Review: DON'T.MAKE.TEA, Soho TheatreMarch 28, 2024A pitch-black comedy thriller which gives Franz Kafka a run for his money, Don’t.Make.Tea doesn’t hold back in its excoriating view of modern Britain.
Review: MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Royal Opera HouseMarch 28, 2024There are few things more life-affirming than christenings, orgies and operas. And few works are more life-affirming and cathartic than Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Review: FAITH HEALER, Lyric HammersmithMarch 21, 2024Frank Hardy has a problem. He’s an Irish faith healer without faith in his power to heal. It comes, it goes and he only knows for sure when it is not going to happen. With his wife Grace and manager Teddy, their tour of Wales and Scotland in a battered van has seen his abilities steadily failing him. A last throw of the die sees him return to his homeland. What could go wrong?
Review: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, Wilton's Music HallMarch 18, 2024In the week when an Arts Council England report lambasted the current state of opera and questioned its relevance to wider society, Charles Court Opera’s The Barber Of Seville stands as a stern rebuff to those who consider this art form to be dated and irrelevant.
Review: THE RETURN OF THE KING IN CONCERT, Royal Albert HallMarch 18, 2024With a live rendition of the Oscar-winning score by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the Philharmonia Chorus, the latest in the Royal Albert Hall’s “films in concert” series brings the The Lord of the Rings epic fantasy saga to a majestic conclusion.
Review: GINGERLINE'S THE GRAND EXPEDITION, DalstonMarch 18, 2024Like some latter day Phileas Fogg, immersive dining specialists Gingerline’s revival of The Grand Expedition leads us on a merry virtual journey around the world all while sat in a hot air balloon gondola.
Review: JENŮFA, London ColiseumMarch 15, 2024Opera is not short of stories where women are violated and abandoned by the men in their lives but Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa is an especially cruel tale.
Review: BESOS, BEATS AND BEAUTIES, Lio LondonMarch 7, 2024Operating from the former Café de Paris, dinner-cabaret experience Lio London is coming up to its first anniversary and is celebrating with its latest show Besos, Beats and Beauties.
Review: SPIDER, Riverside StudiosFebruary 23, 2024The cruel world of drama schools is examined at close range in Spider, written and directed by Jude Benning and currently playing at Riverside Studios as part of their Bitesize Festival.
Review: THIS & THAT, Barbican CentreFebruary 18, 2024Appearing down in the Barbican’s Pit theatre as the final part of this year’s MimeLondon, This & That from Phil Soltanoff and Steven Wendt is an oblique and often frustrating hour of shadow puppetry and animation.
Review: DINA MARTINA: SUB-STANDARDS, Soho TheatreFebruary 17, 2024Flying in from the States for her eighth time at Soho Theatre, Seattle-based performer Dina Martin debuts her new show Sub-Standards. It takes some skill to straddle performance art, clowning, drag and stand-up with skill and wit but she never looks uncomfortable. And nor should she with her considerable pedigree and following.