Scenes from a final rehearsal...

Sweat and gluttony...

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Put on a little mascara: Pretty Ugly at Camden People’s Theatre

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  Many shows explore living in the present and leaving the past behind. Theo Chen’s Pretty Ugly is about finding who you are and accepting it. Even if you have a lingering doubt or two about your life, there’s no time like the present. Including dressing up and putting on a show. And isn’t that what anyone wants from a performer? It has concluded a short run at the Camden People’s Theatre .  Pretty Ugly explores the inner demons and self-doubt that mark Theo’s journey from Singapore to taking on the world. With a little sparkle and a smattering of songs, it’s a warm, musical journey through Theo’s life so far. It also includes plenty of Sondheim. Sondheim's music can change your life , and it clearly left a strong impression on young Chen from age twelve onward.  Theo Chen takes us through self-doubt, high school friendships that end in tears and wandering about the cruising grounds of New York City. As he recounts the latter and strikes up a conversation with someone the...
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The agony and the ecstasy: Cadel: Lungs on Legs at Riverside Studios @cadeltheplay

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Cadel comes with a subtitle, “lungs on Legs”, which is what Cadel Evans, Australia’s only ever winner of the Tour De France, was referred to as. Connor Delves, who co-wrote and devised a 70-minute sprint through the pain and glory behind this win, could be called lungs and mouth on legs. He cycles, he emotes, he sweats, he spits and collapses on stage.  He spares no pain in this brisk and thrilling account of a sporting victory that was never certain. Even if you know little about the sport, you feel that you’re there struggling up the mountain for a photo finish. It’s currently spinning at Riverside Studios after playing at the Edinburgh Fringe.  Delves performs (and pedals) on a 2011 yellow bike, the same model that Cadel Evans won the Tour on. Watching the piece, it’s hard to work out where the performer ends, and the subject begins. Delves doesn’t look like Cadel, as the footage of the real one at the end of the show shows, but you feel he's captured the man’s essence in ...
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Bare emotions: Gods and Monsters @swkplay

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Gods and Monsters , now playing at the Southwark Playhouse is a showcase of incredible performances from its terrific cast and an engaging story. Oh and there is a bit of full frontal nudity too. Based on the novel Father of Frankenstein (which was also the source material for the film of the same name ), the story is a blend of fact and fiction. Age, memory, fame, youth and loss collide in the story of the last few months in the life of English director James Whale. Whale director and creator of the first two Frankenstein films, had a moderately successful career in Hollywood which enabled him to live comfortably in Los Angeles. He was also openly gay. But following a series of strokes in his sixties, he lost his ability to prevent painful memories from his past flooding back. And without giving too much away, his most successful creation, the monster in Frankenstein, seems to become something far more personal.
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