Tom Ratcliffe’s compelling play Evelyn at Southwark Playhouse challenges our thoughts and opinions to great effect, while also offering a raw emotional experience.
’It’s the first-rate performances that really bring this show to life’: LIFT – Southwark Playhouse ★★★
Overall, Lift is a well-paced show which lacks real depth and cohesion but is carried exceptionally well by the eight person cast. As a cult favourite, it’s worth catching just for the powerhouse voices and strong visuals.
‘The storytelling is undeniably compelling’: Five Characters In Search Of A Good Night’s Sleep – Southwark Playhouse ★★★
Five Characters In Search Of A Good Night’s Sleep tells you pretty much what you’re going to get as a quintet of older people mull over their lives while courting elusive sleep in a series of monologues ranging from the mundane to the deeply moving.
‘Everything is heightened’: ANYONE CAN WHISTLE – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
Even a minor Sondheim has something to recommend it, and ticking this one off leaves just two of his shows left for me to see live.
My knowledge of Anyone Can Whistle was confined to the three numbers included in the Side by Side revue, so clearly …
‘Sondheim’s songs are the saving grace of this rather purposeless musical’: ANYONE CAN WHISTLE – Southwark Playhouse
One of Sondheim’s earliest works Anyone Can Whistle has just opened at Southwark Playhouse. Notoriously a flop back in 1964, many have tried but few have succeeded in reviving its fortunes.
‘One of the strangest & least performed musicals in the Sondheim canon’: ANYONE CAN WHISTLE – Southwark Playhouse
This wacky tale of faked miracles, town economics, mental health and social segregation is a puzzling one, combining some really great Stephen Sondheim songs and some strong female characters with a cartoonish plot.
‘A reminder of how essential it is to see diverse & authentic stories told on stage’: MOHAND & PETER – Southwark Playhouse
Mohand and Peter are good friends with a lot in common. For one thing, they’re both actors pursuing their profession far from home.
‘Stylised dialogue, questionable gender politics & a too literal setting’: THE WOODS -Southwark Playhouse
The Woods feels decidedly old-fashioned in style and structure, using its characters as ciphers for David Mamet’s abstract conclusions about relationships between men and women.
‘An absolute must-see for anyone over the age of 13’: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★★
Can you imagine how difficult it must be for parents to lose a daughter at the age of 17? It must be absolutely heartbreaking. But what about her little sister?
‘A powerful reminder about how important it is to feel seen & heard’: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON – Southwark Playhouse
The teenage years are the hardest to navigate. Everything’s changing. You don’t know what you’re doing and everyone around you is a walking cocktail of hormones.
VIDEO: Remember how hard it was being 13? Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon post-show Q&A
Rosie Day’s wonderful rollercoaster ride of a debut play Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, which she also performs, ends with the by-then 16-year-old protagonist writing a letter of advice to her younger self (and younger stepsister).
‘Incredibly engaging throughout’: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
At 75 minutes long, it’s quite impressive how much Rosie Day is able to fit into this painful coming-of-age story – it really is an intense rollercoaster.
‘Rosie Day is a compelling storyteller & narrator’: INSTRUCTIONS FOR A TEENAGE ARMAGEDDON – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
Rosie Day’s play highlights not only the confusion and pain of growing up but also the struggle of dealing with grief as a young person in a tight and engaging way.
New post-show Q&A: Join Terri Paddock for Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon
As part of her resumed post-show talk series, Mates founder Terri Paddock will chair a discussion at Instruction for a Teenage Armageddon at London’s Southwark Playhouse on Tuesday 15 February 2022. Time to get booking!
NEWS: Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, written & performed by Rosie Day, transfers to Southwark Playhouse
Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, the acclaimed one-person show written and performed by BAFTA winner Rosie Day, transfers to London’s Southwark Playhouse for a strictly limited season from 9 February to 5 March 2022. Time to get booking!
‘Warm, funny & unforgettable’: OPERATION MINCEMEAT – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★★
SpitLip’s comedy musical about one of the most insane World War II operations is a triumph.
‘It charmingly epitomises the Jazz Age’: GATSBY THE MUSICAL – Southwark Playhouse ★★★
F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was first published nearly 100 years ago yet it still continues to inspire modern adaptations and interpretations.
‘Commendably, it never descends into cliché’: STRAIGHT WHITE MEN – Southwark Playhouse ★★★
A long-standing darling of the avant-garde downtown Off-Broadway theatre scene where she has her own company, Young Jean Lee is known for creating plays that are punchy, free-form and adventurous.
FEATURED SHOW: New musical Indecent Proposal is ‘indecently entertaining!’ ★★★★ reviews are in!
Indecent Proposal, Jack Engelhard’s bestselling 1988 novel which also became a blockbuster Hollywood film, has now been made into an “indecently entertaining” new British musical at London’s Southwark Playhouse. We’ve rounded up review highlights.
‘Really a rather marvelous surprise’: INDECENT PROPOSAL – Southwark Playhouse ★★★★
Unlike the critically mauled Broadway tuner Pretty Woman, Michael Conley and Dylan Schlosberg’s tangy and surprising chamber musical is only “inspired” by, as opposed to slavishly following, its source material.