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CW: mentions of rape, sexual assault and addiction
by Anne-Charlotte Gerbaud
Recovery is rarely linear, and All the Worst Parts captures it as raw, painful, and unresolved. Created by Eden Theatre, this four-part play follows a young woman navigating the aftermath of sexual violence. What emerges is a layered and often unsettling portrait of trauma, intimacy, and the damage done
when no one listens.
by Zahid Fayyaz
The New York cabaret star returns to London after the previous success of their Smiths/Frankenstein tribute show, with this personal and sensitive show focusing on Annie Lennox, Judy Garland, as well as Kate Chopin’s groundbreaking feminist novel The Awakening. As part of his Living Record Collection project, all these elements are mixed up with autobiographical elements of his own life, in a stunning 90-minute long cabaret show of real power and sensitivity.
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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.
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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
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 Diana Miranda
As we enter the space, playwright and performer Nick Cohen greets us as if we’re special guests at a private screening. He’s wearing a black suit, and has a polite if fidgety demeanour. When the studio’s doors close, he expresses a mild disappointment that Ryan Gosling hasn’t shown up.
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