Category: 3 star

REVIEW: Vogue: Inventing the Runway

Published on by laurentemplepoetLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

An interesting exploration of fashion runways, but not a very immersive experience

The show started in an odd way, with the audience entering the space via a series of corridors backstage. I thought at first that this might be a reference models entering the stage, but then I was told that other shows take place in this space. So I can only assume that this was just a matter of poor architectural planning.

The show was in a nutshell a documentary about fashion runways, that was then projected across the four walls that we sat in. The documentary itself I found very interesting. It explored the of history of fashion runways and modern day specifical that it has become. The moments that I enjoyed the most was when they explored fashion shows that rebel against their elitist counterparts taking place in back alleys and making political statements. I also enjoyed the exploration of the theatrical runways that were just as much performance art as they were fashion shows. The show did a good job at charting the ever-changing world of the fashion runway and acted as a beautifully stunning archive of some of the industries most iconic moments. It was a great introduction to the world of the runway, accessible to the newbie but also still providing interest to someone who is more well versed in the fashion world.

But despite enjoying the documentary itself. I don’t feel like I gained much from experiencing as it was presented. I was left feeling like I could have just watched it on TV at home. I guess it was a way to be present with what I was watching, similar to that of a cinema experience. But it didn’t feel like it expanded that far outside of that. The different images being projected across the screens just gave me a sore neck from trying not to miss anything. Occasionally an image would spread out upon the floor, but they were only a fleeting beautiful moment. What I have enjoyed from other light shows, was very much lacking here: the interaction between the architecture of the space and the images being projected. With the venue being four white walls, there was no opportunity for this kind of relationship.

Therefore, despite the material of the show being interesting, I am left disappointed that promised to be an ‘immersive experience’, did very little to actually immerse its audience.

REVIEW: The Ugliest F***** Tree in Vanity Lane

Published on by ayoungishperspective1Leave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Heartfelt and festive new writing from Glasgow’s newest theatre company

In the season where panto feels inescapable, it’s a treat to see something that can keep the festive humour, while still telling an emotional story. Inksplat Theatre Company’s first show, The Ugliest F***** Tree in Vanity Lane, is a fun two-hander that while rough around the edges, has a lot of heart.

Ugliest F**** Tree centres on George (Holly Ferguson) and Avery (Elena Gower), a couple who delight in their annual tradition of spying on their neighbours’ Christmas decorations and awarding one truly heinous foliage the Ugliest Tree award. However throughout the following year, while George stays fixated on the one tree that hasn’t been taken down (rather than writing that book she is supposed to be working on), Avery’s career starts taking off, her social life is thriving, and they begin to realise that perhaps their relationship isn’t as perfectly matched as they once thought.

The story is simple but well plotted by co-writers Kathleen Tierney and Noah McGarrity, filled with fun gags and zany one liners – particularly from Holly Ferguson’s George, who perfectly epitomises the weird tangents your mind takes you down when you have nothing to keep you busy (I’m totally convinced by the Jeff Bezos/evil mushroom argument she launches into around the mid-point of the show). Her peppy optimism always keeps the play in motion, and got a lot of love from the audience in a packed Old Hairdressers. Gower’s Avery is a subtler character that balances her clear love for George with her refusal to let herself be slowed down when seeking things she wants. Gower made this dichotomy delicate and meaningful, adding the heart underneath the jokes.

The show was smooth and pacy thanks to the slick work of the stage and tech team, taking us through a whole year in 45 minutes. It felt like every prop and transition had been minutely calculated, never distracting from the story being told but adding fun little moments. The flip chart was a particular masterstroke, creating a visual window into George’s mind. It was a pleasure to watch something where everyone clearly cared so much about creating the best show they could.

Ultimately I feel like the one let down was simply a lack of ambition in the story – it was a well-crafted story of falling out of love with your first big relationship, but it never really dug deep into the issues each character was facing, or the universal appeal of those challenges for an audience. George and Avery simply say goodbye and walk away from each other, but what has this year meant to them, and to us? Inksplat brands itself as a company with a focus on political theatre – so it seems odd that their first show sets itself so firmly in the domestic sphere. I’d love to see how they can apply their narrative and production polish to something with a larger premise.

