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London Living Large
The City Life Magazine. Reviews and Ratings.

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RAGS The Musical, Park Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until February 8, 2020

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This is an American musical for today! Hallmarks of the genre are big production numbers, a compelling story, outstanding music and performances. This production has them all! Director Bronagh Lagan and choreograper Philip Michael Thomas have done a terrific job of bringing the big Broadway feel to a very small space and having the musicians perform on stage works beautifully. The tale of Jewish immigrants coming to America at the turn of the century is a fascinating one and the epic story captures us with its clear but subtle characterisation. However, while using some old tropes like the stories of paired lovers, the show boldly offers a very 21st century version of a happy ending. The music here suggests the melting pot that was New York in those days with echoes of ragtime, klezmer street music and hints of jazz. Songs like "Greenhorns," "Three Sunny Rooms," and "Children of the Wind" become instantly memorable as do some of the performances. Carolyn …
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Scrounger, Finborough Theatre - ★★★★ - Until February 1, 2020

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Athena Stevens, writer and titular protagonist of Scrounger, begins by making the audience squirm, accusing us, possibly accurately, of patronising or sidelining those with disabilities from behind our glass of Pimm's and copy of The Guardian. However, over a lengthy, unbroken 100 minutes, we are absorbed into Athena's struggle with the world after being removed from an aeroplane due to her large wheelchair and the consequences thereof. Aided by Leigh Quinn cleverly playing a truly astonishing range of other characters, we live through the stresses of Athena's fight for justice. Leigh is tremendous, and often very funny, as she switches roles in a nanosecond. Excellent sound, lighting and an interesting minimalist set all add immensely to the performance. However, the evening belongs to the incomparable Athena Stevens who, almost incidentally, was born with cerebral palsy. It takes time to accustom oneself to her delivery but very soon her stoicism and humanity shine throu…
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Off The Top with Jason Kravits and Special Guests, Brasserie Zédel - ★★★★ - Until January 19, 2020

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Jason Kravits' improv show is magic! With the pace and timing of a master magician he takes random words and phrases from the audience and transforms them into a coherent narrative with improvised musical interludes. He does a terrific parody of a supposed singer doing a lounge act which chronicles his career. In our show, it was Matthew Discovery who shared the details of his life with ingratiating intimacy and a pseudo-sincerity that was made totally hilarious by the absurdity of his life story and the songs created by Kravits' random selection of audience suggestions. Our singer's act never missed a trope of the standard one person cabaret while completely sending up the whole genre. The medley from his 'musical' was a masterclass of improv. One marveled that all those random concepts could be strung together and appear to have some order imposed upon them. We also loved his clever riff on the music of Stephen Sondheim. On this occasion he was joined by guest st…
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Tom Brown's School Days, The Union Theatre - ★★★ - Until February 2, 2020

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Tom Brown's School Days was an enormously popular book when it was published and it created a genre of writing that is echoed in the current cult of Harry Potter. The story shows public school boys experiencing the hardship, bullying and camaraderie of a 'privileged' education in order to learn life values and emerge as great leaders. The notion seemed more than näive after the experience of WW I, but the simple theme of good values honed by the adversity of a harsh educational environment has remained enduring. This version updates the tale to the World War II period, but it also offers a commentary on many current social and political concerns. Bullying has not gone away in the microcosm of our schools nor in the macrocosm of the political arena. Indeed, it seems to have become almost the stock and trade of current politics. Thomas Hughes saw the public school system as a baptism of fire for creating leaders with values and integrity; Phil Wilmott has largely eschewed ir…
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Four Play, Above The Stag Theatre - ★★★★ - Until February 22, 2020

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What makes a successful relationship? Fidelity? Honesty? Both or neither? Jake Brunger's Four Play explores the question of whether an open relationship can work, or are there just romantic, faithful people and sexually adventuresome, unfaithful ones – and ne'er the twain should meet. Pete (Keeran Blessie) and Rafe (Ashley Byam) have been together seven and a half years and have never had another partner. They decide to ask friend Michael (Declan Spaine) to help them explore new horizons. He's a safe bet because he's in an open relationship with Andrew (Marc MacKinnon). No danger of an emotional entanglement there, but he needs to be discreet about the experiment! And so the fun and complications begin. Although historically speaking, sexual fidelity became the gold standard of commitment and love in heterosexual partnerships relatively recently (with women never getting an equal right to play around) it has now also been adopted by many gay people, with all the usual …
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Crybabies: Danger Brigade, Soho Theatre - ★★★★ - Until January 11, 2020

