THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: City Of Angels starring Vanessa Williams, Theo James, Hadley Fraser, Rosalie Craig, Rebecca Trehearn and Nicola Roberts at the Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHERE? Garrick Theatre RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 14/3, press night 24/3 booking to 5/9/20

The Donmar revival of this musical homage to the film noir genre of motion pictures that rose to prominence in the 1940s was one of the reasons the authors of this blog started writing monstagigz.

  • Read on for reasons including details of the West End debuts of Williams, Jones and Roberts

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THEATRE REVIEW: Shoe Lady starring Katherine Parkinson at the Royal Court

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Royal Court (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs) RUNTIME: 65 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 14/2 (matinee), runs to 21/3/20

Author E V Crowe is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme ‘super group’ and here tells the story of working mother Viv who loses a shoe on her way to work as an estate agent as her life begins to unravel.

  • Read on for reasons including how The IT Crowd‘s Parkinson needs to be at her most engaging here

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THEATRE REVIEW: Waiter There’s A Murder In My Soup at Studio 5ive, the Troubadour, Wembley Park Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Studio 5ive, the Troubadour, Wembley Park Theatre RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including three breaks for three courses)

WHEN? 8/3, booking to 29/3/20

Immersive theatre is all the rage and here award-winning Fat Rascal Theatre serve up three courses around a murder mystery dining experience.

  • Read on for reasons including how Robyn Grant is a camp comedy star in the making 

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THEATRE REVIEW: Pretty Woman: The Musical starring Danny Mac & Aimie Atkinson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Piccadilly Theatre RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 17/2, press night 1/3 booking to 2/1/21

Perhaps the biggest surprises here are that it’s taken quite so long for the 1990 film romcom to reach the stage and that its music and lyrics would be co-written by middle-of-the-road rocker Bryan Adams.

  • Read on for reasons why Mac and Atkinson make an unlikely but endearing couple

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THEATRE REVIEW: A Number starring Roger Allam & Colin Morgan at the Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Bridge Theatre RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 14/2, press night 19/2 runs to 14/3/20

Colin Morgan plays three very different characters in this Caryl Churchill revival, two of whom are clones of the other.

  • Read on for reasons including how this compares with Far Away the Donmar’s Churchill revival

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THEATRE REVIEW: Death of England starring Rafe Spall at the National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE? Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 1/2, press night 6/2 runs to 7/3/20

‘I fell off the stage for the first time – this is really difficult,’ reflects Spall during his standing ovation at the climax of this 2nd preview of an eventful and demanding 100-minute monologue.

  • Read on for reasons including the last time we saw an actor fall from the stage into an audience member’s lap

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THEATRE REVIEW: Endgame and Rough For Theatre II starring Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Cumming, Jane Horrocks & Karl Johnson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Old Vic RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 28/1/20, press night 5/2, runs to 28/3/20

Samuel Beckett’s bleak Endgame is preceded here by the author’s lighter short Rough For Theatre II in an attempt to sugar the pill for fans of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe (pictured above right) who appears here.

  • Read on for reasons including more about the cast including Alan Cumming and Jane Horrocks

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Welkin starring Maxine Peake, Cecilia Noble, Haydn Gwynne and Ria Zmitrowicz

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Lyttelton Theatre, National RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 18/1/20, press night 22/1, runs to 23/5/20

We’re in rural Suffolk in 1759 where convicted murderer Sally Poppy claims to be pregnant and 12 women must assess whether she is, which would save her from execution.

  • Read on for reasons including how this cast has Olivier, BAFTA and Tony award nominations between them

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THEATRE REVIEW: Uncle Vanya starring Richard Armitage & Toby Jones

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHERE? Harold Pinter Theatre RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 14/1, press night 23/1 runs to 2/5/20

Six years after a brooding Olivier-nominated performance as John Proctor in the Old Vic’s production of The Crucible and Richard Armitage (pictured above in rehearsal) is back on the London stage in Conor McPherson’s re-imagining of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya

  • Read on for reasons including how Toby Jones is the comic highlight as Armitage goes topless

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