Leave a Message, Vault Festival - ★★★★ - Until February 21, 2019


Billed as a comedy, this excellent play has many tragic overtones. Ed comes with his girlfriend to clear out his late dad's flat: poor chap, what he finds is far from wholesome as the place is filthy and littered with empty booze bottles. Written by Ed Coleman with James Mitchell, the play is a reminiscence of his own experience and he plays the protagonist. It cannot have been easy to play this autobiographical character with all its attendant memories, but the performance is terrific, and every nuance of a complex character is captured. Gabrielle Fernie as the girlfriend and Hayley-Marie Axe as the old man's “friend” add plenty of colour. The production by Jessica Rose McVay is excellent as is Sarah Mercade's set, a stage-manager's nightmare. It is horribly realistic. Midway through there is a big plot twist which leads to a rather downbeat ending, but I particularly appreciated the lack of sentimentality. I certainly found myself believing in these characters and with plenty of well placed laughs to enhance the pathos, this is one of the best new short plays I've seen in a long time.

 Reviewed by D.S.J.

 Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆ 

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
February 21, 2019
7:30 pm
Brick Hall, Vault Festival
Nearest tube: Waterloo
https://vaultfestival.com
Map & Location: 443 N Woolwich Rd, London E16 2DA, UK

Most Popular

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

Summer Exhibition 2026 ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Jun 16 - Aug 23, 2026

Image
The theme of the 258th Summer Exhibition, “Interconnectedness,” makes tracing links between the works on display both a fascinating and at times overwhelming experience. While this year’s works on view appear to contain less overt political commentary and fewer instances of humour than is often typical of such events, both are still present in striking moments. Tim Shaw’s powerful portrayal of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Pin It On Them (Associated Artwork From the Installation: Shut It Piggy) (555) can be juxtaposed with the playful absurdity of Joey Rutherford’s Pickle With a Pearl Earring (1110) , reminding viewers of the range of tones running through the exhibition. Alongside these, there are the usual charming animal representations, including our favourite, the highly realistic cat in Thus Regard Palmerston (793) , as well as the standard attempts to shock and provoke, such as Tracey Emin’s There Is An End To Everything (674) . The collection continues to move between cur...
Full Details »

Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait ★★★★ National Portrait Gallery | Until September 6, 2026

Image
To mark what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery has mounted an exhibition exploring the actress’s enduring place in popular culture. While tracing the chronology of Monroe’s life, the exhibition interweaves her story with the ways in which artists and photographers have interpreted and presented this most elusive of icons. Photographs by Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon and many others attempt to capture the fascination she exerted, while works by Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol demonstrate how her image transcended Hollywood to become the raw material of modern art. Mesmerising clips from her films provide a reminder of the charisma that first made her a star. More than six decades after her death in 1962, Monroe remains a singular presence in the collective imagination. Other celebrities have enjoyed their moment in the spotlight and faded, but her allure endures. There is the classic rags-to-riches narrative, shadowed by an inability to find...
Full Details »

High Society - The Musical ★★★★ Barbican Centre | May 19 - Jul 11, 2026

Image
“It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.” High Society is a dazzling, effervescent summer entertainment, brimming with glamour, wit and charm. Buoyed by Cole Porter's sublime score and a frothy romantic comedy plot adapted from The Philadelphia Story , this is a production that asks nothing of its audience except that they surrender to its considerable pleasures. Sit back and enjoy the glorious music, slick choreography and a steady stream of sparkling comic moments. There may be faint echoes of A Midsummer Night's Dream in its tangle of misplaced affections, but analysing this theatrical soufflé would rather miss the point. Its purpose is simple: to delight. We know from the outset that socialite Tracy Lord, played with engaging assurance by understudy Isabel Snaas on this occasion, will ultimately reunite with her reformed ex-husband Dexter Haven, portrayed with effortless sophistication by Julian Ovenden. Nor does the plot leave much doubt that Freddie...
Full Details »

War Horse ★★★★★ National Theatre | Until July 30, 2026

Image
Michael Morpurgo’s tale of a horse caught up in the First World War was first published in 1982, but it remained largely under the radar until the National Theatre’s landmark 2007 production transformed it into a theatrical phenomenon. A successful film adaptation by Steven Spielberg followed, but War Horse has now returned to its natural home: the stage. Happily, this revival captures all the wonder, emotion and imaginative power that made the original production so unforgettable. The production’s greatest triumph remains the astonishing puppetry. Joey and his fellow horses are brought to life with such skill and sensitivity that within moments they cease to be stage constructs and become living, breathing creatures. It is a remarkable feat of theatrical illusion. The story begins when Albert’s hard-drinking father squanders an absurd sum on a riding horse at auction and then wagers with his brother that the animal can be trained to plough the family’s fields. The task falls to young...
Full Details »

