Home

BLAIR RUSSELL PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF POP OFF, MICHELANGELO!

AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO

Blair Russell Productions today announces a 3-week extension of Pop Off, Michelangelo! by Dylan MarcAurele, now completing its run at Underbelly Boulevard Soho on 13 July.

Joe McNeice directs Aidan MacColl (Leonardo da Vinci), Aoife Haakenson (Mother), Kurran Dhand (Salai), Laura Sillett (Savonarola), Max Eade (Michelangelo), Michael Marouli (Pope), and Sev Keoshgerian (Italian Chef).

www.popoffmichelangelo.com

Instagram, TikTok: @popoffmichelangelo

Blair Russell Productions present

POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! 

By Dylan MarcAurele

Cast: Natalia Brown (Understudy), Kurran Dhand (Salai), Max Eade (Michelangelo),
Aoife Haakenson (Mother), Sev Keoshgerian (Italian Chef), Aidan MacColl (Leonardo da Vinci), Conn McGirr (Dance Captain/Understudy), Michael Marouli (Pope), Laura Sillett (Savonarola)

Keys/MD: Aron Sood; Bass: Felix Barrett; Percussion: Paul J Forster

Director: Joe McNeice; Choreographer & Intimacy Director: Sundeep Saini;

Musical Supervisor & Orchestrations: Aron Sood; Costume Designer: Emily Bestow;Video Designer: PJ McEvoy; Lighting Designer: Adam King; Sound Designer: Ed Lewis;

Casting Director: Sarah-Jane Price;Assistant Choreographer: Conn McGirr;

Dramaturg: Rose Oser; Production Manager: James Anderton;

General Management: Paul Virides Productions; Set Designed in Collaboration Between Joe McNeice, Emily Bestow, and PJ McEvoy

17 May – 22 June 2025

at Underbelly Boulevard Soho 

The high-camp musical comedy that stole the Fringe makes its limited West End debut season. 

Pop Off, Michelangelo!tells the story of best-pals-turned-bitter-rivals Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. A bloodthirsty friar is on the hunt for homosexuals in Renaissance Italy at the exact moment when childhood friends Mike and Leo realise they both like boys. Terrified, they devise a foolproof plan to gain God’s forgiveness: they simply need to become the greatest religious artists of all time. Can Michelangelo gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss his way to the Vatican? Will Leonardo ever shut up about his helicopter? Featuring an original electropop score as infectious as the bubonic plague, Pop Off, Michelangelo!is an unhinged adventure that you won’t want to miss.

Dylan MarcAurele is a New York-based writer and recent winner of the Jonathan Larson Grant and the Richard Rodgers Award. His credits for Book, Music, and Lyrics include MEG4N (2024 US Tour starring Rosé of RuPaul’s Drag Race), and The Real Housewives of NYC: The Musical (featured on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live). As a composer, his work includes Lewis Loves Clark (NAMT Festival), Tea with G (reading directed by Scott Schwartz), and The Land of Forgotten Toys (Broadway Licensing). In playwriting, his piece God Gives Ryan a Very Important Job premiered at the 2023 Samuel French OOB Festival. MarcAurele has also written music and lyrics for Miley Chase: The Science Ace (Broadway Licensing) and the song “Say Bravo!” (sung by Andy Cohen with the cast of Vanderpump Rules at the Paris Theater, Las Vegas).

Kurran Dhand plays Salai. His theatre credits include Aladdin (Royal Hippodrome Theatre) and Rishi Sunak’s Doing a Musical (Waterloo East Theatre). Dhand graduated from Brighton Academy in 2023.

Max Eade reprises his role as Michelangelo, which was his stage debut. Eade graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2024.

Aoife Haakenson plays Mother. Her theatre credits include Six (UK and international tour) and The Crucible (National Theatre); and for television, Downforce.

Sev Keoshgerian plays Italian Chef. His theatre credits include I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical (UK tour), The Rocky Horror Show (European tour), Little Women the Musical (Park Theatre), Little Miss Sunshine (Arcola Theatre), The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) (Above the Stag) and Jack and the Beanstalk (Corn Exchange Newbury).

Aidan MacColl reprises his role as Leonardo. His other theatre credits include The Little Mermaid (UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk and Beauty and The Beast (Eastwood Park Theatre).

