Month: October 2018

Cast announced for Cuckoo at Soho Theatre
Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Tuesday 13th November – Saturday 8th December 2018, 7.15pm

This November, Catriona Ennis (Dublin by Lamplight, Corn Exchange; Test Dummy, Theatre Upstairs, Dublin; Wild Sky, Irish Arts Centre New York and Irish tour) will star as loud-mouthed Iona in the exciting world premiere of Cuckoo and joining her as Pingu, Iona’s silent tuxedowearing, non-binary best friend, will be Elise Heaven (The Little Bookshop, UK tour; PASSPAWT, Brighton Fringe; She’s a Good Boy, Camden Fringe Festival) who also identifies as non-binary.
Also joining the company are Colin Campbell (Disco Pigs, Trafalgar Studios and Irish Repertory Theatre, New York; Scotties, Scottish tour; Dublin by Lamplight, Abbey Theatre) as Pockets, Sade Malone (4 O’Clock Club, CBBC; The Queen and I, Sky; Seasons in the Sun, East Riding Theatre) as Toller and in his professional stage debut Peter Newington will star as Trix. Directed by Debbie Hannan (Things of Dry Hours, Young Vic; The Session, Soho Theatre; Who Cares, Royal Court), Cuckoo is from the distinctive new comic voice of debut playwright Lisa Carroll. Exploring gender identity, Carroll also dissects the true cost of belonging and reflects on how hard it is to break away from the place you grew up

Everyone hates Iona. Everyone except Pingu. Sick of ceaseless bullying and despair, Iona and Pingu decide to get the fuck out of claustrophobic Crumlin, a small Dublin suburb. Who would have thought emigrating was such a great way to get noticed by the cool kids? Loving the attention, Iona is drunk on her new-found popularity until she discovers she’s messed with the wrong crowd. When reputation must be defended tooth and nail, this can only end in disaster

Carroll’s teenagers are wild, funny, awful, and utterly human as they fight for more than the life that’s handed been to them. This is a fresh, modern look at what it means to be young in Ireland today as the production considers the bond of friendship through the shifting turbulence of adolescence. Cuckoo examines what happens when Pingu’s non-binary identity rubs up against the gender expectations of those around them

Director Debbie Hannan comments, Cuckoo is an exciting new play with a unique voice about that febrile, explosive moment of adolescence when you’re striking out in attempt after attempt to be some kind of “SELF”. It’s about Iona, one scrubby weirdo that no-one likes, and Pingu, her silent best mate trying to scrape a bit of cultural capital before they leave forever – it’s about being uncool. It’s about teenage cruelty and friendships, and where those two things cross over.
These brash and bright characters riotously, hilariously and often violently lash out to make their mark – on Crumlin, the world, and each other. I’m thrilled to be directing this quick-witted, feisty production, which lands us in their thumping, vivid world, whether we like it or not

DISNEY’S THE LION KING ANNOUNCES NEXT DEDICATED RELAXED PERFORMANCE

Special performance to be held on Sunday 02 June 2019 at London’s Lyceum Theatre

Disney’s hit West End musical THE LION KING has today announced that it will hold a dedicated Relaxed Performance on Sunday 2^nd June 2019 at 1:30pm. Tickets are now on sale.

Disney’s THE LION KING is committed to creating a friendly and inclusive audience experience at the Lyceum Theatre, London. Having hosted its fifth Autism-Friendly Performance in London in June 2018, the landmark musical is delighted to be presenting a Relaxed Performance for 2019. Relaxed performances are specially adapted to be accessible to a wide range of audiences such as those with autism, those with a learning disability or anyone with a sensory predisposition, with extra trained staff on hand and dedicated quiet areas inside the theatre should anyone need to leave their seat. All patrons who feel this performance might suit their specific needs are warmly encouraged to attend.

Audience members can find out more information and purchase tickets athttps://thelionking.co.uk/relaxedperformances/. Tickets are sold at a specially reduced rate and can be selected on a virtual map of the auditorium.

Disney’s award-winning musical THE LION KING is now in its 19th triumphant year at London’s Lyceum Theatre. Since the UK premiere in London on Tuesday 19th October 1999, THE LION KING has entertained over 15 million theatregoers and remains the West End’s best-selling stage production. It is currently the sixth longest-running West End musical of all time.

