Drama

Writer/Performer: Sam Ross Reviewer: Tom Ralphs This is the most honest performance you will see at the Fringe this year. Sam is a student at Sheffield University. He lives with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. At times it can be completely disruptive, making it impossible for him to live a normal life. At other times it can be manageable, but while he ...

Director: Tim Marriott Adaptation: Tim Marriott Shell Shock is an adaptation of a novel by Neil Blower that deals with Tommy, a soldier struggling to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s fair to say that the market for plays on this subject seems a little over-crowded if you look through the Fringe programme. What sets this one apart is ...

Director: Roberta Zuric Reviewer: Clare Howdon Set in 1920’s London, Incognito’s Tobacco Road has more than a fleeting resemblance to the murky world of the BBC’s Peaky Blinders, complete with its period costumes and Nick Cave, Caravan Palace, and Fratelli’s soundtrack. Directed with a tangible confidence by Roberta Zuric, Tobacco Road centres around the emergence of a local girl gang, ...

Writer:  Jordan Seavey Director:  Josh Seymour Reviewer:  Richard Maguire This tidy, but talky, examination of gay life in America is the latest addition to plays about LGBTQ+ people being shown in London this summer. It’s a ripe period with the Young Vic’s The Inheritance and Fun Home, the White Bear’s A Little Hero and the King’s Head Theatre’s whole season of queer ...

Writer:  Valeriy Pecheykin Director:  Charlotte Evans Reviewer:  Richard Maguire Many of us can remember Thatcher’s Clause 28 of 1988, which prohibited the promotion of homosexuality by local boroughs, and the teaching in schools of homosexuality as a ‘pretended’ family relationship. In 2013 Russia introduced its own version where homosexuality cannot be discussed in front of children. A Little Hero, a Russian ...

Writer: Abigail Hood Director:Glen Walford and Kevin Tomlinson Reviewer: Maryam Philpott In the middle of a very personal tragedy, help can come from the most unexpected sources and you might find a lasting friendship in the last place you would think to look. Abigail Hood’s new play Spiral, in which she also stars, has its debut at the Park Theatre ...

Reviewer: Clare Howdon Maddie, in typical just-turned-30 fashion, decides to run a marathon. Over the 26.2 gruelling miles, Maddie must come to terms with her many life decisions to date. Carrying a one-woman show for 50 minutes is a tough task but doing so whilst running the equivalent of at least 10K on stage is for many, the stuff of ...

Writer: Alex Wood Reviewer: Clare Howdon Sleepless Theatre’s new offering Nine Foot Nine centres around couple Cara and Nate, who are about to have a baby. However, their imminent arrival is quite literally overshadowed when women begin to grow to unprecedented heights (hence the play’s title). As this freak occurrence becomes more and more prevalent, these women are referred to ...