Tag: Musical

REVIEW: Avenue Q

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

A vibrant and raunchy show that adds so much colour to the west end scene, and a massively talented cast.

Avenue Q is an up-to-date, vibrant show with an absolute corker of a cast – a brilliant success of a musical! A show any theatre fan should go and see, or in fact any puppet fans! For a small cast, they truly pack an absolute punch. 

Emily Benjamin as Kate Monster / Lucy The Slut stood out as an incredibly strong performer, especially in her convincing duality as the two entirely opposing characters, both in physicality, but also in the way that she changed the quality of her singing voice when singing as the different characters. If I hadn’t known they were the same person going into it, I would be fully convinced that they were separate people. A showcase of exceptional talent through and through.

Her castmate, Noah Harrison, showed a very similar ability to adapt to completely differing characters and yet was utterly convincing in all areas when on stage. He had played a soft and lovable Rod – opposite the brilliant Charlie McCullagh playing Nicky – and had the whole audience absolutely feeling for him! It was a brilliant display of how even in a theatre as large as the Shaftsbury, a performance can still be as intimate as if you were living these events with the characters. As Princeton, he showed another side to himself, showing a plucky young thing, although equally as easy to sympathise with. Another masterclass in performance for any audience member. 

The set, unassuming at first, is brilliantly designed, with a simplicity to it that allows for a lot of fun with the staging of songs – and a surprise manipulation of the set in act 2! The movement in this entire piece is absolutely brilliant and just adds to the complete hilarity of the show as a whole, especially in conjunction with the puppets. Speaking of the puppets, they are gorgeously designed and absolutely brilliantly handled. Hats off to the entire cast on this – but especially to Meg Hately, who stepped in frequently to take over when multiroling was taking place and changing her physicality across all of the different roles that she played – not an easy feat! 

A small moment that stuck out across the entire cast through the entire show was that the puppeteers kept the Puppets breathing throughout the whole thing. In theory, a small moment, however, something that just shows how slick, polished, and professional this company truly is. 

This production cannot be complimented enough. An absolutely brilliant show, one that I truly believe everyone should come and see. Well done to all involved!

Avenue Q is running at Shaftesbury Theatre until 29th August. Tickets here.

FEATURE: A Summer of Range and Renewal at Cambridge Arts Theatre

Published on by Tabitha JamesLeave a comment

Following its major redevelopment and reopening in late 2025, Cambridge Arts Theatre enters its Summer 2026 season with a clear sense of momentum — and a programme that reflects both confidence in its heritage and an ambition to broaden its appeal.

The result is a season that balances well-known productions and established talent with more contemporary, diverse programming designed to attract a wider audience.

A strong foundation of classic and contemporary theatre

The season features a number of high-profile productions, including Tamzin Outhwaite in Abigail’s Party, Tracy-Ann Oberman in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, and Martin Shaw in A Man For All Seasons.

Alongside these, audiences can expect new and returning productions that have built strong reputations with younger and more varied theatre-goers. Highlights include Operation Mincemeat, the Olivier Award-winning musical, and Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, which brings a more spontaneous, interactive energy to the programme.

Expanding the audience experience

Beyond traditional theatre, the Arts Theatre is placing a clear emphasis on variety. The comedy programme includes well-known names such as Stewart Lee, Michelle Wolf, and Phil Wang, while literary collaborations with the Cambridge Literary Festival will bring authors including Zadie Smith and Elif Shafak to the stage.

Musical theatre also plays a significant role this season, with productions such as Six, Barnum, and Catch Me If You Can offering a mix of established hits and high-energy performances.

A continued focus on accessibility and families

Family programming remains a key part of the theatre’s offer, with productions including The Gruffalo, The Cat in the Hat, Horrible Histories, and Dog Man: The Musical.

The theatre is also extending its reach beyond its main venue through its Pop-Up Adventures initiative, bringing performances such as The Tale of the Loneliest Whale into community spaces across Cambridge.

Honouring tradition while looking ahead

The return of the Cambridge Greek Play, with Euripides’ Ion, continues a long-standing university tradition dating back to 1882, offering a distinctive cultural experience within the programme.

At the same time, new adaptations of literary works — including The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and War of the Worlds — demonstrate a continued interest in reimagining familiar stories for contemporary audiences.

A theatre in its next chapter

As the Arts Theatre builds on its recent £16 million transformation, this season signals a venue that is both consolidating its reputation and evolving its identity.

With a programme that combines established favourites, new interpretations, and a broader mix of events, the Summer 2026 season reflects a theatre positioning itself for long-term relevance — rooted in tradition, but responsive to changing audiences.

Look at all the dates and get tickets here!

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Sergio Maggiolo

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We sat down for an exclusive interview with Sergio Maggiolo, creator of and performer in JEEZUS!

This show runs from 21st April to 9th May at New Diorama Theatre – Tickets here

Your work sits at the intersection of faith, queerness and political history. What felt most urgent to reclaim or reframe through Jesus’ story right now?

I grew up with religion as a language of love. It was in the rituals, the songs, and the way we lived together. The urgency now is about taking that language back from the structures that weaponized it. The same systems that prop up patriarchy and authoritarianism love to hide behind faith, but with JEEZUS! we are redirecting that reverence. We’re pointing it toward joy, queer love, and the messy, ecstatic parts of being human. If religion is supposedly about love, then it has to stand against violence instead of justifying it. That feels like a story worth shouting about.

JEEZUS! resists mocking religion while still interrogating it. How did you navigate that tonal tightrope without losing either bite or sincerity?

I’m inside it, so I don’t have to look at it from a distance. I come from a family where religion is a genuine expression of love, so those symbols are part of me. That closeness is actually what gives me permission to laugh because the humour comes from a place of truth. There’s a massive difference between faith and the institution of the Church. I don’t mock belief, but I absolutely interrogate power. Contradiction is already baked into the dogma, so we just follow it to its most absurd conclusions. My compass is love for people and their spirituality, mixed with a love for rebellion and questioning what we’ve been told to bow down to.

The show blends Latin pop, cumbia and club beats with something almost devotional. How does music become a kind of theology within the piece?

The show didn’t even start as a musical. It became one through playing around in workshops until we realized music was the actual heartbeat. Music is already at the centre of religious ritual. It gathers people, lifts them up, and dissolves the individual into a collective. That is theology to me. In JEEZUS! the dancefloor and the altar are the same thing. Latin pop and cumbia just let us do that with a bit more sweat and bass. It also helps that the rest of the world is finally catching up to how powerful Latino music is.

Set against the backdrop of 1990s Peru, how consciously are you inviting audiences to draw parallels between personal awakening and political control?

Very consciously. Controlling bodies through shame and prohibition is just another form of colonization. If you take away someone’s relationship to their own desire, you take away their autonomy. Authoritarian systems rely on people being afraid to look them in the eye, which is why we use laughter. JEEZUS! refuses to take authority at face value, even while we take the themes seriously. What happened in 90s Peru isn’t an isolated event. You see the same patterns of displacement, control and silencing happening everywhere today. The personal awakening in the show isn’t a side story; it is a literal act of resistance.

You perform multiple roles alongside Guido. How does that shapeshifting reflect the fluidity of identity the show is exploring?

To be honest, I mostly just pull faces and let Guido do the heavy lifting. But in a clown duo, you’re constantly shapeshifting through each other anyway. Half the time you don’t know who is leading and who is being exposed. That instability is exactly the point. The piece feels both deeply personal and wildly theatrical.

Where did you find permission to be this unapologetically bold with your own story?

I got it from the people who gave me love and freedom early on. My family, mentors, and collaborators never asked me to shrink myself. I also found it in queer artists who made space for the absurd and the excessive. In Latin American theatre that has a history of creating something massive and powerful out of very little, often out of pure sweat and commitment. I also take a lot from the migrant experience. Watching people cross borders and still insist on taking up space. I hope JEEZUS! is proof that immigrant stories don’t just exist here; but they actively shape the culture and identity of this country.

REVIEW: Flyby

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

Ambitious musical grounded in human fragility

Flyby is a new musical written by Theo Jamieson, and directed and created with Adam Lenson, now playing at Southwark Playhouse Borough. At first glance, it presents itself as a musical about space, but beneath its interstellar aesthetic lies something far more intimate and human: a story about childhood trauma, the fragility of emotion, and the quiet, often invisible ways these forces shape adult relationships.

