The Magic Flute or the stories they tell ★★★ Above The Stag Theatre | June 30 - July 4, 2021


The Magic Flute or the stories they tell is an extremely unusual mixture of dialogue, singing and even audience participation. This piece is part of a season, curated by Matthew Baldwin, which challenged a collective of theatre makers to create and develop pieces over just a two week period. Edwina Strobl with Mark Daniels and their highly talented performers, Mais Robinson and Freddie Love, take us on a very strange journey which loosely uses themes from Mozart and Schikaneder's weird and wonderful opera. It takes as its premise that The Magic Flute – particularly with reference to Tamino and Pamina, as well as the use of the benign male (Sarastro) and evil female (Queen of the Night) – is a work deeply imbued with binary issues. Robinson and Love use their non-binary personae to create an enchanting pair of friends: Min and Patty. Min is nervous about playing the flute whilst Patty flits in and out, often wearing a Papageno-esque parrot headdress. Additionally, Min has a very complex relationship with her mother (like Pamina and Queen of the Night). Confused? We certainly were. The Q & A session after the play clarified many elements of what we had seen but should this be necessary? The work feels somewhat unfinished but, given the short gestation period, this hardly surprises. Both Robinson and Love work extremely hard and bring us truly believable characters who certainly gain our sympathy. Love also displays a fine singing voice. Despite the lack of thematic and developmental clarity, there are definitely many magical moments.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by D.S.J.
Photo by Oli Sones.

Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

When, Where, Getting there:
Map & Location: 72 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, UK

Most Popular

Wonderville ★★★★ Palace Theatre | Jul 16 - Aug 30, 2021

Image
Wonderville does what theatre is best at – creating great illusions to make us believe the unbelievable. We know, for example, that the actor playing Hamlet doesn't actually die any more than the woman being sawn in half is actually cleft in two – but we believe what we see. Here, we have a hugely entertaining variety show with Chris Cox as the most amiable of hosts who also baffles us with his ingenious mind-reading act. Cox is genuinely funny and has great rapport with his audience. We then meet Edward Hilsum who, after producing balls and doves out of nowhere, invites a little boy onto the stage and manages to make it appear as if he had become a conjurer – the look of delight on the seven-year-old's face charms everyone. Top of the bill are Young and Strange, and they live up to their name with incredible feats of contortion and, yes, we do get to see them saw a woman in half! This illusion was introduced in 1921 by P. T. Selbit and a century later remains as clever as eve
Full Details »

The Game of Love and Chance ★★★★ Arcola Theatre | Jul 14 - Aug 7, 2021

Image
The Game of Love and Chance opens the Arcola's tremendous new outdoor space and comes up smart as paint. Pierre de Marivaux's play was first performed in 1730 and tells of a master and his driver who swap identities as do a lady and her maid; here things are transferred to modern London with more than a smack of 'Made in Chelsea'. The updating is very well handled by adapters and directors, Jack Gamble and Quentin Beroud. It is “an almost seamless updating of an eighteenth-century script.” True to the original's nod to Commedia dell'arte there are plenty of asides, but the production manages to make them feel natural. Pace is everything in this sort of farce and the company of six are spot on with their antics. Ammar Duffus and Michael Lyle as the master and his driver are great fun, but it is Beth Lilly as Lisette who is most successful at turning from maid to mistress; her entire demeanour is perfect. David Acton's father, who is in on the joke, is prope
Full Details »

My Night with Reg ★★★★★ The Turbine Theatre | Jul 21 - Aug 21, 2021

Image
My Night with Reg seemed likely to be in safe hands from the moment we saw Lee Newby's superbly realistic set. Kevin Elyot's frequently revived tragicomedy, written in 1994 but set in the early days of AIDS, still hits home without trying too hard. Here it receives one of its best revivals yet in Matt Ryan's immaculately detailed production which is beautifully lit by Rachel Sampley. Ryan doesn't rush and allows Elyot's writing to speak for itself as the truths about loss and betrayal gradually emerge. All six actors give first-rate performances. Moments of real emotion are juxtaposed with zinging one-liners – especially from Stephen K. Amos and Alan Turkington. We particularly enjoyed Gerard McCarthy's flamboyant Daniel who vacillates between superficially, wildly camp and genuinely heartbroken. His almost whispered, despairing monologue as he comes to terms with the loss of his lover, the unseen Reg, is delivered from the heart. Paul Keating as Guy, the host
Full Details »

Tommy on Top ★★★★★ Above The Stag Theatre | Jul 28 - Aug 29, 2021

Image
Chris Woodley's hilarious Tommy on Top is without doubt one of the most side-splitting evenings we've had in the theatre in ages. The plot revolves around the premise that no out gay man has ever won the best actor Oscar. Our hero, Tommy Miller, has been snapped in a compromising clinch with his gay partner, George, and chaos ensues as he is threatened with exposure. The glamorous Alexander Hulme is ideally cast as Tommy from his first appearance in just white CK briefs to his touching tuxedoed closing speech. However, the standout performance of the evening comes from Lucas Livesey as George, the boyfriend. His comic timing is immaculate and he doesn't overplay – much. There is little room for subtlety in this sort of farce but Lucas is almost believable. It's a terrific performance. Subtle is not a word to describe Chris Lane's outrageous portrayal of Eddie, the agent, but he is brilliantly funny even when comatose and being lugged around David Shields' opule
Full Details »