LISTINGS

Disney’s THE LION KING – a Relaxed Performance
Lyceum Theatre, 21 Wellington Street,
London WC2E 7RQ
Sunday 02 June 2019 at 1.30pm
Tickets on sale now
https://thelionking.co.uk/relaxedperformances/

For more information about Disney’s THE LION KING visit www.thelionking.co.uk

TONY AWARD-WINNING

D E A R   E V A N   H A N S E N

TO OPEN AT THE NOËL COWARD THEATRE AUTUMN 2019

Producer Stacey Mindich is pleased to announce that the Tony award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen will open at the Noël Coward Theatre in Autumn 2019, reuniting the original Broadway creative team for this West End production.

Directed by Michael Greif and winner of six Tony awards including Best Musical as well as the 2018 Grammy award for Best Musical Theatre Album, Dear Evan Hansen features book by Tony award-winner Steven Levenson and a score by Tony, Grammy and Academy Award-winning composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul.

Further information including on sale dates will be announced later this year and for up to date information on Dear Evan Hansen visit DearEvanHansen.com/London where Patrons can sign up for advance ticket information.

Stacey Mindich said: “Producing Dear Evan Hansen in America has been a joyful undertaking as the team and I have seen such a widespread and heartfelt response to our show’s message.  We are so excited to bring our show to London, especially to Cameron Mackintosh’s jewel box of a theatre, the Noël Coward. Our show is very much about connection and we are all looking forward to connecting London audiences to the music and story of Dear Evan Hansen.”

A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in.  Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, Dear Evan Hansen is a new musical about life and the way we live it.

Dear Evan Hansen features scenic design by David Korins, projection design by Peter Nigrini, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Nevin Steinberg and hair design by David Brian Brown.  Music supervision, orchestrations and additional arrangements are by Alex Lacamoire, Ben Cohn is the Associate Music Supervisor, Vocal arrangements and additional arrangements are by Justin Paul and choreography is by Danny Mefford.

Dear Evan Hansen has also won the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards.  The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen, produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at #8 – the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961.

The Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen opened at the Music Box Theatre on 4 December 2016, where it has broken all box office records.  A US national tour launches in October 2018, and a production will open in March 2019 at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Leeds Playhouse – 04th October 2018.

Reviewed by Sally Richmond

5*****

Charley Miles’ debut play Blackthorn, which reminded me of a modern day Wuthering Heights in places, knits together two sagas, a capricious love story and the sad decline of the old, traditional ways of rural living.

The first two babies to be born in a Yorkshire village for 20 years are the sole characters of the play (that we see physically) and they were brilliantly portrayed by two outstanding performers – Harry Egan and Charlotte Bate. Both actors had that ‘can’t take my eyes off you’ factor and we get to know them intimately despite never finding out their names.

At the start they play as inseparable, innocent children, then fall in love as teenagers but later grow apart as she moves away to university and he stays behind to work. This theme of leaving and returning, is like the boomerang they won at a country fair, they keep coming back to their village, back to their roots and back to each other.

After the girl moves away, the two central character’s lives are almost entirely lived apart from each other and we only get to see glimpses of them when they’re reunited at a wedding, funeral and holidays. Distant remains of their deep-rooted feelings for each other chaotically puncture their efforts to fully move on; as time goes by, she starts to take an interest in the industry of the village, upset at the idea that the old cow sheds might be in line for conversion into extravagant accommodation. But does she even have a right to deliberate and get so emotional about a place she’s not lived in for years and called home? She’s not that much different from those who are buying up the whole village these days is she?

We are not given any answers. Should we simply preserve a place to keep things how they’ve always been and not move forward with regeneration or is that process of renewal really one of destruction and devastating whole communities? Is this progress? The love story we’re all willing on to survive doesn’t appear to by the end, despite a strong and unrelenting fight. People and places change and what you once thought would always be there, might eventually disappear, like the blackthorn that will inevitably be stripped back and cleared.

At points the play makes you want to scream out, “Come on just get together and stop being so stubborn!” And as mentioned earlier, like Heathcliffe and Cathy, another Yorkshire pair of star crossed lovers, they just seem to have an unbreakable bond which unlike the circumstances of the village, is unchangeable and necessary. ‘Blackthorn’ is an engaging puzzle as on the one hand it is gentle and tender but on the other a sharp and harsh recreation of the pain of chapters in one’s life time. A remarkable and searching debut, with a significant and realistic story.