What immediately stands out is the production design. The use of screens is exceptional as an active storytelling device throughout the show. In the moments set in space, they create a genuine sense of vastness and isolation, making Daniel’s journey feel eerily real. More impressively, these same screens are repurposed to externalise his inner world, replaying countless shameful and deeply uncomfortable memories from his past with a clinical clarity. 

The performances anchor the piece. With a cast of just five, Flyby feels both intimate and emotionally expansive. Each actor carries significant weight, and the chemistry and passion between Daniel and Emily is electric whilst also being believable. Their relationship unfolds less like a romance and more like a collision of unresolved pasts, shaped by formative experiences that neither of them fully understands. What unfolds is a deeply human story about damage; how it’s formed, how it manifests, and how it perpetuates itself across relationships. 

Musically, the songs do a lot of heavy lifting as they actively drive the narrative forward, unpacking character psychology and moving the story along with purpose. The most powerful moment comes towards the end, when Daniel asks a devastatingly simple question: what does it take for people to be nice to him? It’s a line that cuts through the show’s conceptual layers and lands with disarming directness. In that moment, the spectacle falls away, and what remains is something raw, vulnerable, and deeply human.

Flyby is a striking, deeply moving and profoundly human piece of theatre. It lingers not for its premise, but for the uncomfortable truths it surfaces, particularly its unflinching portrayal of how even the most well-intentioned people, in trying their best to love, can still fall short and hurt one another.

This show runs at Southwark Playhouse Borough until 16th May. Tickets here.

REVIEW: I Was A Teenage She-Devil

Published on by Ross BevanLeave a comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Carrie meets Heather’s meets The Pick of Destiny, this show is bonkers!

I Was A Teenage She-Devil really exemplifies the wonderfully mad spirit of The Other Palace. A Theatre known for putting on shows that break the mould or are a little out there in nature, this crazy 80s-inspired musical fits the bill.

The best word to describe this musical is bonkers. It’s absolutely wild in every conceivable way, and that’s exactly what makes it work. Sometimes, in fact, more often than not, things that are trying to be 80s don’t work as intended. Either because they try so hard it feels inauthentic, or they just don’t capture the magic of the era. This stands out because it fully leans into itself. Into the madness, the 80s tropes, the cringe and the iconic. It knows it’s insane and fully embraces it, usually in very funny ways. Most importantly, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It fully recognises that the era it lives in is full of melodrama and goofy energy, both in the films it pays homage to and the music. It captures the romance and the teen angst, but also isn’t afraid to make fun of itself. It takes thoughts you’ve had about every 80s movie, like “why does this high school student look like they could have a mortgage and kids of their own?”, and fully presents it to you through humour, with the reveal that Rod, the jock who looks way too old to still be in education, is in fact 35 years old.

It has fun with all these tropes, the jock who’s a total jerk, the popular mean girl head cheerleader who goes out with him and the glasses-wearing loser girl who just wants to fit in. We know them all because they’re classic (if somewhat overused) themes of virtually every single film from that decade. Then we have the best friend who’s in love with the protagonist, but this is where the use of these labels gets interesting, as it becomes this queer love story with Debbie having a crush on her best friend Nancy, the story’s “loser girl”. In the 80s, people often weren’t bold enough to tell stories of this nature, so it’s nice to see how well it can work for the time period.

The narrative of this musical then gets a bit nuts and adds Satan in. Having been humiliated by head cheerleader Tiffani and boyfriend Rod following an incident in which Tiffani is banned from homecoming and kicked off the cheer squad by the gym teacher, this part of the plot possibly sounds familiar as being more or less the story of Carrie. However, the show being as self-aware as it is points this out through the character of Doobie, resident film expert and manager of the video store. After the humiliation, this is where the Heathers aspects come in. “Nancy’s Lament”, a short emotional number where she sings of how she’d sell her soul for love, leads to the sudden appearance of the devil. Naturally, she is given exactly what she wishes for, but is also turned into a she-devil. She then proceeds to punish her classmates for their wrongdoings. Nancy is like a cross between Veronica and J.D. from the cult classic. If it wasn’t already crazy, Debbie challenges Satan to a rock-off for Nancy’s soul. We go pretty far from the 80s here, as this is essentially the plot of Tenacious D In The Pick of Destiny. It’s a mashup of wild proportions and the sort of mix that maybe feels like it shouldn’t work, but somehow, it just does.

