One thing that I have really, really missed over the last two years is just good plain fun. This is what Viper Squad has in spades.
‘The producers know what their audience want & give it to them’: DIRTY DANCING – West End
The iconic 1980s romance is re-worked for the stage in this straightforward but energetic production. Full confession: I grew up obsessed with Dirty Dancing, and I kind of still am.
‘A chance to get inside & interact with the Whoniverse’: DOCTOR WHO: Time Fracture – Unit Headquarters ★★★★
Designing an immersive experience for an audience as obsessive as Doctor Who fans would seem almost completely impossible.
‘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.
‘A refreshing & exhilarating companion piece to Jaws’: THE SHARK IS BROKEN – West End
Theatrical spinoffs from popular movies are usually ill-conceived and redundant; a double whammy from which you’re less likely to come back than Chrissie Watkins after a swim off the beaches of Amity Island.
‘It has enough of the film’s DNA to engender the good feeling of old’: BACK TO THE FUTURE – West End
I’m a huge fan of Back to the Future. I saw it for the first time in January 1986 and maybe a hundred times since.
‘A political fairy tale but one worth reading to your kids’: BEST OF ENEMIES – Young Vic Theatre
James Graham finds an analogue for today’s culture war in 1968 USA care of Gore Vidal and William F Buckley.
‘Bringing West End glitz & glamour to regional theatres’: CHICAGO – Touring
Theatre, still recovering from economic and talent loss, following Covid-19 is understandably taking a safe approach to productions.
‘An entertaining & engaging production’: RUMBLE! – Drayton Arms Theatre
Business and boxing collide in this revival of Yasir Senna’s play by Razor Sharp Productions. Alisha Harper-Gill is on the ropes, fighting for her career.
‘A worthwhile take on a much-loved classic’: ABIGAIL’S PARTY – Park Theatre
The first thing you’ll notice when you enter the auditorium is the incredible set design which brings you right into Beverley and Laurence Moss’s decadent lounge.
‘A fast-paced cross between an immersive show & an escape room’: THE DROP – Swamp Motel ★★★★★
You gather in an unassuming office reception to start – looking much like any of the thousands of office receptions in the surrounding part of the city.
‘Perfectly captures how easy it is to slip into war’: OLD BRIDGE – Bush Theatre
A young woman listens to pop music on headphones. The people around her can’t hear it. We, the audience, can – a bit. But it’s a solitary experience; unshared. Something universal is also isolating.
‘If you haven’t yet seen it, believe the hype’: SIX THE MUSICAL – West End
I like Six because it is short, the costumes look amazing, it focuses on female talent from the six leading queens to the backing band and it has a range of songs and talent rarely seen in many musicals.
‘Unrelenting epic-ness’: BAT OUT OF HELL – Touring
Fans will no doubt revel in recognition of their favourite songs during this rock opera based upon the epic power ballads of Meatloaf and Jim Steinman.
‘The denouement is among Agatha Christie’s finest’: WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION – County Hall
Lucy Bailey’s site-specific production of Agatha Christie’s courtroom drama has returned to London County Hall, after a lengthy, if unplanned adjournment, and remains one of the most effective theatrical settings in London.
‘This is a fun, almost frothy, show’: LUCK BE A LADY – Upstairs at the Gatehouse ★★★★
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.