SURFACING

From neurodiverse production company ASYLUM, comes SURFACING: a new play that combines theatre and technology to present the reality of mental health crises, but in a different light. It follows therapist Luc, as an appointment with potential new “service user” Owen doesn’t go according to plan; overwhelmed by feelings of guilt at letting him down, she […]

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria: Part The First

“By March 2020, here’s hoping every Boris is history.” I’ll be honest, if I didn’t already know of Out of the Forest Theatre’s work, that line on their VAULT Festival page would have been enough to make me want to see their new show – not least the accompanying hashtag #MakeBorisHistory. But having seen and […]

Bin Juice

What’s the strangest job interview you’ve ever had? I bet it doesn’t come close to Belinda’s. Shouted at and belittled from the moment she enters the door, it seems she’s made an instant enemy in interviewer Francine – Marla, on the other hand, is a little more laidback about everything. And so begins Cat Kolubayev’s […]

V&V

Meet Virginia Woolf & Vita Sackville-West, and Mia & Lottie. Two couples who underpin their relationships with written communication; taking place around a century apart, Woolf and Sackville-West are reliant on letters, whereas Mia and Lottie make do with various forms of instant messaging following their pairing on a dating app. These two love stories, […]

Who Cares

A pub closing down may not be the end of the world for most people (after all, even the smallest rural village can house several of them), but for someone like Jamie it’s not as simple as that. Forced into a move up north from London when the lift packed up in his council estate, […]

Something Awful

No, I haven’t replaced a play’s title with a dismissive assessment of its contents… Something Awful is the new piece from writer/director team Tatty Hennessy and Lucy Jane Atkinson, which is inspired by the true crime story of the ‘Slenderman’ and takes its name from the forum on which the story first surfaced. Produced by […]

Worst shows 2019

Despite how it seemed at times, my year has actually been top quality in theatre terms. I nominate my likes and dislikes as I go through the year, and this time round only ten made it onto my ‘long’ list for worst show (compared with well over 50 for best show) – so it was […]

Red Palace

The latest in an increasingly long line of theatrical dining experiences is Shotgun Carousel’s Red Palace. Just opened at The Vaults, it sees Scripts For Supper AD and MasterChef runner up Annie McKenzie providing a lavish four-course feast as a precursor to Cressida Peever’s twisted fairytale. The plot itself draws on classic fairy stories from the […]

Never Mind The Blog… Here’s Autumn/Winter 2019

The slightest of delays in getting this one out – but if you were dealing with unco-operative internet, a laptop whose keyboard still won’t work, and a manic month at work to prepare for, you’d be in the same boat. News Tower Theatre in Stoke Newington is celebrating its first anniversary, and will be […]

#MindTheMusicals 2019: round-up

What a week that was! For some people, musicals are simply jazz hands and tap shoes – whilst I do love both of those things (mostly the latter, let’s be honest), we’ve come a long way since the early days of this particular medium. All genres of music are embraced in the making of a […]