Tag Archives: Theatre

Win Two Tickets To See Spamalot The Musical And Signed Warwick Davis Picture

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Win Two Tickets To See Spamalot And a Signed Warwick Davis Picture

Frost Magazine is giving away two tickets for the 30th September 2013 performanceof Spamalot and is also giving away a signed photo of Warwick Davis.

To win follow @Frostmag on Twitter and Tweet, ‘I want to win Spamalot tickets with @Frostmag’ or like us on Facebook.  Alternatively, sign up to our newsletter.

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Warwick Davis, former Star Wars star and sci-fi movie regular, has joined the award winning west-end show Spamalot for a month long run of shows! Warwick Davis will be joining the cast of Spamalot from 23rd September.

Spamalot the Musical tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, cows, killer rabbits and French people. Inspired by Monty Python and the Holy Grail, this show is packed full of laughs, great music and top entertainment. Audiences all around the world have been roaring with laughter since Monty Python’s Spamalot, by Eric Idle and John DuPrez, won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005.

The show also features the hilarious songs He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights Of The Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation’s Favourite Comedy Song (Reader’s Digest Poll 2009) ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE.

The Spamalot Facebook page is also offering 4 tickets and a stay at a top luxury apartment to one of its lucky followers. To enter all you have to do is like the Facebook page and submit a couple of your details for a sweepstake draw. You can also gain extra entries for referring three friends, following @spamalotwestend on Twitter or tweeting “Les Dennis & Warwick Davis will be the new King Arthur and Patsy in #Spamalot! I have just entered the #SpamComp to #win 4 show tickets”.

 

Festen Theatre Review

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FestenTheatre ReviewA word of warning: Festen is not for the light-hearted. It will leave you sickened, violated and shocked and this is by no means a criticism but credit to the cast for pulling off such a raw production.

 

The title itself conjures up thoughts of a happy, joyous occasion and the audience in the intimate Space theatre almost feel a part of the 60th birthday celebration.

 

Successful patriarch Helge marks his special day with his closest family and friends but the evening itself becomes a platform for the party to confront ghosts of the past. 

 

As eldest twin, son Christian, stands before his proud father, we note there is no personal contact when they greet each other, only an exchange of words and then we learn that Christian’s twin sister, Linda, committed suicide.

 

Helge asks his son to say a few words at dinner as he fears he may be overcome with emotion if he has to give a speech.

 

During the first course, Christian stands before his relatives and gives his father a choice of two speeches; one in a yellow envelope and one in a green envelope.

 

As he picks the green envelope, Christian says he’s made a good choice as he recalls happy memories of the family. But then he reads out: “And do you remember when you continuously raped me and Linda on the green sofa?”

 

In a split second, the clean man, the man of steel, Helge, has his reputation shattered. Festen, as well as reminding me of a celebration, also brings to mind the word ‘fester’. And for Christian, the suicide of his sister and the painful memories of his childhood will no longer fester in his thoughts – he’ll vocalise them at his father’s 60th birthday.

 

The family attempts to continue the celebration but the moment has been lost forever. And just when we think there are no more surprises or incredibly awkward moments, Christian re-enters during the main course and reads out his sister’s suicide note. She couldn’t bear to continue her life anymore as her father had started to take her again.

 

The servants seem to forget their place and congratulate Christian for standing up to his father and finally revealing his monstrous character which he has hidden for so many years.

 

At breakfast the next morning, the family attempt to come to terms with the truth and as soon as Helge enters, the atmosphere becomes ice-cold. Michael, another of his sons gets up to take his baby girl away from the grips of his paedophilic, incestuous father.

 

Festen reveals how behind a loving, successful family, there are painful truths and soul-destroying secrets. The expert pauses of silence round the dinner table enabled the audience to breathe each breath and watch the family’s eyes dance round the room as the gripping storyline took hold.

 

There were also some incredibly uncomfortable scenes. First when Michael and his wife Mette have sex following a violent argument. Then the moment Christian reveals to the family that his father raped him and his twin sister when they were children and finally when Helene, another daughter invites her black boyfriend to dinner. Michael jokes that a monkey’s joined the party.