The music helps greatly with that and is across the board, intrinsically 80s. When it comes to the voices behind it, they’re nothing short of perfection. The vocals from this cast are so powerful, so strong that it makes the atmosphere of the whole performance feel absolutely epic! Ashley Goh as Debbie really embodied that rock vibe from start to finish, especially when she sings about her feelings for Nancy in “Lookin’ For Love”. Aoife Haakenson goes from loser girl to succubus she-devil in a transformation that appears effortless. The talent was unreal as we see her change from the girl who wants love and acceptance in “I Wanna Be Someone’s Girlfriend”, a girl who is far more timid and less sure of herself, to this extraordinary demonic creature in songs like “She-Devil”, where she has much more agency over herself. Haakenson’s She-Devil felt akin to Jim Carrey in The Mask when she speaks, and it felt right, like that was exactly how she should sound. It was brilliant! 

Overall, this musical’s mad energy is fuelled by passion, fun and outrageous talent from everyone involved. It’s only at The Other Palace for a limited run, so be sure not to miss it! You’ll have a hell of a time.

This show runs at The Other Palace till 26th April. Tickets available here.

REVIEW: The High Life: The Musical – Still Living it!

Published on by dougalthomson94Leave a comment

Rating: 4 out of 5.

An absurd, over the top spectacle, full of fun

“This overacting is exhausting…but not for us”

From the moment the show starts, until its frenetic conclusion, it is impossible not to be drawn into the camp and joyous spectacle. Whether you’re a fan of the series or a complete newcomer, there is something for everyone. This is where the production really soars, it takes every member of the audience along on the journey, no matter what your relationship is to the series.

The first act is a love letter to the series, celebrating each returning character and setting up intrigue for the second act, brought on by Hurricane Fud. The second act contains a twist that cannot be guessed. It is utterly absurd, and feels like something straight out of League of Gentlemen, yet it is incredibly easy to accept and jump straight on board with.

The writing is solid, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson jump straight back into the fun that made the series so beloved, and the addition of Johnny McKnight is very welcome. McKnight’s fingers are all over the script, and really help it to shine on stage, embracing moments of pantomime and clever asides to keep the audience laughing and entertained. The trio blend together incredibly well, and the musical numbers are perfectly catchy. Is the plot entirely coherent? No. Does it need to be? Absolutely not. 

Cumming and Masson also shine in the reprisal of their roles of Sebastian Flight and Steve McCraken, jumping straight back into characters not seen for over thirty years. Masson brings an energy that does not wane throughout the show, and Cumming arrives with an undeniable charisma that keeps all eyes fixed on the stage. Even when faced with resistance from the audience during the crowdwork, the pair keep us invested.

The most rapturous laughter was often brought on by Patrick Ryecart, who brings the surreal Captain Hilary Duff back to life. With a multitude of costumes and delightfully irreverent turns, Ryecart steals the scene with his hilariously befuddled captain. The undisputed star of the night, however, is Siobhan Redmond, who has a show stopping entrance as Shona Spurtle. She is absolutely superb and flies high throughout the show delivering an assured performance that is simply impossible to look away from. 

The supporting cast is equally impressive, jumping into the over the top nature of the show and keeping pace with the core cast throughout. Rachael Kendall Brown is wild and wonderful as Kylie, and Kyle Gardiner is a lot of fun to watch switch between various states as Mylie. Lousie McCarthy puts together an impeccable performance as Heather Argyll, and the ensemble of Ross Baxter, Lauren Ellis-Steele, Ciara Flynn and Grant McIntyre are wonderful as an all singing, all dancing cast of characters.

What sits in the memory the strongest, is the undeniable pride in the Scottishness of the piece. With so many Scottish institutions involved, it was always going to be the case, and Alan Cumming in particular shines as a passionate representative of what is possible in giving Scottish Theatre to Scottish performers. Maybe, with a name to lead the charge, this can kickstart a renaissance of Scottish Theatre, and allow audiences to see more and more of the new and diverse creatives out there across Scotland.

Whether you love the series or Scotland or an absurd hour of escapism and spectacle, this show delivers.

The High Life: The Musical – Still Living it! Is on at The Festival Theatre until the 11th April before continuing to tour around various venues in Scotland.

