A fun, energetic romp through a brilliant back catalogue of classic rock and roll numbers, from some multi-talented performers, with interesting facts about the era in a show that opens on a high and continues up there throughout.
A fun, energetic romp through a brilliant back catalogue of classic rock and roll numbers, from some multi-talented performers, with interesting facts about the era in a show that opens on a high and continues up there throughout.
Bruntwood Prize winning playwright Naylah Ahmed returns with Ready or Not, a topical piece of theatre focusing on our post 9/11 world and the experience of Muslims worldwide. ‘The War on Terror’ is a phrase we hear all to often now and have become desensitised by but what does this entail? Who or what is ‘terror’? Who is the enemy? Drawn by this new landscape we find ourselves living in Ahmed speaks about how she has been supported by Kali Theatre to bring this narrative to light.
Barbican Artistic Associate Cheek by Jowl revisits Shakespeare’s romance 20 years after the company’s renowned Maly Drama Theatre production. Directed by Declan Donnellan, who was recently awarded the Golden Lion of Venice for his ability to bring classic works to life for a contemporary audience, this modern dress production is inventive, irreverent, theatrical and powerful.
Improv has to be one of the most challenging yet exciting theatre forms to perform. There’s no script, therefore spontaneity is key. Shows such as ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’ have really helped to popularise improv, but what’s been prevalent is the lack of diversity within the range of improv groups within the UK. Having noticed this issue, actor Sunny Dhap founded Jumprov, the UK’s first BAME improve collective. Ahead of their first show in May at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Sunny talks more about the company’s beginnings.
There are a couple of stand-out performances and some impressive dance numbers in this touring production, which is good fun but ultimately a bit unsatisfying.
Expensive Sh*t, written and directed by Adura Onashile, is notable for featuring an all black, all female cast, razor sharp writing, unique characterisation, and an absorbing, afrobeat tinged story, focusing on one of the 20th century’s most pioneering musicians, Fela Kuti, who established Afrobeat as an internationally renowned genre.
What’s great about the human experience is that no 2 characters are the same, similar to fingerprints. We all assume, we all judge a book by its cover and it’s inherent that we compartamentalise and stereotype. It can be seen as being an easier path to fit in and follow the crowd no matter how old you are, however Le Gateau Chocolat’s Black completely dismisses this notion and fiercly shines a beacon on self expression and being yourself.
Cambridge famous for its academia, architecture and adventures on a punt are axed for one night and replaced with spells, speed dating and death threats in An Evening of Short Plays. Performed by Cambridge Regional College Final Year Acting Students, the evening is filled with a variety of dramatic arts.
2017 will mark 70 years since India became independent from British rule and with this leaves an everlasting effect of rebuilding and remembering. There were many figures that would have been crucial in ending colonial rule however sadly are left out of the history books. Pritilata Waddedar, a member of revolutionary group Surya Sen in 1932 took on the Pahartali European Club, a local act of rebellion that would only go on to contribute to the domino effect of a nation fighting back. Siddhartha Bose talks more about this little known revolutionary figure and her legacy.
The hit musical 42nd Street is back in town returning to the West End’s biggest stage – the Theatre Royal Drury Lane where the original West End production opened on August 8, 1984 and incidentally launched the career of Catherine Zeta-Jones. A chorus girl when the show opened, Zeta-Jones took over the role of Peggy Sawyer when both the actor portraying the lead and her understudy became ill during the run – there is life imitating a Broadway show.