Hotel Paradiso ★★★ Underbelly Festival | Jul 17 - Aug 5, 2021

Image
Hotel Paradiso is created by the Lost in Translation Circus company. The show is part of the Underbelly Festival which has now moved to a splendid new venue in a little “Garden of Eden” only a couple of hundred yards from Oxford Circus. In this hour-long show we are entertained by half a dozen acrobats, gymnasts, jugglers and trapeze artists, but there is an additional element. The show has a plot concerning the takeover of the titular hotel by a pair of scheming bankers and is aimed at children from five years-of-age as well as adults. Unfortunately, we felt the script wasn't well enough written to keep either group amused. There were very few real laughs. This threw the onus onto the performers to keep us entertained with daredevil feats of tumbling and derring-do. For much of the first half of the show the skills displayed were fairly basic, but to our great relief, things did improve significantly. A delightful trick culminated with the aerialist using the chandelier as a trap
Full Details »

Love's Labour's Lost ★★★★ Open Bar Theatre | Jul 12 - Aug 18, 2021

Image
Love's Labour's Lost gives us the longest word, the longest speech and the longest scene in Shakespeare. In Nicky Diss' charmingly hyperactive production for Open Bar Theatre it also gives us plenty of laughs thanks to her terrific cast of four: Stuart Turner, Grace Kelly Miller, Charlotte Worthing and Adam Courting. They don't get an easy ride as this play is difficult to pull off, crammed as it is, with difficult language and wordplay. The satirical allusions are now incredibly obscure and, in general, the play is too clever for its own good. Mercifully, the cast don't take it too seriously and try, successfully, to create the ambiance of an Elizabethan tavern as they nod and wink at the audience. This all works but at a cost. Since everyone is rushing from one guise to another there is hardly time for any particular character to work his or her way into our hearts. Turner's well-spoken King of Navarre comes nearest, but then within seconds he is back again a
Full Details »

Hairspray ★★★★ London Coliseum | Until September 29, 2021

Image
Hairspray fills the air at the London Coliseum with a heady whiff of 60's charm. At times it isn't just the beehive hairstyles which need a little support; the plot, based on John Waters’ 1988 film, is fairly simplistic, but the endless stream of Jerry Mitchell's brightly choreographed numbers keeps everything bouncing. There isn't a lot of dialogue – which may be a benefit since it sometimes comes over as rather screeched. Mercifully the songs make it all worthwhile; who could resist "Good Morning Baltimore" or "You Can't Stop The Beat"? Marisha Wallace stops the show with her gospel number whilst the Supremes-like trio are dynamite. As Tracy Turnblad, Lizzie Bea certainly fills the bill and is a delight. However, it is Michael Ball who dominates the proceedings. He's a magnificent Edna Turnblad. Bravely, his first scenes are very downbeat and unglamorous, but then he transforms into a glittering star who is just short of becoming a pantomi
Full Details »

Sophie Taeuber-Arp ★★★★★ Tate Modern | Jul 15 - Oct 17, 2021

Image
Sophie Taeuber-Arp is currently being fêted as one of the great exponents of Dadaism and this large, wonderfully spacious exhibition shows almost every aspect of her work. Robert Short's seminal 1980 book Dada & Surrealism barely gives her more than a footnote, concentrating instead on her husband, Hans Arp. How times have changed! Taeuber-Arp challenged social conventions, and here we see works full of flashes and edges, packed with dazzling light and having the penetrating intensity her broad approach to abstraction brings to her works. Taeuber-Arp's architectural and interior designs stand shoulder to shoulder with upholstery, wood-turning and furniture; everything shows a wonderful economy of form. Strikingly displayed stained glass panels contain glowing blocks of colour. We were particularly charmed by seventeen delightfully magical string marionettes never before seen in the UK; they were designed for the stage production King Stag in 1918. These are justly the cen
Full Details »

Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope ★★★★ Seabright Productions (online) | Jul 22 - Aug 1, 2021

Image
Quentin Crisp was a paradox as he both rebelled against and represented the society he was born into. In later life, he was criticised for his "old-fashioned" views about gay people and issues, but Crisp never sought to be a spokesman for a movement. He sought to be himself and the political critique of him has always seemed rather unfair. Curiously however, the persona he created to be "himself" not only exposed him, making him a victim of society's ridicule, it also became a means to protect him from society and acted to cloak that very self. The dichotomy of being both naked and a civil servant permeates Crisp's self presentation. He exposed and concealed, rebelled and conformed. He relished his role as gadfly and delighted in turning the conventional approach to all subjects on its head. His aphorisms cunningly reversed accepted wisdoms. Crisp was a rebel not a revolutionary, but he lived his life his way and not by the standards of others past or prese
Full Details »

Bellotto: The Königstein Views Reunited ★★★ The National Gallery | Jul 22 - Oct 31, 2021 - FREE

Image
Bellotto: The Königstein Views Reunited is a small exhibition of big paintings. Five large canvases from Bellotto's time as court painter in Dresden in 1756 give us varied views of the massive fortress at Königstein, reminiscent of Edinburgh Castle standing as it does on a rocky outcrop. Three paintings depict scenes around the outside of the fortifications and two show life within the walls. Almost photographic in style, the canvases present an extensive use of the camera obscura which allowed the artist to produce highly detailed depictions of his subjects, especially architectural ones. Bellotto's technique with the device was not as expert as that of his more famous uncle, Canaletto, and perspectives here are often a little skewed. The artist's light sources also sometimes seem somewhat confused, creating an impression of contradictory shadows. Inside the fortress, whilst laundry women hang out the washing, everyone else strolls around and chats. It all seems very rel
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings