Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard at Wyndham’s Theatre | Review

Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard at Wyndham’s Theatre | Review

The long timeline in Leopoldstadt allows for a comprehensive narrative, spanning from 1899 to 1955 in Vienna, Austria. A cast of forty-one, including fifteen children – this is an ambitious production. Come the interval, by which point the story has reached 1924, it is obvious to pretty much all and sundry that the good times…

Review of The Wider Earth at The Natural History Museum

Review of The Wider Earth at The Natural History Museum

Just by googling Charles Darwin (1809-1882) – other search engines are available – the famous image of the scientist is evident: the sober look of a wise, bearded man with decades of accumulated knowledge. The Wider Earth could have chosen to capitalise on that familiar picture, and while some later arguments and counter-arguments about his…

Review of Opera North’s Kiss Me, Kate at London’s Coliseum
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Review of Opera North’s Kiss Me, Kate at London’s Coliseum

Too darn hot? Well, almost. It’s certainly a very heart-warming show. Not that long after the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Kiss Me, Kate, which transferred to The Old Vic late in 2012 comes, to misquote the title of one of the musical’s numbers, another opening of another production, this time from Opera North. This…

The Tempest at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre – Review
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The Tempest at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre – Review

The unique selling point in this production of The Tempest is an all-female cast (though I note, without further comment on this point, that the director, producer and musical director are all men). It’s not the first time it’s been done – the Donmar Warehouse staged a trilogy of Shakespeare plays with an all-female cast:…

Michael Keegan-Dolan – Swan Lake/Loch na hEala – Review
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Michael Keegan-Dolan – Swan Lake/Loch na hEala – Review

There were outcries from certain quarters when Bat Out of Hell The Musical had a stint at the London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera, where performances of the likes of Carmen and The Barber of Seville would ordinarily grace the stage. But it brought punters in, including many people who would not have…

Review of Gate at The Cockpit Theatre London
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Review of Gate at The Cockpit Theatre London

‘The Gate’ in Gate does not lead to Purgatory. Entering Purgatory assumes a period of ‘purification’ prior to entering Heaven. For these characters, even the ultimate assurance of going “upstairs” or “downstairs” is not given, and in a plot twist, it appears the chances of the ‘candidates’ entering Paradise have been scuppered through no fault…

Review of Five Guys Named Moe at The Marble Arch Theatre
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Review of Five Guys Named Moe at The Marble Arch Theatre

A sense of anticipation was wholly transparent amongst the audience at Five Guys Named Moe. A significant number recalled the first time it ran in the West End in the early Nineties, and from what they tell me, the major difference here in the purpose-built Marble Arch Theatre is the immersive and interactive elements of…