REVIEW: We Will Rock You

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Rock and roll: a lifestyle, a mindset, a revolution.

This Easter weekend, Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre presented their performance of We Will Rock You, paying homage to rockstar idols from the past through a comedic, playful and symbolic plot. The entire cast, from the protagonists to the ensemble delivered a show well worth remembering. 

The first half of this show harnesses the attention of the audience scene after scene, song after song. The story is set with ease and natural thespian spark: rock is dead in the future realm of ‘IPlanet’, the government of the Killer Queen oppresses the ‘bohemians’ who dare to challenge to status quo in the fight for their freedom of expression. Rare Studio trainee Jack Ward playing the role of Galileo Figaro, and soon to be musical theatre bachelor’s student Izzy Chapple as Scaramouche, paint a brilliant picture of two young outcasts, hungry for more than the hand they’ve been dealt and the crippling desire to simply be understood.

It goes without saying that the vocal ability of both these young actors is exceptional, taking on renditions of beloved rock fan favourites such as, “Somebody to Love” and “I Want to Break Free”, Ward and Chapple both exceeded expectations for such young voices, while making the music their own still managing to maintain the songs’ original appeal throughout. Translated into the world of ‘IPlanet’ and the ‘bohemian’ resistance, these Queen songs are illuminated in a light perhaps forgotten by their usual audience: Freedom. 

The second half deliberately plays into this theme, to encompass this spirit of revolution and humanity through championing rock and roll legends we have lost too young. As the brilliant actors performed the iconic and heart-breaking ‘Only the Good Die Young’, the projector screen behind them presents footage of classic rock heroes, such as Janis Joplin, Kurt Kobain and of course Freddie Murcurey. These reoccurring themes of self-actualisation and liberation of identity reminds us to look inside, to be true to who we are and what we love and allows us to reflect on why we consider the stars shining on the screen our idols in the first place. Going against the grain and forming a collective resistance to conformity is imperative in times of oppression. 

While we are shown this through the play itself, it rings alarm bells for us in real life, in this new age of AI, Cyberspace and tyrannical governments. How much do we conform with modern society? What parts of ourselves do we suppress, and what immoral things are we programmed to believe is undoubtedly normal?

At the same time as tackling these emotive topics, actors such as Oscar Martin, playing Buddy, keep things light-hearted and enjoyable with his impeccable comedic timing and delivery. Cheeky yet never too crude, these laughs nourish the true spirt of the play. Keeping it camp, exciting and important, simultaneously. I will mention, however, a slight slip-up with the set, whereby the makeshift tent that Chapple and Ward had to construct would not seem to clip in place as it should, leaving us in slightly awkward silence for a solid 4 minutes during their scene. This being said, I believe this was handled very well by the young performers, as nerve-wracking as this must have been.

To sum up, I thoroughly enjoyed this production of We Will Rock You. Although I do appreciate rock and roll, I wouldn’t say this point is what had the biggest impact on me. Rather, it was this idea of community, fighting for freedom and fighting for love that spoke to me the most, especially in today’s political climate, as I’m sure some of the young actors and audience members would agree. Liverpool’s youth has truly reminded all of us to remain ‘bohemians’ within our own society. I cannot miss mentioning the performance of Bohemian Rhapsody as the grand finale. How spectacular and mesmerising. From the dancers, all the way to the guitar solo from the live band, each part of this performance made the audience stand up on their feet, dance and applaud. (including even, my plus one, who hates rock music).

Liverpool has truly done it again!

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Abigail Odat

Published on by Ke MengLeave a comment

Based on the much-loved film and featuring music by Alan Menken, Sister Act is a joyful, high-energy musical comedy – a feel-good celebration of community, inclusivity and a little bit of divine disco. We hold this exclusive dialogue with Abigail Odat, the co-director of the show.

Q: This show is known for it’s joy and energy – how have you approached capturing that spirit with Centre Stage London?
We’ve really embraced the joy and energy of the show by celebrating the diversity of the Centre Stage society and our cast. Amateur theatre in London brings together people from all walks of life, and that mix of backgrounds and experiences is something we’re incredibly proud of. As a production team, we’re proud to continue celebrating inclusivity and openness, and we’ve loved making sure everyone has the chance to shine and bring their own individuality to the stage.

