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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

Theatre: The Pitchfork Disney

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Wednesday night I was fortunate enough to see the first preview of The Pitchfork Disney at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston. It is a mildly unnerving post-apocalyptic tale of dreams, nightmares, chocolate and things that bug you... Nothing is quite what it seems in this play. And through a series of monologues, there are laughs and shocks. It is hard to talk too much about the play without giving it away. But it is a showcase for some very talented actors. Chris New - who was in the well-received movie Weekend - gives an intense performance as Presley. He is great to watch along with co-star Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (pictured) as Cosmo Disney. Both manage to make their crazy roles believable and interesting in as much as that is possible. Rounding out the cast is Mariah Gale and Steve Guadino... Philip Ridley's play celebrates its 21st anniversary this year. While it may not be as shocking to audiences now as it was then. It does have a certain unnerving quality that remains

Theatre: First Light and Mr Darwin's Tree

First Light - Trailer from Fionn Watts on Vimeo . The King's Head Theatre in Islington is playing a season of plays by Murray Watts this month. I finally caught the double bill - First Light and Mr Darwin's Tree - on Thursday evening. It all makes for an evening of unexpected surprises. Laughs, shocks and a few revelations abound over the course of two very different pieces of theatre.

Panto: Dick Whittington

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It's the tail-end of panto season. School is back, Christmas and New Year have come and gone and the holidays are over. But fortunately the New Wimbledon Theatre's Dick Whittington is a welcome hanger on from the period. Its funny, sharp and varied enough to keep people of all ages entertained. There's even a 3D film segment in the second half to scare the children. But top billing for this show is Dame Edna as the Spirit of London fairy helps Dick (and the show) along. The show gives and opportunity for Dame Edna to fly through the audience, riff on old routines and muse about the genre of the pantomime. It is hilarious stuff. The jokes about empty seats being the result of subscribers to the theatre from the posh parts of Wimbledon, who have since died, are comedy gold... Of course when Dame Edna isn't around there is the good looking Sam Attwater as the hero and Anna Williamson as Alice along with a host of supporting characters that work so hard it is exhaus

Scenes of London: Sunday in the Park

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January in London doesn't have to be grey and miserable. It can be crisp, sunny and green with a dog mid-distance wandering around for no real reason...

Theatre: Cirque Du Soleil - Totem

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Cirque Du Soleil's journey of the origin of the species - Totem - returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a limited run. Directed by  Robert Lepage , it is a thrilling and beautiful show. People fly through the air, juggle, unicycle, play tricks and clown around. It is all spectacular stuff.

Grim New Year: Sweeney Todd Preview

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2012 looks set to be delightfully grim if this teaser trailer for the Sweeney Todd musical is any measure... It opens at the Adelphi in March 2012... But it won't be all blood and murder... I'm off to see Cirque du Soleil's Totem tonight... More later...

Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest The Musical

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The Importance of Being Earnest, The Musical currently playing at the Riverside Studios Hammersmith , turns out to be a nice little Christmas surprise. The show with a book by Douglas Livingstone and score by Adam McGuinness and Zia Moranne takes Oscar Wilde's play and turns it into a brisk and witty affair that captures the essence of the comedy while feeling like a distinct show in its own right.

Music and Advertising: Millbank Tower

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In case you missed it, Millbank Tower earlier this week served as a showcase for a light show and performance by Deadmau5 to mark the launch of the new Nokia Lumia smartphone . Maybe this landmark building is getting a new groove (albeit through a phone and operating system that is a bit boxy)...

Theatre: Crazy For You (and those legs)

After a successful run at Regents Park Open Air Theatre this summer, Crazy For You is now at the Novello Theatre. I saw it at Regents Park and was not so crazy about it then . Now in a theatre and away from evening chills, planes flying overhead and the occasional moth, it is a chance to ignore those distractions and focus on the vibrant singing and dancing, and spectacular costumes. There is so much energy on stage conveyed through a series of spectacular dances. Legs kick, flip and dance their way through nearly three hours of entertainment.  You will be exhausted just watching it.

Theatre: A Round-Heeled Woman

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A Round-Heeled Woman has just transferred from the Riverside Studios to the Aldwych Theatre. It is an opportunity for Sharon Gless (of Cagney and Lacey fame) to portray through part monologue / part drama the true story of Jane Juska. Juska is a woman who placed an advertisement in the The New York Review of Books that read: "Before I turn 67 – next March – I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me."  The play, which is based upon Juska's book, goes through some of the encounters that lead to love, heartbreak, rejection and laughs. The audience on Friday night was not prepared for the humiliation arising from this situation. There were audible gasps when one of her male suitors tells her why she needs to get some lubricant.  But the sharp wit and brutal incisiveness is frequently undermined by a superfluous supporting cast that have little to do, and a set so distracting that it has your mind wondering to ask q