Category: Reviews

I love shows that open with a lie. Especially a lie about politics, as in the case of Lauren Yee’s world première, which finally opened after several world-changing events. First, this was scheduled to open at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2022. Sadly (for all of us), COVID-19 hit and hit hard, closing not only Mother… Continue reading Mother Russia

Director and choreographer Anne Tournié and libretto adapter and co-director Chris Mouron’s colourful version of The Little Prince novella (my French edition is under a hundred pages), that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pared down and down to essentials, is not modest. Remember that famous quote about seeing with your heart and not your eyes… that the Fox (very… Continue reading The Little Prince

It is sobering when younger generations begin to experience nostalgic moments, but 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Clueless, the film loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma (published 1815) that made stars of Alicia Silverstone and Paul Ruud and turned yellow plaid into a fashion statement. Amy Heckerling, writer of film and book, has now done the same… Continue reading Clueless, The Musical

There’s no denying there’s the guilty pleasure of schadenfreude in watching two twenty-somethings argue with each other for the best part of an hour. From the outset, director Sarah Majland has the two characters move around each other like unevenly matched opponents in a ring with David consigned once again to play audience and punchbag… Continue reading Tell Me You’ll Think About It

Stacey is the perfect fit for her role as the weather girl at the American television station in Fresno California which wants to relax its viewers rather than worry them with unnecessary updates on the weather gloom. Stacey looks and sounds the part with her broad, warm smile, long blonde hair and tight-fitting pink skirt… Continue reading Weather Girl

Curl Girl Productions is a West Midlands-based theatre company, led by artistic director Kiren Jogi, which focusses on South East Asian culture. The Valley of Queens is a piece of verbatim theatre performed by a cast of five women. It was created out of a project funded by Creative Black Country in which women aged fifty and… Continue reading The Valley of Queens

For the fourth year running, Paul Hendy and Emily Wood’s Evolution Productions has teamed up with York Theatre Royal’s Juliet Forster to present a family-oriented and feel-good take on a traditional Christmas panto. Sticking closely to the conventional plot, Sario Solomon’s Aladdin (but you can call him Al) goes from rags to riches in his… Continue reading Aladdin

Secrets and lies abound in The Housetrap,but will the audience ever correctly guess whodunnit? For the finale of their 18th birthday celebrations, Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC) is on the road again, and instead of taking a flight of fantasy on a Boeing 747, they are instead in residence at the magnificent West Horsley Place. Star of BBC’s Ghosts and… Continue reading The Housetrap

The rich colours and design of the stage set designed by Andrew Caddies can’t fail to catch your eye as you walk to your seat. A rock-like central platform decked with greenery sits on a warm, velvet stage carpet within a semicircular wooden frame, one side of which is labelled NW, W, SW and the… Continue reading Pan

Despite the title, Twelfth Night isn’t a play about Christmas, but Tom Littler’s production arrives like a Christmas gift. It starts off sombre then turns delightful. He has set it just after the Second World War, and designers Anett Black and Neil Irish have lined the balcony front with panels that list the fallen, while below, a… Continue reading Twelfth Night