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Showing posts from January, 2016

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More sex and violence: Playfight @sohotheatre

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The funny thing about three girls growing up under a tree is that you never quite know when they're being serious or just messing about. One time, they might be talking about giving blow jobs on a tennis court at school and another, they might be yearning for a connection that they can't quite explain. That's what happens in Playfight, an Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024 hit currently showing at Soho Theatre .  Writer Julia Grogan doesn't give us much time to dwell on the lives of these three young teenage girls. One minute, they're fifteen and giggling, and then the next thing, they're off getting married or going to University. But underneath all the smutty talk, humour, and quick scene changes, there is a darker underbelly about relationships, power, and consent. It's about finding your way in a complex world that can dehumanise and degrade you. But as things move so quickly, you could blink and miss it. This is too bad as the performances capturing this co...
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Let's talk about stuff: Clickbait @theatre503

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Clickbait is a comic new play about society’s attitude to porn and the women who make it for themselves. But it is hard to know exactly what to make of it. There is enough material for several plays here; attitudes to pornography, how to set up a sex empire, concepts of consensual sex. They are all explored, but all too briefly to make much sense. The play follows Nicola (played by Georgia Groome ) who, threatened with the release of an amateur sex video, makes a snap decision to post it online herself.
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Lighter shades of grey: The Picture of Dorian Gray @Trafstudios

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Something seems missing in this new adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, currently playing at Trafalgar Studios. Missing is any sense of excitement or thrills you would expect from Oscar Wilde's story about a beautiful man's hedonistic descent. The story was a scandal when it was first published. This new adaptation by Merlin Holland (Wilde's grandson) and John O'Connor, restores some homoerotic passages from the original manuscript. But as fascinating as they are, the overall piece is a bit of a damp squib.
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Dire sheep: Big Brother Blitzkrieg @KingsHeadThtr

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It seems like a great concept: after many rejections from Vienna's art school and a botched suicide attempt, Hitler wakes up in the Big Brother House. But what could pass for a five minute sketch is dragged out for an excruciating seventy minutes with few laughs.
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The finer things in life: The Long Road South @KingsHeadThtr

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The Long Road South at the Kings Head Theatre takes the period of the 1965 civil rights marches and distills it into a small character study. But the pleasure from this piece is in its humour and strong performances. Not much is happening in the summer of 1965 in Indiana. It is hot and the house of the Price family needs looking after. And over the course of the next ninety minutes, it becomes clear that it is not just the hedges and the grass that need trimming.
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Smoking previews: Aaron Kasmin, Lucky Strike @sims_reed

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Opening Sims Reed Gallery’s 2016 programme is an exhibition of chalk pencil drawings by artist Aaron Yasmin. Known for his abstract paintings and elegant colour pencil drawings, in Lucky Strike Yasmin takes inspiration from American cultural history to create a series of striking images. Taking inspiration from Lion Match Company’s mid-twentieth century feature matchbooks, these drawings reflect the rise of America’s consumer culture and how small matchbooks were used as tools to influence purchasing habits. The drawings evoke a glitzy bygone era... When smoking was so glamorous.
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The sex is in the beat: Kinky boots @kinkybootsuk

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I finally caught up with Kinky Boots , which is currently playing at the Adelphi theatre in London. The show is the Full Monty meets Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It's a show with terrific songs, great cast and fabulous outfits. However the story is a bit predicable. It derives its formula plot from the film of the same name. But thankfully as an added addition are a collection of songs written by Cindy Lauper that range from folk, pop and disco. On top of this are some very impressive (albeit kinky) boots.
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Bump in the night: Botallack O'Clock @ORLTheatre

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Botallack O'Clock brings to life the creative struggles of Roger Hilton in a funny and dreamy production. Insomnia has never seemed so inspiring and lonely as the dead of night comes to life. Towards the end of Hilton's life he turned to producing works using poster paint on paper. He worked mostly throughout the night on these works, along with writing letters to his wife and various other musings. This piece brings together these items to explore his struggles and his demons.
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Cat people and corns: Grey Gardens @swkplay

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Perhaps the central message in Grey Gardens is that no matter what you do, no matter how much you fight it, you will turn into your mother. Particularly since Jenna Russell (in a a star turn) plays both Little Edie and Big Edie in this show, based on the the Beales of Grey Gardens It’s only early in the year, but this has to be one of the funniest things to happen on stage in London for 2016. It also serves as a wonderful vehicle showing just how darn funny Russell can be. Grey Gardens is a musical based on the documentary of the same name. The documentary, released in 1975, caused a sensation with its frank depiction of two old cat women living in squalor with cats and raccoons. They also just happened to be related to Jacqueline Onassis.
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