Michael Marouli plays Pope. Marouli is an international drag performer, actor, host, stand-up comedian and show producer. He finished as runner-up in season five of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and has since toured the world as both a solo artist and with his drag group Angels of the North. He has also starred in BobThe Drag Queen: This is Wild! World Tour (Adelphi Theatre), and guest starred in Paramount Plus’s The Road Trip.

Laura Sillett plays Savonarola. Her theatre credits include Barnum, Sweet Charity, Assassins (The Watermill Theatre), Ordinary People (The Farnham Maltings), Sunday in the Park with George (Mill Studio, Guildford), Hair, Dreamboats & Miniskirts (UK tour), A Night at the Oscars (Upstairs at The Gatehouse), The Selfish Giant (Vaudeville Theatre and Royal & Derngate, Northampton), Footloose (UK and international tour), The Railway Children (Electric Theatre, Guildford), Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), Dick Whittington, Robin Hood & Babes in the Wood and Jack & The Beanstalk (Gatehouse Theatre); and for film, Matilda.

Joe McNeice directs. He is the founding Artistic Director of the Lavender Theatre and the founder of Lavender Productions Ltd. In 2023, he launched the 250-seat open-air Lavender Theatre in Epsom, opening the venue with a revival of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, starring Eurovision’s SuRie. His other directing credits include DIVA: Live From Hell! (Turbine Theatre), DIVA (King’s Head Theatre and Underbelly Cowgate). As a producer and writer, he co-wrote and produced the 2020 charity Christmas single Christmas Again: The Show Must Go On! for the Theatre Support Fund+, and worked on Magic Mike Live (US tour). He is also the creator of On Hope, A Digital Song Cycle, and co-wrote the full-length musical Twilight Robbery with composer Matthew Spalding. Writing credits include Songs in the Key of Springfield, Des Ludo’s Good Clean Fun, and Sugar and Smoke, all performed at the University of York.

Listings Information

POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! 

Underbelly Boulevard Soho

6 Walker’s Court, Soho, London W1F 0BT

www.underbellyboulevard.com

Box Office: 0207 432 3860

TICKETS 

£15-65, previews £10-35.

17 May to 13 July 

Performances Tuesday to Friday at 7pm

Performances on Saturday at 3pm and 7pm

Performances on Sunday, 2pm and 6pm

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE WEST END TRANSFER OF THE SMASH-HIT PRODUCTION

TILL THE STARS COME DOWN

AT THE THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET THIS SUMMER FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED RUN

The National Theatre today announces casting for the West End transfer of the smash-hit production, Till the Stars Come Down.Co-produced with Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Fiery Angel, Short Street Productions and Access Entertainment, this ‘excellent family drama’ (★★★★★ Daily Telegraph) will be staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 1 July until 27 September 2025.  Audience members will be given the opportunity to sit up close and immerse themselves in this ‘wedding of the year’ (★★★★★ The Guardian) with on-stage seating available throughout the run.  Tickets are available from £20.

Joining the cast are Dorothy Atkinson (Ludwig, BBC; Saltburn, Warner Bros) as Aunty Carol, Adrian Bower (Gangs of London, Sky; Teachers, BBC) as John, Julian Kostov (The White Lotus, HBO; Shadow and Bone, Netflix) as Marek, Aisling Loftus (Girls and Boys, Nottingham Playhouse; Sherwood, BBC)as Maggie and Ruby Thompson (Three Sisters, Shakespeare’s Globe; Aftersun, Mubi) as Leanne.

Reprising their roles are Lucy Black (Top Girls, National Theatre; The Durrells, ITV) as Hazel, Sinéad Matthews (The Antipodes, National Theatre, Hullraisers, Channel 4) as Sylvia, Philip Whitchurch (Boys from the Blackstuff, Royal Court Liverpool/National Theatre; Peterloo, Entertainment One) as Uncle Pete and Alan Williams (Faith, Hope and Charity, National Theatre; Chernobyl, Sky) as Tony.  Further casting to be announced.

Till the Stars Come Down is a passionate, heartbreaking and hilarious portrayal of a larger-than-life family.  Written by former National Theatre writer-in-residence, Beth Steel, this critically acclaimed production ‘fizzes with sharp comic observation’ (★★★★ Financial Times) and is ‘laugh out loud funny’ (★★★★★ WhatsOnStage).  Other credits include The House of Shades (Almeida Theatre), Wonderland (Hampstead Theatre) and Ditch (HighTide Festival and Old Vic Tunnels).  She has also previously won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright (2014).