Blackthorn was a finalist for the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn prize in 2017.

Blue Elephant Theatre, Camberwell, London – until 5th October

Reviewed by Lisa Harlow

3***

It is evident early on how much the content of the play means to the actors, and by the end I am nearing tears. Members of the cast all identify as British but discovered they are third-generation migrants. This link led them to research their heritage. The performance is peppered with radio excerpts as well quotes from stories and memories of the people they had interviewed. In spite of the high tension and tragic events that took place in Brixton in the early 1980s that are played out in Windrush Square, the performance is broken up with sunshine music, dance and humour.

The Windrush generation have been back in the headlines of late, and not for any good reason. These were workers from the Caribbean that travelled in response to a post war labour shortage in Britain, and faced an uphill struggle in terms of acceptance, equality and justice. Windrush Square takes its name from the central  public square in the heart of Brixton, where many migrants at the time settled.

We follow the trials and tribulations, and joy and camaraderie, of the Johnson family, from Jamaica, and the daily struggles they face going about their lives. The focus on the interracial relationship between a Johnson daughter and a white man training to be a policeman, allows the story to reveal the jagged obstacles mounted against the pair. Nadeyene Lewis(the daughter and girlfriend) certainly shines brighter through the show and brings magnetism to her expression. Certainly all the actors contributed to an thoroughly enjoyable show and Grandma certainly guaranteed to bring  the laughs at the most needed times.

“Please give me strength not to judge” declares the father as his mantra through the times of heightened racial divisions; can his resolve survive the numerous, and more bloody tests, the community faced?

This is a show worth seeing during Black History month. I dare you not to be moved by the ending speech and the reasons this story still needs to be told today.

*One Love*…so says Bob Marley

CLF Art Café – until 28 October 2018

Reviewed by Jason Rath

2**

“Come look at the freaks”

Never has there been a lyric written that epitomises a show in one line more than this one. “Sideshow” is a piece all about the truth behind the acts of the old freak show days, the pain and joy of constantly being with your one closest person in the world and how this impacts every single thing in your life, from marriage to job life, personality to anxieties. This show is a beautiful piece, with a brilliant thinkers plot and a gorgeous score from Henry Krieger, and follows the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, a pair of “Siamese Twins” who start their lives on stage at a grimy old freak show and end up being vaudeville’s biggest stars. We see them grow as women from timid naïve girls to strong independent women and watch all the twists and turns along the way. This show has all the tools necessary to succeed but as we all know sometimes this does not necessarily translate onto the stage.

Katie Beudert and Lauren Edwards were both fantastic as Daisy and Violet Hilton respectively. They played beautifully together and the close harmony work between the two was great. Beudert really showed off her acting chops in this piece and, while I think that Edwards was indeed strong, I think she got slightly overshadowed by her on stage sister. Alexander Bellinfantie was good as Jake, with a beautiful voice for such a young man, although he did sometimes let his riffs and trills get in the way of his diction which meant there were a fair few times where I completely lost what the lyrics were saying. Matthew James Nicholas was good as Terry Connor, the girls manager/agent, with a great voice and some brilliant acting, although I did get the odd feeling that at times maybe he didn’t want to be on that stage tonight as I could spot him sometimes getting distracted by what was going wrong or what needed fixing. Barry O’Reilly was also strong as Buddy Foster, with some great notes in is vocal register and, although maybe his acting wasn’t the strongest in the world, I did enjoy his performance. The same cannot be said however for the ensemble. While the vocals and harmony work were strong throughout the piece, I really can’t get over the lack of precision and drill in the ensemble. One particular thing the bugged me was the scene with them “reading” the newspapers. Whilst some members of the ensemble were fully in the moment, others were constantly glancing up over the top or even worse looking out into the audience to see what was going on, completely breaking character.

While I did have my problems with certain aspects of cast performances I think there were some strong technical aspects. There was some strong direction on show, whether that was used to its fullest extent or not is another thing. However one thing I did not understand was why the whole piece was set without even acknowledging the massive pillar that goes straight through the stage centre front and completely obscures view. If this was incorporated into the piece then maybe I could deal with it but it was just ignored and this really grinded on me. The lighting was good creating a really eerie environment on stage and this really helped the piece. The sound was poor with white noise and loud sounds constantly coming over the system, much to the audiences disappointment.