 

Rowan Finnegan who plays Christian was simply fantastic. We saw all his emotions in stages, from the calm demeanour as he greets his father; to his singing and dancing round the table to celebrate his birthday to the stern look as he reveals the sordid past and smashes his fist on the table in anger.

 

There are some plays you enjoy and there are some you’ll never forget. Festen is certainly one which had me gripped and will be remembered for years to come. It’s another notch to The Space Theatres brilliant production list.

Making a mess with The Maids – Sydney Theatre Company by David Evan Giles

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Because of the superstar presence of Cate Blanchett, the season of Jean Genet’s ‘The Maids’ has been a sell-out here in Sydney. The radiant Miss B received a standing ovation from her most enthusiastic fans and there was great energy and total commitment in her performance. But, with a weary intake of breath, one has to wonder how this production ever made its way to the stage in its current state of chaos.

The new translation was handled by Blanchett’s husband, Andrew Upton, who is also the artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, and Benedict Andrews, the director of the production. Perhaps those dual roles for both men provide a clue as to how on earth this mish-mash ever made it through rehearsals without someone pulling it together. An artistic director with some objectivity and distance would have surely told the assembled cast and crew that Isabelle Huppert, playing opposite Cate Blanchett, was literally incomprehensible as she gabbles her way through speech after speech in her heavily accented English. Let us be clear – it is not merely that Huppert’s accent is very strong but it seems almost as if she has learnt the script phonetically, as there is so little connection between what she says and what she does. The incoherence of her performance is mystifying. Whenever a fine actor like Huppert is lost, then the responsibility must come back to rest with the director. Andrews has failed to help her shape her performance into anything that makes sense, so no matter what Blanchett and the impressive newcomer, Elizabeth Debicki, try in an attempt to bring the play together, they are fighting a losing battle. Their response to the manic bursts of energy from Huppert was to inject more and more energy themselves and they have to be commended for their efforts but ultimately the audience was left a little dazed and confused by a display of what appeared to be mass hysteria.

The use of television cameras to highlight various areas of the play and throw them up on a giant screen upstage of the action is not new. There are moments, especially when Cate Blanchett is putting on make-up at her mistress’s dressing table, where the presence of a camera is effective but for the most part, the camerawork presents poorly framed images that are more distracting than enlightening or engaging. Again, the director might have more usefully focussed his attention on the interplay between the characters than on a gimmick.

The play itself was very largely lost in the confusion. The new translation was sprinkled with so many expletives that they quickly lost their sting. Genet’s rage against class and patronage could perhaps have found resonance with an audience had it not been lost in the maelstrom. The play’s text seethes with menace but where a skillful director might have held his cast back, letting the tension build and the danger increase, Andrews has started the play with all the knobs turned up to ten – and the only place to go from ten is an unsubtle blast of, well, eleven.

A tour has been planned but as much as I would dearly love to see the Sydney Theatre Company thrive and prosper, if it is coming to a town near you, there are many other ways you could spend an evening, perhaps by renting some DVDs to see the excellent cast (Debicki is in ‘The Great Gatsby’) at their best. Overall, this production took some of the best talent in the world and made of it a great bowl of ‘zuppa inglese’. The responsibility lies with the director.

The Significant Other | Theatre Review

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Insignificant others theatre reviewThe Significant Other can be best described as flicking through the glossy pages of a real life-story magazine.

 

It portrays snippets of the relationship between two people in 10 different scenes played out within a strict 10minute window and each one is as far removed in terms of content as the previous story.

 

Performed at The Park Theatre in Finsbury, The Significant Other explores relationships from the hope, boundaries, friendship and passion experienced in every day life.

 

It expertly portrays the awkwardness experienced by two strangers, to the comforts of a long-term relationship and friendship and even tries its hand at the human interaction with an alien, guardian angel and ghost.

 

Each scene is influenced by a different genre from comedy, fantasy, crime and even a musical, spanning both the past and future ideas of the world.

 

The audience is kept guessing at each turn and the play certainly grips your attention.

