THEATRE REVIEW

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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THEATRE REVIEW: Waiting For Godot starring Ben Whishaw & Lucian Msamati at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN?: Saturday 28 September (matinee), runs through 21 December 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot and, apart from that, it’s possible to read any number of interpretations into what Samuel Beckett’s classic 1948/49 play is actually about.

  • Read on for reasons including how this production warmed our heart in a way we weren’t expecting
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THEATRE REVIEW: Juno and the Paycock starring Mark Rylance at the Gielgud Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Tuesday 1 October, runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Rylance is the titular peacock – pronounced ‘paycock’ in an Irish accent – who plays workshy father-of-2 ‘Captain’ Jack Boyle, a man never short of tall tales of adventure.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the funniest comedy in London’s West End right now with a very memorable central performance
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THEATRE REVIEW: Giant starring John Lithgow & Romola Garai at the Royal Court Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 28 September, runs through 16 November 2024 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval) Update: Transfers to Harold Pinter Theatre 26 April through 2 August 2025

Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony award winner John Lithgow plays author Roald Dahl here under fire for an antisemetic article he had written on the eve of the launch of his 1983 book The Witches.

  • Read on for reasons including how it’s the central performance of Lithgow’s which will both shock and enthral you
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Other Place after Antigone starring Emma D’Arcy at National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Friday 27 September, opens Tuesday 8 October and runs through 9 November 2024 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

You may be most familiar with actor Emma D’Arcy from their role as Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen in HBO’s impressive House Of The Dragon but with this modern day re-imagining of a Greek tragedy they have made 2 of the most interesting theatrical choices of 2024 so far.

  • Read on for reasons including how this was flawed but features an intelligent performance from 1 of this country’s brightest up-and-coming stars
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THEATRE REVIEW: Look Back In Anger starring Billy Howle, Ellora Torchia & Morfydd Clark at Almeida Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Wednesday 25 September 2024, runs through 23 November 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Middle class Alison irons while her educated husband Jimmy and their Welsh working class lodger Cliff read the Sunday papers as the weekend in their Midlands flat draws to a close.

  • Read on for reasons including how this remains a fascinating if difficult watch that is occasionally funny but will make you think about class and masculinity
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