Posts

Featured Post

Same but indifferent: Laughing Boy @JStheatre

Image
Stephen Unwin's Laughing Boy, adapted for the stage from Sara Ryan's Justice for Laughing Boy, is a powerful and moving story about a mother and a family that keeps asking questions despite the victimisation and harassment from the institution - the NHS - that was supposed to protect her son. It's a moving, celebratory account of a life cut short due to indifference held together by a remarkable performance by Janie Dee as Sara. It's currently playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre .  Sara's son, Connor, is a little different to others. He is fascinated by buses and doesn't like things like loud noises. But as he becomes an adult, his seizures and unexpected outbursts mean the family turn to their local NHS for support. Little did they realise they would receive such little care from a service that was institutionally incompetent and covered up thousands of unexplained deaths of people with disabilities, including Connor's. The search for answers about why he
Image
Scenes from the Piccadilly Theatre Tuesday 20:16... House full again... 
News: Bargains It's true, you can really get a shoebox in Central London for £135-a-week as a former cupboard goes back on the rental market... The previous occupant was small... And didn't spend too many nights at home...
Musical: Guys and Dolls and Ewan Last night I caught a preview of the Donmar's production of Guys and Dolls The Musical staring Ewan McGregor, Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell. It wasn't until I got to the theatre and noticed the "house full" sign up that I realised what may lie in store... While they had only been playing in front of an audience since last Thursday, to describe this show as sensational would have to be an understatement. What sets it apart from the other star vehicles that have come to the West End, is that this is a great piece of music theatre. People were actually enjoying the music as well. Afterall a show with songs such as "Luck be a Lady" "A Bushel and A Peck" "I've Never Been In Love Before" and "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat" is a bit hard not to like. Especially with lyrics such as: Marry the man today Give him the girlish laughter Give him your hand today And save the
Image
Scenes from the Jubilee Bridge Saturday 18:51. London Eye and Shell Building in the background 
Image
Scenes from the South Bank Saturday 18:59 - woman in black dress on bike 
Theatre: Blood and guts at Theatre of Blood Caught Theatre of Blood last night at the National Theatre with Jim Broadbent as the lead. It is based on an old Vincent Price / Diana Rigg film where a ham actor Edward Lionheart seeks revenge on all the critics that have savaged him over the years by locking them in an old abandoned theatre and doing away with them one by one. The murders are committed in the style of murders that appear in Shakespeare's texts. The selected texts were also the plays Lionheart performed in his final season of Shakespeare before jumping to his death from a critics appartment after he was overlooked for a drama award... Or so it seemed... It is gruesome and very black comedy including: When the first critic is disposed of in the style of Julius Caesar, blood showers out all over the stage... Most of the audience laughed at this sight Shylock this time takes his pound of flesh by removing the heart of another (it's just over a pound until
Image
Scenes from Bloomsbury 13:42. Clamping and PCNs 
Overheard at a Soho Bar: Man in tight white shirt: So what happened to your date? Man in dark stripey shirt: Well it was going okay and then I said something about where he lived and he got all offended... Man in tight white shirt: Oh that's a shame... Where does he live? Man in dark stripey shirt: Chelsea...