Calling their collection Grimm Tales For Fragile Times And Broken People, Creation have woven together five of the Grimm brothers’ stories which have resonances with the current lockdown situation and the issues of confinement and mental health.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Typical at Soho Theatre On Demand
Having first performed in 2019 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to Soho Theatre for a sell-out run, Ryan Calais Cameron’s play Typical has now been released digitally for a limited time. We round up the reviews…
‘Creatively it is a show that is firing on all cylinders’: THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE – Southwark Playhouse (Online review)
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice brushes up well as a classy and confident new British musical.
‘Has a contemporary resonance’: MYTH (Online review)
Ancient Myth clashes with modern Myth in a powerful rock musical about fame and mental health.
’An innovative take on the now commonplace online concert’: THE SECRET SOCIETY OF LEADING LADIES – Barn Theatre (Online review)
The Secret Society of Leading Ladies is the brainchild of Ryan Carter and puts the viewer in control of a concert which sees five selected leading ladies brought together (digitally) under mysterious circumstances.
‘A different, special atmosphere’: Grimm Tales for Fragile Times & Broken People – Creation Theatre (Online review)
Fresh from winning an ONCOMM Award for their inventive reinvention of Wonderland in Alice – A Virtual Theme Park, Creation Theatre is continuing its exploration of the digital auditorium with their newest production Grimm Tales for Fragile Times and Broken People.
‘Every element has been slickly put together’: Sherlock Holmes An Online Adventure – The Case of the Hung Parliament (Online review) ★★★★★
This new experience from the team behind Alice’s Adventures Underground, Sherlock Holmes An Online Adventure – The Case of the Hung Parliament really gets audience’s brains working in this clever and innovative production.
Seems to have hit the appropriate moment’: TROILUS & CRESSIDA – RSC (Online review)
The RSC’s stirring production of the not often seen Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida with canny casting and a thrilling percussive score.
Let’s avoid start-stop misery on the road to theatres’ recovery
On Monday Boris Johnson announced his (apparently irreversible) plans to take us out of lockdown forever. He even provided a detailed timetable of dates when each stage should be implemented.
‘Your chance to boogie in the stars’: HOTLINE – Tron Theatre (Online review)
A new audio experience from Tron Theatre and Produced Moon, Hotline is an interactive piece over the telephone, concerning a call to the Moon.
‘Demands not only attention but change in attitude’: SHAKEN – The Actors Centre (Online review) ★★★★
Thirty-minute piece Shaken from The Actors Centre effectively explores the aftermath of a disaster and whether lessons can be learnt to prevent it from happening again.
‘There’s a real joy in hearing the 100% live vocals’: WEST END MUSICAL DRIVE-IN – Stream.Theatre (Online review)
This capture of last summer’s West End Musical Drive In delivers much of the thrill of live performance, with Shan Ako and Layton Williams in particularly fine form.
‘Each performance is well worth seeing’: SECRET SOCIETY OF LEADING LADIES – Barn Theatre (Online review)
The Secret Society of Leading Ladies is the latest initiative from the Barn Theatre and it gives you, the viewer, the power to create your own concert.
‘The writing is nuanced & structured’: HYMN – Almeida Theatre (Online review)
In an empty Almeida Theatre, two heavyweight actors – Adrian Lester and Danny Sapani – bring serious male energy to Lolita Chakrabati’s new play Hymn.
Coming out of lockdown: Is it better to wait than to rush to open theatres & risk everything?
Setting a timetable requires Johnson to be a clairvoyant, predicting the future way of a virus that, to be honest, is only really getting started. Yes, vaccines are being done fast (I got my first dose on Saturday), but lifting the lid on Pandora’s box too quickly — by setting a timetable for reopening — won’t benefit anyone’s mental health, if it simply exacerbates the virus and leads to the necessity to shut down again.
‘Simply unmissable’: THE COLOR PURPLE – Curve Leicester (Online review)
I have loved both book and film of The Color Purple for as long as I can remember. Alice Walker’s novel of strong black females in an America which sees them as not just second-class citizens, but non-entities, is a seminal text in both feminist and LGBTQIA+ literature.
‘Right up to standard & terrific fun’: Sherlock In Homes 2: Murder On Ice (Online review)
If you’re a whodunnit devotee and you like plenty of (frozen) red herring then you’ll love Sherlock In Homes 2: Murder On Ice.
‘The audience feels as though it is time-hopping with ease & style’: RECOGNITION – Written on the Waves (Online review) ★★★★★
Recognition is a powerful and fascinating audio drama that I can really see working well as a two hander on stage – definite potential to be explored further and adapted into a live show.
‘You can still savour the atmosphere’: WEST END MUSICAL DRIVE-IN – Stream.Theatre (Online review)
Featuring some amazing song choices and outstanding vocals, the live-stream of West End Musical Drive-In is just what we need right now to lift our spirits
‘Few theatrical terrains are as hotly contested as this one’: Mark Shenton picks his favourite Broadway leading ladies
My weekly ShenTens podcast, in which I count down my top ten favourites in a particular category, is inevitably subjective — but few theatrical terrains are as hotly contested as this one: whom I consider to be my favourite Broadway leading ladies.