Torch Song, The Turbine Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until October 13, 2019


It is hard to imagine Torch Song without Harvey Fierstein, but this is ultimately the test of whether this is a play or whether it was simply a one man show. Matthew Needham takes on a big challenge and he succeeds splendidly. He makes the role of Arnold his own. Dino Fetscher offers him strong support sympathetically capturing the confusions of social pressure and his bisexuality. Rish Shah creates a charming Alan and Jay Lycurgo captures the impulsive teenager, David. Daisy Boulton is convincing as Laurel, the understanding but not naïve wife, and Bernice Stegers is quite wonderful as Ma. Her fights with Arnold are a wonder to behold. Their exchange of barbs is both hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. As a play, Torch Song stands up to the test of time. Its treatment of such issues as bisexuality and adoption of gay teenagers are very contemporary, and its look at the issues of seeking love and developing self-acceptance are timeless. What makes this work so strong is that these are smart characters able to self-reflect, to question their own motives and even to mock their own behaviour. Fierstein's witty, thoughtful and honest characters come alive in this first offering of The Turbine Theatre in its inaugural season. A high standard has been set and a there's a promise here that we have more good and challenging theatre to come.

Reviewed by J.C.

 Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until October 13, 2019
Wed - Sun: 7:30 pm, Sat & Sun: 3 pm
The Turbine Theatre
Nearest tube: Sloane Square
https://www.theturbinetheatre.com
Map & Location: Arches Lane, Nine Elms, London SW11 8AB, UK

Most Popular

Peace In Our Time, The Union Theatre - ★★★★ - Until April 4, 2020

Image
This is a Noël Coward you are probably not familiar with. After WW II, he wrote this more serious play based on the premise that the Nazis had won the Battle of Britain and had occupied the country. There are flashes of Coward's usual humour but the overall tone is quite serious. There is an almost Orwellian tone to the work as we see the new regime bombard Londoners with propaganda about how they have been liberated and the country is now back in business again. Coward, who was a committed patriot, based the play on his experience of occupied France. We are shown how a variety of people respond to what in France's case we now term the German occupation, but which at the time could easily have been a new, permanent reality. The present production beautifully creates the eerie quality of this life with its half-lit set and candles that suggest the fragile light of hope in this place. Situated in a pub near Sloane Square, the regulars run the gamut in terms of how they deal wit…
Full Details »

Nuclear War, Buried, and Graceland - Old Red Lion Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until March 21, 2020

Image
“Oh death, where is thy sting?” could well be a subtitle for Alexander Knott's enthralling triptych comprising Buried, Graceland and Nuclear War. The first of these, Buried, is brilliantly performed by James Demaine as a man temporarily entombed in a collapsed building. His entire life flashes through his mind in a torrent of words and actions. His first drink, his first sexual experience, military service, boxing are all presented with tremendous physicality. In Graceland, Anthony Cozens plays an endearingly dysfunctional teacher who is pilloried by his class. By using the audience as his class, Cozens gains a terrific and often hilarious rapport. Kids can be both perceptive and cruel so when they discover that he is being cuckolded a different side of the teacher emerges. Using combustion as a metaphor for life we enjoyed this ingenious play and the performance enormously. Nuclear War comes as a shock when we meet two women, played by Zöe Grain and Freya Sharp, who portray two s…
Full Details »

Not Quite Jerusalem, Finborough Theatre - ★★★★ - Until March 28, 2020

Image
What happens when some young British volunteers take up residence in a kibbutz outside of Jerusalem in 1979? This is a story which explores a clash of cultures and some complex personal growth stories. Perhaps even more, it uses these young people's experience in a society built on sharing and equality to reflect upon the class and social realities of Britain. Paul Kember's script almost feels like pages ripped from a diary chronicling the oddly assorted, idealistic and directionless people who showed up on kibbutzes and who then had to face the hard and practical realities of that life while coming to terms with their own issues. The first act seemed to take a long time to establish the characters, but a stronger second act took the narrative to more interesting places as we got a deeper look into the forces that had formed these young people and brought them to their present undertaking. Ryan Whittle did a fine job as Mike but the character of the moody, university dropout n…
Full Details »

Relatively Speaking, The Mill at Sonning - ★★★★★ - Until April 18, 2020

Image
The words "Alan Ayckbourn" usually summon up fun and this production is no exception. It is a delight in every way. As soon as we see Michael Holt's clever set with all those doors we are anticipating a good time. It's not long before the characters are popping in and out of them and the laughs begin rolling in. Thanks to director, Robin Herford's perfect pacing of this piece the audience is completely taken into Ayckbourn's world and never given a pause to question the delightful absurdity of it all. The wonderfully silly plot twists and hilarious cases of mistaken identity all work beautifully. The entire cast get it just right with performances that make their unbelievably credulous characters entirely credible. James Simmons as the philandering husband on the verge of exposure is suitably self-serving and lecherous, and Rachel Fielding as his wife strikes just the right tone of gullible and knowing. The other woman, Lianne Harvey's Ginny, radiates the…
Full Details »

