THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: This Bitter Earth starring Omari Douglas & Alexander Lincoln & directed by Billy Porter at Soho Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN? Wednesday 18 June, opens 24 June and runs through 26 July 2025 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

Harrison David Rivers’ 2017 play This Bitter Earth is about an interracial gay couple in the US and their different attitudes to and experiences of activism as they seek to overcome the racism and prejudice they face.

  • Read on for reasons including how this UK directorial debut is rendered with much of the theatrical flair you might expect from a performance of Billy Porter’s
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THEATRE REVIEW: Jamie Lloyd’s Evita starring Rachel Zegler at the London Palladium

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Saturday 14 June, opens 27 June and runs through 6 September 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Zegler may be best known currently as a film star (West Side Story and more recently Snow White) but that is all about to change as she is absolutely sensational in this debut London stage role.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is London’s must-see musical of the moment
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THEATRE REVIEW: Operation Mincemeat new UK cast at the Fortune Theatre, London

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 31 May 2025, booking through 28 February 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The Broadway production of this musical starring its original British cast is up for 4 Tonys on Sunday (9 June 2025) and to celebrate we made our 3rd visit to this show.

  • Read on for reasons including how we couldn’t recommend this new musical more highly
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THEATRE REVIEW: After The Act at the Royal Court Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 24 May, runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (includes a 20 minute interval)

At 6pm on Monday 23 May 1988 4 lesbians protesting against Section 28 invaded a BBC studio as Sue Lawley and Nicholas Witchell started presenting the Six O’Clock News.

  • Read on for reasons including how we wouldn’t recommend this as a musical but politically it’s a diverting watch
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THEATRE REVIEW: Radiant Boy: A Haunting at Southwark Playhouse Borough (The Little) starring Stuart Thompson & Renee Lamb

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 110 minutes (with interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 24 May (matinee), runs through 14 June 2025

Russell is a singing student with cropped bleached blond hair who returns to his north-east home in the 80s where his single mother calls the local priest to exorcise her son’s demons.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is truly shocking and 1 of the best new plays of the year
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THEATRE REVIEW: Mrs Warren’s Profession starring Imelda Staunton & Bessie Carter at Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Monday 12 May, opens 22 May and runs through 16 August 2025 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

5-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (Hello, Dolly!, London Palladium) may be the reason for your interest in this revival but it’s her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Dear Octopus, National Theatre) who gives a star-making turn here.

  • Read on for reasons including why this story is shocking for how old yet still relevant it is today
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THEATRE REVIEW: A Stan Is Born! starring Alexis Sakellaris at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham (review ticket)

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 10 May (matinee) with occasional shows running through 29 May 2025 RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

In a week when our thoughts are dominated by Saturday’s 69th Eurovision Song Contest and whether 1988 victor Celine Dion will appear live there, it felt like the perfect time to see this autobiographical musical introduction to a performer whose best work we feel we’ve yet to see.

  • Read on for reasons including how Sakellaris may well be worth stanning in the not-too-distant future
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THEATRE REVIEW: Shucked at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre starring Sophie McShera, Georgina Onuorah & Ben Joyce

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 10 May, opens 19 May and runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Fans of the country-inspired hits by acts including Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter will find a great deal to enjoy here in this Tony-winning musical about a woman trying to save her community when the corn that protects it starts dying.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the best new musical of the year so far
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THEATRE REVIEW: Marie and Rosetta starring Beverley Knight at Rose Theatre, Kingston

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 3 May 2025, opens 9 May and runs through 24 May 2025 before transferring RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval) Update: Transfers to @SohoPlace 28 February through 11 April 2026 Tickets

Sometimes in our search for the new we forget the power of stories from the past and so it is that despite being hugely influential Sister Rosetta Tharpe became forgotten even in her own lifetime.

  • Read on for reasons including where else to see this unusual story of an unsung hero
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THEATRE REVIEW: Here We Are at the National Theatre starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Jane Krakowski

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Friday 25 April, opens 8 May and runs through 28 June 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Sondheim, musical theatre’s Shakespeare, died in 2021 and when news emerged of this final new musical hopes were high that he might have saved his best for last.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a reminder of Sondheim’s clever wordplay that this electric cast give a 5* performance of
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