Reading Time: 2 minutesIn Mother Clap's domain, rigid moral boundaries are gleefully transgressed. Ravenhill's consistently clever script blends profane, riotous comedy with surprising tenderness. Dreams, desires, and unfulfilled yearnings haunt every scene - from infertility struggles to giving deliriously vivid life to our most lurid fantasies through the brilliant use of flowing silk drapery framing the stage.
Reading Time: 2 minutesGio is hiding out in a cave deep in the forest of an Italian village. He ran away, leaving behind a mass of confused chaos. Gio was bullied, treated terribly by his blatantly homophobic high school classmates. Feeling alone in the world, he decides to leave it behind and start a new life in the cave, shrouded by darkness. He’d been there for eight days when Mirko stumbles upon him. Mirko is both scared and intrigued, surprised that he has accidentally discovered the missing boy from his high school. The two strike up an unlikely companionship, Gio becoming more and more reliant on Mirko’s visits, both for practical reasons, such as increasing his supply of food, but more importantly, for company. As the weeks go by, the two grow close, sharing sheltered moments in the isolation of the cave. In the outside world, the frenzied search for Gio rages on; news campaigns galore implore the public to help find the missing boy, search parties scour the village and its surrounds, TikTok booms with Gio and Mirko’s peers obsessing over Gio’s mysterious disappearance. Gio feigns annoyance at the attention, but the moment it starts to wane, he and Mirko cook up another means to keep the crowds searching. Their small world within the cave appears to suck the two of them in further and further as they grow closer, sharing intimate secrets, growing dearer than either of them seemingly expected to.
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Girl In The Green Jumper at The Playground Theatre, part of the Gail Louw festival, is not your ordinary theatre experience. Coupled with a carefully curated Cyril Mann exhibition at Piano Noble, it transcends the boundaries of conventional drama, offering an immersive journey into the stormy relationship between an artist and his muse, partner, and wife. The exhibition sets the stage for the emotional rollercoaster to come. Meeting Renske, Cyril’s wife, whose autobiography served as inspiration for Gail Louw text, was a key moment in my experience of the play. Our conversation provided me with invaluable context, informative and emotional. She passionately pointed out details from the paintings to me, explaining their significance in the upcoming performance and urging me to remember them. I felt myself becoming an extension of her own memory. Each detail she emphasized felt like a thread connecting me to the story on stage.
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn an uproarious fusion of Rossini's classic opera and Wild West antics, Charles Court Opera's rendition of "The Barber of Seville" at Wilton's Music Hall is a rollicking good time. Directed by the irrepressible John Savournin, this production transports the tale of love and deception from the cobbled streets of Seville to the dusty plains of the late 1800s American frontier, infusing it with a generous dose of English wit and charm.
Reading Time: 2 minutesMetamorphosis at Camden People’s Theatre, devised and curated by Nina Rosaline Brostrøm, invites us into the telling of cyclical life on Earth with transformative eye-catching costumes. Exhibited here, we watch three small stories of transformation and literal metamorphosis through physical theatre, ambient music and movement.
Reading Time: 2 minutesWritten by Jacobean playwright John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi follows the fall of the Duchess at the hands of her brothers. Directed by Rachel Bagshaw we are taken back in time.
Set in an intimate theatre, modelled on candlelit theatre’s during Shakespeare's time, a simple red stage and painted theatre structure sets the scene. A gorgeous painted ceiling, a permanent fixture, adds to the atmosphere. The musicians are sat atop the stage. Cast are dressed in modern clothing with the Duchess in a fabulous feathery and glittery dress. With the theatre at near bursting point, the play opens with a musical number.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteComing from Brazil, Sao Paulo Dance Company presents their premiere UK and Ireland tour. Separated into three different parts, Anthem, Gnawa and Agora, all with latin influence and the technical foundations of classical ballet, the performance is an explosive and dynamic dance experience that is definitely worth the watch.
Reading Time: 2 minutesConducted by Roberto González-Monjas, a Guildhall alumnus himself, this performance of Respighi’s ‘Roman Trilogy’ by the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall was an unmitigated delight.
Written between 1915 and 1928, these three orchestral pieces are Respighi’s most celebrated works. Respighi was trained at a young age to play the violin by his father - perhaps this is one of the reasons why González-Monjas, himself an extraordinary violinist, seems to understand these orchestral pieces so well.
Reading Time: 2 minutesBlue Beard is adapted from the 17th-century French folktale Bluebeard. Bluebeard is a wealthy and sinister nobleman who has been married six times to beautiful women, and his wives all mysteriously vanished. In director Emma Rice’s adaptation, Bluebeard (Tristan Sturrock) is portrayed as a magician who attracts his new bride, Lucky (Robyn Sinclair), through his magic performance. Additionally, the narrative introduces the sisters from the Convent of the Three Fs ("fearful, fucked, and furious"), as well as a storyline a boy (Adam Mirsky) searching for his sister (Mirabelle Gremaud). Rice adapted this folktale into a non-naturalistic style play, incorporating elements of musical, magic shows, acrobatics, projections, and other arts.
Reading Time: 3 minutesKhaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner delves into a man's guilt, redemption and his arduous journey towards true maturity through crucible of courage. Adapted by Matthew Spangler and directed by Giles Croft, this production of The Kite Runner, a co-production of the Nottingham Playhouse and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, endeavours to tell Amir's story through a theatrical showcase.