THEATRE REVIEW: A Stan Is Born! starring Alexis Sakellaris at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

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: Thanks For Having Me starring Kedar Williams-Stirling, Keelan Kember & Nell Tiger Free at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

By Neil Durham (Review ticket)

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Opened Wednesday 9 April 2025, runs through 26 April 2025 RUNTIME: 85 minutes (no interval)

‘All time spent not being in love is time spent queuing,’ observes writer/star Kember as neurotic overthinker Cashel in this laugh-out-loud funny romantic comedy.

  • Read on for reasons including if you’re looking for a comedy with lots of heart and even more laughs this could be just the ticket for you
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THEATRE REVIEW: Hamlet starring Eddie Izzard at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Sunday 16 June, running through Sunday 30 June 2024 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

It’s unusual for a performer to address their audience directly at the end of a show but Izzard does so here acknowledging it divided critics, urging fans to take to social media to spread the word about its appeal to the ‘young and young at heart’ before it departs this venue in a fortnight to go around the world.

  • Read on for reasons including how 1-person storytelling is a bit of a fashionable fad that is already starting to fray a little
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THEATRE REVIEW: Shopping & F***ing

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE?: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

WHEN: 15/10 (matinee), runs to 5/11

Author Mark Ravenhill was co-creator of ITV sitcom Vicious and this was his first play, now 21 years old, which caused quite the stir in the 90s.

  • Read on for the lowdown on whether Shopping and F***ing stands up two decades later

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