Thriller Live began life as a celebration of Michael Jackson‘s music back in the early nineties and has morphed into the twentieth longest running musical in the West End‘s history. Now celebrating its sixth birthday at the Lyric Theatre, it remains a thrilling (sorry, couldn‘t resist) celebration of the King of Pop‘s body of work. It is now entering that magical time where it could keep going on-and-on for a long long time.
Unless you practice medicine, watch informative programmes on the processes and networks of the human anatomy or have an impressive knowledge of the Oxford Dictionary, I doubt that many of us sit back and think of the natural and astonishing processes that the human body goes through, let alone labelling each individual system. The production, Plexus, draws from its meaning: a network of nerves and vessels in the body and an intricate network or web like formation, stopping the audience in their tracks with this forward thinking piece of genius.
As the largest Theatre Festival in England prepares for a month full of showcasing new voices, diverse theatre and discussions, The Brighton Fringe Festival 2015 is set to once again liven up one of the UK’s most popular coastal settings. The idyllic seaside town will become the UK’s theatrical capital for the duration of May, with thousands of performances taking place in over 100 venues. The festival prides itself on showcasing a diverse range of art forms and is therefore the place to be if you fancy watching challenging and unconventional pieces of theatre and performance.
What better way to shrug off the wintry blues than by escaping for 2 hours in one of London’s best loved theatres? For 2 nights only, the Peacock Theatre (Sadler’s Wells) will play host to CPAA Theatre‘s production of The Legend of the Sun. Rooted in Chinese folklore, The Legend of the Sun maps out a land devoid of any sunlight. Cue a perilous tale of adventure, discovery and vivacity as a young mother steps up to the challenge to seek out the enigmatic sun.
In Theatre Ad Infinitum’s production Light they explore the increasingly discussed and frightening idea of utter society control and surveillance. Inspired by Edward Snowden’s revelations that secret services violate our privacy for the greater good, George Mann felt urgent to create this play where control is also initially exerted to increase security with the dream of making the world a better place.
As part of the London International Mime Festival, Thomas Monckton performs his clown and circus solo piece The Pianist. Every show in this annual festival tends to provide fresh perspectives of what theatre can be and for that same reason is worth taking a look to at least one of the many interesting things being created across the world.
Russia, Brazil, China… India. Four monstrously large nations that have been touted as emerging powerhouses for about two decades. India is growing and growing, but not as fast as its neighbour to the North. There is wild growth in some places, and old abject poverty in others. Behind the Beautiful Forevers is based on the book by Katherine Boo, who spent three years in the Mumbai slums her book is set in.
Contact.com, the latest play by Michael Kingsbury is playing at the Park Theatre. The play follows two couples, who met online, sharing one night together. The twist being they are from (as we are constantly reminded) different economic backgrounds.
Theatre503 is the most important fringe theatre for new writing in the country. In one year alone they receive 1,500 unsolicited scripts for submission (they have an open submission policy, all year round). They put on the standard London fringe month-long performance runs – but have an interesting program of small “one-off” events. To go and see something with more of a workshop feel, with more of a “this is being created right now” aesthetic is a joy, and one so well curated by Karis Halsall over three nights in January. 503Fusions at Theatre 503 was a 70 minute long piece with four parts to it, all written by different groups of multi-talented people.
Ever wondered where the term, the ‘Green Eyed Monster’ originated from? Well it’s argued that Shakespeare coined the phrase in one of his greatest tragedies, Othello. A term associated with a strong feeling of jealousy, the phrase perfectly summarises the disastrous rise and fall of a once respected figure within society who finds himself torn between a web of lies spun by his ‘trustworthy’ best friend and the love of his life, whom he fears has committed an act of infidelity.
