Shida is a new musical based on the true story of a girl growing up in the Bronx, a tough neighbourhood of New York in the nineties. As the eponymous character ages from nine into her twenties, we meet her mother, aged English teacher, her best friend and other assorted characters. These are all well-defined, distinctive characters each with their own individual personalities and traits. But what makes these characters special is that they’re all …

I should have known what to expect from the Union Theatre’s revival of David Eldridge’s 2006 play Market Boy just by looking at their advertising poster. In front of a pair of jeans is a stiff, upright banana with on either side, a pair of red, juicy apples at the bottom – not a very subtle poster and certainly not a subtle piece of theatre. Set in Romford Market in Essex in the mid to …

In 1980, “Fame” appeared on our cinema screens, conceived by producer David De Silva and directed by Alan Parker. Set in the High School of Performing Arts in New York City, it was a superb movie that portrayed the lives of the students and teachers at the school. It had superb three-dimensional characters, exuberant dance routines, it had pathos, it had tragedy, comedy and most of all it had a fabulous soundtrack of tremendous songs. …

Joe Orton’s The Ruffian On The Stair was originally a radio play first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in August 1964 and based on a novel The Boy Hairdresser which was written by Orton and his partner (and his murderer), Kenneth Halliwell. The title is taken from a poem by William Ernest Henley: “Madam Life’s a piece in bloom, death goes dogging everywhere. She’s the tenant of the room, he’s the ruffian on the …

A man lies very still in a hospital bed. Two angels in miniskirts and high-heeled boots with feathered wings walk about the stage. A man at a desk scribbles nonsense on a pad with an enormous pen. A woman in a ballgown sits in a chair and twitches. Another woman stands holding two canes that have blindfolded baby heads on the ends. A door opens intermittently and a man sprays something from an aerosol can. …