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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Swinging and projecting: Soho @PeacockTheatre #sohotheshow


A journey through London's soho with its street workers, artists, drag queens and everyday people is the theme of Soho. It is a  physical movement spectacular at the Peacock Theatre for a brief run.

Acrobats, dance and projections combine with a throbbing soundtrack to make for a breathtaking evening.

At times there is so much going on that it's hard to know where to look. But it's a slick piece of circus artisty and projections


It's a great ensemble with a mix of different circus specialists and dance experts.

There's martial artist Anton Simpson-Tidy, hip hop dancer hair-ography expert Kayla Lomas-Kirton. Alessio Motta serves as the everyman of the piece but also wows the audience with a thrilling performance on the Chinese pole. Big guy Charlee Rico DeBolla has some great scenes flexing his beefcake and showing off on the aerial straps.


Aerial tissue and drag artist Danny Ash should get a special achievement for singing while hanging upside down and struggling with a wig.


But Xander Taylor and Mélanie Dupuis steal the show with a romantic and gravity defying performance on the doubles trapeze.

The soundtrack is a mixtape of old and new music featuring the Sex Pistols, Bowie, Daft Punk and Etta James. It's pulled together with new compositions by Peter Coyte.



Perhaps it goes on for a bit. Not all the projections and lighting highlighted the work of the performers. The intermission seemed to interrupt the flow of the evening. And it would have been fun to have a segment on the clone shops and luxury developments changing the face of Soho.

But it's better to say its a circus in Soho.  Directed by Abigail Yates, Soho is at the Peacock Theatre until 20 May.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photos by Stufish.


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