 

Three scenes stood out for me:

 

Coyi – a fired up couple are watching their football team on the telly (they can’t be there as the boyfriend lost the game tickets).

 

She tells him that she went to the bookies and made a bet on their future if their team wins 2-1 and they get engaged to marry.

 

The audience feels each missed goal and penalty and enters the couple’s living room as they agonise the unpredictable nature of the football match and the hope they’ll win a fortune.

 

A Month and Five Days – Set in the past in a library, a visitor is attempting to study but keeps talking and distracting himself as he is told off and told to be quiet.

 

The librarian is actually in love with the visitor and in an aside, bursts into song calling herself ‘Julie Andrews’ after adopting his surname.

 

This shy librarian has hopes of marriage and the couple realise they are perfectly suited to each other, as long as he can respect the rules to be quiet.

 

Icebergs – A somewhat ditzy brother and sister plot to steal from their employer but at the last minute, the sister pulls out and we see them reveal their thoughts and feelings of being stuck in a little village, missed opportunities and tattered dreams of the future.

 

By far one of the funniest scenes, the audience sees the protective older brother nature towards his sister, as well as his mocking and arrogant character.

 

But in the end, there is no doubt that sibling love reigns rather than sibling rivalry.

 

Performed as part as a festival of genres, the play is unlike any I have seen, and despite their short length, strangely the audience was still able to bond with the characters and the personal impact was not tarnished.

 

Produced by Neil Byden, Serena Haywood and Laura Kim on behalf of The Pensive Federation, it was a light and refreshing performance on a Friday evening and it felt as if we were sitting among friends in the compact loft studio.

 

The Gut Girls | Theatre Review

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Gut-girls-webSet in the grimy depths of Edwardian Deptford, The Gut Girls was unexpectedly one of the best theatre shows I have seen, easily rivalling the productions staged on the West End.

 

The six strong-spirited, feisty women slog for 13 hours a day in the cattle quarters, artfully removing the offal, entails and entrails of meat before it is fit for the butchers.

 

Their mouths are as sharp as the knives they use; often a defence mechanism to taunts that they’re lower in class than the common whores who run the night.

 

Wonderfully original in plot, the play launches into the hustle and bustle of cockney London life with Annie (Emma Laura Canning) starting her first day at the gutting sheds.

 

Only 16, innocent and a little naïve, she struggles to stomach all the blood, flesh and guts which is ‘enough to stagger a horse’, but the other five quickly take her under their wings and the girls all laugh and joke despite their gruesome work.

 

It is then that Aristocrat Lady Helena visits the girls, inviting them to her ladies club to teach them manners, etiquette, sewing and readings from the Bible to better their prospects should they find alternative employment as maids or nannies. 

 

In a twist of irony, the girls keep saying that as long as there are meat eaters, they would have jobs and they laugh off the ‘barmy idea that people will only eat vegetables’ in the future.

 

And as if on queue, when Maggie (Caitlin Innes Edwards) the oldest, unmarried member of the group resists the advances of Edwin, Lady Helena’s associate, he vows to have her removed from her post after she threatens him with a knife.

 

All the girls are laid off but those who attended the ladies club are given good references but Maggie, who failed to go, struggles to find work and does the only thing she can to survive – by marrying bar landlord Len.

 

Once the women are no longer ‘the gut girls’, their friendship declines, their strong, independent and somewhat feminist nature seems to crumble and they pass one another on the street like strangers, fearing for their jobs and improved reputations.

 

The Gut Girls masterly depicts the struggles of the social classes, the plight of women against their masters, the dim future they face if they fail to marry and it also highlights the political and religious thoughts of the day.

 

Performed at a converted chapel, The Space Theatre in the Isle of Dogs, the actors were faultless, the stage and audience seating area were used to maximum effect, making it seem we were part of the show and the change of scenes were seamless.

 

All the actors proved themselves on the opening night, but hats off to Kate Craggs who played cockney Ellen as well as Lady Priscilla, Emma Laura Canning, the lead of Annie and Catherine Thorncombe, who played Emily and Edna.

