THEATRE REVIEW: Ghosts starring Callum Scott Howells & Victoria Smurfit at Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? Saturday 12 April, opens 16 April runs through 10 May 2025 RUNTIME 155 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Playwright Gary Owen explains his modern take on this beloved Ibsen in the programme: ‘There is a point to messing with a classic – if you get it right, you might preserve what was truly startling about the original. You might reproduce the impact this dusty old classic had when it was a snarling, swaggering young play.’

  • Read on for reasons including how you couldn’t ask for a more intense performance than star Scott Howells serves up
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Best read monstagigz content of 2023 starring Lemons, Lemons, Lemons

  1. Lemons, Lemons, Lemons starring Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman

Our most read content of 2023 was this preview review of a play by Sam Steiner about a society where spoken words were rationed to 140 a day in a two-hander starring Aidan Turner (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Noel Coward Theatre) and Jenna Coleman (All My Sons, Old Vic). Our review also caught the attention of Mail Online (see below).

  • Read on for reasons including Cabaret starring Jake Shears and Self Esteem, Guys And Dolls and The Motive And The Cue
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THEATRE REVIEW: Romeo and Julie starring Callum Scott Howells and Rosie Sheehy at the National Theatre

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: 18 February, opens 21 February and runs through 1 April 2023 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Callum Scott Howells (Cabaret. Playhouse Theatre) proves what a versatile actor he is in this story of a single young father struggling to bring up a young child and cope with an alcoholic mother.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is really the story of the injustices of the education system
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9 reasons why we can’t wait for February 2023 starring Sheridan Smith as Shirley Valentine

  1. Sheridan Smith is Shirley Valentine

Smith (Funny Girl, Savoy) returns to the stage for the 1st time since Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Palladium and this beloved Willy Russell one-woman comedy about a woman who finds love on holiday abroad is the perfect choice. Runs 17 February through 3 June at the Duke Of York’s. Tickets 1st preview review

  • Read on for reasons including Callum Scott Howells at the National, Standing At The Sky’s Edge and Benidorm Fest
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Best read monstagigz content of 2022 starring Jodie Comer’s West End debut

  1. When we saw the 1st preview of Prima Facie starring Jodie Comer

Comer’s West End debut was anticipated eagerly and this review of the Killing Eve star’s 1st preview is the best read piece of content monstagigz has published in its 7-and-a-half year history, let alone in 2022. Vote for Comer to win Best Theatre Actress in our annual monstas and for Prima Facie to win Best New Play. Review Broadway tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Fra Fee and Callum Scott Howells in Cabaret
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AWARDS SHORTLIST: MONSTAS: Best TV/Film Actor of 2021

It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2021? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 15 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2021.

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Q&A/PREVIEW: It’s A Sin featuring Russell T. Davies, Olly Alexander, Keeley Hawes & Omari Douglas

WHERE?: BFI at Home on YouTube

RUNTIME: 46 minutes

WHEN?: available to watch from 18/1/21

Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander remembers watching Russell T. Davies’ groundbreaking Channel 4 series Queer As Folk in secret when he was just 14 years old.

  • Read on for reasons including how Alexander wants to play a ‘sexy gay witch’

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