The Time Machine, The London Library - ★★★★ - Until April 5, 2020

Image
Science fiction is notoriously difficult to present theatrically; this immersive version of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine succeeds where many have failed. In groups of twenty, we were whizzed through the glorious galleries and bookshelves of the London Library. It is difficult to describe unless you can imagine travelling through 'The Crystal Maze' in the company of Doctor Who on steroids! This new dramatic version, written by Jonathan Holloway in November 2019, is loosely based on the novel's premise. The Traveller gives a lecture to his weekly dinner guests suggesting that time is simply a fourth dimension and he then demonstrates his invention. It was rather bewildering at the beginning because the narrative has been updated and jiggled about, but as we went with the flow, the anachronisms, ambience and theatricality of it all became enjoyable and, unexpectedly, spookily realistic. The idea that when we visit the future sections of the population have been infected …
Full Details »

Can I Help You? - Omnibus Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until March 21, 2020

Image
Jim Pope's transcendental production of Philip Osment's Can I Help You? deals with issues of suicide and mental health, digging deep into the hearts and minds of the actors and audience alike. Gabriel Vick as the suicidal policeman, Francis, gives probably the best individual performance we have seen from an actor in a long time. As he contemplates ending his life, a motherly woman appears carrying a bag and her cat in a box. Is she real or a figment of his imagination? Her grief over her stillborn son is devastating and the lullaby she sings certainly brings tears to our eyes. The wonderful Susan Aderin as Fifi matches Vick's bravura performance. Her instantaneous switches from a delusional Ghanaian woman to an East End mum are startlingly realistic. The play constantly flies between reality and fantasy helped enormously by the light and soundscapes produced by Ian Scott and Max Pappenheim. The audience experiences the waves crashing around Sue Mayes' evocative cliff-…
Full Details »

V&V, The Vaults - ★★★★ - Until March 8, 2020

Image
By turns extremely funny and extremely touching, V&V, written and directed by Misha Pinnington, succeeds on several levels. The juxtaposition of the real, unfulfilled and largely letter based relationship between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf with a contemporary love affair, conducted principally by text, between Lottie and Mia makes for a highly entertaining play. Virginia and Vita are far less outspoken than the modern girls, far less funny too; it is hard to imagine Vita peeping around a screen with an expression of such glee at the prospect of sexual fulfillment. Superb, stiletto sharp, performances from Heather Wilkins and EM Williams make the characters come across as delightful women. High praise also to Nicola Chang and the crew who give us immaculately precise sound, lighting and projections. To properly appreciate the fun which snakes through the play one needs to at least be reasonably familiar with texting and, even more perhaps, “sexting.” The inherent danger…
Full Details »

The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse - ★★★★★ - Until March 28, 2020

Image
The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown is a song cycle tracing the relationship of actress, Cathy (Molly Lynch) and writer, Jamie (Oli Higginson). The unusual aspect is that from his perspective we see the love affair develop in its chronological sequence while from hers we see it from when it has ended and we work back to its inception. The two characters separately meditate on the highs and lows of what has happened and only actual come together at the midpoint when they marry in anticipation of a life together. This unusual structure might be confusing and it does require some concentration to remember who is at which point at any given time, but the effort is well-rewarded. How we go into relationships and how we exit them are poignantly juxtaposed, and we see that what might seem like small challenges at the beginning become serious problems in the duration. The issues are the usual ones - different values, careers which are on different arcs and infidelity - but they are beau…
Full Details »

On Blueberry Hill, Trafalgar Studios - ★★★★★ - Until May 2, 2020

Image
"Though we're apart, you're part of me still" goes the song. Separation cannot break some bonds. Parent and child are indivisibly linked in Sebastian Barry's play, but can one reconcile with someone who has tried to break that bond? Two men in physical and mental prisons look at where life and death have brought them. Social impositions of self-loathing and vengeance are challenged by the recognition of a common humanity but can they find it? It is hard not to see this very thoughtful, and often humorous, piece as a metaphor for the challenges that Ireland has faced in its recent cruel and divisive history; however, it always remains a fascinating insight into two flawed, yet surprisingly sympathetic, characters. The story may be dark but its eloquent script makes it riveting. Sebastian Barry's mastery of the language is positively Shakespearean. The two prisoners' rich and comic recounting of their lives keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as t…
Full Details »

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, Victoria & Albert Museum - ★★★★ - Until June 21, 2020

Image
For many the word "kimono" may long have been simply a synonym for housecoat or dressing gown. This fascinating exhibition first looks at the history and importance of this most versatile of garments in its Japanese home and then considers its impact after being introduced into Europe. Some stunningly beautiful examples of traditional kimonos from Japan's Edo period through the Meiji restoration are on display. These are sumptuous garments that reflect the growing fashion interest of a rising merchant class and offer lovely examples from both the geisha and kabuki theatre cultures. Indeed, the history of Japan is woven into the story of  the materials and techniques employed to create these wearable works of art. The post-war period saw the kimono's use relegated to cultural and ceremonial occasions, but there are some delightful examples of its resurgence in Japan's contemporary youth culture.  Since its introduction in the west, there have been a variety of use…
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine. Reviews and Ratings.