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High anxiety: Collapse - Riverside Studios

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It’s a brave or maybe slightly provocative production to use Hammersmith Bridge on their artwork for a show called Collapse, which is about how everything collapses—poorly maintained bridges, relationships, and jobs. Nothing works. That’s probably too close to home for Hammersmith residents stuck with a magnificently listed and useless bridge on their front door. It gets even weirder when you realise the piece is staged in what looks like a meeting room with a bar. However, keeping things together in the most unlikely of circumstances is at the heart of Allison Moore's witty and engaging four-hander, which is currently having a limited engagement at Riverside Studios . The piece opens with Hannah (Emma Haines) about to get an injection from her husband (Keenan Heinzelmann). They’re struggling for a baby, and he’s struggling to get out of bed. But he managed to give her a shot of hormones before she started worrying about the rest of the day. She’s unsure she will keep her job with ...

Fancy footwork: Floyd Collins @WiltonMusicHall


A cave man searching for fame and fortune - and finds it after he gets trapped in one - is the basis of the musical Floyd Collins, currently playing at Wilton's Music Hall.

Based on the true story of Kentucky cave explorer Collins. After getting his foot trapped he becomes a media sensation when a cub reporter (who is thin and small enough to enter the cave) interviews him. His subsequent story becomes syndicated across America.




Written by Adam Guettel with a book by Tina Landau, it was hailed at the time as a new landmark in musical theatre with its bluegrass-infused score. Perhaps some of the music is an acquired taste, but the piece still seems as powerful and as moving.

It's helped with a slick production and delivered a cast of fine singers and performers, headed up by Ashley Robinson as the caver Floyd.

Directed by Jonathan Butterell, it's a simple yet effective production. It makes the most of the cavernous space of Wilton's Music Hall and like a sand cave, it's a rare find. Floyd Collins runs until 15 October.


Photo credit: evocative production images by Hannah Barton

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