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Eyes, hair, mouth: Darkie Armo Girl at Finborough Theatre

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Darkie Armo Girl, Karine Bedrossian’s electrifying one-woman show, commands attention from the moment it begins. First performed in 2022 and revived last year, it now returns for extra performance and it's an event not to miss. The show takes you through the thrills and horrors of a hectic life. She struts, shimmies, and taunts while revealing some horrific truths. She is such an irresistible storyteller that you find yourself hooked. The story is one of fame, glamour, abuse, self-harm, and suicide. If that subject matter doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you haven't seen it delivered with such high energy and provocation. It's currently at the Finborough Theatre . The show's title refers to a slur a popular girl at school once called her. Her ancestry is Armenian, and her parents were from Cyprus, where they fled the civil war and arrived in the UK with nothing. Shortly after she was born in Roehampton. The birth was an emergency C-section that left the baby and ...

Cold dark killers: Assassins @menchocfactory


Finally caught Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory. This dark and grim piece of musical theatre is re imagined as a funfair where the cast of would-be and actual assassins of US Presidents tell their stories like a bunch of grim clowns. But it comes across heavy handed and lacking much irony.

Staging a musical with this subject matter is always going to be a challenge, but both the material and the production don't really dig too much into the obsessive gun culture that is part of the country's DNA. Compared to The Scottsboro Boys, another musical based on an unpleasant subject, there is none of the bitterness or outrage presented ironically as a song and dance musical.


It is a gloomy theme park ride, with the best laugh coming at the beginning when the character the proprietor pops out of a giant clowns mouth. At this point the lady sitting next to me to let out an almighty yelp, which in turn led me to yelp a little...

Perhaps it was an off night following the cancellation of Thursday's show due to cast illness. The sound at times seemed murky and some of the cast were struggling with the notes and timing. And  when it's a Sondheim musical, it is probably never a good idea to have the performers seem so distant from the band and its musical director.

There has also been a cast change with Michael Xavier and Anna Francolini taking over from Aaron Tveit and Catherine Tate respectively. Both are strong replacements and highlights in the show.

The run has now sold out but there may be a transfer in the future. A history lesson for those who like their musicals dark, relentless and a bit obvious.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎


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