Ben Brown’s new play dramatises the fascinating true story of how SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler is persuaded by the ‘miraculous touch’ of Felix Kersten, the Nazi’s Finnish physiotherapist, to permit the International Red Cross to rescue some three thousand women (about half of them Jewish) from a concentration camp towards the end of WW2, as…
Tonderai Munyevu’s Mugabe, My Dad and Me is a touching coming-of-age story that speaks strongly to the African diasporic experience but also illuminates – with humour, rage and forgiveness – universal themes of longing and acceptance. Munyevu demonstrates impressive skill as a writer and performer by being able to start a show, charmingly, with an…
Chris Burgess’ Jewish Hollywood is like a musical essay – but instead of being a heavy-handed play of ideas, it’s a light-hearted – but wildly informative – narrated musical revue. The idea that attending a vibrantly relayed song-and-dance history lecture would be entertaining is novel – yet it succeeds in both informing and entertaining with…
The press material for The Winston Machine describes this new play as both an epic family saga (told through two love stories) and as a ‘contemporary state-of-the-nation show exploring how our relationship with the mythology of WWII shapes our present’. Unfortunately, the promise of a meaningful multi-generational saga remains largely unrealised despite impressive performances from…
Mykal Rand’s revival of the Olivier-winning Five Guys Named Moe is a high-energy, hootenanny of harmonies – offering West End calibre performances up-close in the Gatehouse’s intimate (but not claustrophobic) upstairs theatre. Although this show has nothing to do with the festive season per se, the joint feels like the kind of New Year’s bash…
Confession: I was lucky enough to have seen the original American touring production of ‘Night, Mother in the mid-80s shortly after it won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, with Kathy Bates’ Broadway understudy, Phyllis Somerville, in the lead as Jessie Cates. Possibly an inappropriate choice for someone as young as I was at the time (not…
