by Laura Kressly The disaffected son of a clergyman, Sir Paul Dukes, ran away to Russia to work as a musician. While there, the Russian Revolution started and British intelligence recruited him to work as a secret agent. He was to smuggle prominent people and useful materials across the border to Finland, and otherwise do […]
‘A unique blend of spoken word, choral work & music’: QUEENS OF SHEBA – Soho Theatre
This is a triumphant return of Queens of Sheba after a successful run at Soho Theatre in 2021 and Edinburgh Fringe in 2018. Expertly directed, these ladies burst onto the stage with such energy and so many vibes it’s infectious and everyone in the audience feels it.
FEATURED SHOW: Check out what reviewers have to say about ‘Impactful & unsettling’ The Project
“A play I won’t forget.” Can you ask for more as an audience member than a play that has such an impact that the memory sticks with you. This is the effect The Project is having on reviewers. We’ve collected some of the best together – see what they say, then book your tickets!
GALLERY: Discover more about WW2 drama The Project as we go inside rehearsals
New drama The Project takes audiences inside World War II transit camp Westerbork, which held many of Europe’s most lauded cabaret artists of the time… and encouraged them to perform on a weekly basis. As it takes to the London stage , we take you inside rehearsals to see what the cast have been up to.
‘What sort of cruel political philosophy would weaponise art’: Ian Buckley tells us the extraordinary story of Westerbork transit camp that inspired The Project
During World War II, the inmates of Westerbork transit camp were permitted to stage a weekly cabaret performance… just hours after 1,000 of their friends and neighbours had left on a train destined for Auschwitz. Playwright Ian Buckley tells us about the camp that housed many of Europe’s finest performers of the time and how it inspired his latest play, The Project.
NEWS: New WW2 drama The Project premieres at the White Bear Theatre
Inspired by true events, Ian Buckley’s latest play, The Project, tells the story of an unusual World War Two transit camp where tragedy and cutting-edge entertainment meet. It receives its world premiere at the White Bear Theatre later this spring, running from 5 to 23 March 2019.
‘We should be celebrating the greatness of circus in its enduring glories’: CIRCUS 1903 – Royal Festival Hall
The inter-continental spectacle of Circus 1903 is a nostalgic dream of popular imagination, merging half-remembered histories with modern-day acts more usually seen inside a Big Top or dedicated circus building than in the theatres receiving this tour.
‘A milestone for women in the arts’: EMILIA – Shakespeare’s Globe
My hope of ever witnessing a true revolution for women in theatre began to disappear over the last year – until Emilia at Shakespeare’s Globe.
‘Punchy, highly intelligent & at times laugh out loud funny’: DEVIL WITH THE BLUE DRESS – Bunker Theatre
In his audacious new play Devil With The Blue Dress, Kevin Armento examines five women’s accounts leading up to – and resulting in – President Clinton’s impeachment in 1998.
‘We participate, without feeling invaded’: CRY BLUEBERRY – Cockpit Theatre
The story is set in 1930’s America, where Blueberry the clown has just been left by his wife. He takes us on a journey of redemption, knitting his memories with an honest reflection of his present.
‘Constantly dreamlike’: INTO THE NUMBERS – Finborough Theatre
Elizabeth Chan’s performance as Iris Chang in Into the Numbers is a convincing portrayal of mental illness but the lack of background to her story doesn’t give the gravitas this production deserves.
CIRCUS DIARIES: There’s circus for everyone
To draw a circus map of Britain today, we can no longer just look to the fields and hard-standings where tenting companies pitch, but must also peek behind the walls of theatre buildings and training spaces, and into other open spaces of festivals and street performance.
Could Hamilton become the new symbol of the Leave campaign?
This pro-immigration, hip-hop reinvention of the all-American musical about a country gaining independence from a distant, tyrannical overlord resonates rather differently in Brexit Britain than it does in America. Forget the NHS bus – could Hamilton be the new symbol of the Leave campaign?
DIAMOND – Soho Theatre
2017 marks fifty years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexual ‘behaviour’ between consenting adults in the UK, and sixty years since the Wolfenden Report recommended this as the best course of action for Parliament. A diamond anniversary, of sorts.
TIGER BAY – Cardiff ★★★★★
Tiger Bay is a prime example of ‘deeds not words’. I am a Cardiff girl myself so to be able to return to my home City and watch the most beautifully portrayed musical, about the history of my heritage was just magical.
INSIGNIFICANCE – Arcola Theatre
As we enter the Arcola main stage, we are presented with a hotel room in midtown Manhattan circa 1954. Albert Einstein sits on the bed going over some notes on his legal pad.
TRYST – Tabard Theatre
George Joseph Smith was a petty thief and con man who preyed on the most vulnerable women he could find. He would win their love, persuade them to elope, then strand them on their honeymoon after cleaning out their bank account.
WHAT SHADOWS – Park Theatre
Chris Hannah’s What Shadows, making its London debut after a critically acclaimed run at the Birmingham Repetory in 2016, looks at the ever-changing United Kingdom by focusing on Enoch Powell, a Tory MP who managed to divide and unite a country through one explosive speech in 1968.
THEBES LAND – Arcola Theatre
A playwright wants to write a play about patricide, but with an actual criminal onstage instead of an actor. Initial research leads him to a young man called Martin Santos, serving consecutive life sentences in Belmarsh for killing his father.
BOUDICA – Shakespeare’s Globe
Some time in the past, there is an island of disparate peoples happily carrying on with their lives. Each group has its own rules, traditions and customs.