THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Manic Street Creature starring Maimuna Memon at Southwark Playhouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 21 October (matinee), runs through 11 November 2023 RUNTIME: 75 minutes (no interval)

We’re here in our front row seat at this 240-capacity venue because we loved Memon in Richard Hawley’s Standing At The Sky’s Edge for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Olivier.

  • Read on for reasons including why Memon shows tremendous promise as a writer and performer
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THEATRE REVIEW: King Lear starring Kenneth Branagh at Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 21 October, opens 31 October and runs through 9 December 2023 RUNTIME: 120 minutes without interval

At 62 years old director Branagh is considerably younger than the last 2 actors we’ve seen take on the role of Shakespeare’s King Lear – Sir Ian McKellen who was 78 in 2017 and the late Glenda Jackson 80 in 2016.

  • Read on for reasons including how Branagh’s casting is less A Haunting In Venice and more a vanity in London
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THEATRE REVIEW: Elephant starring Anoushka Lucas at Bush Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 14 October, opens 19 October runs through 4 November 2023 RUNTIME: 80 minutes (no interval)

Lucas was shortlisted for Best Actress In A Musical at the 2023 Oliviers for her role in the reimagining of musical Oklahoma! which we saw at the Young Vic before it transferred into the West End.

  • Read on for reasons including how Lucas will go on to write something even more thought-provoking
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THEATRE REVIEW: Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes & Dervla Kirwan at Prince Edward Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 14 October (matinee), runs through 13 January 2024 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

As the men’s England football team prepares for a crucial EURO 24 game against Italy on Tuesday (17 October 2023), James Graham’s latest play about Gareth Southgate’s reign as manager transfers to the West End.

  • Read on for reasons including how this West End production has changed from its National version
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THEATRE REVIEW: Beautiful Thing at Theatre Royal Stratford East

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 7 October (matinee), runs until 7 October 2023 Then Leeds Playhouse 18-28 October Tickets & HOME Manchester 31 October – 11 November 2023 Tickets

We took our 1st tentative steps out of the closet in Devon in 1993, the year that this Jonathan Harvey (Mother Goose, Duke Of York’s Theatre) play premiered at London’s Bush Theatre starring Jonny Lee Miller.

  • Read on for reasons including why Leeds and Manchester have a beautiful treat in store
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THEATRE REVIEW: PIAF starring Elena Roger at Teatro Liceo Buenos Aires, Argentina

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Thursday 14 September 2023 RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Roger gives a five-star performance of a three-star play in which she is the uncanny embodiment of the French singer who performed in cabaret and chanson styles and was the country’s most popular singer in the 1940s.

  • Read on for reasons including how we joined the enthusiastic standing ovation for this performance and production
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THEATRE REVIEW: Vanya starring Andrew Scott at the Duke Of York’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2 RUNTIME: 110 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 30 September, booking through 21 October 2023

Andrew Scott (Present Laughter, Old Vic) is 1 of this country’s finest actors but this intricate, multi-character Chekhov drama is ill-suited to a 1-man show.

  • Read on for reasons including how this was a valiant effort but not our favourite Vanya
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THEATRE REVIEW: Cabaret starring Jake Shears & Rebecca Lucy Taylor at The Kit Kat Club

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***** RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 30 September 2023 (matinee), booking through 28 September 2024

You may know Rebecca Lucy Taylor as indie pop star Self Esteem, this is her West End debut and she is, as her character Sally Bowles might put it, deliciously divine.

  • Read on for reasons including why Shears and Self Esteem make this electric production filthy gorgeous
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THEATRE REVIEW: Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends starring Bernadette Peters & Lea Salonga at the Gielgud Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 23 September (matinee), opens 3 October runs through 6 January 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval) UPDATE: Transfers to the Samuel J Friedman Theatre on Broadway from 25 March 2025

We’re sitting on the end of the 3rd row for the 3rd preview at this sold out 986-capacity venue and watch a single tear slide down the cheek of Bernadette Peters during a very moving Send In The Clowns.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is more fun than the BBC spectacular on which it is based
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THEATRE REVIEW: Gals Aloud at the Lyric Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 16 September 2023

It’s almost 4 years to the day since we first saw drag Girls Aloud tribute act, named Gals Aloud, at the Underbelly Festival shortly before the Gals leader Cheryl Hole was due to appear on the 1st season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

  • Read on for reasons including why the Gals deserve a longer West End run or regional tour
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