THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: The Importance Of Being Earnest starring Ncuti Gatwa at National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Friday 22 November 2024, opens 28 November and runs through 25 January 2025 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Oscar Wilde described this – his final and best loved play – as ‘exquisitely trivial’ and this production is exquisitely cast, perfectly judged and executed with both swagger and flamboyance.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is currently London’s funniest comedy
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THEATRE REVIEW: Priscilla, Reina del Desierto at Teatro Tivoli, Barcelona starring Sharonne

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN?: Sunday 10 November and runs through 4 January 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with 20-minute interval)

We last saw Jason Donovan (Joseph, Palladium) in 2009 in the West End production of this 1994 Oscar-winning musical and here Drag Race Espana winner Sharonne (Benidorm Fest 2023) takes the lead.

  • Read on for reasons including why we we join the standing ovation at this absolutely joyous show’s close
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Devil Wears Prada: A New Musical starring Vanessa Williams & Matt Henry at Dominion Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 5 November 2024 and booking through 31 May 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (includes a 20-minute interval)

This musical of a beloved 2006 film with a star turn by Meryl Streep goes down a storm at this cavernous venue particularly whenever Williams (City Of Angels, Garrick Theatre) as fashion editor Miranda Priestly emerges striking a pose through the stage’s trapdoor.

  • Read on for reasons including how you will be as absolutely swept up and bowled over by this as we were
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THEATRE REVIEW: Fly More Than You Fall starring Keala Settle at Southwark Playhouse (Elephant)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 2 November (matinee), runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Settle (& Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre) plays Miss Coddle, a new character created for the film Wicked released later this month and she’s by some distance the best reason to catch this new musical at this 300-seater venue.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is worth seeing for Settle but manages to be both big-hearted and yet heavy-handed
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THEATRE REVIEW: Brace Brace starring Phil Dunster & Anjana Vasan at the Royal Court

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 2 November and runs through 9 November 2024 RUNTIME: 70 minutes (without interval)

Dunster (pictured right above) is arguably best known for playing Mancunian striker with a heart Jamie Tartt in Apple’s brilliant comedy Ted Lasso and here shows his versatility as an unsympathetic newlywed who freezes during a plane hijack.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is worth a look for its strong cast bringing more to an implausible script than it merits
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THEATRE REVIEW: A Face In The Crowd starring Ramin Karimloo & Anoushka Lucas at the Young Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 26 October 2024 (matinee), runs through 9 November 2024 RUNTIME: 155 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The best bit in this Elvis Costello musical based on a 1957 US film is when leading man Ramin Karimloo (Murder Ballad, Arts Theatre) leaps into the audience in a political rally as charismatic man of the people Lonesome Rhodes during song Blood and Hot Sauce.

  • Read on for reasons including how it was baffling this could promise so much and yet deliver so little
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Buddha Of Suburbia starring Dee Ahluwalia at the Barbican

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 26 October 2024, running through 16 November 2024 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Ahluwalia gives a truly rock star performance as 17-year-old Karim growing up in south London’s suburbs in 1976 and lusting after a male classmate.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a a brilliantly fun night out with a compelling story of injustice at its heart
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Real Ones starring Nathaniel Curtis & Mariam Haque at Bush Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Thursday 10 October, runs through 26 October 2024 RUNTIME: 115 minutes (no interval)

Waleed Akhtar won an Olivier for his last play The P Word and follows it with the story of the friendship of 2 British Pakistanis across 20 years who work as cinema ushers but dream of becoming playwrights.

  • Read on for reasons including why the real ones might not necessarily be the ones you want to know more about
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THEATRE REVIEW: Dr Strangelove starring Steve Coogan at Noel Coward Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 12 October, running through 25 January 2025 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

‘A-ha!’ Steve Coogan’s beloved creation Alan Partridge may not be in this hilarious tweaked version of the classic 1964 political satire but the spirit of his character’s comedy genius is quite literally everywhere.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the West End’s funniest comedy
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THEATRE REVIEW: Oedipus starring Mark Strong & Lesley Manville

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 5 October, runs through 4 January 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes without interval

Robert Icke won the 2016 best director Olivier for Oresteia and perhaps in a nod to that there is a digital clock counting down above the stage until past secrets explode into the present.

  • Read on for reasons including how we were hoping for a more laser-like focus on the central story
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