Month April 2024

REVIEW: The Kite Runner

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe acting is, for all intents and purposes, stellar. There are one or two moments in the first portion of the play, where several of the main cast are playing children, where some of the “childlike” exuberance of several characters can come across as a little forced, but this is a fleeting and minor concern. There is an undeniable presence to all of the actors on stage, and it is comforting to see them take their time with their parts, allowing character to unfold parallel with plot in a way that seems natural and fitting. Of particular note as a standout performance, I found Dean Rehman’s Baba to be excellently delivered as a complicated, sympathetic character, especially in a relatively moderate role. 

REVIEW: Unfortunate – the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch

Reading Time: 3 minutesWe all know the story of the Little Mermaid – Ariel yearns to explore the world beyond the sea and strikes a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula, trading her beautiful voice for human legs. Ariel spends time with the young prince Eric on land, they fall in love, blah blah blah. The plot thickens as a cunning plan to sabotage occurs, and many incidents ensue. Ultimately, Ariel achieves her happy ending and Ursula unfortunately bites the dust. It’s the classic “good guys always win and bad guys always lose” trope. 

REVIEW: Red Pitch

Photo by Helen Murray

Reading Time: 2 minutesTyrell Williams’ Red Pitch makes its West End debut @sohoplace following 2 sold-out runs at the Bush Theatre, and a flurry of awards. Directed by Daniel Bailey, close friend and long-time collaborator of Williams, this semi-autobiographical play doesn’t need its audience to love, or even be remotely interested in, the beautiful game – football is the medium rather than the message in this moving and amusing coming-of-age story. 

In Conversation with: Jacob Grunberger

Reading Time: 3 minutesInspired by a book of letters and stories left to him by his late father, titled ‘For Jacob’, Stop Trying To Look At My D**k! is an autobiographical dark comedy of Jacob Grunberger’s adolescence. Through anecdotes and rap music, Jacob tells the story of the sudden death of his Jewish father when he was a child and a peripatetic childhood through Scotland and Essex as he and his mother struggled to keep afloat. Exploring challenges and encounters with drugs and mental darkness as an adult student, Jacob discusses how conversations around his father's death have always taken place in a context that he hasn’t designed. As a reflection of life, Jacob creates a space to honor his father and his experience of grief, identity, and vulnerability.

REVIEW: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Photo by Matt Crockett

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe wildly popular and award-winning Everybody’s Talking About Jamie returned to the stage at the Liverpool Empire this week, directed in its new run by Matt Ryan and with the sensational Ivano Turco starring as the fourth Jamie. The musical is inspired by the BBC documentary ‘Jamie: Drag Queen at 16’ and follows the story of a gay teenager in Sheffield who wants to be a drag queen and is fighting for his right to attend prom in a dress. 

REVIEW: Is Dat U Yh?

Reading Time: 2 minutesTolu, Debz, Reena and Tia are the ‘Back of the Bus Queens.’ In this impressive piece, they take us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane, memorializing the experience of being a young black girl in South London in the 90s. This kaleidoscope of a play is full of song, dance, incredible athleticism, reminiscence, mind-blowing coordination, and overarchingly, astonishing performances. 

REVIEW: 1884

Photo by Alex Brenner

Reading Time: 3 minutesThe 1884 Berlin Conference, also known as the West Africa Conference, marks a pivotal milestone in the history of European colonialism in Africa. It is often neglected in history and in the UK - a country constantly shunning its own colonial history. Rhianna Ilube, together with Coney, a Charity specialist in immersive experiences, decides to retell its underpinning story through an innovative game-theatre experience. 

REVIEW: Algorithms

Reading Time: 2 minutesIt is often said that we live in an age of unprecedented connection – with mobile phones, social media, and the news at our fingertips – and yet we have also never felt more alone. Algorithms explores this idea through the experiences of dating app employee Brooke (Sadie Clarke), who is about to turn 30 and tackling the dating scene following the end of a long-term relationship. Her overbearing mother is forcing her to have a joint wedding anniversary/30th birthday party, and her company has meeting rooms named after animals who mate for life (the Beaver Room, anyone?). Through this lens, Algorithms captures some very specific experiences of love, bisexuality and loneliness in the digital age.