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.
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.
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.
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.
Discord and disconnect run deep in the veins of Boundless Theatre’s comprehensive and sharp Natives at the Southwark Playhouse. Director Rob Drummer stages the piece wonderfully on a traverse stage that comes alive with Cate Blanchard’s humorous and often chilling video projections.
Certain events within recent British history have really helped to shape our understanding of just how much race can effect daily interactions. We only have to look back to the Brixton Riots in 1981 a response to tension between the Metropolitan Police and the Black community and the more recent London riots of 2011 sparked by the death of Mark Duggan to grasp just how detrimental an issue racial profiling is. Drawing from his own experiences with the Police, Urbain Wolf‘s Custody depicts the pieces in which a family have to place back together following the loss of their son/brother/boyfriend; a young black male who suspiciously loses his life whilst imprisoned in a police cell.
Tez Ilyas wants to make you laugh, and the audience does, for the most part. His walk on song is Ni**as in Paris, you know the one? He recounts an awkward exchange with a DJ, trying to explain the song without saying the name…you know the really famous one with Jay Z and Kanye? He continues by making a quick jibe at Philip Hammond being out of his depth, yes quite. Then slips into a dance routine to the famous bhangra tune (you know the one), claiming the sequence was to show off his dance moves. Ilyas enjoys audience participation and these continue through the evening. The audience seem to enjoy it too; yet these interactions are as customary as you would expect them to be.