Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre

https://www.standard.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/story_large/public/thumbnails/image/2017/12/07/09/hamilton-london-cast-3.jpg

Let’s get this out of the way first – does Hamilton live up to the hype? Yes. It’s very good. Though the revolution in the plot doesn’t influence the dramaturgy, that doesn’t mean it’s not a fantastic show that musically updates the genre and skillfully triggers a spectrum of emotions. It’s simultaneously epic and intimate, staged surprisingly simply with striking, sculptural choreography and utterly engaging throughout.

But this pro-immigration, hip-hop reinvention of the all-American musical about a country gaining independence from a distant, tyrannical overlord resonates rather differently in Brexit Britain than it does in America. Forget the NHS bus – could Hamilton be the new symbol of the Leave campaign?

Continue reading

FCUK’D, The Bunker

Will Mytum in FCUK'D. Photo: Andreas Lambis

A young man waits impatiently for his little brother Matty to finish school. Alone on a football pitch amongst piles of dead leaves, he frets over his alcoholic mum, the state of their home and the letter from social services informing them that Matty will be taken away.

Continue reading

The Acid Test, Cockpit Theatre

https://sixtwists.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/img_1796.jpg

Jess, Dana and Ruth are living it up in a London flatshare. Fresh out of uni, they’re drinking and partying like it’s their job and generally loving life. But their blissful bubble is burst when Jess comes home with her dad in tow after her mum kicked him out of the house. As the night wears on and Jim joins in with his daughter and her flatmates’ antics, ugly truths are revealed in each of the four characters and there’s no going back.

Continue reading

The Black Eye Club, Bread & Roses Theatre

https://i0.wp.com/www.londonpubtheatres.com/communities/6/004/009/186/476//images/4633396539.jpg

Zoe’s back at her commuter belt town’s refuge after her husband beat her up again. This time it’s because Palace lost. Last time, it was because she was nagging to much. She jokes about what will bring her here the next time with her new friend Dave, an anxious gay man who escaped through his bathroom window after his partner beat the shit out of him again. Dave’s not allowed in the refuge, but Zoe felt bad and snuck him in.

Continue reading

The End of Hope, Soho Theatre

https://s3.amazonaws.com/wos-photos-production/119286.jpg

a co-production with the Orange Tree Theatre

You only find round beds with pink satin sheets in particular places or owned by particular people. But it’s safe to say that a woman wearing a full, fur-suited mouse costume complete with face/head mask is not one of these.

Continue reading

Thebes Land, Arcola Theatre

https://cdn.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/for-webThebes-Land-Arcola-130-700x455.jpg

A playwright wants to write a play about patricide, but with an actual criminal onstage instead of an actor. Initial research leads him to a young man called Martin Santos, serving consecutive life sentences in Belmarsh for killing his father. As weeks pass and the two men get to know each other, stereotypes and expectations are upended in this moving story of masculinity, violence and theatre.

Continue reading

Coriolanus, Rose Playhouse

https://cdn.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/08163029/Cori-1.jpg

by guest critic Gregory Forrest

The Rose is a unique venue: part studio theatre, part archaeological dig. Taking your seat to begin the performance, you are met with a cool breeze of black. Some sense of space exists around you, yet is imperceptible. Then, as the play begins, you are suddenly met with lights and depth and a sheer drop to a still underground lake. For this moment alone, The Rose is worth a look.

Continue reading

Box Clever, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DF1QLy8XsAEOun3.jpg

Marnie’s a 22-year-old single mum from Bermondsey and every day is a fight at the moment. Her mum’s harbouring Marnie’s abusive ex, the guy she’s in love with has a new bird who’s using the legal system to keep them apart and her daughter’s dad isn’t around. Marnie currently lives in a woman’s refuge and the shadow of social services is hanging over her.

Continue reading