London Reviews

Words and Music: Michael John LaChiusa Director: Dom O’Hanlon Reviewer: Maryam Philpott One of the greatest scientific achievements of the day or a ludicrous stunt, Anna Edson Taylor’s ascent over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1901 wasn’t quite the ticket to worldwide fame and recognition that she had hoped it would be. Despised for its vulgarity, shunned because she ...

Music: Robert Tripolino Book and Lyrics: Sam Hooper Director: Gabrielle Scawthorn Reviewer: Scott Matthewman The personification of Death is usually seen as a somewhat passive figure, merely waiting until someone is about to shuffle off this mortal coil and then swiftly despatching them. The closest he comes to action is a chess game on a black and white beach. This ...

Writer: Agatha Christie and Gerald Verner Director: Brian Blessed Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Towards Zero is one of Agatha Christie’s most ingenious mysteries, a seaside tale of family dispute, inheritance troubles and competing wives. The Mill at Sonning has made these stories a regular part of its summer season and now Brian Blessed directs a version adapted by Christie and writer ...

Writers: Taz Skylar and Ross Berkeley Simpson Director: Toby Clarke Reviewer: David Guest The mental and physical anguish endured by young soldiers returning from active duty during war is the focus of Taz Skylar’s hard-hitting and emotionally draining drama Warheads, currently playing at the Park Theatre after brief outings in Tottenham and Peckham last year. It’s the sort of shocking ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Rae Mcken Reviewer: Scott Matthewman It is a sign of how much cruft there can be in a Shakespeare play that cutting Twelfth Night down to just an hour and fifteen minutes, as director and adapter Rae Mcken has done for the Scoop’s sixteenth annual season of free open-air theatre, retains all the touchpoints of the comedy. ...

Writers/Composers: Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie Director: Kate Golledge Reviewer: David Guest Somewhere in the West End grown people are weeping over casting calls, production notes and new musical scripts. For members of the National Youth Music Theatre have smashed it again with a brand new musical with a message written especially for young people which jealous adults just can’t ...

Writer: Daniel Winder Director: Rae Mcken Reviewer: Maryam Philpott For centuries writers have been obsessed with a meeting between two sixteenth-century Queens that never happened. From Friedrich Schiller to Josie Rourke, the reign of Elizabeth I is defined by her compatriot cousin Mary Queen of Scots, but the pair were never face to face. However, Elizabeth did meet another female ...

Choreographer and Director: Carrie-Anne Ingrouille Reviewer: Richard Maguire Slickly choreographed and featuring a host of talented youngsters, Tales of the Turntable hip hops its way to the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, but perhaps a little too slickly for its own good. Set pieces are immaculately performed but often the precision of the moves is clinical. Eric lives with his grandfather, ...