Reading Time: < 1 minuteLena is the brand new ‘play with music’ written by BAFTA and Olivier award-winner Tim Whitnall showing at Assembly this August. It follows the Rise and Fall of Lena Zamboni and child star who’s journey was in contrast to the glittering shine of Opportunity Knocks. The show is hosted by Hughie Green - the Simon Cowel in the story although it is also narrated throughout by the Father.
Reading Time: 3 minutesDrawing inspiration from the classic fairy tale Cendrillon (or as most of us know it, Cinderella), La Cenerentola tells the tale of a young woman compelled to serve her cruel stepfather and unappreciative stepsisters as a lowly servant. Meanwhile, Prince Ramiro embarks on a quest to discover the most beautiful woman in the kingdom to be his future wife.
Reading Time: 2 minutesIt’s hard to make theatre that feels fresh. To really grasp at a conversation that should be told and tell it in a way that makes people want to listen. Salamander does all this and more in this fantastic piece of theatre running at Assembly Roxy this August.
Reading Time: 2 minutesWe spend a third of our lives in bed.... If only beds could talk! Is the tagline for this 60 minute musical showing at Gilded Balloon Teviot this August. The concept is simple and quiet, no showy big numbers, just human connection and real stories.
Reading Time: 2 minutesAlice Bunker-Whitney (writer) and Francesca Goodridge (director) combine tropes from well-known police dramas with suspense, a touch of insanity, and witty humor to create a killer show (pun intended). Mandy (Lindzi Germain) and Shanon (Hayley Sheen) have just murdered their boss at work. Without spoiling the plot of the show, the duo must navigate how to cover up their actions. However, they face obstacles such as a badge guy, a builder, a customer in desperate need of a skinny latte, and an aubergine seller who impede their efforts to cover up the bloodshed.
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTelevision 1 is the brand new debut show for Joe Pearson & Rory Cargill, a character comedy sketch show which takes the audience through TV programming of the 20th Century. Starting with a Alfreds Astonishing Adventures and taking us through to an embarrassing body sketch the pair hit on all the pop culture shows that made TV what it is.
Reading Time: 2 minutesLena is an activist but the way she’s going about is by trying to convert her tinder dates? The premise is solid, with the show opening with relatable dating stories until the reveal is ushered in. Lena (Bibi Lucille) targets meat eating dates and then converts them to veganism with unsolicited physical touch and facts and figures - her most recent let down being a date who was already vegan. What a waste.
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe opener is a spectacular bit of sketch work - starting in the hyper natural and taking you to the edge of absurdity and tension. Similar to the closer which genuinely left me weeping... no spoilers. The show is Woven together with sketches both absurd and challenging - with a horny hen repeating sketch which I could watch for days. It is however here where some of the pull back and reveal punchlines sometimes seem redundant - the sketches themselves being funny enough to not require the add on.
Reading Time: 3 minutesINVASION! is being put on as part of Camden Fringe and is created by the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society (CUMTS), with the show being written and directed by Jonathan Powell and Jasper Robin, and composed by Lily Blundell. CUMTS can lay claim to being the original home of the worldwide smash hit that is SIX the Musical, however this show fails to live up to those lofty heights.
Reading Time: 3 minutesRide is a new British musical performed first in March 2020 (before the world closed down) and currently showing at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant.