Franco Milazzo - Page 3

Hampstead Theatre has seen its fair share of gore. Even so, Max Webster’s Titus Andronicus leaves the boards drenched in something more caustic than fake blood: the acid tang of a civilisation eating itself. Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy is a grotesque feast, and here it’s served up with relish.

The Sicilian Vespers is always going to be a challenging proposition. In a move smacking of sheer hubris, Verdi’s original version lasted over four hours and featured half an hour of ballet partway through. Stefan Herheim's production for the Royal Ballet & Opera removes that dance sequence but transports the plot from Palermo to Paris with the Sicilian rebel leader Jean Procida now portrayed as a mutinous ballet master. What next: Che Guevara as a South Kensington Zumba instructor?

Incredible as it seems, globally renowned magicians Penn & Teller have finally got around to their first residency in London’s theatre district. Now both in their seventies, this could well be their West End debut and farewell. 

As the iconic philosopher Ferris Bueller famously opined, “life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Following on from 2023’s 24 (Day), this second instalment of the Almeida Theatre’s “Islington Trilogy” really and truly digs into the essential and universal nature of being.

From the moment the curtain raises and smoke billows away to reveal a barely lit stage, it’s clear that Rambert’s The Redemption of Thomas Shelby isn’t interested in gently inviting you in and asking how you take your tea. If anything, this is a rough kidnap of the senses, dumping you into a World War I battleground in a way that makes the opening to Saving Private Ryan look like a trip to Tesco.

It may be one of the most beloved musical movies of all time but are we going to be hopelessly devoted to Secret Cinema’s second stab at Grease? Is this what the one that their devoted fanbase really want (ooh ooh ooh)? 

From the moment the first note rang out, this was no ordinary Proms night. Four wildly different pieces, one restless thread: mischief. Mendelssohn is the marquee name here but really this was a foray into the world of fairytale birds, lyrical longing, mythological monkeys and death-defying pranksters.

So, finally, Elvis Evolution has entered the building. 

In what feels like something of a Blue Peter moment, here comes a play which the departing Rufus Norris made earlier last year. 

With Indefinite Leave To Remain, the singular Hersh Dagmarr lifts and shifts the hits of The Pet Shop Boys into a cabaret setting. It is a curious creature of an evening: part musical theatre, part confessional, and lashings of his rambling yet magnetic dialogue. 

Burlesque royalty has come to London in the form of Dita Von Teese and her new show Diamonds and Dust.

Iman Qureshi’s The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs, directed by Hannah Hauer‑King, begins like a buoyant sitcom, only to pivot—sometimes too sharply—into earnest, confessional drama. At its best, it sparkles with wit and warmth; at its most uneven, it feels like two distinct shows blocking one another.

On the face of it, three celebrated opera companies joining forces is, without doubt, A Good Thing. This adaptation of Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow, on the other hand, decidedly Not A Great Thing.

On 6 January 2021, while the US Congress gathered in Washington DC to confirm Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America, a mob waited outside. Demanding that their leader Donald J Trump be returned to power, they stormed the Capitol building to confront the lawmakers.

Time to turn that frown upside down: London Clown Festival returns in its typically rambunctious style.

Somewhere in a massive warehouse in Deptford, a collection is being made of every digital artifact since the birth of the internet in 1983. Every blog, every tweet, every DM. This archive called Storehouse is, unsurprisingly, reaching bursting point. A proposed solution called The Great Aggregregation has instead turned into “an epic fail”. We, the audience, are being asked to help resolve this critical situation.

Out of the Spiegeltent and into the West End, Head First Acrobats’ GODZ sees an assortment of deities descend on Peacock Theatre with a heavenly blend of adult comedy, scintillating circus and enough raw sex appeal to send Magic Mike back to Hogwarts.

Just what is (and isn't) the truth is an eternally relevant discussion and a subject at the heart of Storehouse, a new immense immersive theatre production set in a 90,000 square metres warehouse in Deptford.

Down from Mount Olympus, these Greek Gods - sorry GODZ - come to London this week in the form Head First Acrobats (or is Acrobatz?).

Opera Holland Park has never shied away from audacious programming, and with Jonathan Dove’s Itch, it plunges boldly into radioactive territory—literally. Originally seen here in 2023 and based on Simon Mayo’s YA novel about a teenage element hunter who stumbles upon a potentially world-altering discovery, this opera bubbles with energy, invention and musical firepower.