Author: Editor

For those seeking to avoid panto land but who still want some festive fun, Southwark Playhouse is staging The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, an adaptation of Flaubert’s iconic novel performed by a cast of four and ‘lovingly derailed’ by writer John Nicholson. Breaking the fourth wall within minutes of the show starting, the cast… Continue reading The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary

Even when it was first conceived, Valentine Davies’s story Miracle on 34th Street was steeped in nostalgia, a yearning for happier, simpler times when belief in Santa Claus and kindness was possible. At that time, no-one could have anticipated society would reach a point where high streets would be barren and physical retail sales in actual shops… Continue reading Miracle on 34th Street

Carlos Acosta’s touring production of Nutcracker in Havana has been on the road since 1 November and will finish in Salford late January, so it has to travel light, relying on video projection (we fly over Havana and Cuban plantations), simple set design and mapping by Nina Dunn and Andrew Exeter’s lighting. And on a… Continue reading Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana

When it comes to panto season, who doesn’t like an opportunity to enjoy a look at Jack’s stalk lubricated by a couple of pints? Whereas some adult pantos are straightforwardly themed, Vauxhall’s Garden Theatre is hosting a high energy, generally rude Snow White for 18+. It is a mix of the ribald and the smutty and, by… Continue reading Snow White – London’s Naughtiest Adults Only Panto!

The accumulation of profit is the key overriding rule of the capitalist system, even if that means brutally exploiting employees or peddling lethal products to consumers. How else can we explain the Grenfell deaths or the absurdity known as Thames Water? No person is exempt from its destructive impulse, as the fossil fuel industry seems… Continue reading The Little Foxes

Music is not just the food of love, but serves up a feast of musical gags in Prasanna Puwanarajah’s witty, warm-hearted production that is just the ticket for Christmas entertainment. It’s a blast. Dominating the stage are the huge pipes of a triple-manual organ, which provide an alternative hiding place to the usual box tree… Continue reading Twelfth Night

Theatregoers are often baffled by how Hope Mill Theatre can afford to stage sophisticated shows in such a small venue. Bowing to the inevitable, the theatre is expanding operations to produce its award-winning musicals on a larger scale in other venues—in this case The Lowry. Pre-publicity for A Christmas Carol the Musical is typical of the quality… Continue reading A Christmas Carol the Musical

Little Shop of Horrors was first performed off Broadway in 1982 and has been a meteoric success ever since. Librettist Howard Ashman described it as a show “which satirises… science fiction, ‘B’ movies, musical comedy itself and even the Faust legend”. It is the science fiction aspect, expressed through the music and dance, which makes it… Continue reading Little Shop of Horrors

Hankies at the ready for an emotional rollercoaster with occasions for laughter amongst the tears… Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is becoming as immortal as Tchaikovsky’s powerful music of suppressed desires—played live tonight by the New Adventures Orchestra. Psychologically astute, it touches the heart deeply with its many-layered inspirations. And it is as fresh as it was almost… Continue reading Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake: The Next Generation

I’m fast reaching the conclusion that the Exeter panto is the one to beat. The dream team of the zany Le Navet Bete and director Martin Berry have penned a belter of a Cinderella, keeping it local, Gen Z and topical. Back as the baddie is the superb Jodie Micciche as Countess Wear, cold of… Continue reading Cinderella