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You can’t stop the boats: Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea @ParkTheatre

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Sorry We Didn’t Die At Sea by Italian playwright Emanuele Aldrovandi and translated by Marco Young, has made a topical return to London at the Park Theatre after playing earlier this summer at the Seven Dials Playhouse. In a week when leaders and leaders in waiting were talking about illegal immigration, it seemed like a topical choice . It also has one hell of an evocative title. The piece opens with Adriano Celantano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol , which sets the scene for what we are about to see. After all, a song about communication barriers seems perfect for a play about people trafficking and illegal immigration. One side doesn’t understand why they happen, and the other still comes regardless of the latest government announcement / slogan .  However, the twist here is that the crossing is undertaken the other way. People are fleeing Europe instead of escaping war or poverty in Africa or the Middle East. It’s set sometime in the not-too-distant future. There is a crisis causing p

Movies: Hairspray


"Hairspray" movie poster, originally uploaded by knoopie.

To get over jetlag, I thought that an early session of Hairspray would do the trick. It did. There was so much energy on screen that it was impossible to fall asleep. And besides the prospect of seeing a movie with Michelle Pfieffer singing (and in a conga line), John Travolta dancing as a woman, Queen Latifah as a blond and Christopher Walken as a lovestruck husband was simply too good to sleep through.

All the musical numbers were pretty impressive showstoppers and pulled off with enough homage to John Waters to avoid it being a sanitised version of his original movie. It seemed so appropriate that Waters has a cameo as the flasher in the opening number as well. And while at times the story seems a little earnest, it was clear that the movie had its heart in the right place.

It has already had the biggest weekend opening of a musical, I hope it kicks Grease off its pedestal as the most successful movie musical in the last 30 years. Besides, unlike Olivia the lead Nikki Blonsky didn't need the others to dance around her (despite the bingo wings)... Oh and the music is so much better... Will be interesting to see how the West End production fares when it (finally) opens October this year...

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