Louise Penn

Lovers Actually takes the mick out of everyone's love-hate Christmas film, Love Actually, in a show written by Neil Hurst and Jodie Prenger. Following on the heels of last year's Homo Alone, this show seasons the festive fun with a side of sauce. The musical aspect is fully embraced with lively choreography from Kim Healey. Ultimately, Lovers Actually is a cheeky nod to the naughty nineties, but there's a bit too much going on for it to leave us fully satisfied.

A delightful 'first ballet' aimed at children, Northern Ballet's Little Red Riding Hood offers a twist on the old tale of the hungry wolf and the sweet little grandmother. The importance of kindness and friendship is more important than the shock value in this version, which displays more sweetness than savagery.

This musical of 50 First Dates tones down a lot of the crude humour found in the film, and produces a very safe piece of entertainment. It's an accomplished work on the whole which should attract fans of the rom-com genre or feel-good musicals in general.

Michael McKeever's play mixes fact, gossip, and invention in a spicy drama that offers a biting comment on the grime behind the glitter of Hollywood. John Partridge is superb as Billy Haines, both a smooth charmer and a crumpled defeatist.The Code is a very artificial play in many ways. It gleefully regurgitates snark and gossip and treads a line where folks have to 'put on a show' within a show.

Every Brilliant Thing, now on in the West End, never be the same show, so it could be watched 10 times, 100 times, a million and still reach deep into the heart of you. It won't be for everyone. It may come across as over-sentimental or simplistic to some. I'm not one of those people.

The Genesis has been astonishing audiences across the globe with its showcase of trust and spectacle. For just over an hour, the Copenhagen Collective take over the Peacock Theatre with 16 top-class acrobats, assembled from across the world. The Genesis is a show of equal opportunities and diversity, with female bases lifting, and male flyers move with grace. Sensational, profound, and very human.

This timely revival of Philip Ridley's first play, The Pitchfork Disney, brought back to the London stage by Lidless Theatre, Zoe Weldon and King's Head Theatre Productions, marks a major moment in the partnership between Lidless and Ridley.  The Pitchfork Disney is no less relevant and revolutionary today as it was in 1991. This is a remarkable revival that cries out to be experienced.

This intriguing and contrasting programme of folk songs and dances offers the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections of the orchestra to shine, and the virtuosity of the trombone soloist is a true treat. With work by Vaughan Williams, Tippett, Arnold and Grainger complemented by a concerto by Schuller, this concert offers both familiar and experimental pieces for those seeking something beyond the traditional classical music path.

This programme of music seems to thrive on themes of togetherness, resilience, and support that may have also influenced the Russian composer at the mid-point of his life, the Hungarian maestro nearing the end of his, and even the bright young man setting out to shake us the music scene in Europe to excess. Will Mäkelä be the next young man to rock the foundations of the classical world? Wait and see.

The Gathered Leaves has been away from the stage for a whole decade, but still intrigues. As each metaphorical leaf falls, we can’t help but keep watching thanks to the skill and commitment of the writer, director, cast and all involved. A theatrical treat. With topics such as autism, dementia, racism, infidelity, and mortality threaded throughout The Gathered Leaves, there is much to explore and absorb in this play. It feels real without ever being forced or preachy.

Bringing Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra back to the BBC Proms, last night’s concert offered a programme of Beethoven’s 'Symphony No. 7 in A major' alongside Bartok’s dark one-act opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. 

This is a production that falls into the above average category but not yet a 'great' achievement. It tries to do a little too much and falls short in some of the storytelling, despite having a real sense of heart and commitment. A lot of imagination, love and money has gone into this, with great video work and powerful dancing, but the orchestrations didn't work for me.

Dominated by a new James MacMillan work, and a lively couple of pieces by Shostakovich reflecting on the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, this concert from the LSO, with their Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and violinist Nicola Benedetti, offered a lively evening of music. Full-blooded and dynamic, Shostakovich's 12th Symphony, 'The Year 1917' dominated the evening, while MacMillan's Violin Concerto No 2 had its London premiere in safe hands.

With NOW standing for many nows, thens, nowheres, future nows, past nows, and present nows, Jasmin Vardimon offers up revisited classic choreography fused with new material to create a beautiful and intense way to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. Offering a window into the world through movement, music and video, NOW is a playful and political piece.

Crystal Pite’s deeply moving work has themes of safe passage, displacement, community and mortality. Light of Passage, taken as a whole work with the three sections together, builds into a cohesive whole on the theme of who we are, where we are going, and what we feel. Although there are moments of repetition and the occasional sense of the abstract, I did find that Light of Passage succeeds on an emotional level in reaching an audience, who cheered enthusiastically by the curtain call.

In the new Sadler's Wells East venue, we are invited to observe and then enter the world of Club Groove in a pulsing, energetic, modern dance piece allowing the audience to mingle on the dance floor. The story is slight but the vibe is unmistakable. This production opens with a half-hour of powerhouse movement before becoming fully immersive. Look at me, it challenges, and you do.

An evening of expressive and emotional music from three great modernist composers is hard to fault as the LSO perform pieces by Walker, Bernstein, and Walton in a powerful Anglo-American programme.

Virginia Gay's Cyrano is billed as 'after Edmond Rostand' and is far more than a faithful adaptation of the classic tragic tale of doomed romance. In reimagining the play, Gay finds an interesting central role for herself as the overlooked and lovesick Cyrano, wishing for more from her friendship with the bubbly Roxanne, and finding a facade of words to hide the hurt she feels at comments about her ugly looks.

From the bold new musicals aimed at Gen Z audiences, to classic play revivals and experimental dance productions, London has offered a variety of shows across its stages this year. Louise Penn celebrates her pick of the work of the West End and smaller off-West End spaces.