In conclusion, “Side Show” was a piece that had so much brilliant potential and, while it was there and evident, it was not always utilised properly. I came expecting so much good stuff from this show and I have to say as I left, I was pretty disappointed

Arcola Theatre – until 20 October

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, with its meandering time shifting and interior voices, isn’t an easy option for the stage. Hal Coase’s adaptation plays with this, with the cast beginning the play with a debate about the truth, expectations and unsatisfactory entrances.

The story is set on a day in London between the wars, with society wife Clarissa Dalloway (Clare Perkins) preparing for her party that evening. As she walks through London she reminisces about her youth and her old friends Sally (Clare Lawrence Moody) and Peter (Sean Jackson), Also walking through the park are Septimus (Guy Rhys) and his wife Rezia (Emma D’Arcy). Suffering from mental illness after the war, and hallucinating about his dead friend Evans, Septimus is examined and committed by a doctor who is a guest at Clarissa’s party. The two main characters never meet, but news of Septimus’ suicide deeply affects Clarissa as she interprets it in the context of her own worldview.

The stream of consciousness narrative and the overlapping narratives are handled deftly by director Thomas Bailey, with the cast sharing lines, interrupting each other and using mobile recorders or stylised hand gestures to signal internal thoughts in conversations. It’s all very wistful and gentle, with Guy Rhys’s occasional outbursts as Septimus making an impact. Unfortunately, the character comes across as pitiful rather than sympathetic, and his suicide is unremarkable and forgettable – which may be exactly what Bailey was aiming for to highlight Woolf’s criticism of mental healthcare at that time.

There are some wonderful moments of comedy, most coming from Lawrence Moody as born again Christian Miss Kilman as she voices her adoration for Elizabeth Dalloway and her dislike of Clarissa in energetic asides as she continues her bland conversations. D’Arcy is intense and moving as Rezia, while Perkins floats across the stage as Clarissa, calm and collected, but capturing the innocence and joy of her youth charmingly in the flashback scenes.

The simple set, with a plain wooden frame and a simple rectangle of blue for the sky, later joined by another in sunset hues, keeps the focus on Woolf’s wonderful language, and Tom Stafford’s soundscape evokes the feel of an idealised London. This is an impressive production but, perhaps because of the source material, feels clever rather than emotionally satisfying.

Leeds Playhouse – Tuesday 2nd October 2018

Reviewed By Dawn Smallwood

5*****

As part of the 2018 Furnace Festival, an annual celebration which proudly showcases new theatre from up and coming artists to well established ones, Selina Thompson brings Salt her solo show to the Leeds Playhouse’s Pop-Up Theatre. The show could not be any more appropriate with the commencement of Black History Month.

Salt is about a journey that two artists take via a cargo ship from Europe to Ghana then indirectly to Jamaica and back home via the United States on another ship. This is where they retrace a former route of the Transatlantic Slave Triangle. The audience are invited to join Thompson on this journey in search for answers to their questions and the reminiscing of their memories. She poignantly shares the pain and grief that their past ancestors suffered and yet not forgetting how far their generations have gone to get where they are today. Strongly shared is the harsh reality of dispersion that imperialism, colonialism and capitalism have brought and the deep routed ignorance that triggered racism and marginalisation.

The dialogue is poetically rich and a figurative journey is explicably shared by descending deep down to the bottom of the Atlantic and slowly though painfully ascending to the top of the ocean. Salt is physically present on stage and the breaking of it is used to powerfully illustrate the truthful journey that both she and the other artist experienced and the indirect abuse they endured. An illuminated triangle rises above the stage reminds the audience poignantly the horrors of the slave trade and slavery (past and present). There is good use of a visual screening which is projected in defining and explaining what home and identity really are.

Thompson delivers a short but very powerful and moving account of Salt and how much one has to travel so far back to travel forward. The journey does not stop there and it resonates with one’s life journey with a particular focus on identity in somewhat an ignorant world. It is an unmissable play that requires full attention from beginning to end and emphasis is on not forgetting the past. Their physical journey across the Atlantic may have finished but like everyone their journeys continue figuratively as emphasised at the end. Salt is a flavourer for many things and with the kind offering from the artist afterwards, big thanks from many are personally shared for Salt.