“If I wasn‘t wet and cold and permanantly depressed I think I‘d love this city. Then again what is London without the above?” The musings of homeless philosopher Sam in Steven Lally‘s Letters From Everyone will shake you one way or another and I dare you to leave this play emotionally untouched.
Grimm Tales Young and Old is a retelling of five of Grimm’s Fairy tales, rewritten by Phillip Pullman, performed at the Barge House, South Bank. As you enter the building you are immersed into a dark fairy tale world, as you walk up several flights of stairs covered in creepy old fashioned photos, rusty metal and exposed brick, the tone is set well for the show ahead.
In Alan Bennet’s play, The History Boys, a bright history teacher remarks that ‘there is no period so remote as the recent past’. Last year saw Croatia become the 28th member state of the EU and 3 Winters deals with the country’s rich and volatile history over the last seventy years. The play is set in a single house over three distinct time periods. The first, 1945, sees Croatia becoming one of the six states of the Yugoslav People’s Republic. 1990 demonstrates the aftermath of the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the dissolution of Yugoslavia as Croatia and Serbia left the union. 2011 brings the action up to date and looks toward prospective EU membership.
Exit the King transports you to a fantasy kingdom in terrible strife. King Berenger I is dying but is full of regret and fear at his death and is begging and fighting to stay alive. As the King slowly deteriorates Queen Marguerite and his Doctor try to sway the King to let go, whilst Queen Marie begs him to hang on. All the while the servants try to keep order as the kingdom continues to decay around them.
The Snowman is back after 16 seasons for one more Christmas at the Peacock Theatre. This endearing story, based on the children’s book written by Raymond Briggs, tells us about a little boy named James and his friendship with a snowman that he himself built and on one wintery day came to life.
2015 marks a significant birthday for one of the most celebrated playwrights off all time. Shakespeare‘s works have been adapted and performed for centuries, having inspired the likes of Hollywood to famous paintings. This year has seen various companies and venues taking part in the birthday celebrations, from the London Globe Theatre announcing a worldwide tour of Hamlet to the National Theatre of Edinburgh and London producing the James plays trilogy. The East London Shakespeare Company, founded by Jesse Ayertey bridges the gap between Shakespeare and the younger generation with their adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
Pi the Mime artist is looking for love. So much so that he travels the world and gets to know people from all over hoping for love and eventually finding it, kind of. There are two kind‘s of shows that excel in The Vaults; moody and atmospheric ones and ones jam packed with spontaneity due to the constant noise of the venue. Un Cas De Nostalgie is very much in the second camp, and some of the greatest moments in the show were spontaneous reactions to the venue.
On Being Yourself But Better is a chaotic mess of a show, making slight thematic sense but feeling no need to give the audience comfort through plot and realism. Hoot! Theatre mixes scenes from classic tv-shows, drag, music and shadow puppetry to bear in the show.
To quote Oscar Wilde, ‘Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable’. An apt quote for describing the ever perplexing yet entertaining art form of magic. We’re continually taught to believe what has been proven, to believe only in logic and statistics, however wouldn’t it be fun to just forget all of this and to just believe that the impossible can indeed be made possible?
As part of the Mimetic Festival, Smoking Apples present the lovely work in progress show In Our Hands. It tells the story of Alf, a trawler fisherman, who is facing many problems in both his work and personal life. Held in The Vaults under Waterloo station (with the light sound of the trains overhead) it is like being transported back to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the show itself could certainly be a hit Fringe production!