Till the Stars Come Down is a ‘beautifully observed and bruisingly hilarious’ production by Bijan Sheibani (★★★★Time Out). This Olivier Award-winning director was previously Artistic Director of the Actors Touring Company and is a former associate director of the National Theatre.  Other credits include Barber Shop Chronicles, A Taste of Honey (National Theatre) and The Arrival (Bush Theatre).

It’s Sylvia and Marek’s wedding and you’re all invited.  Over the course of a hot summer’s day, a family gathers to welcome a newcomer into their midst.  But as the vodka flows and dances are shared, passions boil over and the limits of love are tested.  What happens when the happiest day of your life opens the door to a new and uncertain future?

Sheibani is joined by set and costume designer, Samal Blak; lighting designer, Paule Constable; choreographer and movement director, Aline David; sound designer, Gareth Fry; revival director, Elin Schofield;original casting director, Alastair Coomer CDG; casting director, Juliet Horsley CDG; dialect coach, Charmian Hoare; intimacy director, Asha Jennings-Grant, fight director, Kev McCurdy and resident director, Alex Pritchett.

Till the Stars Come Downwas originally commissioned by the National Theatre and developed with the theatre’s New Work department whilst Steel was writer-in-residence (2019-2021).  It had its world premiere on 31 January 2024 in the Dorfman Theatre and was Steel’s debut play at the National Theatre running until 16 March.  Following a sold-out run, Till the Stars Come Down was nominated for ‘Best New Play’ at the 2024 Olivier Awards. 

Till the Stars Come Down in the West End is supported by American Express, the National Theatre’s Official Payment Partner.

Shakespeare in Love

an open-air theatre spectacular!

1 – 5 July

2025 sees The Castle Players make a bold return to its summer tradition of outdoor performances with a spectacular production of ‘Shakespeare in Love – the Play’. Touring to five venues on five consecutive nights it opens on Whorlton Village Green on Tuesday 1 July at 7pm before visiting All Saints & Salutation Church, Darlington on 2 July, Mickleton Village Green on 3 July, TCR The Hub, Barnard Castle on 4 July and finally, on Saturday 5 July, the stunning walled gardens of Raby Castle.

Directed by Gordon Duffy-McGhie, the play is based on the Oscar®-winning film, ‘Shakespeare in Love’, and follows young Will Shakespeare as a penniless playwright struggling with writer’s block. Everything changes, however, when Will meets the daring Viola de Lesseps, a noblewoman with a secret passion for acting at a time when women were banned from the public stage. Disguised as a man, Viola auditions for Will’s play, and when a whirlwind romance follows it inspires the legendary story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Expect sword fights, mistaken identities, and a barrel of laughs in this enchanting tale of poetic love!

Rehearsals are already underway with a cast of thirty-seven, and just out of town local set builder, Simon Pell, is preparing for an especially busy time. A design competition with degree students from Northern School of Art in Hartlepool has already produced many innovative ideas and visuals for the set. The competition winner will be announced at Northern Stage in Newcastle on May 8th.

Tickets go on sale on 7 May – please visit www.castleplayers.co.uk to book your tickets and for further information.

Cast announced for the UK premiere of the Off Broadway smash hit 

The White Chip

Produced by Danielle Tarento  (Titanic) 

and Tony® Award winning actress Annaleigh Ashford

Ed Coleman (I AM HANNAH, C4), Mara Allen (MACBETH, Shakespeare’s Globe) and Ashlee Irish (HELLO, DOLLY!, London Palladium) will star in the UK premiere of THE WHITE CHIP, written, autobiographically, by Sean Daniels, directed by Matt Ryan, at Southwark Playhouse Borough.

The UK premiere, which runs from 9th July – 16th August, is produced by Danielle Tarento and Tony® Award winning actress Annaleigh Ashford.

Despite spending more time drunk than sober, Steven McAlister (Coleman) has managed to graduate from college, create an extremely successful theatre group, get married, and thrive in a dream job at one of the most prestigious regional theatres in the United States.

Sure, it’s gratifying to go to an AA meeting where they reward you with a white chip token just for showing up, but does he really have a problem? Even with an ailing father, a marriage on the rocks, and his professional life careening out of control, Steven has a carefully constructed balancing act that keeps it all together – until it all falls apart.
Told with humour, honesty, and compassion, The White Chip is about living with addiction and coming alive through recovery.

Southwark Playhouse Borough
77-85 Newington Causeway,  London SE1 6BD
9th July – 16th August 2025

Ed Coleman (Steven)
Ed studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
His credits include playing Harold Steptoe in STEPTOE & SON – LOST SITCOMS (BBC), THE BALLAD OF RENEGADE NELL (Disney), I AM HANNAH (C4), LEAVE A MESSAGE (Vaults Festival & Edinburgh), WHO IS DANIEL KING?, IMPOSSIBLE, THE BEAU SEUX (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Films include PRIDE, 28 WEEKS LATER.

Mara Allen (#1)
Her credits include KING LEAR (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, West End & Broadway), THE NIGHT WATCH and THE MIRROR CRACK’D (Original Theatre), MACBETH (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre), the title role in HENRY V (The Maltings Theatre), AN OCTOROON (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

Ashlee Irish (#2)
His West End credits include HELLO, DOLLY! (London Palladium), GROUNDHOG DAY (Old Vic), THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (Gillian Lynne Theatre), TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL (Aldwych Theatre), DREAMGIRLS (Savoy Theatre).

Creative team includes:
Director Matt Ryan
Designer Lee Newby
Lighting Designer Jamie Platt
Sound Designer Max Pappenheim
Casting Director Danielle Tarento
Produced by Danielle Tarento and Annaleigh Ashford.

Sean Daniels said: “It’s an honour to get to work with Danielle Tarento and Annaleigh Ashford to bring The White Chip to London. After the response we had in New York – the mix of laughter-filled shows and someone saying ‘I’m ready to get help’ after every performance – we knew we wanted to keep this going as long as we could. When you write a comedy about recovery you hope it finds the right people, people who get your dark sense of humour – from actors to producers to audience – and how lucky am I that it has.”

The show premiered in New York at 59E59 Theaters and was most recently produced at The Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at MCC Theatre by Tony® Award winning actress Annaleigh Ashford alongside Hank Azaria, Jason Biggs, and fellow Tony® Award winner John Larroquette. The play received widespread acclaim, earning a coveted New York Times Critics’ Pick.

LISTINGS INFO

Danielle Tarento and Annaleigh Ashford
present

THE WHITE CHIP
by Sean Daniels

Directed by Matt Ryan

Location:
Southwark Playhouse Borough,
77-85 Newington Causeway,
London SE1 6BD

How To Get There:
The nearest stations are
Borough and Elephant & Castle

Performance Dates & Times:
9th July – 16th August at 7pm
(2.30pm Tuesdays and Saturdays)
Captioned performance on 6th August

Box Office link
southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-white-chip/

Ticket Prices:
Pioneer Preview £12
Previews £18
Full price £32
Concession £26

Age Guidance: 11+

Socials
Instagram
Facebook
TheWhiteChipUK
Twitter (X)
TheWhiteChip_

Soho Theatre – until 3 May 2025

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Why does everything have to have a reason?

This is the question Anna (Vyte Garriga) asks the confused security guard (Daniel Chrisostomu) who finds her sitting on a park bench in the dark making paper swans.

Flabbergast Theatre bring Garriga’s darkly enchanting absurdist work to the stage with style. Valentina Turtur’s simple yet beautifully evocative stage design plays with traditional Swan Lake sets and the sight of Garriga dressed as a ballerina on this set conjures an expectation of tragedy before you even take your seat.

Crisostomo immediately sets the tone as he enters, moving like a steam train across the stage before he spots Anna. The park is locked. How can she be avoiding the cameras and the eyes of the other security guards sitting here on the bench? Anna’s only explanation is that she must finish before the morning – before she is seen.

This plays out in repeated iterations, we see the pair dancing happily, Anna menacing the guard – as a story needs blood, Anna acting like his therapist, co-operating to complete Anna’s task, amongst others. The constant thread is his inability to comprehend her even when it appears they are making progress. He is in uniform and she is an artist. He insists they are locked inside the park – trapped – while she blithely continues her mission. He can only make paper boats, not swans. Who knows what it means – we all understand and take from the play differently – as it should be with such skilful absurdist theatre.

Garriga and Chrisostomu’s movement around the stage is balletic and sometimes hypnotic. His repeated mechanistic, or ritualistic actions matching certain phrases are delightful and Henry Maynard’s lighting along with Nick Hart’s music shifts the mood from tender to threatening effortlessly.

Thought provoking, funny and captivating, Paper Swans is a real treat for fans of the absurd.

Theatre503 – until 3 May 2025

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Amy Powell Yeates’ gloriously funny and perceptive play about lifelong friendship has lines and situations that will resonate with everyone in the audience.

Beginning in 1998 with Charlie and Debs trying to cope with the splintering of the Spice Girls, the play follows the pair’s friendship over the next 25 years.

From schoolgirl crushes and worries – with pledges of lifelong friendship and promises to live together when they’re older, through their twenties with contrasting lives of student frugality and more comfortable job security, the pair’s relationship ups and downs are observed brilliantly.

The ridiculous intensity of creating dance routines and your own catchphrase as you are struggling to discover yourself and clinging to each other for support are captured by the wonderful Olivia Forrest as Charlie and Rosa Robson as Debs. Their dancing, scattered throughout the show, are hilarious and a fantastic nod to the French and Saunders dance sketches from that era.

As the years pass, the pair’s priorities change and their meetings are sometimes fraught as the brutal honesty and love that works when you see each other everyday hits differently when you get together less often. The women’s dependence on each other shifts and swings like a pendulum as their careers and relationships develop, and arguments develop, but we never need to see these resolved as these little deaths of a friendship like this are never permanent.

Amy Powell Yeates evokes nostalgia and portrays the depth and support of true friendship with wit and heart. For two characters who talk so much, what remains unsaid hits just as hard – sometimes they don’t need words to convey their love. Although when it comes to judging and commenting on each other’s choices, they don’t hold back!

Claire O’Reilly’s smart direction allows Olivia Forrest and Rosa Robson to shine with fantastic energy and glorious physical performances that capture the ages of the characters. Both are wonderful comedic actors, and convince in the quiet, more reflective moments.

A wonderfully warm, wise and witty celebration of female friendship, Little Deaths is a fantastic show to see with your bestie. You’ll dance home!

Donmar Warehouse – until 7 June 2025

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Patrick Marber’s debut play, written in 1995, is a tense and darkly funny slice of male bravado and addiction. It’s Saturday night at Stephen’s London restaurant, and the staff are getting ready for their weekly poker game.

Stephen (Daniel Lapaine) insists his son Carl (Kasper Hilton-Hille), who he thinks is recovering from his gambling addiction, plays to learn discipline. Their fractured relationship drives the play, with Lapaine nailing Stephen’s acute need to be in control of his addiction and everything around him. His thoughtless insults are at odds with his acts of seeming kindness – but is this kindness heartfelt or simply keeping the staff exactly where he wants them?

With one staff member absent, there is some doubt about whether the game can take place, with everyone badgering chef Sweeney (Theo Barklem-Biggs) to join them instead of having a quiet night before a rare visit with his young daughter. Sweeney knows he is an addict and his acquiescence after lots of matey banter is inevitable.

The game is upended when Carl brings along his “ex-teacher” Ash (Brendan Coyle – delivering a masterclass in dangerous, watchful stillness tinged with regret). Carl has not recovered, and Ash has been bankrolling his losing streak, but now Ash’s own debts have been called, Carl must pay up. Having assured Ash that he can win all the money he needs from this game, Ash joins and looks on in amused silence at the histrionics played out around him. With the mantra, play the man, not the cards repeated, Ash is probably on to a winner.

The game appears to be the safest place for this hapless codependent crew. Debts are chased half-heartedly between the staff as they know they have nowhere to go, and debts to Stephen are sorted out in unpaid overtime. The banter and abuse they fling thoughtlessly at each other is written beautifully and is instantly recognisable. Alfie Allen’s Frankie is the biggest tiddler in this tiny pond – bragging about his success with women and winning regularly enough to ignite a pipedream of a life as a professional gambler in Vegas. A dream shattered by Ash with a quietly devastating performance from Allen.