 

The show led my emotions perfectly, from tears at the moment when Annie reveal’s she was raped by her master’s son, to tears of laughter as the girls mimic the sounds of tea being poured in a role-play exercise at the ladies club.

 

Vividly entertaining, expertly executed, The Gut Girls should aim much higher than that of a fringe production. I certainly won’t forget this show.

 

The Gut Girls, a Rum and Monkey production by Sarah Daniels and directed by David England, runs till Saturday 25 May. Tickets (£14/£10) can be bought from www.space.org.uk or by calling the Box Office: 0207 515 7799.

Sleeping Arrangements Theatre Review

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POSTERLOWRES-106x150I love musicals. I really do. Which is why I really appreciate how incredibly brave doing a new one is. It is a move that I feel has paid off for Sleeping Arrangements. It is fun and frivolous. A comedy that makes you feel completely involved with the characters. The story about two families who end up in the same villa in Spain at the same time with hilarious consequences. It is a production set during a holiday and it really feels like one.

What the two families do not know is that Hugh and Chloe know each other. Their wealthy friend Gerard double booked them Was it on purpose and if so, why?

It must have been hard to write a musical from scratch but Chris Burgess has achieved it perfectly. I really had fun watching this musical comedy. It really did have some great one liners. All of the actors are just brilliant. I completely believed in all of their characters.

Sleeping Arrangements is based on the novel by Sophie Kinsella, which has been described as the ‘perfect holiday read’, and this theatre production completely encapsulates it. A really funny comedy that is definitely a go see.

Aria Entertainment Presents
Sleeping Arrangements
Landor Theatre
17th April – 12th May

Sophie Kinsella’s Sleeping Arrangements adapted for the stage

 

Aria Entertainment is delighted to announce the full cast for the world premiere of Sleeping Arrangements, a new musical based on the novel by Sophie Kinsella, author of Confessions Of A Shopaholic.

 

The exceptionally high calibre cast includes Fascinating Aïda’s Liza Pulman and West End favourite Jenny Gayner who has trodden the boards as Roxie Hart in Chicago amongst other high profile roles and Sabrina Aloueche who is best known for playing the character ‘Scaramouche‘ in We Will Rock You.

 

The Confessions Of A Shopaholic novel was adapted into a film released in 2009, starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy but this will be the first of Sophie’s popular books to be adapted for the stage.

 

“I am so excited to see my story on stage in such a hilarious and tuneful musical”
Sophie Kinsella


This exciting new musical will play at the Landor Theatre in Clapham London for four weeks starting in April 2013 (17th April – 12th May)


 


Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, the musical tells the tale of Chloe who desperately needs a holiday. She’s sick of making wedding dresses and her partner, Philip has troubles at work. Her wealthy friend Gerard has offered the loan of his luxury villa in Spain – Perfect


 


Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife Amanda seems more interested in her new kitchen than him and he works so hard to pay for it, he barely has time for his children. Maybe he’ll have a chance to bond with them on holiday. His friend Gerard has lent him a luxury villa in Spain – Perfect.


 


Both families arrive at the villa and realise the awful truth – Gerard has double-booked. What no-one else realises is that Chloe and Hugh have a history, and as tensions rise, old passions resurface. It seems that Gerard’s ‘accidental’ double booking may not be an accident after all…


 


With music and lyrics by Chris Burgess, Sleeping Arrangements the musical is the perfect summer soundtrack, just as the original novel was “a perfect holiday read”. – Sunday Mirror


 

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
What’s On At The Pleasance Theatre

			
						

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LAMDA Presents Summerfolk by Maxim Gorky


Theatre


Pleasance London » Tuesday 24th April – Friday 26th April, 2pm & 7:30pm


 


At the turn of the 20th Century a group of Russian friends retreat for their annual summer holiday in the countryside. United by their place in history as an emergent Russian middle class, but disparate in their political views and private lives, their friendship will never be the same again come autumn.


Maxim Gorky’s naturalistic masterpiece depicts Russia as it teeters on the edge of social upheaval – exploring the dreams, fears and vanities of one group of friends as they question their value in a transient society.