We’ve also leaned into the show’s energy, turning it into a real celebration of dance, perhaps even more than you might usually see in Sister Act the Musical. So prepare to be dazzled by disco!

Q: What was it about Sister Act the Musical that made you want to bring it to Fulham Broadway right now? 

Sister Act the Musical is a story about overcoming differences to find your community, and that’s a message that feels particularly powerful right now. London is full of people from different backgrounds, and has a wonderful sense of community that really reflects the heart of this show. So, really it felt like a no brainer! Plus, this show is full of joy, energy and phenomenal music, which is something we could all use a bit more of. After all, who couldn’t do with a good laugh and a little disco in their lives these days?


Q: Alan Menken’s music is so iconic – were there any numbers that particularly excited or challenged the cast? 

His score really is iconic, and our Musical Director, Eve Millward, has done a fabulous job of bringing it to life. The great thing about Sister Act the Musical is that it’s jam packed full of different songs – from disco-inspiration to powerful ballads, so there’s so much to take in. Songs like ‘Raise Your Voice’ and ‘Sunday Morning Fever’ are big crowd-pleasers, but they’ve also been a challenge for the cast too. In the songs, we’re constantly switching between small scenes of dialogue to dancing and singing, so they require a lot of energy and focus from everyone involved. It’s demanding, but the cast and creative team has had an absolute blast bringing the score to life!

Q: What has it been like working with this particular cast and creative team?

Working with this cast and creative team has been fantastic. Because the show celebrates (quite literally) ‘Sisters Doing It for Themselves’ we felt it was only right to bring together an all-female production team. We’re incredibly proud of the talented production group we’ve assembled, who have worked together to create such a knock-your-socks-off production. Their creativity and vision has resulted in a really unique take on Sister Act the Musical that will delight even the biggest fans! (But I won’t say too much more on that, as I don’t want to give away the surprises!).

The level of talent on stage is also remarkable. Casting was such a tough process because there were so many strong performers, but we’re overjoyed with the final cast. The show moves at a relentless pace and there’s a huge amount the cast have had to learn, but the they’ve more than risen to the challenge, and they are ready to shine on the Oratory stage. 

Q: For someone who’s never seen Sister Act before, what would you say to tempt them into the theatre? 

If you’ve never seen Sister Act the Musical, this is the perfect introduction! It’s a joyful, feel-good musical packed with powerful gospel-inspired songs, dazzling choreography and plenty of heartfelt humour. The story follows Deloris Van Cartier, a lounge singer forced into hiding in a convent, where she unexpectedly transforms the choir, and the lives of the nuns around her.

Our production is a full-throttle celebration of community, inclusivity and a little divine disco energy. It’s uplifting, funny and full of soul, guaranteed to send you out of the theatre smiling.

For tickets and listing, please visit here.

REVIEW: Deep Azure

Published on by clemencxLeave a comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

“An unforgettable performance powered by a cast that never misses a beat.”

Written by Chadwick Boseman, Deep Azure follows Azure as she attempts to navigate life after the death of her fiancé Deep, killed in an act of racial profiling. The structure moves across time and between the living and the spiritual and reflects the disjointed rhythms of grief itself.

The production’s sense of ensemble is a key highlight. The cast operate cohesively, shifting between roles as actors, dancers and singers. The “Heavenly MCs of Street Knowledge” occupy the heart of the production, their presence commanding and dynamic. Their beatboxing and vocal percussion shape the action, transforming sound into environment: the hum of tension, the rhythm of movement, the pulse of memory. Their singing shifts seamlessly between harmonic passages and percussive bursts, keeping the stage in constant musical motion. Even their movement is a spectacle, stylised and robotic, showcasing extraordinary precision and control.

The MCs first appear in silver-toned outfits that evoke both futurism and a retro, almost 1980s aesthetic, placing them outside of a fixed time. After the interval, they re-emerge in cheerleading uniforms, bringing a heightened sense of rhythm and performative energy, emphasising their role as both narrators and orchestrators of spectacle.

At the core of this chorus are SK Good (Aminita Francis) and SK Evil (Imani Yahshua), who act as its leaders and moral centre. Their performances are assured, vocally and physically anchoring the ensemble. Their costumes consistently mirror one another while remaining distinct from the rest of the cast, visually reinforcing their connection while setting them apart. They function as a contemporary chorus without ever reducing it to simple moral binaries.