The underlying sadness and hopelessness of these characters contrasts with Hammed Animashaun’s Mugsy – bouncing around with eternal optimism and childlike energy. His business plans with Carl (terrible choice of business partner) are shot down by everyone, but he refuses to give up. Animashaun is a joy to watch, bringing heart to the play but also giving hints of a darker side to Mugsy when he is frustrated and feels no one takes him seriously.

Marler’s writing is astute and witty, making poker accessible to an uninitiated audience and nodding to the ridiculousness of some convoluted games with Mugsy’s Nightmare – devised and explained by Mugsy. The older players decry wildcards as relying on luck rather than skill, but this is the only way Mugsy can win as his self-declared skills are practically non-existent. Matthew Dunster’s taut direction builds the tension wonderfully and Moi Trans set – a stark kitchen/restaurant has a fantastic Donmar transformation into the cellar where the game takes place in the second act.

Tense, funny and surprisingly moving as a study of addiction and male fragility, Dealer’s Choice is a wonderfully entertaining play that has stood the test of time.

Southwark Playhouse Borough – until 17 May 2025

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

This silly but loving comedy set on a tube train is a very London centric production. Pulling out all the stops, there’s a spoof version of the freesheets that litter every carriage on the TfL network, The Retro, as a programme, while an actor in TfL gear with a loudspeaker marches around the bar preshow making mock announcements – “Mind the gap between this performance and your expectations” was a winner! The preshow playlist is a big hit, with many audience members singing along to classics about London. Obviously, The Jam’s Going Underground HAD to be played.

Hamish Clayton and Tom Woffenden’s story centres around two strangers getting on the train at Heathrow and riding the entire line to Cockfosters. James (Sam Rees-Baylis) has returned from a solo trip to Venice after splitting from his girlfriend and his luggage has gone missing. Tori (Beth Lilly) has been at a yoga retreat in Mexico after having a self-declared quarter-life crisis. A few awkward comments and silences soon become a full-blown conversation as the couple bond on their journey. Tori’s grandfather worked with the man who designed the tube map and she has a mysterious connection with the Underground but that secret unfortunately died with her grandfather.

Hamish Clayton directs with great energy and what follows is a random collection of sketches as instantly recognisable characters and caricatures enter and alight the carriage. (A fantastic realistic set designed by Gareth Rowntree – but thankfully without the smell.) Jimmy Bryant, Liam Horrigan, Natasha Vasandani and Emily Waters play American tourists confused by pronunciations and quirks in design, a woman who has an existential crisis when she is offered a seat, a family of Arsenal fans and, for some reason, the grim reaper. Most of these scenes are very funny, but others could be trimmed or cut altogether. The musical numbers are more consistent, with a raucous hen party, a busker who has a song mentioning every station on the network, and a rap battle to determine whether North, South, East or West London is best. The latter drew the biggest laughs, gasps and cheers of the night as insults were hurled. This is one of the shows weaknesses, as it speaks very loudly to the tribalism of Londoners and their love/hate relationship with the tube, but none of this would consistently elicit big laughs outside of London.

The development of Tori and James’s relationship is sweet, and there is a kind of resolution to her mystery, which was signalled very heavily throughout. The cast are a hoot, with Lilly and Rees-Baylis the quieter calm spot and anchor as the cast clown around them. The energy is undeniable and there are many very funny moments but the swift changes of tone are non-stop and the tender ending gets a little lost after the relentless parade of over-the-top silliness.

Cockfosters is like the TfL’s Sunday service – a little hit and miss. But if you are looking for 70 minutes of fun and nonsense with a super cast, this is the show for you.

Wyndham’s Theatre, London – until 12th July 2025

Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith

3***

“My Master Builder” by playwright Lila Raicek is a reworking of the Ibsen classic. Reimagined for modern audiences, Michael Grandage’s new production offers an exploration of legacy, guilt, and how the past can pull you back in. Set on 4th July in the beautiful Hamptons home of superstar architect Henry and his publishing bigwig wife Elena, Henry is unveiling his latest project – the old Whalers’ church. A huge glass pyramid like structure built in memory of their son Max who had died on the site ten years previous. To celebrate, Elena throws a party and invites friends and colleagues, past and present.

Elena has invited a former student, Mathilde/Hilde, with whom Henry had a not so secret student/teacher tryst a decade earlier. Mathilde happens to be the best friend of Elena’s assistant Kaia, who happens to be in a secret relationship with Henry’s protege Ragnar who is also the object of Elena’s desires. As you probably guessed, this all makes for a messy night of making and breaking of relationships and hearts.

