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No country for old women: Old Ladies - at Finborough Theatre

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The day after seeing The Old Ladies at the Finborough Theatre , I was describing the play to someone in great detail: about three old ladies who lived in a rickety house in southern England in 1935. Based on Hugh Walpole’s novel and adapted by Rodney Ackland, it is the sort of story with enough believability, humour and mild thriller to stick in your mind. Perhaps it is the lure of this dark, forboding tale of a life without money, to be alone and to be old, that makes you feel attracted to this poverty porn. But then again, given the state of the world, the cost of living, an ageing population, or just the fact that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, it might as well be an every little old lady-for-herself, too. It’s a well-acted and staged piece that moves at a brisk pace, so there isn’t much time to think about it too much. And in the intimate (or should that be claustrophobic?) space of the Finborough, there’s nowhere to avert your eyes. Even if you wanted to.  The scene is a grim Cathe...

Swinging and projecting: Soho @PeacockTheatre #sohotheshow


A journey through London's soho with its street workers, artists, drag queens and everyday people is the theme of Soho. It is a  physical movement spectacular at the Peacock Theatre for a brief run.

Acrobats, dance and projections combine with a throbbing soundtrack to make for a breathtaking evening.

At times there is so much going on that it's hard to know where to look. But it's a slick piece of circus artisty and projections


It's a great ensemble with a mix of different circus specialists and dance experts.

There's martial artist Anton Simpson-Tidy, hip hop dancer hair-ography expert Kayla Lomas-Kirton. Alessio Motta serves as the everyman of the piece but also wows the audience with a thrilling performance on the Chinese pole. Big guy Charlee Rico DeBolla has some great scenes flexing his beefcake and showing off on the aerial straps.


Aerial tissue and drag artist Danny Ash should get a special achievement for singing while hanging upside down and struggling with a wig.


But Xander Taylor and Mélanie Dupuis steal the show with a romantic and gravity defying performance on the doubles trapeze.

The soundtrack is a mixtape of old and new music featuring the Sex Pistols, Bowie, Daft Punk and Etta James. It's pulled together with new compositions by Peter Coyte.



Perhaps it goes on for a bit. Not all the projections and lighting highlighted the work of the performers. The intermission seemed to interrupt the flow of the evening. And it would have been fun to have a segment on the clone shops and luxury developments changing the face of Soho.

But it's better to say its a circus in Soho.  Directed by Abigail Yates, Soho is at the Peacock Theatre until 20 May.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photos by Stufish.


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