Kevin Sherwin - Page 2

Is it annoying if I? If my sentences never seem to? And for an hour, could you? Welcome to Show 6, a play in which no single sentence is allowed enough words for it to make sense, but which seems convinced of its importance, for one reason or another.

It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to write this but if you ask me, Theatre Ad Infinitum have dropped the ball. Their annual must-see status in the Pleasance Dome is completely justified, which makes it all the more baffling that their 2014 production is as leaden and, well, shonky as it is.

I'll admit it: I'm a fan of a theatrical gimmick. Generally speaking, a production that has a bit of a high-concept twist that can be summed up in ten words or less is in with a good shot at a positive review from me. And so, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, with its pitch of 'actor opens envelope and performs play without ever reading it' was already off to a good start.

Thanks to director Ray Rackham's gentle, uncluttered approach, a bouncy score played wonderfully by musical director Thomas Lees and a small but strikingly talented cast of four, this brisk 80-minute soujourn to the Big Apple is consistently and undeniably enjoyable.

Some people call Grease 2 a guilty pleasure. Many more consider it to simply be a bad film. And then there's the rest of us: people who come across it at an early age (often too young to understand what the 'Reproduction' lyrics we like to sing at the dinner table mean), genuinely love it to pieces and never let it go, who at various points in our lives come across fellow fans - there is no quicker bond - with whom we can recite the dialogue and sing the songs, fuelling our shared fervour, and on and on it goes.

When it comes to the question of what I'm most looking forward to in 2014, I have but three words: Grease. Two. Live.

Reviewing a dance show when one's expertise in the area is negligible at best is a slightly daunting prospect and so, a disclaimer: this review will include no technical terms whatsoever because I don't know any. That said, the opportunity to see four new dance pieces without any prior knowledge was an exciting one.

It's probably fair to say I didn't approach this screening from the most objective of standpoints: having seen the West End production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' four times, and having wanted to fit a few more trips in before it closed, I was already very much on board with the general critical consensus, overwhelmingly positive as it was.

The Herd is an entirely engrossing, emotional affair which offers a window on a situation which is relatively unique, but one that is experienced in a very real way by characters who will immediately resonate with anyone who has ever had a family.

The London theatre scene has got plenty to shout about this Autumn, with plenty of interesting stuff on the way. Kevin Sherwin has a look at what we've got to look forward to.

Miranda Sings is a very modern creation indeed. The comic alter ego of performer Colleen Ballinger, one of a growing number who can legitimately cite 'YouTuber' as their career, 'Miranda' has accrued millions of video views over the past five years. Her popularity seems to be growing too, if this week-long stint at the Leicester Square is anything to go by.

My Fringe was a bit of a mixed bag... I had high hopes for some shows that I felt quite let down by in the end and I was also pleasantly surprised by others, as detailed here.

There is a kind of musical I've started to call plinky-plonk (the name is a work in progress). They're invariably set in New York, and they always involve a perky group of young twentysomethings and a piano. And I find them supremely irritating, and [title of show] is definitely one of them.

I didn't know what to expect other than 'Howie the Rookie' is a one-man show set in Dublin. Or at least it's a one-man show now. It's comprised of two monologues from two young Dubliners, first The Howie and then The Rookie. Previously, these roles were portrayed by different actors, but in this production directed by writer Mark O' Rowe, both are played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, recently seen in the acclaimed Irish crime drama 'Love/Hate' on Channel 5.

You get the impression that resistance is futile: from the dimly-lit entrance of Le Gat (that's what I'm calling him), certain corners of the audience are filled with yelps of delight, gleeful whoops and just general joy at his arrival.

In the post-ANTM age (if that doesn't make immediate sense, I won't explain it for fear of embarrassment), the word fierce has become a bit overused but it's the only description for the five 'Starlets' in this new production by Theatre Ad Infinitum, darlings of the Fringe after their previous show, the quietly devastating 'Translunar Paradise'. This group of immensely talented physical performers has energy for days, and they are just hugely watchable for the entire running time, thanks in no small part to the twitchy, spiky choreography of Orian Michaeli (one of the five).

A cast of young people performing in a Fringe musical that isn't 'Spring Awakening' is a thing to treasure, and when it's in fact Stephen Sondheim's glorious 'Merrily We Roll Along', it's an even greater cause for celebration. The programme is scant on information on where this company, The Red Oak Theatre, originates, but nobody in the cast looks anywhere near their mid-twenties, which makes the fact that they've tackled this decades-spanning piece all the more interesting - not to mention admirable.

At the end of this performance of 'Bath Time', the actor/writer Ruaraidh Murray (it's a one-man show) shook hands with everyone in the front row, and very sincerely thanked everyone for coming - the venue is called the Wee Room so there was plenty of scope to make eye contact with the whole audience, and all in all, he came across as a genuinely lovely and grateful chap.

I don't know much about Shakespeare, and I knew even less about Titus Andronicus before seeing this version by Smooth Faced Gentlemen, the UK's only all-female Shakespeare company. But one would hope the work of 'the Bard' should be accessible without much prior knowledge, and it's to the company's credit that this production very much is.

'Blood Ties', by cast members Anika Johnson and Barbara Johnston, seems to have had quite a journey pre-Fringe. Written when the two were at theatre school, the musical has since featured in various festivals and five years later, its fourth draft arrives in Edinburgh in what appears to be a final hurrah for the show.