Louise Penn - Page 3

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.

Billed as a 'weird and wonderful gathering', Eva Recacha's full-length work The Picnic is inspired by the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, dating from the 15th century.  The Picnic is about pleasure, power, privilege, passion, playfulness and partying. It is as hedonistic as it is human, as vibrant as it is visceral, as supportive as it is strange.

A sweet revival of Frederick Ashton's best-known and loved ballet returns to Sadler's Wells. Showcasing both comedy and complexity in its solos and routines, La Fille mal gardée brings a splash of sunshine to the stage. Beatrice Parma makes a striking debut as Principal dancer in the role of cheeky young Lise.

This is a toolkit to help creatives in a business which is often hard to navigate, and I feel it is an excellent addition to the material currently available on the subject. It is written in a chatty and approachable style, and the bitesize structure is perfect for reading on the go.

For Forced Entertainment, a linear story or a place without the space to play would be unthinkable. Signal To Noise is a piece of theatre like no other. I highly recommend you let the creativity wash over you. You won't see anything else like this, and you will definitely come away with something to think about.

David Edgar's new stage play about Elia Kazan and Arthur Miller places us mainly in Connecticut, 1952, but struggles to tease out the personal and political complexities within a creative friendship. There is a strong play within Here In America, but it would benefit from being stripped back to the essentials - less Marilyn Monroe, more Marxism. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">See what our critic had to say.</span>

Almost thirty years since they last performed, London City Ballet are making a return to their former home at Sadler's Wells this week. Artistic director Christopher Marney has assembled a small company of talented dancers and in this Resurgence programme, a mixture of classic pieces half-forgotten from the reportoire and new commissions.

There were no phone screens, no sotto voce conversations, no fidgeting, as a packed Hall watched the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in rapt appreciation. Each instrument had its moment. The dual harps added a cool clarity, the double basses a morose touch, the trombones a sweet elegance. This was a vibrant reading of a modern classic in expert hands.

Since 2005, Aurora Orchestra have been performing classical pieces from memory with no score and free movement around the stage. Their passion for their craft is wonderful, and extends to all those who are lucky enough to see them work. This was an inclusive and accessible Prom, vibrant and vivacious.

Peanut Butter and Blueberries is original, sweet, touching and vibrant. It is extremely refreshing to see a play about the British Muslim experience where trauma and tradition are, of course, acknowledged, but are not the main focus of the drama. As this is Manzoor-Khan's first play, it will be fascinating to see what she tackles next.

A lively, varied and yes, sassy night celebrating a groundbreaking artist. If only a few of the audience headed off to listen to Vaughan's original recordings, that is a bonus. As Sarah Vaughan 'married operatic grandeur with the coolness of jazz', so this concert digs deep to showcase her range, personality, and love of life.

The first major revival of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge in a decade plays on the downfall of the 'Everyman'. Eddie Carbone is a hard-worker, popular, a man's man. But something deep and dangerous is gnawing at his heart.

Produced by Zoo Co and Improbable, this is not your show, or like any show you might have seen before. Perfect Show for Rachel is just what it says, a perfect show directed by Rachel O'Mahony, who is learning disabled, living in a care home, and exploring her creativity. So anything can happen, and no two shows are the same.

Deeply mining the scores of four musicals Jerry Herman is best known for (Hello, Dolly, Mame, Mack & Mabel, La Cage Aux Folles), with a handful from others like Dear World and Parade, this will appeal to Herman devotees and musical generalists alike.

A Song of Songs has been placed within a traditional Middle Eastern beat by Ofra Daniel, writer, composer, director, and lead actor as Tirzah, unfulfilled wife. Whether through the stamps and flowing skirts of flamenco or thumping percussive beats, the physicality of the piece takes centre stage. What may be missing is an emotional connection.