 


Free




 




 


 


LAMDA Presents Earthquakes in London


Theatre


Pleasance London » Wednesday 25th  April – Friday 26th April, 2pm & 7:30pm


 


How can you live in a state of constant impending catastrophe? Is hope possible, responsible even, when scientists and politicians are predicting an environmental apocalypse? Earthquakes in London tracks the tremors of hedonism, terror and activism through the lives of three sisters and their estranged, misanthropic father.

Written by award-winning Mike Bartlett (Love Love Love), the play premiered at the National Theatre in 2010.


 


Free




 




 


Robert Newman’s Theory Of Evolution: Work in Progress


Comedy


Pleasance London » Wednesday 24th April, 8pm

Join Rob as he tries out material in advance of a major new UK tour. Watch it evolve in front of your very eyes!


“I am completely in awe of Robert Newman. Of his talent, his passion, his intelligence, and the way he turns them to comedy with real firepower. If this world could be saved by a Superhero whose Superpower was Comedy, that hero would be Robert Newman.” Kate Copstick, The Scotsman


 


Tickets £10




 




 Joe_and_Eleanor


Joe Lycett / Eleanor Thom: Work in Progress


Comedy


Pleasance London » Thursday 25th April, 8pm


 


Joe Lycett Celebrity Juice & 8 out of 10 Cats):


Join award-winning sparky stand up Joe Lycett as he workshops material for his second hour show. Expect it to be rough round the edges, interactive, potentially slightly awkward, but most of all bloody good fun. Last year’s show got nominated for Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer so it can’t be all bad.


Eleanor Thom (Lady Garden, Absolutely Fabulous & Live At The Electric)


 


“The BBC said to me, ‘Bev, you need a vehicle’, so I’ve got one. Inclusive of drinks trolley. Get onboard.”


 


‘Britain’s funniest woman’ Sunday Telegraph


 


Tickets £5




 




 


Alan Davies: Work in Progress


Comedy


Pleasance London » Friday 26th April – Sunday 19th May, 8pm


 


Alan Davies returns to the Stagespace where, in 2011, he spent several evenings developing his last stand-up show. Life Is Pain toured throughout the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and will be out on DVD in time for the PGP (Prime Gifting Period or Xmas).

It’s now time to see whether there is any new material coming along that may be worth taking out of the borough in 2014…


 




Tickets £5 – £6


 




 


Ben Miller – My Million To One


Comedy

Pleasance London » Friday, 3rd May


What is My Million To One? – Well, you know your ‘bucket list’ or ‘100 things to do before you die?’ My Million To One is about helping you to achieve those goals/dreams. So we’ve asked lots of industry leaders to help us and they have. In Ben’s case: he wants to offer confidence to the UK’s aspiring comedians.


 


Tickets Free




 




 


The London Cuckolds


Theatre


Pleasance London » Wednesday 1st May – Sunday 12th May, 4pm & 7:45pm


 


Let Them Call It Mischief present

The London Cuckolds by Edward Ravenscroft

The London Cuckolds tells the story of three City boys, their bored housewives and two frisky young cads, all intertwined in a caper filled with sex and intrigue.


 


Calamitous and bawdy, this is a rarely performed gem from the restoration era transported to the sparkle and glamour of 1920s London.


 


Tickets £10 – £12.50




 




 


Adam Kay and Enemies


Comedy


Pleasance London » Friday 10th May, 7:30pm


 


Amateur Transplants frontman Adam Kay is delighted to bring his brand new monthly residency to The Pleasance. Alongside his uniquely depraved pop music re-imaginings, Adam is joined on stage by special guests he doesn’t particularly get on with, but are funnier than him. He’ll probably do the London Underground Song.


This month’s guests are comedy superstar Ardal O’Hanlon and the supremely talented Adam Hess. 


“Bracingly intelligent… enormous fun.” * * * *  Times

“This made me very, very happy” Stephen Fry


Tickets £12.50




 




 


 


Murray Lachlan Young – The Incomers


Theatre


Pleasance London » Monday 13th May – Saturday 18th May, 7:30pm


 


It’s Gordon and Celia’s wedding anniversary.  They’ve asked their oldest and dearest friends Zach and Jane down from London.  The only problem is that Zach and Jane aren’t Zach and Jane anymore.  Jane has gone and Julia, the twenty five year old, French burlesque dancer, has taken her place.


