By Carron Stacey
WHEN?: 16 to 19/11/18
WHERE?: Butlins Minehead Arena
Rush, rush, rush – got to get there for Salad as Drink the Elixir was one of our favourite hits pre-Britpop in the 90s.
This is only the 3rd year of the Olivier Award-winning annual family pantomime at the Palladium but already it’s a staple in our Christmas must-do list – and we’re bringing the relations. Clary has found his niche and here’s what we thought about his show stopping turn in its 2016 and 2017 incarnation. Former Vicar Of Dibley French should make an interesting comic foil. Runs 8/12 through 13/1/19. Tickets
WHERE? Dorfman Theatre, National
RUN TIME: 75 minutes (without interval)
WHEN?: 17/11/18
Author Bryna Turner explains the conflict at the heart of her play is between a revolutionary, the old guard and someone seeking to make progress, and its star Fiona Shaw adds 1 word – ‘Brexit’.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
TTTB SETLIST: We Are Detective; Love On Your Side; Science Fiction: You Take Me Up; Lies; Lay Your Hands On Me; Doctor! Doctor!; Hold Me Now
WHEN?: 14/11/18, tour runs to 8/12/18
He may have been 3rd on the bill but Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey won a deserved acapella audience singalong of the chorus to 1983 classic Hold Me Now after his all-women band had finished it.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE? Bush Theatre RUN TIME: 75 minutes no interval
WHEN?: (press ticket) 13/11, runs to 24/11/18
One of the reasons we love the Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, south-west London, is that it champions new writing that both challenges but also seems rooted in reality.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
SETLIST: Sucker Punch; In Vain; Schedules; Plot Twist; Raw; High Five; Dynamite; I Don’t Want To Know; Fake Friends; Haunted; I Don’t Buy It; Savage In Our Blood; Go To War; Don’t Kill My Vibe; Focus; Credit; Strangers
WHEN?: 12/11/18
WHERE: O2 Brixton Academy
‘We need to hear that debut album – now’ we wrote when we last saw Sigrid in March at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and it is a sentiment that is much underscored tonight.
OUT IN THE UK: 8/11/18
ALBUM: Glitter To The Neon Lights (out 19/11/18)
Nicki plays the Wicked Witch of the West in panto next month and she’s taking no prisoners on this soaraway, Stock Aitken Waterman-sounding blast of unashamed pop – out now.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE? Harold Pinter Theatre RUN TIME: 2 hours and 40 minutes (including a 30-minute interval)
WHEN?: 9/11, runs to 8/12/18
We’re halfway through the Pinter At The Pinter season in the West End and there’s a real gem of 1 of his less well-known 1-act plays after the interval here.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
RELEASED: 2/11/18 (UK)
RUNNING ORDER: A Northern Soul; Handle With Care; Priceless; Are You Just Sleeping; Remedy In The Melody; Rock Bottom; Why Can’t I Fall In Love; Ain’t That Funny; Sweetest Of Thieves; Listen To The Rain; The One; Don’t Beg For Love
Smith’s 1st album Sheridan was last year’s 2nd best selling debut by a UK woman, behind only Dua Lipa’s Brit Award winner.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE? Studio 54 RUN TIME: 85 minutes (no interval)
WHEN?: 4/11, runs to 13/1/19
‘Fake news’ is a term that is rarely out of the headlines and here we have a new American play that investigates a true story about a fact checker who challenges a writer.
