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Wine time: The Frogs - Southwark Playhouse

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For a show called The Frogs, there isn’t much amphibian activity in the piece. But being a show with music by Stephen Sondheim, you could be mistaken for thinking it’s a critical theatrical piece. But like Sondheim’s final musical playing at the National Theatre, while it may not be a musical that fills you with provocative thoughts, it’s a fast-paced romp through hell and back to save the world for the sake of arts. With rousing choruses, thrilling choreography and plenty of cheap laughs, what more can you want from the theatre? It’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse (Borough) . There isn’t much to the plot, except that Dionysus (Dan Buckley), disillusioned by the state of a divided world, and his sidekick and slave, Xanthias (Kevin McHale), cross the river Styx to the underworld to find a great writer who they can return to the world to teach the world about life. He has his mind set on bringing back George Bernard Shaw until he hears the poetry of Shakespeare.  This v...

Previews: It curtains with Ron Arad’s Curtain Call this summer


Bloomberg Summer at The Roundhouse returns for its fifth year this August with Curtain Call by architect and designer Ron Arad.

It is a return performance of this piece after its original outing in 2011. This time around Arad will reinvent the curtain experience by inviting new collaborators to work with him on the 360° immersive installation, alongside returning artists from 2011.

The work will be showcased at the Roundhouse from 6 – 29 August 2016.


Curtain Call provides a canvas for films, live performances and audience interaction. Responding to the main space of the venue, the work is made up of 5,600 silicon rods suspended from an 18 metre diameter ring. This summer, Arad will again invite artists, musicians and friends to create unique works for the installation.

New artists for 2016 include: Kutiman, Marshmallow Laser Feast and Universal Everything. Returning from 2011 will be: Babis Alexia’s; Mat Coleslaw; Ori Gersht; Greenaway & Greenaway; Gabriel & Shira Klasmer; Christian Marclay; Javier Marshal; SDNA and David Shirley.

Photo credit: Stuart Leech

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