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‘Full of atmosphere, foreboding and storytelling’: WICKIES – Park Theatre

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It’s misty and cold in the Park Theatre’s main auditorium. An oppressive half-light frames the stage where the tale of the lost lighthouse keepers (the ‘wickies’) of Eilean Mor will soon unfold. Based on a real mystery from 1900, Paul Morrissey’s play Wickies is full of atmosphere, foreboding and storytelling.

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‘Moves along at a cracking pace’: MOTHER GOOSE – Hackney Empire

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Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire moves along at a cracking pace. Even with a short salute to the 120 years of the Hackney(wood) Empire, Mother Goose is one of the best options available this year, with fabulous costumes, a sparkling script with room for a bit of improv, and some amusing bits of slapstick.

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‘Continues to sparkle’: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW – Touring ★★★★★

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The Rocky Horror Show started as a tiny fringe production upstairs at the Royal Court, nearly 50 years ago. Over time it has grown and developed, but still retains the connection with fans with the constant breaking of the fourth wall, and encouraged callbacks (example: when Janet is first mentioned, you shout “Slut!”).

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‘Each generation will find resonance in this play’: A SINGLE MAN – Park Theatre

In Features, Musicals, Opinion, Other Recent Articles, Plays, Reviews by Louise PennLeave a Comment

A day in the life of George, an Englishman living in America, in his fifties – a man alone following the death of his younger partner, Jim. A man of routine habits, but this is no routine day. Actor Theo Fraser Steele (who gives a finely judged performance), adapter Simon Reade and director Philip Wilson give us a glimpse into the world of Christopher Isherwood’s novel in A Single Man.

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‘Clever & committed show’: The Last Sales Conference of the Apocalypse – Waterloo East Theatre

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There’s a new musical from Skitzoid Productions in town at the Waterloo East Theatre, and it is one with a message – or to be accurate, several messages. We are all present at a sales conference where techies Sam and Stats have hacked into a top secret military system, and in a moment of distracted romance with the delivery boy, Sam accidentally sets off a nuclear launch with his bottom.

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‘There is a good play somewhere in here’: THE SNAIL HOUSE – Hampstead Theatre

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The set (by Tim Hatley) is absolutely beautiful in the much anticipated, new original play The Snail House from celebrated theatre director Richard Eyre, giving a sense of occasion and opulence. Portraits look on in the private school room, wooden surfaces hold the marks of a long history.

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‘Dialogue whizzes back & forth like leather on willow’: STUMPED – Original Theatre (Online show)

In Online shows, Opinion, Other Recent Articles, Plays, Reviews by Louise PennLeave a Comment

When in 1964 Samuel Beckett (Stephen Tompkinson) and Harold Pinter (Andrew Lancel) play in the same cricket match in the Cotswolds, you might expect something out of the ordinary. Filmed live at Lord’s, the ‘home of cricket’, Original Theatre’s Stumped imagines what might have happened in such a meeting between two playwrights known for pauses and a sense of the absurd.

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‘There’s a fabulous new musical in town’: REHAB THE MUSICAL – Playground Theatre ★★★★

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There’s a fabulous new musical in town at the Playground Theatre. Several years in the making, Rehab The Musical is written and composed by Grant Black (whose dad Don was in the house on press night – himself no slouch when it comes to crafting musicals) and performance poet Murray Lachlan Young.