Written entirely in his characteristic verse by BBC 6 Music poet in residence Murray Lachlan Young it will have you gasping and roaring with laughter in equal measures!


 


Tickets £10 -12




 




 


Finding Libby


Theatre


Pleasance London » Tuesday 14th May, 7:45pm


 


At the heart of Finding Libby is one of the many heartbreaking stories of young women for whom the 1960s were less swinging than swingeing – a hidden pregnancy, a premature birth, the death of a tiny scrap never referred to again and a life stalled. Pauline is now in her early sixties and has been persuaded by her neighbour to take her first holiday, on a canal boat. We follow her from worrying whether anyone will meet her at the station, to the unexpected turn in the journey that forces her to face her past and to finding that it is never too late for a fresh start.


 


Tickets £8 – £10




 




 


Rehearsed Reading of Making News


Theatre


Pleasance London » Wednesday 15th May, 7:45pm


 


Rehearsed reading of Making News the new play by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky.

It’s the start of a 24-hour news cycle and Rachel Clarke has been promoted as the BBC’s newest Head of News. When a crisis erupts, she has to confront rivals from within and without, and decide how to report on a story that could bring down the Corporation itself.


A fast-moving satire about the BBC starring Suki Webster, Hal Cruttenden, Sara Pascoe, Liam Williams, Dan Starkey and Phill Jupitus as the Director-General.


 


Tickets £5




 




 


Tiny Tempest


Theatre

Pleasance London » Monday, 20th May – Sunday, 26th May, 4pm & 7.45pm


 


Shakespeare’s fantastical tale of magic, murder and monsters retold in an explosive new actor-musician adaptation. Tiny Tempest is a visual feast featuring thrilling physicality,slapstick storytelling and live music and songs. Mini Mall present their world premiere production that promises to be a Tempest like no other.


 


Tickets £7.50 – £9




 




 


Voices in Your Head: The Phill Jupitus Experiment


Comedy


Pleasance London » Sunday 26th May, 8pm


 


Deborah Frances-White’s fringe hit returns to London, but this time with only one special guest performer taking to the stage.


Phill Jupitus goes head to head with a disembodied Voice on a microphone who will interrogate, provoke and cajole him to create dark-hearted comedy mayhem. See the hidden depths of the human unconscious pushed to their illogical conclusions in this unforgettable, unmissable, electrifying and hilarious show. Voices in Your Head just got even freakier.


“Inventive, funny and wildly ambitious – you’ll never see anything quite like it.”’

* * * * * The Skinny


 


Tickets £12




 




 


The Trench


Theatre

Pleasance London » Tuesday 28th May – Thursday 30th May, 7:30pm


 


After a sell-out five star run at the Edinburgh Festival Les Enfants Terribles tour the UK with their new award-winning show, The Trench. From the team behind The Terrible Infants, Ernest and the Pale Moon and The Vaudevillains, comes a new play inspired by the true story of a miner who became entombed in a tunnel during World War One. As the horror threatens to engulf him, he finds that not everything in the darkness is what it seems as he starts to discover a new, strange world beneath the mud and death. Setting off on an epic journey of salvation, the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur as he questions what’s real, what’s not and whether it even matters?


 


‘The overall vision stays with you like a strange, significant dream.’ Times


 


Tickets £10 – £12




 




 


Voices In Your Head


Comedy

Pleasance London » Friday 31st May, 8pm


Deborah Frances-White’s fringe hit returns to London as a cast of comedic performers go head to head with a disembodied Voice who will interrogate, provoke and cajole them to create comedy mayhem. Previous guests have included Phill Jupitus, Hannibal Buress, Russell Tovey, Mike McShane, Sara Pascoe, Humphrey Ker among many others.


This time the line-up includes Miles Jupp (star of Rev, The Thick Of It & Have I Got News For You) and Thom Tuck (Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee & star of Radio 4’s The Penny Dreadfuls) plus special guests.


