Malorie Blackman's novel was written for young adults, and this production is likely to hold considerable appeal for that demographic. The extended parable of racial injustice, woven together with a story of forbidden teenage love, would no doubt strike a chord with younger audiences. However, for older viewers, the message can feel somewhat overstated, and the love story, at times, predictable. The initial impact of reversing racial dynamics – placing Black characters, the Crosses, in a position of power over the white underclass, the Noughts – is powerful and thought-provoking. Yet, this inversion quickly loses its novelty, and the central characters, Callum and Sephy, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, risk feeling one-dimensional. This is undoubtedly strong, teachable material, and it’s easy to see why it remains a staple of school curricula. On stage, however, the simplicity of the plot and reliance on stock characters might be better suited to the format of a musical. With the ...

The new Emerald Theatre is a well-appointed venue that is a welcome addition to the London cabaret scene. Unfortunately, its first show, Diamonds and Dust , is a rather lacklustre offering despite some quite spectacular costuming. The main drawback of this show is the script, which simply isn't very interesting. Faye Tozer portrays, and narrates the story of, Miss Kitty LeRoy who is a gold-digging diva in the Wild West. She is a much-married card shark, and her journey is told through a series of poker hands. The humour that is the hallmark of most drag shows is notably absent here, and Tozer's attempts to solicit applause and laughter fall completely flat. Among the lip-syncing of various pop songs and lots of laboured hoofing, the first act of this cabaret show has a brief acrobatic performance which is followed up in the second act by an aerial strap display by Lady Lydia and Zoë Marshall which is the showstopper of this whole experience. The main focus of the cabaret, howev...

No holiday plans? What about a cruise? This hilarious spoof of the classic film could be the perfect getaway. It's all aboard for loads of fun in this nauti rewriting of Jack and Rose's soppy sea voyage in which all that sentimentality is replaced by a boatload of silliness. Acting as our guide to this gay romp is a ubiquitous Céline Dion who manages to insert herself into every situation while belting out the ballads that are her trademark. Hilariously played by Lauren Drew, Celine, with all her quirky mannerisms, is everywhere. She seizes any opportunity to upstage hapless Jack, pricelessly played by Luke Bayer, and his mousy mistress Rose, amusingly interpreted by Hiba Elchikhe. In fact, there are only a couple of points in this show when the irrepressible Céline finds herself pushed to the stern boat. As the ruthless Ruth, Rose's pushy mother, Carl Mullaney, delivers an epic rant that makes Gypsy's Mama Rose look like a nurturer. That tirade is a comic highpoint of ...

The 1979 album of The Who which went on to become a film and a musical, now returns as a ballet. Using Rachel Fuller's classical scoring, this version of Pete Townshend's story of Jimmy, the working class lad whose dismal home life and dead-end job lead him to embrace the Mod ethos of the '60s may be the most successful version yet. In this ballet adaptation of the time-honoured story of rival clans and frustrated love, which echoes Romeo and Juliet, and which is played out against the background of the conflict between the Mods vs Rockers, the style of the era is beautifully invoked but the symbolic depth of Jimmy's conflict is also brilliantly emphasised. The four aspects of his "quadrophenia" (The Tough Guy, The Lunatic, The Romantic, and The Hypocrite) are explicitly shown and explored, and they are directly contrasted to the external influences on his life as expressed by his father, Ace Face, his love interest, and his rocker friend. The real depths of J...

If you have seen previous productions of Evita , or even the film, you will first need to put aside any preconceptions arising from those experiences. Jamie Lloyd's reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic will probably enrage some as much as it will delight others. There is no attempt to realistically present events here, and not much effort to tell the story of Eva Perón. This is a raucous, raunchy, concert version of the rags to riches story of Argentina's most famous First Lady. What was previously an operatic telling of her tale and a complex study of political compromise and the corruption of power is now a theatrical experience. In this production, every number is sung at a volume of plus ten, and the energetic choreography is dialled up to the max, overwhelming any story or character development. In fact, the characters barely interact. They all play to the audience often with microphones in their hands. The set is a bare-bones affair, matching the costumes whic...

