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Ruthless People: Ruthless - Arches Lane Theatre

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What is it about the Madoff’s that writers can’t resist writing about? Sure, it may have been the largest Ponzi scheme to collapse (so far), but there isn’t much more to explore. Or is there? In Ruthless by writer Roger Steinmann, Ruth Madoff is imagined as a wronged, gun-toting woman anchored in the past while trying to move on with her life. It’s not entirely successful but a fascinating look at life and wig choices, It’s currently playing at the theatre now known as the Arches Lane Theatre in Battersea. Ruth Madoff, played by Emily Swain, is here wearing a wig. I thought it was an odd look until I reviewed how closely it matched the photo of her interview in  The New York Times .  Typically, it’s the sort of wig you might see worn by Ladies on a night out in central London, not someone who once had over $80m in assets. With Bernie in Jail and both her sons now dead - one by suicide and one due to cancer, she is setting a table for the men who have left her. And ordering p...

Mixed race privilege: White @ovalhouse


I always knew what I was. I was mixed race. I was... And so begins Koko Brown’s monologue White. It’s about being mixed race and being an outsider and growing up in modern Britain dealing with labels when sometimes none really fit.

It’s currently playing at the Ovalhouse Theatre as part of its Autumn Series of shows.

Koko Brown uses spoken word, live vocal looping and multimedia to create a powerful and compelling statement on how we view people.


Whether it’s the black girl in the corner, who like’s Panic! At the Disco. Who doesn’t get why she’s always cast as Scary Spice. Who stumbled onto a Black Lives Matter march.

The vocal looping creates a series of songs to comment on the various stages of her young life.


It’s fascinating for both it’s assured performance and uncertainty with what happens next.

It would make a great double bill with  Joe Sellman-Leava’s piece Labels.

In the meantime, you can catch it at the Ovalhouse until 25 November.

Next up at the Ovalhouse is The Sex Workers Opera, which combines theatre and music to showcase the lives of sex workers... Warts and all (or so to speak).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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