Tickets £10




 




 


Laugh Your Farce Off


Theatre

Pleasance London » Sunday, 2nd June, 7pm


 


After its second sell-out show ‘Laugh Your Farce Off’ is back in Pleasance Main House, with another smash lineup…


 


Little Bear has challenged 5 award winning writers each to write a short but perfectly formed farce.


 


The only brief: ‘3 doors…’ – imagine the trouser dropping, mistaken identity mishaps and general all round chaos that will ensue!


Curated by Ursula Early with sensational new work from: John Luke-Roberts, Andrew Doyle, Caitlin Shannon, Charlie Partridge and Hannah Rodger – this is a night of sheer lunacy you can’t afford to miss!




Tickets £9 – £10


 




Parade


Theatre

Pleasance London » Friday, 14th June – Sunday, 16th June, 2:30pm, 3pm & 7:30pm


 


The tragic, true story of the trial and lynching of a man wrongly accused of murder is brought to emotional and theatrical life by acclaimed playwright Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy) and Jason Robert Brown (13, Songs for a New World). Daring, innovative and bold, PARADE won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original Score, as well as six Drama Desk Awards.


 




Tickets £12 – £15


 




The Fantasist


Theatre

Pleasance London » Tuesday, 25th June – Wednesday, 26th June, 7:30pm


 


In the mind of the fantasist, the real and the fanciful become dangerously blurred. As Louise gazes into the night her fancy takes form. Objects move, time changes … and a seductive stranger opens up a world of exhilaration and magic.


 


Tickets £10 – £12


 

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Tartuffe | Theatre Review

			
						

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Tartuffe and ElmireSinner or saint, the character of Tartuffe certainly divides opinion.


 


To Orgon, the master of the manor, he is the epitome of piousness, yet to his family, he is nothing more than a vagabond taking advantage of people’s good nature.


 


With his reputation tainted and restored at every turn in the opening scene, the audience is eager to pass their own judgement on Tartuffe but his stalled introduction to the stage acts as a clever device to build the mystery.


 


Orgon’s mind is possessed by Tartuffe and he intends his daughter Mariane to marry him (though she’s already promised to wed Valère), and he even signs over the deeds of his estate to the former beggar. 


 


The cheeky glint in Tartuffe’s eyes when he makes his grand entrance further enforces his view of ‘a secret sin is no sin at all’ as he commits the ultimate betrayal by confessing his love to Orgon’s wife Elmire. 


 


When the family try to expose his scheming nature, the play comes over a little ‘carry on’ as they hide behind curtains and under tables to catch him out. 


 


But once his deceit is unveiled to Orgon, it’s too late as the family’s ordered out of the estate which now belongs to Tartuffe. 


 


At each stage, Dorine the maid oversteps the boundaries of her role but gains the trust of the audience as she gives each member of the family honest advice with a touch of flirtatious charm. Played by Katherine Rodden, she was the unexpected the star of the show.


 


Jeremy Gagan convincingly plays Tartuffe and his command of expression in scenes of deceit against those highlighting his virtue are performed with charisma.


 


A modern adaptation by Paradigm Theatre Company of the 17th Century theatrical comedy by Molière, Tartuffe was presented in the intimate surroundings of the Canal Café Theatre in Little Venice. 


 Dorine and Mariane


The audience seating area is cleverly used as an extension of the stage, with the characters often mingling among the crowd and eavesdropping on the conversations taking place just overhead.


 


With a comedic value in the form of Dorine, the betrayal of a committed friend and with a heart-warming twist at the end, Tartuffe (artistically directed by Sarah Pitard and directed by Cat Robey) ticks all the boxes. And by no means a criticism, the cast should possess a little more confidence to balance their abilities.


 


Tartuffe runs till Sat 27 Apr 2013, with tickets for the 7pm show Tue-Sat costing £12 and for the 3pm Sat performance, it’s £10. To book tickets, visit www.canalcafetheatre.com and for more information, visit www.paradigmtheatrecompany.co.uk. 


Photo credit: Jon Bradshaw