Author:
Innes Goodall

REVIEW: Phil Ellis: Bath Mat

Published on by Hebe JonesLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

‘I thought I was in for an hour of well crafted surprises and silliness but what it actually felt like was a work-in-progress show’

Off the back of competing (and losing) in the most recent series, Series 20 of Taskmaster, Phil Ellis is now on tour, beginning his five-month stretch with five sold-out nights at Soho Theatre. Bath Mat is described as a “brand-new show”, yet the friend who accompanied me had seen Ellis twice before and noted material she had heard on both occasions, four years ago.

Opening with his “Hype Man”, who has the amusing vibe of a slightly odd nephew, Tom primed the audience to see the “best show ever” performed by the “biggest loser”. I thought I was in for an hour of well-crafted surprises and silliness, but what it actually felt like was a work-in-progress show. Technical faults, such as the PowerPoint slideshow of stock dog images falling out of sync during what could have been a funny and odd song, overshadowed the enjoyment of the tune. The resulting technical and physical chaos felt less like rehearsed disorder and more like things simply going wrong.

Ellis even spoke about the importance of momentum in comedy, and there were moments in the show that were quick, sharp, and well delivered. But these were often undercut by abrupt changes in rhythm or narrative, followed by Ellis’s own snickering, which further stalled the flow. The show’s structure was quite piecemeal. Ellis dips his toe into various comedy styles: songs, slapstick, visual humour (the PowerPoint), clowning, and audience interaction. Crucially, the show’s main point remains unclear. His material touches on his home life and living in Preston, and while these stories were nuanced and often fun, their order and delivery felt a bit like spaghetti thrown at a wall. He would begin a story, segue away, and then choose not to finish it, creating the sense of real-time editing and rearranging.

This disjointedness stems largely from the lack of a clear concept or through-line. The title, Bath Mat, gives no clue as to what the show is about, nor is a bath mat ever mentioned in the content. This makes it difficult for the audience, and perhaps even Ellis himself, to ground themselves in anything certain.

However, I may have caught him on an off night. His jokes about a kestrel and smoke alarms landed very well, but others missed. Halfway through the show, Ellis, in a slightly strained yet frantically “keeping it cool” manner, asked Tom how long he had left. He also checked his watch several times. It is always unnerving when a comedian does this; it is something I would expect from a newcomer or a WIP show, but not from a comedian of his calibre who has just begun a long tour.

All things considered, it is clear Phil Ellis is a funny man, and perhaps this was his aim: to ironically not put on the “best show ever”. However, if that was the intention, it did not feel deliberate enough. I think of Acorn Antiques or the more blatant work by Mischief Theatre, both great examples of well-rehearsed organised chaos. If Ellis was attempting something similar, something needs to shift, as the show currently sits in the grey area between messy and planned. There was also a reliance on the unspoken expectation that the audience were already fans. I had never seen a Phil Ellis show, and I believe this put me at a disadvantage, which really should not be the case. If your material neglects newcomers, how are you meant to get them on your side and make them laugh?

I would be interested to see another Phil Ellis show, hopefully with a cleaner delivery.

REVIEW: The Boline Inn

Published on by jaketurnerchanLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.


“A well realised aesthetic vision overcrowds the show’s insightful narrative”

A woman looking for her missing uncle stumbles upon a strange hotel run by witches—welcome to The Boline Inn. It’s a cool premise, and the periodic eighties setting is a fun addition, allowing it to be soundtracked by a mix of live folk songs and Madonna. There’s a lot of whimsy in this play, paired with an interesting storyline which could make it something that really appeals to a specific audience. Like many of the films of its eighties setting, it has the ornaments of a cult classic itself. With some work on the clarity of the narrative, the show could really have the potential to reach this kind of appeal. 