The central performances are extraordinary. Selina Jones delivers an embodied portrayal of Azure, capturing the pressures of grief and her own fraught relationship with her body. Jayden Elijah brings a calm, almost ethereal presence to Deep, moving between memory and spirit. Elijah Cook as Tone and Justice Ritchie as Roshad provide compelling counterpoints, contributing to the play’s wider exploration of masculinity and community.

The staging makes full use of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Balconies remain active throughout, with performers observing, singing, and intervening from above, while chandeliers rise and fall to subtly reshape the atmosphere. Candlelight, lit and extinguished by the cast, adds a ritualistic quality that runs through the piece. The set’s silver domes are particularly evocative. Clustered like bubbles along the balconies, they reflect fragmented images of the action, creating a sense of distortion and multiplicity. Onstage, larger domes cut in half become functional objects, reinforcing themes of fragmentation and reconstruction. Above it all, painted images of Boseman offer a resonant tribute.

Performers enter the audience space in often symmetrical patterns, sometimes lighting candles or singing at close range, bringing an immersive quality to the production.

Deep Azure verse-driven, hip-hop-infused storytelling feels like a Shakespearean modern echo exploring human grief, justice, and community with lyricism. From the ensemble to the powerhouse performances, Deep Azure is a masterclass in theatre that is as emotionally devastating as it is exhilarating. 

Deep Azure runs until Saturday 2nd May at Shakespeare’s Globe, London.

IN CONVERSATION WITH: Joshua LeClair

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We sat down for an exclusive interview with Joshua LeClair about Midnight in the Toyshop, starting at St Martin’s Theatre this April. Joshua’s stage credits include Matilda (international tour), Road Show (Union Theatre), Hello Again (Hope Theatre) and voice roles for Disney and CBeebies. He is currently pursuing a PhD in musical theatre performance and training at Goldsmiths.

This show runs from 7th April til 12th April at St Martin’s Theatre – Tickets here: https://www.perform.org.uk/contact/live-events/choose-event-month/midnight-in-the-toyshop

Midnight in the Toyshop has such a magical premise. What excited you most about being part of this production?

My favourite part of being a performer is getting to be part of the creation of new musicals, so I jumped at the chance to perform in Midnight in the Toyshop in the West End! And getting to run around as a magical unicorn for a few weeks? Icing on the cake.

What kind of atmosphere are you hoping to help create as the toyshop comes to life on stage?

I think the show will bring different things to everyone. Children will hopefully experience the wonder of watching their favourite toys come to life and being invited to be part of the experience, and adults will hopefully feel the nostalgia of cherished childhood memories of their own. Overall, I hope the show offers an invitation to jump into a world of imagination and play that they get to take home with them after the show. 

You’ve trained both in Canada and the UK, at Sheridan College and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. How have those different environments shaped you as a performer?

Training in Canada gave me my core technique; I credit Sheridan College and the excellent teachers I had there with making me an artist. When training in the UK, I learned how art becomes real in the world by experiencing the way theatre is so uniquely and deeply woven into the fabric of British culture.

Now that you’re pursuing a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, how has academic research begun to influence your practical work on stage?

I’m really interested in the way teaching and learning happen in musical theatre contexts. I’ve been much more aware of the way singing, dancing and acting are taught and how it interacts with the alchemical process of creating musical theatre within the performer. Everyone is supported toward their brilliant performance in a different way, and yet each performance belongs in the world we’ve created!

If someone is bringing their family to the show for the first time, what would you love them to discover together?

I’d love for first-time theatregoers to discover the necessity of live performance in an age of increased division and solitude. There is a magic of “being-with”, an aura, to experiencing the unfolding of art in community with others. I hope new audiences can sense the value of deliberately choosing how we spend our time, presence and attention in a way that can only be found in real space and real time. There, we can witness and collaborate in a collective artistic experience.

You can see Joshua playing the role of Stardust in Perform Productions’ new family musical Midnight in the Toyshop, for a limited Easter holidays run at St Martin’s Theatre in London’s West End, from Tuesday 7 to Sunday 12 April. Tickets are available to book here: https://www.perform.org.uk/contact/live-events/choose-event-month/midnight-in-the-toyshop