THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Richard II starring Jonathan Bailey at Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Monday 10 February, opens 18 February and runs through 10 May 2025 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Bailey is perhaps best known as Fiyero in film Wicked, nominated for 10 Oscars on 2 March, although we have previously reviewed him in Shakespeare (King Lear, Chichester Festival Theatre) but never as the leading man.

  • Read on for reasons including the parallels between Fiyero and Richard II and how this accessible production could be your gateway to Shakespeare
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THEATRE REVIEW: Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet and Yew starring Omari Douglas at Bush Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 8 February, opens 13 February and runs through 22 March 2025 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Bush Emerging Writers’ Group alumni Coral Wylie (pictured above right) writes and stars as 19-year-old Pip who identifies as non-binary, has dropped out of education and feels misunderstood by their parents.

  • Read on for reasons including how there’s a big heart at the root of the show that deserves nourishing
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THEATRE REVIEW: Unicorn starring Nicola Walker, Stephen Mangan & Erin Doherty at the Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 8 February (matinee), opens 13 February and runs through 26 April 2025 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

We’re at dinner with friends the night before we see this and they mention they caught it on its 1st preview.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is hugely funny and the best new play of the year so far
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THEATRE REVIEW: Second Best starring Asa Butterfield at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 90 minutes (without interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 1 February (matinee), runs through 22 February 2025 Update: now extended through 1 March 2025

It’s not difficult to imagine what might have attracted former child star Asa Butterfield, now best known for Netflix’s Sex Education, to make his stage debut in this tale of the actor who was second choice to Daniel Radcliffe (Endgame, Old Vic) to play Harry Potter (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, Palace Theatre).

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a story that is both hugely relatable and dramatically satisfying
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THEATRE REVIEW: Elektra starring Brie Larson & Stockard Channing at the Duke Of York’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 24 January, opening 5 February and running through 12 April 2025 RUNTIME: 95 minutes without interval

Elektra is angry and we know this because she sports a buzz cut, wears a Bikini Kill T-shirt and shouts into a variety of onstage microphones, some with distortion pedals, unavailable to the rest of the cast like a slam poet goes full Sinead O’Connor on Saturday Night Live.

  • Read on for reasons including how Larson’s performance is wholehearted, brave and uncompromising
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THEATRE REVIEW: Oedipus starring Rami Malek, Indira Varma & Cecilia Noble at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Friday 25 January 2025, opening 4 February and running through 29 March 2025 RUNTIME: 105 minutes (no interval)

There’s so much to rave about in this razor-sharp adaptation of this Greek tragedy containing a 1st stage performance in 18 years by Oscar winner Rami Malek (film Bohemian Rhapsody) but it’s too often left flatfooted by pointless techno dance breaks.

  • Read on for reasons including how from our row 5 seat we can see Malek’s eyes sparkle in the lights as they glaze with tears
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THEATRE REVIEW: Inside No 9 Stage/Fright starring Steve Pemberton & Reece Shearsmith at Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 18 January 2025, running through 5 April 2025 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval) Update: UK tour runs 9 September through 29 November 2025 Tickets

Steve Pemberton (The Pillowman, Duke Of York’s Theatre) and Reece Shearsmith (The Unfriend, Criterion Theatre) are established West End performers and the theatre incarnation of their award-winning anthology TV show Inside No 9 is an elegant full stop to it.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is what Pet Shop Boys and Morecambe and Wise would do
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THEATRE REVIEW: El Dia De La Marmota (Groundhog Day in Catalan) at Teatre Coliseum, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 10 January, running through 22 March 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We’ve been regularly visiting Barcelona for the last 25 years and only ever seen the musicals we love in Spanish, English or a mixture and so this is our 1st in the native Catalan.

  • Read on for reasons including how this joyous production stays true to the life-affirming charms of the London original
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Lightning Thief starring Max Harwood & Joaquin Pedro Valdes at the Other Palace

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Sunday 5 January 2025, runs through 31 August 2025 RUNTIME: 125 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

The best thing about this coming-of-age story riffing on Greek mythology is the way it encourages difference to be viewed as a superpower.

  • Read on for reasons including how this musical is a triumph of world building rather let down by its songs
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the Ambassadors Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 3 January, runs through 15 March 2025 Update: Extended through 31 May 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Relocating F Scott Fitzgerald’s short story of a baby born as an elderly man and living his life backwards – best known as a 2008 film starring Brad Pitt – to the North Cornwall coast brings a community feel reminiscent of fellow musical Come From Away to this warm hug of a show.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a heartwarming little gem of a show well worth seeking out if you can
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