Month April 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Light House follows the story of a woman (played by Alys Williams) who’s retelling in 60 minutes what happened to her and Nathan, her paramour who slowly got immersed in a depressive cycle. However, make no mistake: this is her story, because the grief that she goes through because of this diagnosis is equally if not more powerful than the ghastly presence of both the mentioned but (almost) never seen lover and the horrible, striking and mysterious sickness that consumes her with anxiety, sadness and yet also with a glimmer of hope.

Reading Time: 2 minutesNothing would work as well as it does if not for Anastasia Osei-Kuffour’s layered script and confident direction. The poetic segments in particular, reflecting on desire, self-image, idealisation, and insecurities about fate, race and love, are the highlights of the narrative: the words of the writer so perfectly composed that you can’t help but wish to memorise every syllable.

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhilst we, as a society, have made great strides in the understanding of the neurodivergent experience, there is certainly a lot more to learn. Daniel Toney’s one-man show about growing up – and indeed, living as – an autistic man promises to be a ‘blunt conversation about being autistic’. As the audience files in, Toney is already in the space, sitting alone at a table for two.

Reading Time: 2 minutesWritten and performed by Sarah Richardson, Sun Bear is a one-woman show that subverts expectations from the very onset. Katy works in the office of an undisclosed company. What Katy does there or what the company is involved in is irrelevant. Katy is struggling with something. Initially, we do not know what. We know that she is angry. Angry at everyone around her. We know she is fighting something. We know she needs to remind herself to breathe, to blink, to swallow, repeatedly. We know that whatever it is she is struggling with, it has isolated her. She is brazenly alone – at work, at home, on stage. 

Reading Time: 2 minutesDescribed as Taylor Swift meets Monty Python, I went into this production thinking it would be right up my street and it really was a delightful evening of fun and laughter. The four plays were silly and humorous but with poignant moments, all of which captured the realities of being a woman in the modern world. The cosy Baron’s Court Theatre gave rise to minimal scenery, but each minimal setting was effectively used, and the use of props in some of the plays was excellent, I never realised a tampon could be so funny!