PLEASANCE LONDON, DOWNSTAIRS

by Cindy Marcolina - June 08, 2024

She was exceptional, but the musical written about her is anything but. It tends to be old-fashioned and traditional in structure, willing itself to be a majestic epic, but never reaching that stage. Her life story feels rushed and vague, the songs are run-of-the-mill, standardised, lacking that big...

by Matthew Paluch - June 07, 2024

The Ashton Worldwide (2024-2028) international festival continues at the Royal Opera House with the Royal Ballet on the mainstage in Ashton Celebrated. The company is performing two mixed bills with slight repertoire changes....

by Cindy Marcolina - June 07, 2024

Interracial marriage has been legal in the United States for less than six decades. To put it into perspective, sliced bread was first sold forty years earlier. Set in 1918 South Carolina, Wedding Band is a blistering portrayal of unjust laws and discrimination, of conscious and unconscious bias, of...

by Franco Milazzo - June 05, 2024

Even if the press night weather for this open air production suggested otherwise, this latest take on The Barber Of Seville is the perfect summer opera with its fluffy blend of humour and romance and some of the art form’s best known arias....

by Gary Naylor - June 05, 2024

New comedies are hard to get right and often land in a highly subjective space, but this one has to be called out as a bit of a dud...

by Matthew Paluch - June 05, 2024

'wit, charm and elegance' are the words used to describe the work of Royal Ballet founding choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton (1904-1988). English ballet, or rather style wouldn't exist without him, so The Frederick Ashton Foundation have understandably instigated the Ashton Worldwide (2024-2028) in...

by Kat Mokrynski - June 08, 2024

Ghost Walk of the Lanes is an eighty-minute tour of “Brighton’s oldest and most haunted quarter,” with a storyteller dressed in a Victorian costume leading audience members around several historic sites of the city, stopping and telling stories, ringing a bell to lead the way....

by Kat Mokrynski - June 08, 2024

Kids Can Heckle!, hosted by comedian Ollie Horn, has an interesting concept. As you might be able to guess from the title, children are allowed to heckle. In fact, according to the show’s descriptions, they are “encouraged to jump in, share their ideas, and be as silly as possible,” so you can defin...

by Franco Milazzo - June 04, 2024

Juggling not only apples but comedy, dance and socio-sexual commentary, the troupe co-founded by Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala in 1992 bring back their signature production to London....

by Franco Milazzo - June 03, 2024

In a sudden lurch away from their epic 2022 creation The Burnt City, immersive specialists Punchdrunk’s next effort is a far more cosy affair. Small barefoot groups walk their way through the Nineties fairytale world of Viola’s Room with the story relayed over headphones by Helena Bonham Carte...