The design of the play is all-round wonderful to look at, especially considering the smallness of the space. The decor on the walls was intricate and brought the atmosphere of the room alive. There was some fabulous use of materials, which made for a spectacular display when assisted by some great lighting choices. The costuming too was impressive and fashionable without feeling out of place. There was clearly a very strong aesthetic put together for the play. The concept is rich and fun. However, it felt sometimes, as though the visual element of the play preceded the plot. 

Many of its key plot points felt missed by the dialogic cluster of very varied language uses. Regional variation is definitely an addition to the show, but it felt as though some of them were speaking from different time periods, which felt inconsistent at times. If this was the intention, it’s definitely an interesting one, but the challenge of being able to communicate a narrative through such varied uses of language requires some serious precision. If the script was edited with a little more of this in mind, I think it could make for a really attentive story. 

Whilst the set was very appealing, the space itself often felt misused. Having the audience sat on diagonals to the stage made the room feel larger, but also meant the space itself was more limited. A gap between the audience also was not big enough to accommodate the actors walking through it, and made for a slightly uncomfortable viewing experience for some of the audience members who were sat close to it. Discomfort is fine, sometimes brilliant, if used productively, but this felt like more of an oversight and something that could have been solved by either widening the gap or just using offstage space. On stage, there was an odd scene change where a table is slightly tilted to signify something, though what this signified I could not decipher. Keeping it static would have felt more appropriate, or its movement could have been more seamless if done during blackouts. 

The cast were distinct in their performances, and you could tell they had a real love and understanding of their characters. Notably, Marley Craze was commanding with her performance of Betty, and Grace Mia Harvey and Natasha Jobst brought a humorous chemistry as the duo Val and Caroline respectively. Sometimes the characters leant a little on regional stereotypes, never particularly offensive, just a little bit lacking in consideration. With the limited space though, a lot of scenes involved having them all on stage, making the space a bit crowded. Cutting down some of the appearances of the cast, perhaps even the cast number itself, would help with the show’s clarity. 
The Boline Inn was an enjoyable watch, clearly with a strong vision. The storyline it offers has some good twists and insightful societal observations—they just get a little lost in the crowd. It would be fantastic to see this fleshed out a little further, making clear exactly what has brought each of the characters to the Inn, and why we too should come in.

REVIEW: Juggernaut

Published on by Maria Mădălina IfrimLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Ambitious, atmospheric, but uneven

Please note this play was reviewed from a recording of a live performance.

JUGGERNAUT, the debut play by Lyle Sauer, is a boldly original piece with a premise as bizarre as it is intriguing: a holy cryptid lies dead, a town begins to rot from the inside out, and Bill must resurrect the beast before everything collapses. Blending live music, ritual, and surreal humour, the production aims big: sometimes hitting its mark, sometimes missing it entirely.

The strongest element of the show is unquestionably its company of actor-musicians, who bring impressive musicality and a distinct folk-inspired atmosphere to the space. The live underscoring adds texture and mood, often elevating scenes that might otherwise feel thin due to the very sparse set design. Performances are solid across the board, particularly the expressive, colourful turn from the Officer, and the candy delivery driver whose occasional stutter adds an unexpected charm.

The dialogue is sharp and often enjoyable, though the exposition isn’t always clean, leaving the audience piecing together key story beats. Sometimes it feels on the nose, sometimes you need much more details. The necromancing taxidermist is an intentionally chaotic presence, but at times the chaos overwhelms rather than clarifies. The narrative leans heavily into themes of grief, belief, and decay, yet it sometimes struggles to say something truly new about its post-apocalyptic, ritualistic world, a territory that has been explored elsewhere.

Some of the more dramatic moments land awkwardly. The death of Bill’s mother, for instance, feels strangely comedic rather than tragic, which pulls the audience out of the narrative. The worldbuilding: sugar-addicted townsfolk, a beast functioning as a religious centre, and characters whose mental instability is foregrounded, doesn’t always cohere smoothly, and certain shocking acts feel weird for their own sake rather than purposeful.

Still, there are standout elements: the recurring refrain “Blessed by the juggernaut” has an eerie power, and the symbolic relationship between Bill and the parasite-like beast feeding on him is compelling. The production team, from musical direction to lighting and costume, work creatively within Fringe constraints, though the overall aesthetic sometimes feels stretched thin.

JUGGERNAUT is ambitious, unsettling, and performed with commitment. While not all of its ideas fully land, the show offers a unique and immersive experience for audiences drawn to the strange and uncanny. With refinement, its bold world could strike even deeper – but what world-building goes deep when the audience does not step into it?

Photography: Johan Persson

REVIEW: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Published on by ayoungishperspective1Leave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

An exposition-heavy adaptation saved by the twisted plot

A global best-seller for over six decades, the 1963 Cold War spy novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold has finally made it to the West End. Written by ex-spy John le Carré, this novel has been adapted for stage by David Eldridge and follows a sold out premiere at Chichester Festival Theatre. 

The story is set at the height of the Cold War and follows Alec Leamas (Rory Keenan), a British intelligence officer who is sent to East Germany to undertake one last mission to take out his nemesis Mundt (Gunnar Cauthery). 

Always tough to engagingly truncate the plot of an intricate novel into just 2-hours, unfortunately Eldridge has struggled here. The first act of this play is painstakingly exposition heavy, with moments of tension earning chuckles from the audience instead of edge-of-your-seat silence. 

The entire plot relies on the deep connection between Leamas and his newfound lover, Liz Gold (Agnes O’Casey). Leamas risks it all for Gold, which is deeply unbelievable in this adaptation. Spending all of one evening together with zero chemistry that ends in Keenan angrily thrusting O’Casey away after kissing for a couple of seconds, it’s hard to believe anyone here is in love. 

While Keenan is an impressive force, he produces a hugely unlikeable Leamas, with no charm or rakish qualities that lend an audience to feel tenderness towards a bad-boy hero. It is O’Casey who brings authentic emotion and likability to her role, creating a believably naive leading lady. 

The second act picks up tremendously, with all the telling out of the way, director Jeremy Herrin can finally get to the showing. The plot peeks through the exposition and reveals itself to be fantastic, with an ensemble of fabulous actors to pull it off. Philip Arditti is an engaging and sometimes humorous Fiedler while Cauthery remains a stoic and easy to hate Mundt. 

Movement direction by Lucy Cullingford is exceptional, with a highly believable torture scene really bringing the second act into focus. The fabulous new theatre that is Soho Place is the perfect setting for this piece, with Herrin using the fantastic sightlines to create a piece in the round where you don’t miss any of the action, no matter where you are. 

When speaking on adaptations, le Carré said that his only hope is that audiences ‘share some of the emotions that the reader experiences when he closes the book’. Whilst it may have taken some time to get there, with a spectacular ending like that, it’s hard not to feel something. 

REVIEW: La Bella Bimba! at Baron’s Court Theatre

Published on by Manmeet K WaliaLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

A charming mess of music, mischief with some total confusion

I went into La Bella Bimba! without understanding a single word of Italian, and I left in exactly the same state. Even so, I had a great time. The whole thing is chaotic, funny and strangely endearing, even when you have absolutely no clue what is being said.

The show introduces us to Carlotta and Cecilia, two Italian performers who have just landed in 1930s New York and are doing their best to make their mark. They bounce between live music, comedy, flirtation and general mischief, all while constantly tripping over the English language. The confusion feels deliberate. Staged at Baron’s Court Theatre- basement of a pub, they want the audience slightly off balance, and they certainly succeed.

Even though the Italian sailed straight past me, their expressions did the storytelling. Their eyebrows, hand gestures and exaggerated reactions were practically their own language. Both performers are talented physical comedians with excellent timing, and that carries the show a long way.

The piece jumps through several dance styles, sometimes polished and sometimes intentionally messy for comedic effect. The shoe dance was genuinely good, and the mix of cabaret, clowning and slapstick kept things lively. That said, there was a section in the middle that dragged on far too long. It felt dull and almost endless, as if the play lost its rhythm for a moment before picking up again towards the conclusion.

One of the highlights was their attempt at American accents. It felt like a cheeky dig at the pressure to assimilate and the absurdity of changing your voice to fit in. Beneath the silliness, the show has something to say about the dreams big cities promise and what people sacrifice while chasing them. The commentary is subtle, but it sits there underneath all the feathers and chaos.

Everything was clearly well rehearsed, and their energy never really dipped, aside from that slow mid-section. The live music, played by the musicians who also were the characters in the play,  added its own charm even when I could not understand the lyrics. 

The ending, however, was abrupt. After all the bouncing around and escalating chaos, the show suddenly stopped. I am still not sure whether that was the intention, but it left me just as confused as I had been throughout, thanks largely to the language barrier.

Despite the confusion and the slightly saggy middle, La Bella Bimba! is bold, playful and very funny. It may not give you clarity, but it will keep you entertained. And honestly, that is often enough for a cabaret.

REVIEW: A Fairytale for Christmas at Dominion Theatre

Published on by nancynewberryLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Festive fun for all that captures the spirit
of an Irish Christmas

A theatre trip at Christmas is a classic family tradition and A Fairytale for Christmas is a wonderful remedy to the mundanity of the family panto trip. With the theme of an Irish Christmas concert, you know you’re in for a fun evening. The show mixes the usual jolly Christmas classics with the impressive addition of river dancing and traditional Irish singalongs. The mixture of all of these songs and dances gives a delightful, if slightly uncoordinated, concert that will appeal to those wanting to get into the festive spirit. 

With a small set of instrumentalists, singers and a team of six dancers, the cast of this performance lit up the stage of the Dominion Theatre. The dancing was fantastic from the small dance troop. They demonstrated a range of dance; plenty of skilled river dancing to keep to the theme of the performance, with flamenco and modern stylings added in. The various leaps and twirls combined with the glittery costumes put everyone in the Christmas spirit. At certain times it seemed to lack polish, but often this could be attributed to the informality of the performance. A little more engagement with this informality may have added to the authenticity of the show. 

The instrumentalists were also very talented. The ability of the guitarist, banjo player and violinist to dance around the stage whilst playing was highly skilled. In particular, the violinist captured the spirit and energy of an Irish Christmas that you would expect to find in the pubs of Dublin. Given the size of the performance, it was understandable that it would be difficult to have many more instrumentalists on stage, however, the slightly commercialised backing track did detract from the authenticity of the performance. A piano and a percussionist would have given further depth to the performance which slightly lacked due to the backing track creating a less professional output. 

The show also would have benefitted from a bit more of an introduction. The first quarter of the show felt that it lacked energy and didn’t fully engage the audience. Whilst the mixture of upbeat songs and the classic quieter songs such as Silent Night and O Holy Night gave the performance variety to keep the audience interested, a better balance could have been achieved to grab the attention from the start. In particular, a theme or story could have been more intentionally highlighted to take the audience on a journey, rather than having a presentation of a seemingly random music and dance. The energy levels were improved from the start of the second half and the audience engagement was further reaching meaning the final sing and dance along numbers landed better than earlier in the show. Thanks to the engaged nature of the final numbers, the audience were left with a buzzy, festive feeling worthy of the talent displayed on the stage. 

REVIEW: Porn Play

Published on by fbalchinLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

“More cerebral than visceral, the performances and visuals elevate a promising script that builds up to an unsatisfying climax.”

This is not a play about porn. This is a play about addiction, grief and misogyny. 

Ani (played by Ambika Mod) is a successful young academic whose career is on the rise whilst her personal life is in freefall. Overwhelmed by her mother’s death, she is unable to take pride in her professional achievements or consider her future. Cutting through this downward spiral is her addiction to violent pornography which infiltrates every aspect of her life. It affects all her relationships. 

There are two elements to her descent into addiction- the frequency of use and the content she watches. The frequency is addressed throughout, eventually leading to a spectacular scene where realism and absurdism blur perfectly. What is less explored is the content. It is never made clear why she is into violent pornography, nor what it is. For some people it is bondage and humiliation, for others it is breaking and bruising skin or even criminal acts.

Every single actor is committed to their roles, every character utterly convincing and believable. My issue lies in the promise of the premise. This is an 18+ show called Porn Play. I was made to wear shoe covers, leading me to think there would be some sort of splash zone. I expected there to be nudity, maybe projections, images or otherwise of sexual acts. I expected it to be provocative, if not downright shocking. When I tell you I saw more nudity in Disney’s Frozen musical I am not joking. This play could be about any addiction. I understand why it is about pornography- and the feminist angle is intriguing. However it feels like a gimmick (“clit-bait”, you could say) to use such a salacious title and then never explore it. Sure, it’s a distraction from processing grief. Sure, the Milton and biblical metaphors makes sense. But it feels like the writer misses a huge opportunity to actually explore Ani’s base desires. At first I was convinced she just needed a new partner to indulge in a healthy BDSM sex life. Then when the pivotal scene with student Sam takes place, we learn that she doesn’t want the same thing she watches. The scene isn’t shocking because of the vanilla bondage (belt tying her hands, blindfold on). It’s shocking because it exposes Sam’s desire for violence rather than Ani’s desire for submissiveness and humiliation.  

Yimei Zhao’s set is sensational. A beige 70s style conversation pit which evokes a vulva with the action taking place in the clitoris. Various props and set pieces emerge from the “labia” to almost comedic effect- at one point a medical examination table emerges. 

The play is both too much and too little. The heavy handed literary and religious references are expositional to the point of banality, whilst there is not much actual sexual content that isn’t a hint or reference. The show, sad and poignantly anticlimactic, is basically a metaphor for Ani herself- we never once see her orgasm. Constantly interrupted for various appropriate and bleak reasons, she is never allowed to find release. 

More cerebral than visceral, Sophia Chetin-Leuner’s treatise on addiction and isolation is a cleverly written play with plenty of promise that needs to stop edging its audience and show us what it really wants to say. 

REVIEW: The League of Improv – With Guest Comedian Lou Sanders

Published on by leahjLeave a comment

Rating: 3 out of 5.

A quick-fire evening of comedy based on details from the audience’s lives

The League of Improv’s shows bring a celebrity host together with their small troupe of improvisers to create off-the-cuff scenes inspired (albeit very loosely) by audience interactions. This is a bold undertaking, particularly over a 2-hour time slot, and the challenge can vary wildly depending on the audience’s contributions. This month’s show featured Lou Sanders as the guest host, whose characteristic quirky humour gelled well with the troupe’s penchant for spinning audience details into a zany set of scenes.

If you’ve never seen an improv show before, this improv format offers a relatively easy entry point: the host will chat with audience members, perhaps asking about their relationships or jobs, and then the improvisers will craft a few short scenes. The Phoenix Arts Club–the League of Improv’s new home–offers a cosy, intimate setting perfect for this interactive style. Lou Sanders’s easy-going, conversational style of comedy suited this role well, as she zeroed in on a variety of audience members’ unique relationships, from competitive mothers to a group of unusually friendly neighbours. The group has clearly developed an easy rhythm of tagging each other in and out of scenes, and occasionally prompting the actors in the current scene to jump forward or backward in time to help flesh out the storytelling. There were a few moments, though, where one character would refuse to get on board with another’s ideas or explanations, which set up a feeling of slightly unrealised potential within the scene. Of course, the old rule of ‘yes, and’ doesn’t need to apply to every single moment in an improv show, as that doesn’t always leave much room for conflict and tension between characters, but sometimes pulling the scene back towards what’s ‘realistic’ can hamstring an idea that might have been a fun flight of fancy.

The highlights of the evening were a few really memorable improvised characters, ranging from a fraudulent restaurateur who changed the subject every time he was about to break into song, a coworker waxing poetic about his ‘platonic’ friend’s soulful eyes, and an unsettlingly lecherous cat. Granted, each show is unique, so these characters won’t make a reappearance, but the next show will have an entirely new set of scenes, no doubt populated with equally memorable figures. If you’re looking for some quick-fire laughs, bring some fun facts about yourself and see what magic might be created!