Allegra ★★★★ Richmond Theatre | Jun 8 - Jun 13, 2026 & UK Tour

Image
Allegra hears music everywhere. At the most inappropriate moments she bursts into song, much to the embarrassment of her long-suffering brother, Ronen. Concerned for her welfare, he hires a housekeeper to look after her, but Allegra's irrepressible enthusiasm continues to land her in hot water with neighbours, authority figures and eventually the police. The play asks whether Allegra's sunny, unconventional outlook is really the problem, or whether the fault lies with a society that has little patience for those who refuse to conform. Stories of the "wise fool" have a long literary pedigree, stretching from Erasmus' Praise of Folly and Cervantes' Don Quixote through Dostoevsky's The Idiot to Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . Peter Quilter's Allegra most closely resembles Elwood P. Dowd from the 1950 film Harvey : a gentle, optimistic soul whose very existence challenges the values of a joyless world. This is familiar territory, and t...
Full Details »

Hepworth in Colour ★★★★ The Courtauld Gallery | Jun 12 - Sep 6, 2026

Image
This exhibition is a thoughtful examination of an aspect of Barbara Hepworth's work that has long been under-appreciated. Bringing together twenty of Hepworth's abstract sculptures and thirty drawings, it focuses on her innovative use of colour to transform the internal spaces of her sculptures into expressive elements in their own right. As war broke out, Hepworth moved with her husband, Ben Nicholson, to Cornwall. With her preferred materials in short supply, she increasingly turned to plaster, using paint to animate and define the interior surfaces of her sculptures. Richly coloured interiors are often accentuated by strings of contrasting shades, creating a dynamic interplay between surface, space and line. Thirteen of the sixteen painted sculptures Hepworth created during the 1940s are displayed here, although the exhibition also extends into works produced during the 1950s and 1960s. The two-gallery presentation on Floor 3 is complemented by photographs of Hepworth and Ni...
Full Details »

Driftwood ★★★★ Kiln Theatre | Jun 4 - Jul 4, 2026

Image
Set in Trinidad on the eve of independence from Britain, Driftwood explores a society in transition. Change is everywhere, not least at ALMA, the gentlemen's club run by Pearl and her daughter Ruby. The club is owned by Mansion, an Englishman preparing to return home, and his departure coincides with the arrival of a mysterious young stranger whose secrets threaten to upend the lives of everyone around him. The performances are uniformly excellent. Ellen Thomas delivers an outstanding portrayal of Pearl, a resilient survivor forced to disavow her own child in order to endure. Thomas completely inhabits the role, creating a formidable exterior whose rare moments of vulnerability carry real emotional weight. Equally compelling is Martins Imhangbe, who brings swagger and intrigue to the enigmatic newcomer whose arrival compels Pearl to confront the consequences of her past choices. Cat White is also impressive as Ruby, the pragmatic seductress determined to navigate a rapidly changin...
Full Details »

Black Comedy ★★★ Orange Tree Theatre | May 16 - Jul 11, 2026

Image
Working under considerable pressure, Peter Shaffer wrote Black Comedy as a companion piece to the 1965 Chichester Festival production of Miss Julie by August Strindberg. Despite significant reservations from the original production company, the play proved an immediate success. It has since been staged around the world and continues to delight audiences with its ingenious premise and relentless comic energy. At the heart of this delightful farce lies the theatrical conceit that the characters stumble about in what they believe to be complete darkness, while the audience watches their misadventures in full light. Conversely, whenever the stage is dark to the audience, the characters experience illumination. More than a clever gimmick, this inversion becomes a metaphor for the secret and seriously complicated amorous life of the struggling sculptor Brindsley Miller. Brindsley is preparing to meet two crucial visitors: his prospective father-in-law, a military man of rigid convictions, a...
Full Details »

Are You Watching? ★★★ Royal Court Theatre | Until July 4, 2026

Image
Georgie Dettmer’s debut work assembles a mosaic of stories centred on society’s obsession with images: their creation, consumption, manipulation and abuse. Many of the narratives carry a sexual charge. At its heart is a story clearly modelled on the Gisèle Pelicot case, in which a husband drugged his wife and filmed her repeated sexual abuse by other men. Around it swirl other tales: an actress appearing in a film about that case while becoming the victim of deepfake pornography herself; a kidnapped child narrative that inevitably recalls Madeleine McCann; a supposedly scientific study of sexual response dependent on video technology; and a father using AI to alter images of his son. Framing everything are two young girls whose fascination with the material mirrors the audience's own uneasy attraction to such content. The acting is superb throughout. Maimuna Memon and Lucy McCormick display astonishing versatility, moving effortlessly between characters and emotional registers. The...
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings