THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Tom, Dick and Harry starring and co-written by Andrew Pollard at the Alexandra Palace Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 6 August (evening), booking until 28 August 2022 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

The authors of Tom, Dick and Harry visited the National Archives in London to find the documentation surrounding the World War Two escape from Stalag Luft III best known perhaps as 1963 film The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough.

  • Read on for reasons including how your reviewer lent a hand and had a ball with several elements of audience participation
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Jerusalem starring Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook at the Apollo Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 30 July 2022, runs until 10 August 2022

My companion whispers in my ear at curtain down: ‘Best living actor in this country in a role of a lifetime’ and that does feel like a suitable 12-word summary.

  • Read on for reasons including how to get tickets for this must-see show
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Sister Act starring Beverley Knight & Jennifer Saunders at Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 30 July, runs to 28 August 2022

This 3,500-seater venue has 3 times been host to our Best Gig monsta winner (in 2017, 2018 and 2019) but it just feels too big from our Circle seat to do justice to this film turned musical.

  • Read on for reasons including how Hairspray star Lizzie Bea really grabbed our attention
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Patriots starring Tom Hollander at Almeida Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 16 July, booking until 20 August 2022

Hollander is doubtless 1 of this country’s greatest living theatre and TV actors and here as Boris Berezovsky his performance is sweary, larger than life and unforgettable.

  • Read on for reasons including how The Crown author Peter Morgan has crafted something extremely clever
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Anything Goes starring Kerry Ellis, Denis Lawson, Simon Callow & Bonnie Langford at the Barbican

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

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

WHEN?: Saturday 9 July (matinee), runs to 3 September 2022 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

There’s a seemingly unscripted moment at the final curtain call when Bonnie Langford completes the highest kick of the show, with her leg above her head, that makes you think about what could have been.

  • Read on for reasons including how this show is still ‘just the kick London needs to help it as theatres re-open’
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Unfortunate: The Untold Story Of Ursula The Sea Witch at the Underbelly Festival

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Sunday 3 July (matinee), running to 16 July 2022. Goes to Edinburgh Festival before a UK tour. UPDATE: Transfers to Southwark Playhouse and runs through 8 December to 17 February 2024 Tickets

Take the villainess from Disney’s Little Mermaid, pepper her backstory with feminist credentials and you have this part-parody new musical with some hugely memorable songs.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see this new musical around the UK this year
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: The Seagull starring Emilia Clarke, Daniel Monks & Indira Varma at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 2 July, running to 10 September 2022

Game Of Thrones goes Chekhov in this long-awaited Jamie Lloyd adaptation featuring the West End debut of Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) alongside fellow GoT star Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand).

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a modest choice of a role for the Mother of Dragons
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World at Theatre Royal Stratford East

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 18 June (matinee), running to 17 July 2022 RUNTIME: 85 minutes (no interval) UPDATE: Transfers to the Other Palace Theatre 20 July through 8 September 2024 Tickets

11-year-old schoolgirl Jade gets lost in a museum on a school trip and stumbles across a secret Gallery of Greatness where she encounters the titular Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World.

  • Read on for reasons including how songwriter Miranda Cooper has co-written number 1s for Sugababes and Girls Aloud
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: The Glass Menagerie starring Amy Adams at Duke Of York’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 28 May 2022, opens 31 May and runs to 27 August 2022 RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

We’re in a lengthy queue for the toilets at this venue in the interval when we overhear someone asking: ‘Do you think Amy Adams is hoarse?’

  • Read on for reasons including how both Paul Hilton and Tom Glynn-Carney shine here
Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Company directed by Antonio Banderas at Teatre Apolo de Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Friday 20 May, runs to 12 June 2022 RUNTIME: 180 minutes (with 20-minute interval)

Robert is single but dating and on his 35th birthday we see his life through his interaction with multiple couples.

  • Read on for reasons including how this faithful interpretation of the 1970 original is unexpectedly moving
Read More