In 1963, Anselm Kiefer traced the steps of Vincent Van Gogh through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. This exhibition is the product of Kiefer's lifelong fascination with Van Gogh and presents some of the works inspired by his travels and by the compositions of his mentor. The interesting handout which accompanies the exhibition provides excerpts from Kiefer's diaries about his journey and offers a thought-provoking insight into his youthful engagement with Van Gogh's work. That preoccupation was not confined to his youth, however. It was to be ongoing, and even Kiefer's most recent output references Van Gogh. The first and third galleries of the exhibition focus on Kiefer's own monumental works which address subjects inspired by Van Gogh, while the second gallery contains smaller pieces and sketches which are fascinating to compare with Van Gogh's treatment of similar scenes. Indeed, for us, this was perhaps the most intriguing of the three galleries where w...

Lynn Nottage's play follows the fortunes of a young black seamstress in 1905 New York. Esther makes undergarments for the wealthy, and the central metaphor of the play is that just as her corsets control and distort women's figures to meet the dictates of fashion, all of the characters in the story find their lives defined and limited by race, gender, class and religion. From the wealthy Mrs Van Buren who must play her part in society while privately enduring a loveless marriage, to the cloth merchant, Mr Marks, whose religion does not allow him to be touched by a woman who is not in his family and which would never sanction a relationship with a black woman, everyone in Esther's world is trapped. However, it is through love and marriage that Esther hopes she will find freedom and escape from the restrictions of her situation. Although Esther's friends, the landlady Mrs Dickson and the prostitute, Mayme, counsel a life based on compromise, Esther hopes that her romantic...

Two men fall in love in the period of racial violence in America which saw the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, the fact that they are an interracial couple puts their search for personal happiness in a political context that is difficult to ignore. While the white member of the couple is a serious political activist, his black partner is a playwright who prioritises his art and teaching career. It is a sweet and simple love story that gains most of its depth from being placed against a backdrop of the tumult that typifies the outside world. In fact, its theme is universal. How do we balance the struggle and sacrifices involved in finding one's personal place of happiness while simultaneously responding to our responsibility to be part of a society and to fight against injustice? Unfortunately, neither the playwright, Harrison David Rivers, nor the director, Billy Porter, seem to entirely trust their material. Rivers, uses the popular, but increasingly overwor...

Less often produced than Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece, Long Day's Journey into Night , A Moon for the Misbegotten was written after that piece, although it was published and staged first. It also happens after the incidents of the former, although there is some overlap and inconsistency in the occurrence of events. In Long Day's Journey into Night , Jamie tells his father about the confrontation between Hogan and his rich neighbour over the pigs wallowing in the millionaire's ice pond, but this event only happens later in A Moon for the Misbegotten which happens chronologically afterwards. While O'Neill clearly did not intend for these plays to be considered strictly as sequels, they do deal with the same themes of existential angst, guilt and forgiveness, and the complex nature of lust and love. These are epic concerns, and it becomes no easy task to stage O'Neill's works for a contemporary audience who are accustomed to what passes for realism in bot...

Disney fans will be delighted. The latest in the company's series of animated films to be translated to the stage is now in London. And, everything they want and expect to see is here. There are some extraordinary special effects, a plethora of silly gags and a simplistic plot in which, unsurprisingly, good triumphs over evil. Plus, our hero learns some life lessons. Every box in the money-making formula is neatly ticked and all the usual suspects are present! In this story the feisty female character, a relatively new addition to the recipe, makes her requisite appearance as Meg played by Mae Ann Jorolan. She is joined by Trevor Dion Nicholas who acts as the silly sidekick, Phil, mentor to young Hercules (Luke Brady).The over-the top villain, outrageously overplayed by Stephen Carlile, is Hades, and in his nefarious scheming, he is abetted by his two comic henchmen, Bob and Charles (Craig Gallivan and Lee Zarrett). In addition to this set of the standard personae, we also have a ...