Brighton Fringe hit The Geminus has sailed the high seas from the south coast to London for the Camden Fringe, and they have the wind in their sales with some fantastic reviews. Take a look at what’s been said, and at the new production images from its London run, then book your tickets!
News, Reviews and Features
These are all of our in-house news and features as well as syndicated article excerpts from our 45+ theatre bloggers. You can also access All Our Mates' Posts in comprehensive list form and view individual author pages.
A Roundabout rundown: Six Paines Plough shows at Edfringe
The Paines Plough Roundabout is the most reliable, new writing venues at the fringe. With a collection of work that represents the width and breadth of the UK both geographically and thematically, this year’s offerings are universally strong.
WATCH: Playwright Mark Starling and actor Mateo Oxley discuss bringing new play about a gay footballer, Target Man, to the King’s Head
‘It’s a very hyper-masculine world and the conversation isn’t being had by a lot of clubs.’ How would an openly gay footballer cope in the Premier League? Mark Starling explores the idea in his new play Target Man. Starling, and star Mateo Oxley, discussed the drama with London Live. Check out the interview then book your tickets!
‘If you like the film, you will most likely enjoy the stage show’: SCHOOL OF ROCK – West End ★★★★
For anyone unfamiliar with the show, it is based on the 2003 film starring Jack Black as a wannabe rock-star who masquerades as a private school teacher and ends up taking his class to Battle of the Bands. If you like the film, you will most likely enjoy the stage show. On the flip side, don’t go in expecting big surprises.
‘Clowns have a bad rep!’ Carly Jurman tells us about bringing her one-woman comic tale Unlovable to Camden Fringe
Why was clowning the perfect medium for the tale of almost-30 American girl desperately trying to find love? Performer Carly Jurman explains all about innocence, performing solo, Steven King and her Camden Fringe show Unlovable in our interview. Have a read then book your tickets!
‘Every moment is memorable & engaging’: A GAME OF DEATH & CHANCE – Edinburgh Fringe ★★★★
In A Game of Death and Chance, the National Trust for Scotland’s first ever Fringe show, four characters from the 17th century – and death himself – have occupied an old Edinburgh tenement to tell stories of Scotland’s past.
FEATURED SHOW: Reviews are in for ‘highly watchable’ European premiere of Actually
Yasmin Paige and Simon Manyonda exude “chemistry” in the “highly watchable” and the zeitgeisty European premiere of Anna Zeigler’s Actually, which is now running at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios until 31 August 2019. We’ve rounded up review highlights below – time to get booking!
‘Another example of a woman’s story repurposed by a man’: CHERIE – MY STRUGGLE – Edinburgh Fringe
Cherie Blair, as played by Mary Ryder, shares her memoir with the audience, recounting her time from childhood right through until the end of Tony’s time as PM in 2007.
‘Gives a voice to those who need it most’: WHO CARES – Edinburgh Fringe
A fierce indictment of cuts and callous indifference, Who Cares? comes straight from the mouths of young carers in Salford.
‘Minimalist & thoughtful’: EQUUS – West End ★★★★
Ned Bennett’s minimalist and thoughtful production of Equus is by turns thrilling and dull, sensationally staging the sexual and violent aspects of the story while confining the psychiatrist’s self-doubting soliloquy within drapes of blank white sheeting.
NEWS: Patricia Hodge joins the cast of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Olivier Award winner and Miranda star Patricia Hodge will join the cast of Peter Nichols’ A Day in the Death of Joe Egg opposite Toby Stephens and Claire Skinner, running at London’s Trafalgar Studios from 21 September to 30 November 2019.
‘A masterclass of contemporary political theatre’: EVITA – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre ★★★★★
In a production that is as much rally as world class musical, Jamie Lloyd transforms Evita into a commentary on recent times as well as a showcase of some of the finest performing talent to be found on both sides of the pond.
‘Tense & gripping’: ACTUALLY – West End ★★★★
Actually is a complex play that explores more than consent, it raises questions about attitudes towards sex and relationships, race, religion, upbringing and family.
Do we really need quotas to achieve casting inclusivity?
The point – and it’s a major one – is that the actor, irrespective of all other considerations, must be the best possible interpreter of the role for the work in question.
FIRST LOOK: Get a glimpse of the trumpets and tension in Two’s Company’s revival of Go Bang Your Tambourine
From tuneful trumpet practice to to rather more violent domestic exchanges, check out these fantastic production images to get a taste for the new revival of Philip King’s 1970s drama Go Bang Your Tambourine at Finborough Theatre. Time to book your tickets.
WATCH: Take a trip to an East End wonderland with the trailer for Alice in Canning Town
As Alice in Canning Town brings its East End reinvention of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Newham playground, Arc in the Park, get a flavour for the show with this new trailer. And book your tickets!
‘You’re fully caught up with the rise & rise of Eva’: EVITA – Open Air Theatre ★★★★
At last, someone has laid the sugary ghost of Elaine Paige. Jamie Lloyd’s stripped-back Evita at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park has all the metallic modernity of their Jesus Christ Superstar.
‘It knows what its audience wants’: VET. DETECTIVE. – Bristol ★★★★
It may not be the company hitting their absolute heights, but it knows what its audience wants having been versed over the past few years and plays all the hits. Like your favourite festival and a week by the pool, I’d expect it to become a summer institution.
NEWS: Emma Rice’s adaptation of Wise Children hits 250 cinema screens from 3 Oct
More2Screen has announced the cinema release of the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Angela Carter’s Wise Children, which will be screened in more than 250 cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Thursday 3 October 2019. Cinema tickets are on sale now at WiseChildrenCinema.com.
‘Thoughtful arguments grounded in a recognisable reality’: ACTUALLY – West End
Actually has its issues as a drama and the heavily discursive competing narratives approach limits how the play is staged that can feel repetitive at times, but Ziegler has created a scenario and two complicated people who feel credibly drawn.