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Travelin' Through: Broken Toys @CervantesTheatr

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Things are a bit different at the Cervantes Theatre when you see Broken Toys. You enter through the upstairs dressing rooms and go down to the theatre. It is a circuitous route, much like the story of Marion. You end up in the same place but have taken a different journey. And like what the old prostitute said. It's not the work but the stairs. And there before you is the theatre, but not entirely as I recall it. It feels like an intimate cabaret venue with tables and a shiny stage. And there we are introduced to Marion. Marion grew up in a small town during the Franco regime. A place where looking a bit different could make you the subject of gossip and a threat to your life. And despite being assigned male at birth and the attempts of family and father figures, she was an outsider in her town.  And so Marion sets off on a journey to the city. And in the shadows, she finds a place to hide. But with guidance from drag performer Dorian Delacroix begins to find her voice. Her journe

Kosher cougars: A Dark Night in Dalston @ParkTheatre


No matter what your religious or cultural background, all you need is a warm hearted older woman to perk you up. And chewable painkillers. And tea in a paper cup. These are all important in A Dark Night in Dalston which is currently playing at Park Theatre.

In the piece Council estate resident Gina brings in a young devout Jewish man lying outside her flat for a plaster and hot cup of tea. Some of the lads on the estate roughed him up after he was visiting the local slapper.  It wasn't so much as anti-Semitism as robust local banter.

Anyway while she is tending to his cuts and bruises and offering him tea the sun sets. And so he can't go home as it's the sabbath.  He doesn't want to face his father and he doesn't want to face his fiancee. Gina is an ex-nurse and full-time carer. But what care does young Gideon need? What draws him to Dalston in the first place since he comes from Stanmore? Couldn't he find what he was after in Kilburn?


Many of these questions remain unanswered throughout the piece, even if Michelle Collins and Joe Coen are engaging in their banter and give the piece much of its sexual tension.

Stewart Permutt's script is also full of laugh out loud moments. But as the piece goes on it becomes less plausible. The Dalston in this piece doesn't feel like the gentrifying piece of inner London it is. Perhaps the hipsters, the bankers and thriving arts scene of the area inhibit another parallel Dalston.

At its current length it feels like there are several endings to the story. If there was only one it would have more edge.

Directed by Tim Stark, A Dark Night in Dalston is at Park Theatre until 1 April. Check the website for available dates as the show is close to selling out.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photos by Helen Murray

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