Author: The Reviews Hub - London

Writer: Alexis Gregory Director: Rikki Beadle-Blair Following multiple highly-successful productions, Riot Act has now been adapted for online streaming and can be viewed throughout February as part of LGBTQ+ History Month. The piece, created and performed by Alexis Gregory, is constructed verbatim from interviews with three influential figures from the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Gregory has curated an absolute treasure trove of queer history in Riot Act. It has been said, albeit cruelly, that the suffering of one person is a tragedy, while the suffering of many becomes a statistic – because people respond more to personalisation and specifics. The level…

Choreographer: Pina Bausch Pina Bausch’s Kontakthof is a seminal performance piece that needs to be seen. Whether it needs to be seen for three solid hours is possibly worth debating: it is certainly a feat of endurance for the audience, with some question as to the value of the experience. The phenomenon of semantic satiation, when a word is repeated so often it is drained of meaning, is a key concept for Pina Bausch. Gestures are repeated and repeated, until their original significance – erotic, violent, tender, dismissive – becomes a shadowy memory. Dancers stand up and fall down time…

Writer: Sarah Hanly Director: Alice Fitzgerald In “a world based on balls-only constructs”, how difficult is it for women to shape their identity freely and honestly? Sarah Hanly argues extremely. Her darkly comic one-woman play follows Irish teenager Saoirse, as she attempts to simultaneously flee and confront the repression that plagues her culture. Hanly’s writing is scandalous. She explores dark themes with brazen humour. Everything from anal beads and scissoring, to eating disorders, homophobia and grief are explored; each with the same endearing frankness. The multi-layered humour wittily mocks conservatism as well as exposes how we use humour as a…

Writer: Tiwai Muza and Joseph Ward Director: Joseph Ward For a play about rave, Disc Jockey is certainly short on euphoria. Instead, Tiwai Muza and Joseph Ward’s play is all about the comedown. It’s a shame that we don’t see the enough of the highs as this would make the lows more painful. However, strong storytelling ensures that this play about drug addiction doesn’t disappoint. We meet DJ on the cusp of fame. One of his tracks has been picked up by a hotshot music producer. Super clubs like Fabric beckon. But these happy times are already darkened with foreboding.…

Writer: Ivantiy Novak The shameful story of the British massacre of peaceful Indian protesters at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar in 1919 is one that deserves to be retold. Fearing a mutiny as a result of growing civil unrest, Anglo-Indian Brigadier-General Dyer instigated marshal law. When an estimated 20,000 protesters gathered in the garden of Jallianwala Bagh, Dyer’s troops followed his orders to block the only exit of the garden and, without warning, open fire on them. Samaadhi, a piece created and performed by Ivantiy Novak and Mohit Mathur, is a work in progress. The pair have ambitious ideas, aiming to use…

Director: Tommo Fowler Writers: Einat Weizman and Issa Amro An unflinching look at hidden injustice, documentary play How to Make a Revolution is part of the Finborough Theatre’s new digital initiative, Finborough Frontier. The play examines a year in the life of Palestinian political activist, Issa Amro. Filmed at Finborough and on location, Amro introduces us to contemporary Palestine, where protests against Israeli occupation are met with arrest and a day in Military Court. The average trial lasts 10 minutes. Starting with a bare stage, Amro appears as himself, alongside a fictionalised version played by Ramzi DeHani. He stage directs,…

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Sean Holmes Can you improve on the greatest play ever written? Sean Holmes thinks we must as his new production of Hamlet opens at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, the first time the play has been performed in this space. Forget all that existential musing on life and death, the inability to avenge, and the nature of grief, what Hamlet really needs is to lighten up and in George Fouracres’ central performance every great speech is played for laughs, even his death. Prince Hamlet is in mourning for his father but when his spirit comes to visit…

Producers: Interactive Theatre International Normally when you go out for dinner the last thing you want is bad service and a pet rat running around the kitchen, but at Faulty Towers The Dining Experience it’s all part of giving you a hilariously fun evening with Basil, Sybil and Manuel – unofficially paying homage to the 1970s classic British comedy, Fawlty Towers. Guests begin their night in the hotel bar waiting to be seated in the restaurant by grumpy hotel owner Basil (Rob Langston) using his wife Sybil’s (Karina Garnett) carefully curated seating plan. Keeping everyone entertained is waiter, Manuel (Ben…