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Iron Maidens: Iron Fantasy at Soho Theatre

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Two women chase the elusive six-pack in Iron Fantasy, only to embark on an unexpected journey exploring what it truly means to be strong in today’s world. In a culture that demands visible strength and power, they subject themselves to lifting, protein powder-guzzling, and raw-egg drinking. Interestingly, consuming raw eggs elicited many squeamish reactions from members of the audience. None has obviously been to Cabaret to see Sally Bowles guzzle prairie oysters. But in the search for the attributes that make someone strong, a little more is revealed about being a young woman in the modern world. And that strength comes from a number of ways. It’s currently playing at the Soho Theatre .  It’s part performance, part musical, and part interviews, as writer-performers Shamira Turner and Eugénie Pastor, who make up the theatre performance duo She Goat, don a variety of silly costumes and play a range of musical instruments on their journey researching strength, fighting, and pumping i...

Sneak previews and gospel singing: The Amen Corner

This week I was lucky enough to catch a rehearsal of the first act of The Amen Corner, which starts previewing at the National Theatre next week. Within forty five minutes it is fascinating to see even in rehearsal how all the elements of the story are laid out.

The play is set in Harlem in the 1950s and tells the story of a fiery pastor Sister Margaret whose estranged husband unexpectedly returns. Combined with the antics of her son her congregation is soon in revolt against her hard line leadership.


Written by James Baldwin, it was his first attempt at a play and covers the role of the church in African American families, along with how racial prejudice led to ingrained poverty amongst the communities. Jazz and gospel singing features throughout the piece and this will include members from the London Community Gospel Choir.

Even in rehearsal the cast and performances from both some new and familiar faces will be sure to enthral. After the rehearsal we were trying to work out when this play was staged in London. It possibly was staged in the 1970s at the Tricycle Theatre, but in a time of economic crisis and questions around hard line religion, it is perhaps time for the show to have its run in London.

One to discover and also part of the £12 Travelex season... Check the website for details of the run...

More details on the show are in the following...


Background to the photoshoot is below...

Photo credits: Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Sister Margaret Alexander) and Eric Kofi Abrefa (her son, David). Photo by Richard Hubert Smith.

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