Paul in London

The Cold War, phoney Americans, thoughtful Russians and the game of chess. All all backdrops in Chess the musical . It’s a curious rock opera about everyone out to make it on their own. And to hell with anyone who gets in their way.  It’s playing a limited run at the home of the English National Opera’s London Coliseum. Written by Tim Rice with music by ABBA’s Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus, maybe it is a show about solitude.  I t is a must see for ABBA fans. It allows you to wonder what the band might have sounded like if they carried on into the eighties with its rock ballads and intricate melodies.  It’s the first West End production of Chess in 32 years. And while the show has had many changes over the years, it works best when it flashes its early eighties origins. It looks gorgeous with its neon-inspired outlines and large projections. Adding the forces of the English National Opera Orchestra and chorus it sounds sublime.  But even paring the story back with minimal dialogue co

Love is in the air in Strictly Ballroom, currently playing at The Piccadilly Theatre . It’s the musical based on Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 movie about a boy daring to dance his own steps in the cut-throat world of amateur ballroom dancing.  T h e movie was full of irony and light-heartedness with its corny follow your heart and ugly duckling storylines. Here the musicalisation hits this message over your head as if you’re watching the fall of communism. Jonny Labey and Zizi Strallen in the lead roles as the unlikely dance couple give the show style and pizazz. He’s a rebel, she’s an ugly duckling. There is also a thrilling paso doble danc e sequence to close the first act. They even get to sing two lines and sound terriffic. But the show is superfluously narrated by Will Young. He’s also the band leader singing all the songs. While this isn’t necessarily a bad idea, here it gives the impression you’re watching the Will Young musical. And often his light vocals are lost in the theatre. The

Daring to go where no other Lesbian comedy drama does, Grotty takes you to the underworld of the London lesbian scene. No subculture is left unturned and no mind game is left unplayed. It’s weird, creepy and funny. And currently playing at The Bunker . Written and performed by Izzy Tennyson, she introduces you to the world of London lesbian scene. It’s a scene that takes place in “a couple of little sad old basements that drip with sweat and piss.” At this point it’s tempting to scour your surrounding just to reassure yourself this basement theatre is not one of them. It’s lovely and worth a visit for it’s provocative stories. Including this one. Tennyson plays Rigby, a young girl with two girlfriends. One named Toad (Rebekah Hinds) who likes lesbian bingo and curry. The other’s named Witch (Grace Chilton) who is a tattooist and likes putting Rigby in a dog collar. Both have very nice flats and strange proclivities that Rigby indulges for reasons that aren’t always clear. Rigby is a cl

Life is too much to bear even when you’re an art teacher with sexy students who undress you with their long gazes. And then let you paint their muscular bodies with acrylic. Well that’s only part of Marion Bott’s play Moormaid which is having its premiere at the Arcola Theatre .  Layered with meaning, there’s much passion and drama in the piece. But it’s the performances by the two leads that make it unmissable. Even if at times you’re admiring the piece for for its aesthetics over a coherent story. It’s late night in Berlin. Melissa (Sarah Alles) is an art teacher on the edge. Her husband is away and she’s due to exhibit her works but has painted nothing in two years. Full of despair she is about to do something drastic when there’s a knock on the door. It’s a former student Medhi (Moe Bar-El). He’s had a dream and had to see her.  But he’s not exactly her saviour. He dropped out of her life two years ago and has his own demons to face. And a past adventure gone wrong comes to visit h

Long before the #metoo movement called out sexual harassment (and worse), there was Masterpieces by Sarah Daniels. But instead of wearing pink hats or marching, one of the characters pushes a man under the tube.  It’s having its first professional London production in 35 years at the Finborough Theatre . It’s an opportunity to see if the arguments of thirty years ago hold insight into the ones of today. In many ways they do. In others they don’t. The play presents three women living as second class citizens in a first world country. There’s earnest social worker Rowena (Olivia Darnley), her mother (Sophie Doherty) and her friend Yvonne (Tessie Orange Turner).  Set in the era when sex cinemas were part of the West End fabric, on one level it feels quaint with its approach to pornographic magazines. Studies on the effects of pornography have been inconclusive. But here they’re seen as the source of violence and men’s power over women. The men in the piece are either lecherous or ignorant

Corruption, greed and murder never seem to go out of style in Chicago. The Kander and Ebb musical returns to the West End’s Phoenix Theatre after a six year hiatus.  It’s pretty much the same show that burst onto the scene in the late 1990s. Back even though it was a revival people saw it resonate with the trial of OJ Simpson. Twenty years on the President of the United States is purportedly a urophiliac. Hookers and porn stars paid off as fast as a the National Enquirer can catch and kill a story.  And you no longer have to be good or competent to rise to the top. Everything old seems new again.  And this show is still a hell of a ride. With the sexy costumes and choreography “in the style of Bob Fosse”, the show oozes sex, rhythm and sensuality.  If you’re not familiar with the show other than the gelded movie with Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones you’re in for a treat.  If you’ve seen it all before you can lie back and enjoy the performances by Sarah Soetaert and Josefina Gabr

Currently running at Tristan Bates Theatre is the European Premiere of The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly. An exploration of the challenges facing all relationships. Including LGBTQ+ ones... Stranded on a boat together on a fishing trip in Alabama, two women are forced to confront their differences. Louisa Lytton and Anna Acton feature. The Gulf made its world premiere as a short play in August 2010. It’s now been developed into a longer piece that premiered in 2016. It received the 2016 Edgerton Foundation New American Play award and was nominated for The Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding new Play.  Directed by Matthew Gould, The Gulf continues until 5 May at Tristan Bates Theatre.