Theatre: The Moon Is Halfway To Heaven

The Moon is Halfway To Heaven is currently at the Jermyn Street Theatre and is an insightful look at friendships through the ages. Written and performed by David Kerby-Kendall with Lucas Hare, it charts the history of two friends from seven through to eighty-nine, against the backdrop of events in England over the last century to the present day. They meet at the local park bench and discuss the times and their lives and where they are heading.

What makes this play interesting is how natural and honest it is at exploring two characters emotions over the ages. I couldn't quite believe that a park bench would survive in England that entire period without being trashed, burned or weathered away, but it is was a reflective evening at the theatre nonetheless. And an opportunity to catch two excellent performances and some new writing in the West End. It runs through to 1 October.

Theatre: Rock of Ages

Rock of Ages which is now playing in London, is a jukebox musical of classic rock hits from the eighties. It is full of so much energy and rocked the Shaftesbury Theatre on Wednesday night so hard, that you can't help but like it. This show has played Broadway and other parts of the world and now even has a film in the works. The reasons why it has been such a success might bewilder, but you will have a good time anyway

The cast of incredibly talented people manage to do a lot with the material. And by that I mean both the overly laboured plot and the skimpy costumes. The ladies in the chorus are a particular treat as they bump and grind their way through the proceedings. The men nearby seemed to be watching the show mostly with their mouths open.

Theatre: South Pacific

While many of the critics seem to think it has lost something in crossing the Atlantic, Saturday's performance of South Pacific at the Barbican was still an impressive night out at the theatre, and highlights what has been missing from London musicals for a while.

Notwithstanding a little lack of chemistry in the leads (and a fully fleshed out characterisation of Nellie by Samantha Womack), South Pacific is an impressive show. The cast give an excellent performance with some very fine singing. There is even a little bit of rear nudity and flesh in this production which no doubt gives a modern updating (and a thrill for the older gentlemen in the audience of a certain persuasion).

The work is a marvellous example of how seamless and integrated a story with music can be. While the songs could stand on their own (and most do), there is very little pointless exposition or labouring. The three hours you spend in the South Pacific will breeze by. If only all musicals were this clever and well written. It runs through to October.

Theatre: Crazy For You (or maybe slightly ambivalent)

Hopefully it will be a while before there is another revival of Crazy For You, which has its final week at Regents Park Open Air Theatre this week.

The cast are terrific and so is the dancing. Sean Palmer and Clare Foster make terrific leads and keep things as fresh as they could be. But this is probably the kind of show that needs constant revisions and rewrites to stay fresh. While it is an update of the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, twenty years on it too feels dated. The cheesy book linking to even cheesier lesser known Gershwin works quickly becomes tedious.

The "open air" doesn't help the ambience either... Nor does the Roy Rogers inspired set. Perhaps another Gershwin show, Porgy and Bess might lend itself better to the open air environment... Although London summers are not quite the hot temperatures of South Carolina, there no doubt could be some effective rain sequences for the hurricane scenes... Until then, marvel at the cast, great costumes and some rather nifty footwork... It ends 10 September...

Theatre: The Mercy Seat

The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute is hard hitting and controversial. Originally staged in 2002, it no doubt caused a stir when first staged a dark and cynical look at human emotions against the backdrop of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Ten years on, time gives it a different perspective. It feels less shocking and the more understandable. Perhaps it helps having lived in London through a summer of mindless random criminal acts... Riots, police corruption, general economic malaise... Life can seem a lot like how LaBute describes it: random and opportunistic. And given the right set of circumstances anyone can do anything.

Against this backdrop is Ben and Abby (played by Sean O'Neil and Janine Ingrid Ulfane). She is his boss and he is married. Both should have been at the Twin Towers but a morning dalliance meant that instead they were at her flat. And now against the tragedy there is a potential opportunity.

To give too much away would spoil the play, but watching the chemistry between the two actors as they alternate between sparring and embracing each other is fascinating and brutally believable. It is a roller coaster ride and after a slow build up things move quickly throughout the one hour forty minutes at the theatre. The intimacy of the Pleasance theatre makes watching the proceedings at times almost voyeuristic and unbearable. But like all good drama you can't resist watching. It runs until 16 September.

Immediate impressions from the Audioboo below (with thanks to Webcowgirl)


A chance to also reflect upon the fact that ten years ago there was not much social media. Sure there were blogs, but with no wifi, no tweets no audioboos... How did we live our lives?

Edinburgh 2011: Segue Sisters

Looking back at the Edinburgh Fringe there was a lot of fine singing to be savoured. Including from the Segue Sisters, who are a close-knit harmony group with a difference. They ride on personal mobility vehicles. Or rather they would if health and safety rules at the Gilded Balloon allowed. Instead, we have to pretend that they could as they harmonised some thoroughly modern popular tunes of the day against the backdrop of a story involving them going to jail for stealing too many popular songs.