Ewan McGregor as Henry, back on the stage for the first time in nearly 20 years, is definitely an exciting bit of casting but it is Kate Fleetwood as Elena who is the real star of the show. Whilst the character of Henry seems a bit sad and desperate, Fleetwood’s Elena is a fiery tour de force plus she gets all the best lines in the show. The tension between Elena and Elizabeth Debicki’s Mathilde is palpable from the get go, the women’s story is much the most interesting thing about this play. Mirren Mack’s Kaia adds another female viewpoint and she is also excellent in her portrayal of the put upon assistant. David Ajala as Ragnor provides some lightness and laughs which is a nice contrast to the tangle of relationships in which everyone is involved.

The real star of the show is Richard Kent’s beautiful set. A dreamy blue seascape and wind blown grasses sit behind large wooden window frames and doors complete with Paule Constable’s deliciously balmy lighting. A compellingly serene setting for a tumultuous night of drama.

It’s always good to experience a classic play projected through a different lens and My Master Builder shines a light on some stellar performances and an utterly gorgeous set. Some of the themes could have been explored with a bit more depth and some of the characters lacked a bit of oomph, but the talent on stage keeps things moving right up until the dramatic ending. This modern drama with a 19th Century foundation is an enjoyable watch.

Theatre Royal Wakefield – until 3rd May 2025

Reviewed by Lauren Fordham

5*****+

‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is a musical adapted from the 2011 documentary ‘Drag Queen at 16’. The biographical BBC3 programme is about Jamie Campbell (renamed Jamie New in the musical) who wanted to wear a dress to his school prom and become a drag queen.

‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is expertly handled by Diva Productions’ cast, led by James Banks who is confident and charismatic both physically and vocally as Jamie. That confidence and competence is evident in his and others’ unashamed riffing on the score, which also adds depth to their characterisation. 

This is particularly true in the case of Esmae Bloomer in her portrayal of Pritti Pasha, Jamie’s Muslim best friend, whose impressive vocal acrobatics give a contemporary feel to a complex character grappling with historic religious customs in modern society. 

But the thing that sets Diva Productions apart from, and in my opinion, elevates them above other theatre companies, is their innovative use of video screens, the brainchild of director and designer, Andrew Ashley. Video screens are used effectively to expand the set and add detail, such as the interior of Jamie’s house, and his classroom, complete with exam countdown and careers poster. They also effectively and evocatively supplement and accentuate the lyrics of and metaphors in the songs. For example, the opening song ‘And You Don’t Even Know It’ features not only videos of ‘the clock on the wall that’s moving too slow,’ but also expanding and shrinking boxes to reflect Jamie’s gender non-conformity and to represent how he cannot be categorised or constrained by his careers teacher, Miss Hedge, or by society as a whole. 

As powerful as these tools are, on the one hand, they were absent and arguably rendered unnecessary during the most emotional numbers, Ugly in this Ugly World sung by Jamie, and He’s My Boy, sung by his mother Margaret New, empathetically played by Meg Riley. These are songs that demand to be felt in the heart and visual effects would have only diluted and distracted from the complex emotions that are just as powerful and resonant psychologically as Banks’ and Riley’s voices are physically.

I also want to pay tribute to Charlotte Wallis’ choreography and Andrew Ashley and Nathan Purcell’s lighting design. Wallis’ use of additional dancers alongside Jamie when he sang about climbing ‘The Wall in My Head,’ and Ashley and Purcell’s use of the colours of the trans flag as the sunset dovetailed perfectly to demonstrate that Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is not about one gay boy, but encompasses the queer community as a whole, as everyone faces discrimination they must overcome. The song’s lyrics remind the audience that everyone in society is vulnerable to negative voices and influence so we should all be careful, intentional and thoughtful with our words and actions. 

The only low point of the production (bar a few technical screen flickers)  wasn’t actually part of the production at all, it came at the end of the show when the screens displayed violent, homophobic rhetoric that had been shared about the show on social media. 

These unacceptable attacks simply serve to underscore how important the empowering, inclusive message of ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is, so I implore everyone to get down to the Theatre Royal Wakefield, step into the spotlight, and take up the place where YOU belong before the light goes dark on Saturday 3rd May.