In this one-woman show, writer and performer Beth Burrows fascinates her audience even as she exposes some of the flaws of her famous male subjects: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.
‘There is a real understanding of that teenage desire to be someone else’: LATELY – London & Coventry ★★★★
God, teenagers. Don’t you just want to shake them sometimes? Scream at them that their lives are a marathon, not a sprint.
‘Just as Shakespeare would have intended’: THE SCOTTISH PLAY – Bard in a Yard
The intimate and interactive nature of the setting meant that we, the audience, were completely immersed in the performance of The Scottish Play.
‘Celebrating your unashamed uniqueness’: ALYSSA : MEMOIRS OF A QUEEN – Vaudeville Theatre
In Alyssa: Memoirs of a Queen, primped, preened and double vaxxed, Alyssa not so much dominates the stage as blows it up entirely.
‘One of the most stunning performances I have seen onstage’: CRUISE – Duchess Theatre
Jack Holden’s Cruise is a timely look at LGBT history, for fans of Russell T Davies’ It’s a Sin it touches on similar themes of 80s London in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is a celebration of the culture, the music, the sex and people who were loved and lost.
‘When the tricks start they are top quality’: THE SECRET CONNECTION (Online review)
With no audience to see for themselves, how do you believe in the magic? I was intrigued then to find out more about The Secret Connection who recently started doing online magic shows.
‘Its message could not be more needed’: TESTAMENT – Via Brooklyn (Online review) ★★★★★
Testament places some of the Bible’s most interesting bit part players in a modern setting and gives them centre stage.
‘Elevated from merely funny to something more profound’: NEXT THING YOU KNOW – Garden Theatre
It’s fitting that Next Thing You Know revolves around four young people searching for moments that are rare and precious in a life that is achingly normal.
‘Offers an uplifting night out in a new setting’: PIPPIN – Garden Theatre ★★★★
The big question is whether the big sound of Pippin translates to an outdoor space on the edge of the Vauxhall one way system. The answer is a resounding yes.
‘The young cast is packed with talent’: SQUAD GOALS – Dagenham & Redbridge FC ★★★★
It is in the second half of Squad Goals where the play comes to life and comes into its own. The football tournament is depicted through two long, dance sequences that burst with a ferocious, kinetic energy that absolutely fills the stadium.
’An emotional ride to say the least’: MOMENT OF GRACE – Backstory Ensemble – The Actors Centre (Online review)
One amazing thing that has come out of Covid-19 theatre is more filmed theatre. My latest theatre experience from the comfort of my own couch was Moment of Grace by Bren Gosling, presented by Backstory Ensemble.
‘Poignant, hilarious, smart & wishful’: THE HOUSE THAT SLIPPED – Teatro Vivo (Online review)
Now if you think that The House That Slipped is simply a well-meaning, worthy play, you would be wrong. The script, direction and the way Zoom is an essential part of the story, make it witty and intelligent.
‘Hearing others cheering, clapping & laughing transports you into a new realm’: TWELFTH NIGHT – The Maltings Theatre (Online review)
Shakespeare. Theatre. Press Nights. These are all concepts we are familiar with, but in this unprecedented time of COVID-19 lockdown, for a moment we were unsure how theatre would survive.
‘This was the best time I’ve had on a Zoom call’: JURY DUTY – Exit Productions ★★★★ (Online review)
In this world turned upside down, emergency legislation has been rushed through to do away with barristers. Now the accused in court have only you.
For many cash-strapped theatres, Covid has just accelerated things to come
We need to use this time wisely. As audience members, what do we want to see; as creatives, what can be made. If the expectations don’t match, then audiences won’t be back.
‘Technology can bring us together but also tear us apart’: THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE – A Zoom play (Online review)
This play, written especially for Zoom by John Knowles, looks at a group of people trying to make a seance work when they can’t hold hands.
‘Guaranteed to occupy your thoughts long after the stage lights dim’: PEACE IN OUR TIME – Union Theatre
A fascinating historical curio, Sasha Regan’s production Peace In Our Time is also a fine piece of speculative drama, imbued with Coward’s gift for eloquence and waspishness.
‘The cast is really very good at being really rather bad’: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING… EARNEST? – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★
In a world where – if the virus won’t kill us, Donald Trump will – we really, really need good, well delivered, confident silliness and The Importance of Being Earnest delivers.
‘A snapshot of a past that recently bled into the present’: NOT QUITE JERUSALEM – Finborough Theatre
What makes Not Quite Jerusalem such a vivid and enjoyable play, is the nuanced and recognisable characters – backed here by exemplary performances from a talented cast.
’Interesting triptych of plays’: Nuclear War / Buried / Graceland – Old Red Lion Theatre
The Old Red Lion’s put together an interesting triptych of plays that, if you’re short for time, allow you to experience the gamut of human experience.