Actually it is hard to believe these sweet lovely girls could go to jail for anything. Well, maybe writing cheesy stories to hang their act off, although they are not the only ones at the Fringe guilty of doing that...

The ladies are lovely whatever they do and perform some great versions of Alice Cooper’s Poison and Lady Gaga’s Telephone. Singing Sweet Dreams by Eurthmics without accompaniment also gave a chance for their vocals to shine. Well worth becoming Facebook fans of them to watch what they get up to next...

Theatre: Grindhouse

From one fringe festival to another, on Monday night I found myself with Johnnyfox at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern catching Grindhouse, an evening of experimental theatre from RE:artzzZ as part of the Hot August Fringe.

Vauxhall around the RVT is an odd place to spend a weeknight. The busy roadway, the sense the venue is boarded up and the empty side streets gives you a hostile vibe about the place. On the other hand, we had it on good authority they serve a good scampi and chips, and you can smell the vinegar from the food upon entering.

As the act prepares to begin, the audience is weirded out by some mortuary chic as the performers wearing various shades of black and grey, walk around the venue staring at the patrons. It is slightly unnerving particularly when you are sharing a plate of scampi, but effective nonetheless. The attention to detail in the costumes were particularly impressive.

Grindhouse consists of two parts. The first part, Dial M, performed by Greg Tate is an engaging one man performance that is unbearably intense at times. It is a story of love, terror and obsession. A lot of obsession. There was a quip about cutting off a clitoris and putting it in a sandwich, and the simulation of a sexual act was hilarious. Whatever the intention of the work, it was clear this character had some unresolved issues with his mother...

Ed Fringe 2011: Briefs

Of all the shows that I caught at the Ed Fringe, one that I had a soft spot for was the boys from my hometown Brisbane Australia performing Briefs. They have taken the circus act and made it dirty. Very, very dirty. Part drag, part circus and part filth they have managed to go to a place nobody else has quite gone before. The circus and burlesque will probably be better for it.

It is an unpolished act, and there are long stretches that could be politely described as, "not connecting with the audiences". But full frontal nudity and Australian cliches aside, it is a showcase for some incredible burlesque and circus acts (along with a slice of life from Australia). It is not all filth and there are some touching moments including where one of their troupe gets a traditional tattoo and a small treat for the audience is offered up at half time. It all makes for an impressive show and a sellout on the night I saw it. Here's hoping they don't quite make it back to Australia yet and manage to get a few dates in London... Or at least come back next year...

Edinburgh reflections 2011: More coverage

After four full days over five days, it was time to bid farewell to Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Fringe (and reviewing for the guys at Whatsonstage.com and The Public Reviews).

Going to the Fringe requires discipline in itself. You need to be able to plan a day of seeing shows, get to each of them in time (and not get lost). And manage to eat and drink something on the way. Sleep is always good too. Adding the requirement to write short and coherrent 200 word review of what you are seen within 24 hours and give it a star rating is really like trying to be too clever for one's own good.

Of course nobody reads the reviews (even the performers in some cases). They only read how many stars it has. And the star system could be quite complicated. Not so in Edinburgh. Arriving here Johnnyfox advised of the tendency for everyone to inflate stars and described it in one of his reviews as "reviewers spunking stars up on the wall in order to be bylined on the posters." Therefore a five-star show would be a four star show anywhere else and so on. So for a show to be one star, it would have to be completely vile.

Edinburgh Reflections 2011: The first 36 hours

The first reflections on the shows seen to date with @Johnnyfoxlondon and a jaded boo following an awful Faulty Towers experience...

 

Meanwhile, I have published elsewhere short reviews of the following shows so far:

• Little Shop of Homos
• The Deacon
• Mary Blandys Gallows Tree
• Still Life Dreaming
• The Melody Blog
• Please Retain For Your Records

More detailed coverage to follow...

Summertime: Leave London

Summertime is a chance to be out of London, which given recent events has been quite a relief. But it hasn't all been muscle boys in tight speedos on beaches of Nice. I am also at the Edinburgh Fringe reviewing for Whatsonstage.com and The Public Reviews. It is a great opportunity to see some strange and interesting shows and meet some rather lovely and talented people.

I will publish and tweet these reviews separately, along with the links to the above sites. I'm up in Edinburgh until Sunday so welcome any suggestions for things I should catch, but at the moment I am on a deadline to publish three more reviews and find a complete stranger who speaks fluent French. Now if I only had my instructions a few days ago when I was surreptitiously taking pictures on the beach... The things we do for cultural inspiration... Now back to the laptop...