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We weren't sure what to expect and now we're still debating what we saw. We agree, however, that this was a highly entertaining theatrical experience and not like anything we've seen before. It is absurdist theatre at its best: funny, thought-provoking and a little bewildering. The narrative is more or less set in World War II and there is a story dealing with more Daddy issues than Sylvia Plath, but that barely scratches the surface. The danger brigade take on a Nazi plot in a plot line so complicated we're not sure we always followed it, but it certainly led us on an amusing romp. The humour came out of dreadful puns, absurd situations and objects that had personalities. The pace is literally mind-boggling and the three actors are quite mesmerising as they take on various characters becoming everything from mad Nazi scientists to pregnant tables to children accidentally used as footballs. The cast's timing is inspired and one's mind never wanders as we are co…
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You Stupid Darkness! - Southwark Playhouse - ★★★★ - Until February 22, 2020

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“Life goes on” is what Sam Steiner seems to say in You Stupid Darkness! This is borne out in James Grieve's beautifully conceived production, Amy Jane Cook's design and Peter Small's terrific lighting. We are in some undefined post-apocalyptic Samaritans-like call centre as toxic storms rage outside. The team leader (the excellent Jenni Maitland) is at first irritatingly bossy but slowly gains our sympathy as does the skittish Angie (Lydia Larsen); her despair as she loses a caller is beautifully realised. Andy Rush is tremendous as subtly gay Jon whilst Andrew Finnigan (Joey) completes a superb cast. We see Joey's work-experience serve to delicately mature him from a boy to a man. The scene where the undertones of gay attraction emerge is also tremendously well played. There are moments of telling silence and some excellent laughs. The characters deal with people experiencing depression and other mental health issues whilst simultaneously battling their own demons, an…
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Falling In Love Again, King's Head Theatre - ★★★ - Until February 8, 2020

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Before the Meghan and Harry 'scandal,' there was the shock of a royal who stepped back from the throne apparently for love. In 1936, the world was enthralled by and enjoyed arguing about the relationship of Edward VIII and his lover, Wallis Simpson. Depending on your point of view the abdication was a triumph of love or an abandonment of duty. This play focuses on the night before Edward's abdication when he is known to have met with Hollywood screen legend, Marlene Dietrich. Their conversation is not recorded but the play makes use of historical information about the two personalities to reconstruct what they might have discussed. Such facts as Dietrich's well-known distaste for the Nazis and Edward's fascination with Hitler are alluded to. The king's attraction to dominant women and Dietrich's femme fatale persona underlie the dynamics of the evening's interaction, and in this play Dietrich tries to seduce Edward and dissuade him from abdicating. The …
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Shackleton and his Stowaway, Park Theatre - ★★★ - Until February 1, 2020

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Shackleton's antarctic expedition and the survival of his party after the loss of their ship is a story which has continued to fascinate the public. It is an awesome feat of courage and endurance, and Shackleton's character and decisions have continued to provoke speculation and debate. In this version, the character of the proud, unbending and ever-optimistic Shackleton is set against the more realistic, pragmatic and earthy perspective of a youthful stowaway. The latter holds his hero in the highest of esteem yet questions some of Shackleton's views and decisions. While it is interesting to see how the two are played off against each other, the problem is that neither character seems to develop and the interpersonal drama is quite limited in its scope. Nevertheless, Richard Ede creates a credible Shackleton and Elliott Ross is a delightfully cheeky stowaway. As the characters are essentially flat, the dramatic crux of the piece becomes the situation of the crew of the En…
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Coming Clean, Trafalgar Studios - ★★★ - Until February 1, 2020

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Is it possible for an open gay relationship to work? This is the central question posed in Kevin Elyot's 1982 play Coming Clean; Tony and Greg have been together for five years and don't find the answer easy. Director, Adam Spreadbury-Maher, gives us a straight-forward production of the play in Amanda Mascarenhas's realistic set. Lee Knight's Tony has great charm and some excellent scenes, particularly in the second act. His amoral friend William played by Elliot Hadley received plenty of laughs, but the performance, perhaps because of the writing, struck us as rather reminiscent of the Chuckle Brothers. To balance this, however, the other two principals struck a more realistic note. Stanton Plummer-Cambridge's beautifully spoken Greg was totally mesmeric. His stillness spoke volumes as the most subtle of all the characters. Nevertheless, it was the cuckoo in the nest, Jonah Rzeskiewicz (Robert), who shone; he was entirely believable throughout - a lovely performan…
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The City Life Magazine. Reviews and Ratings.