Viper Squad writer James Dillon’s new show Siren takes the tropes of the sci-fi horror genre (there’s a heavy debt to Alien here) and throws the audience into the middle of the action.
‘Uncannily accurate’: QUENTIN CRISP: NAKED HOPE – Stream Theatre (Online review)
The fourth and final Cultural Recovery Fund funded show from production company Seabright has been, like its predecessors, filmed at Wilton’s Music Hall before a live audience and is being streamed via stream.theatre. This is Mark Farrelly’s homage to wilful eccentricity and outré lifestyle Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope.
‘It is an experiment which OTC should consider repeating’: A COLD SUPPER BEHIND HARRODS – Original Theatre Company (Online review)
In what I think may be a first, Original Theatre Company has released a filmed-as-live, onstage rehearsed reading in the shape of A Cold Supper Behind Harrods.
‘Valuable additions to the expanded series’: QUEERS – Old Vic (Online review)
The first new piece for Queers references a moment in history while the second takes a broader more contemporary sweep of recent events but what unites them is that they present the experiences of wider elements of the LGBTQ+ community who also happen to be black; the original series was rather under representative in this area.
‘Madeleine MacMahon puts in a spellbinding performance’: A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) – Silent Uproar (Online review) ★★★★★
After the year we’ve all had with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) is sure to strike a chord with many people and it provides a voice for those experiencing mental health issues.
‘Deservedly gets a standing ovation’: BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY VOICE – Stream Theatre (Online review)
What makes Black Is The Color Of My Voice stand out from the crowd is Apphia Campbell’s performance which is multi-layered, dynamic and assured and, when she’s singing, spine-tingling.
‘Timely piece that deserves to keep having success’: A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) – Silent Uproar (Online review)
Silent Uproar’s cabaret style show A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) is a highly sensitive and nuanced performance which nails the debilitating effects of what is still a misunderstood condition.
‘A crack team of acting talent has been assembled’: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR – Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough (Online review)
The piece in question is Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door which harks back to earlier plays such as Whenever, Miss Yesterday, Surprises and especially Communicating Doors in its central conceit of time travel.
‘Chance for a wider audience is undoubtedly a good thing’: LEATHER – Finborough Theatre (Online review)
The Finborough Theatre’s latest show to hit the ether is Leather which is now available on demand. It is a play which isn’t for the faint hearted and comes trailing clouds of notoriety as one of the first plays (if not THE very first) to highlight male rape, domestic violence and sado-masochism within the gay community.
‘Tense & suitably disturbing affair’: THE MACBETHS – Citizens Theatre, Glasgow ★★★★ (Online review)
The Macbeths, the Citizens’ concentrated revision of Macbeth, supplies a charge that is so often missing in versions of the play.
‘Concentrate on the actual experience which is thoroughly enjoyable’: KNOT – Darkfield (Online review)
Simply called Knot, this is a three-part play which requires the listener to be at a specified (though general) location at a certain time, then to connect to an app and let Darkfield do the rest.
‘Concentrates on the indomitability of the human spirit’: LONE FLYER / ENG-ER-ALND – Jermyn Street Theatre (Online review)
Footprints Festival at Jermyn Street celebrates female empowerment
‘Imaginative & hugely entertaining’: The Three Musketeers… attempted by Foolhardy (Online review) ★★★★
With the news that the full reopening of theatres has been delayed until July, many of us are in need of a good laugh. Thankfully FoolHardy Productions is on hand to entertain with its latest comedy, an online production of The Three Musketeers.
‘Beautifully memorialised’: ODE TO JOYCE – Jermyn Street Theatre (Online review)
Ode To Joyce is an enjoyable 75 minute celebration of the wit and wisdom of a self-effacing performer who did much to pave the way for a later generation of women to seize the comic nettle.
‘Challenging preconceptions’: DARLING / A PASSION PLAY – Written On The Waves (Online review)
45 North’s audio play series Written On The Waves kicked off Season 2 with a trilogy Lifted a couple of weeks ago. This has swiftly been followed by a second play from one of the same writers and as it was reasonably brief I also thought I would go back to one of the pieces from Season 1 that I had yet to get round to reviewing.
‘Will give pause for thought’: THE CLOAK OF VISIBILITY – The Space (Online review)
While The Cloak Of Visibility from The Space may not particularly break any new ground thematically or stylistically it is a solid enough piece which plays well and will give pause for thought.
’It was good to see some fresh perspectives’: Am I A Terrible Person? / Doody (Online review)
Following a rather busy week there was only time yesterday to dip a toe into the waters at the Brighton Fringe (see what I did there?). Quite by chance I came across a pair of short solo plays which dealt with the same subject but did so from quite different perspectives; the subject in question being male mental health.
‘Pushing the boundaries of audio work’: LIFTED – Written on the Waves (Online review)
45 North’s second series of Written On The Waves has opened with a trio of short plays under the collective title of Lifted. They are performed by the writers themselves who are all relatively new voices.
‘A diverting enough play to enjoy late at night’: BROKEN LINK – Brighton Fringe (Online review)
Noga Flaishon’s immersively creepy piece Broken Link for Harpy Productions uses Zoom and other modern tech to generally good effect to tell what is, essentially, a good old fashioned ghost story.
‘Wildly original piece’: HINDU TIMES – Edinburgh Lyceum / Pitlochry Festival Theatre (Online review)
Hindu Times – the latest audio offering from the Lyceum and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Sound Stage – is a wildly original piece. Although cumbersome at times, it has a raucous energy that is frequently arresting.