THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Cold War starring Luke Thallon & Anya Chalotra at the Almeida Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Monday 4 December, opens 12 December and runs through 27 January 2024 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Luke Thallon (Camp Siegfried, Old Vic, main picture) plays composer Wiktor who longs to write in communist-controlled Poland in 1949 and is drawn to the talented young singer Zula.

  • Read on for reasons including how this downbeat show has real sparks
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THEATRE REVIEW: Pandemonium by Armando Iannucci at Soho Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 2 December, runs through 13 January 2024 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (without interval)

Meet Orbis Rex, a rotund bundle of self-confidence with a mop of unkempt blond hair, musing whether the UK should Leave or Remain in the EU.

  • Read on for reasons including how this intimate venue offers a perhaps too early opportunity to reflect on the possible humour in what was an unremittingly dark situation for so many
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Producers at the Teatro Tivoli, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 4 November (matinee), runs through 4 February 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We can’t think of a less appropriate time to be staging this musical tale of producers who put on a Nazi-themed musical designed to fail to make money but are thwarted by a surprise hit.

  • Read on for reasons including how we and our companion made our Catalan stage debuts in this near-the-knuckle rollercoaster
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THEATRE REVIEW: Snow White starring Katie Tonkinson & Anthony Spargo at Greenwich Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 25 November, runs through 7 January 2024 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall – where is the greatest panto of them all?’

  • Read on for reasons including why the Greenwich Theatre pantomime is the UK’s best
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Witches at the National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 18 November (matinee), opens 21 November and runs through 27 January 2024

The best thing about this new musical version of the beloved Road Dahl children’s tale is Daniel Rigby’s comic turn as an increasingly exasperated Devon hotelier who is Basil Fawlty played by Eric Morecambe.

  • Read on for reasons including how this compares with Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
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THEATRE REVIEW: Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Phoenix Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 18 November, opens 14 December and runs through 25 August 2024 RUNTIME: 210 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Season 4 of Netflix hit series Stranger Things is set in 1986 and this spin off play – The First Shadow – turns back the clock in US town Hawkins to 1959.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is less Upside Down and more all over the place
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THEATRE REVIEW: The House Of Bernarda Alba starring Harriet Walter at the National

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 17 November, opens 25 November and runs through 6 January 2024 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

You join us in 1945 in Andalusia, Spain in the titular home of Walter’s Bernarda Alba as she and her 5 daughters mourn the loss of her husband and their father.

  • Read on for reasons including how this retelling of a classic reminds how often and wrongly women can be viewed as secondary to men
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THEATRE REVIEW: Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is About To Happen starring Samuel Barnett at the Bush Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 11 November, opens 15 November and runs through 23 December 2023 RUNTIME: 65 minutes (no interval)

Samuel Barnett (Allelujah!, Bridge Theatre) plays a stand-up comedian performing a 65-minute monologue about the sex life of a gay 36-year-old northerner living in London.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is the funniest comedy of the year
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THEATRE REVIEW: Two Strangers starring Sam Tutty & Dujonna Gift at Kiln Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Thursday 9 November, opens 16 November and runs through 20 January 2024 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 15-minute interval) UPDATE: Transfers to the Criterion Theatre 4 April to 14 July 2024 Tickets

Olivier Award winner Sam Tutty follows his turn in Dear Evan Hansen as 25-year-old Brit Dougal in New York for the 1st time for the wedding of the father he’s never met.

  • Read on for reasons including how this hug of a show will leave you with a warm glow
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THEATRE REVIEW: Rocky Horror Show at Teatro Coliseum, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 31 October, runs through 5 November 2023 Then touring Europe including the UK and booking currently until 31 March 2024 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

It’s Halloween night, we’re in the middle of the 3rd row at this 1,700-capacity cinema/theatre celebrating its 100th birthday to watch a musical 1st seen upstairs at London’s Royal Court Theatre in June 1973.

  • Read on for reasons including how it’s no effort at all to be swept away by the sheer love with which this production is both performed and received
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