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‘It’s definitely entertaining’: NIGEL SLATER’S TOAST – The Other Palace ★★★★

In London theatre, Opinion, Plays, Reviews by Johnny FoxLeave a Comment

“You put the grill on high, and the bread under it. Turn it over half-way through. And then you take it out and scrape it.” That extract from my eight-year-old school essay could just as easily have come from the book and script of Toast, a delightful and fond depiction of food writer Nigel Slater’s formative years.

AS IS – West End

In London theatre, Plays, Reviews by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

As one sits in the Trafalgar Studios waiting for Andrew Keates’ production of As Is to begin, there is an awareness of a gentle backdrop of conversation that eventually distils into individuals speaking of when they learned of their AIDS diagnosis. Gradually it builds, with statistics about the numbers of people dying or infected beginning to get louder. Perhaps the most uncomfortable soundbites are the (1981) news stories declaiming in loud American voices the menace of “The Gay Plague” along with vox pop interviews of members of the public saying how “they only have themselves to blame”.

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AS IS – West End

In London theatre, Plays, Reviews by Caroline Hanks-FarmerLeave a Comment

Sometimes as a reviewer, you sit in a theatre space and you just feel this is going to be an incredibly important piece of theatre. As Is is one of those such occurrences. Written by William M. Hoffman and directed by Andrew Keates, this is billed as “the first AIDS play”.

NEWS: AIDS education play As Is transfers to West End’s Trafalgar Studios

In London theatre, News, Opinion, Plays by Matt MerrittLeave a Comment

If you’ve ever taken time to listen to director Andrew Keates talking about being diagnosed as HIV positive, if you’ve read his tweets or impassioned blog posts or in any way been influenced by his fantastic and inspiring positivity then you’ll know that his story started with this play. Now he’s bringing it to the Trafalgar Studios in an all-new production to highlight a subject that is still seen to be taboo by too many people.