A ludicrous clown-fuelled parade with side notes of this classic, formerly-sombre tale. Stepdads, led by the whimsical wunderkind duo of Luke Rollason and Tom Penn, tackle Les Mis for their latest adaptation. Taking on a complicated storyline with wanton abandon, these clowns make light work of finding revelry. Penn stars in the titular role of Jean Valjean, with Luke Rollason in the classic post of ‘man who just wants to sit down with a Tesco meal deal in peace’. If only Valjean would stop stealing his bread. With the cast from the West End braced to party with the gang…
Author: The Reviews Hub - East Anglia & South East
The Reviews Hub - East Anglia & South East
The South East team is under the editorship of Peter Marcus. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.
A beautifully tender piece on belonging, loneliness, and finding your tribe. In The Beauty of Being Herd, Gaulier graduate, Ruth Berkoff, holds a party for her character Hannah, the hero of this story. She’s decided that being a human is too exhausting and she’d rather be a sheep. This hour is her farewell to personhood. Berkoff is an accomplished storyteller and sheep fact sharer. As the character Hannah, she tells tales of feeling left out in the office, getting confused at a sex party and talking too much, high on energy, after a rave. These explorations into feeling excluded or…
Splendid improvised Shakespearian antics from a merry bunch of fools. It’s a Sunday at 2pm, and a crowd of around 200 people are witnessing the murder of a small boy. It’s not a police matter. We’re here at Brighton Open Air Theatre (BOAT) to watch Impromptu Shakespeare, entirely improvised and unscripted jollity, and said small boy gleefully volunteered himself as sacrifice. He’s even making suggestions on how the dark deed can be done. Taking prompts from the audience, the players weave a rousing tale of three sisters. One to be wed, one sadly dead, and the other? Well, she’s soon…
Genuinely varied variety showcase, hosted by a Bafta-winning professional jester. The Luke Rollason Memorial Bursary gives a boost to up-and-coming comedians, clowns and performers across the circuit. With the continued cost-of-living crisis and cuts to the arts, it’s notoriously difficult for talented folk to get access to bigger venues and their chance to shine. Enter Luke Rollason, the not-yet-dead, but heavy of bedhead, professional, polyamorous jester. He’s got a shiny new BAFTA trophy this year, with golden dungarees to match. The bursary was previously funded with his ‘Disney money’, but with Extraordinary now sadly cancelled (boo), the Jizzlord star may…
Readymades is at heart a love story, a meeting of spirits between an artist slash toilet attendant and a disobedient, globe-trotting urinal. Described by the creators, Levi Meltzer and Sam Berlin as a ‘live action cartoon’, the show rambles through a truly original fever dream of ideas to a royal flush finish. Readymades has so many ideas, in fact, that it sometimes impacts the flow a little. Much like the produce of the audience member who was invited on stage to make use of the urinal. There’s moments like this, which could come from an entirely different sort of show,…
A mixed hour from James Arthur, who definitely does do maths. James Arthur is a mathematician with an eye on the bright lights of the stage. Former Oxford student, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) communicator and now aspiring stand-up comedian. This show feels more like a talk that happens to have some funny moments rather than a comedy show, which is how it was advertised. Arthur is a clear communicator and has demonstrable experience in his field. There’s several sections that feel like perfect content for the now sadly defunct (in Brighton at least) Nerd Nite, or the many…
Written and performed by: Maddy and Marina Bye Real-life siblings Maddy and Marina Bye channel their madcap character comedy into a daft, high-concept show about hacking into people’s dreams. It’s a work in progress and still needs a fair bit of polishing but there’s plenty to laugh at. Our two main characters are scientists working for the Design Optimising Dream Organisation or DODO (pronounced doo-doo) for short. Though their costumes are just simple white lab coats, we learn that one is a jaded older man whose wife and children have been kidnapped and the other is a youngster doing work…
A Night of Drama is a bumper banana bonanza. It’s improvised for your entertainment, and nearly perfect. Is there still a little peel to ditch for a truly dazzling performance? We’re here to see A Night of Drama, an improvised yet directed play, complete with bananas for pelting the performers. The set-up is clear and the audience excited. There’s not quite the amount of people watching that this ensemble deserves, Lachlan Werner performed to a packed room at the same venue just a couple of hours earlier. But that makes for an intimate environment, the audience among a privileged few…