It isn't every time when you go to the theatre that there is a deathly silence at the end of the show... Only to be broken by somebody in the audience sighing and exclaiming, "Well... THAT was interesting..." But such was the case Sunday afternoon at the wake last performance of the musical All Bob's Women. The show opened Tuesday and posted closing notices the next day. Translated from an Italian show that apparently ran in Milan for months, it is billed as a sexy musical comedy. The problem with the show was that it was not sexy, not musical and it wasn't funny. But no point flogging a dead horse. The Evening Standard, The Stage and (most memorably) The Telegraph cover why it is a disaster. I was surprised by little things like:
The actors had been rehearsing this show for many weeks
Concert-like body mics and deafening sound to match it
Half a taxi-cab appearing on stage
Some weird woman in the audience who cackled every few minutes (I was half-expecting one of the actors would shout out, "Would you keep it down mum?")
Part of the story involves Bob (played by Samuel Oatley) dressing up as a woman to get to know the secret desires of the women he wants to bed. His drag act and clothes worn reminded me of Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in Bosom Buddies, which may not have made it to Britain so I have included it above. The rest of the story didn't make much sense so I decided for my own entertainment value to fill in the gaps... Bob was a secret agent working for the enemy to corrupt England's slappers. He would find the most unattractive women and mess with their minds until they sang off-key before moving onto the next one. That worked for me.
Large portions of this play Samuel Oatley was parading around in pants. Which was not bad. After Julian Ovenden in his boxers on Friday, the gays in Clapham Saturday and Oatley in his briefs on Sunday it has been quite a pants weekend. I think that is something I can live with. As for the show... It lives on in Youtube thanks to West End Live (if you can put up with the poor camera work and overbearing sax).
Giffords Circus tours England annually and has arrived in Chiswick for the next week with its current show, Waterfield. Some circuses nowadays are stripped-down affairs focusing on a few circus elements or minimising costumes. In contrast, this show takes the old-time circus and gives it a modern twist. There’s wonder and whimsy, incredible costumes and staging, plus some spectacular acrobatic acts. The show is set to music performed by a live band, with an eclectic set of songs sung by Jenna Dearness-Dark. It feels both familiar and new at the same time. Animals are part of the performance, including a goose that spreads its wings on command. What’s not to like? The show is simply irresistible. The mood is set as you arrive. After passing under the A4 and entering Chiswick House and Garden via a nondescript car park, you are instantly transported. The dystopian, traffic-clogged London suburb becomes another time and place. Reddish circus wagons ring a large tent. Music plays. A c...
Attending a late-night play during a public transport strike may sound unwise—certainly the choice of a diehard theatre fan, especially since it meant walking London’s streets at midnight to get home. Yet, as I recounted this on Friday to explain my tiredness, I found myself laughing about how funny The Sequel was. Lucas Closs, an emerging writer, fills the play with enough intrigue and absurdity to keep you enthralled—even as you wonder how you’ll get home. It’s currently part of the late show at the King’s Head Theatre. The premise is that Grace (Nisha Emich) returns to the cafe where she wrote her first book, which became wildly successful. The cafe has become a small museum, or shrine, to her work. It is completed with marzipan figures of the main characters. John (Jim Findley), who was a central character and poet in her book, is now a crusty old tour guide. Some years have passed since the novel first appeared, and business isn’t what it used to be. Fewer tourists are making...
I found myself at my local theatre, The Finborough Theatre in Earls Court, watching a play called Local. This is a play about childhood memories, home in the North, and belonging. But when you live between towns, cities or countries even, perhaps you never feel at home in any of them. Welcome to the life of an outsider, not a local. And this is at the heart of Liz Richardson’s solo show about growing up in West Cumbria and how returning home, meeting again people from her past. We go with her on a journey to discover who she is and where she is going. It’s currently playing at the Finborough after touring Cumbria and other parts of England. Richardson takes us on an engrossing and personal journey as she opens the show. Who she is and where she was from was how she always introduced herself. Except that she never said that she was from West Cumbria , but from the much nicer sounding Lake District . Ooooooooooh. Well she admits she was always a storyteller, and a life as a writer in th...
