Riots in the streets as anger grows over financial disparity in the city. The rich elite spending money like water never realising it is money they no longer have until it is too late. Sound ...
In the first of a new series, we’ll be going to events and places we’ve never been before and reporting back. Sometimes making a fool of ourselves so you don’t have to. This week, LDN Card ...
We can all agree that Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most epic movies of all time. And it is safe to say that one of the most epic movies of all time would have an equally impressive ...
Writer and director Amir Nizar Zuabi explains in his programme notes that “This piece was written after Corinne Jaber asked me to join her on a trip to the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan…it ...
There are so many things to learn from Shakespeare. But Grassroots’ Siobhan Daly alludes to one of the most important lessons - the human soul and its fragility - in her production of ...
It is like watching a final cut of a play where all the action and suspense is over and the only thing left is the conclusion - the deed of killing pimps. Justine, played by Beth Granville ...
Pegs Off! was the latest theatrical showcase from collaborative entertainment group 'Three Pegs Productions', who focus on providing a platform for new writing. Only founded in 2013 the ...
“Prince George is such an ugly baby”, my colleague chirped above the sea of hot desks. A furore followed, along with a slideshow of baby photos to compare and contrast. I agreed with my work ...
Margaret Thatcher and the Queen have tea and scones in Tricycle's comedic production of Handbagged at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre.
It is the Queen’s priority to be as politically ...
Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is a musing of lives segregated from the parameters of modern society - a provincial town many miles away from Moscow. Yet in Anya Reiss’ script, it is set in a ...
Yellow Face is a 2007 production from Tony award winning East Asian-American playwright David Henry Hwang. The play returns for a second spell in London following a successful run in the ...
“Eddie Carbone had never expected to have a destiny. A man works, raises his family, goes bowling, eats, gets old, and then he dies. Now, as the weeks passed, there was a future, there was a ...
Miss Saigon’s massive promotional hype has sky rocketed box office sales since the first day tickets were released. There are, apparently, no longer any weekend seats available to see this ...
Ursula Mohan’s Lear is the King’s widow in Phil Wilmott’s new production at the Union theatre that begs the question: “what if King Lear were a woman?”. In a stuffy and smoke-lit room, the ...
Even if you haven’t read George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, chances are you will be aware of such phrases as ‘Orwellian’ or ‘Big Brother’. The protagonist, Winston Smith (Mark Arends) ...
Each week Josh Haigh takes you through the best gay nights out in London over the next 7 days.
WEDNESDAY 18TH - SATURDAY 21ST JUNE - SEX WITH ANIMALS - HOPE THEATRE (ISLINGTON)
For ...
Taking place in one of the very first Elizabethan pub theatres, the King’s Head Theatre, is a contemporary and polished version of W.S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s Patience. Directed by ...
This year saw the planned re-burial of the body of Richard III, which supposedly inspired Custom/Practice’s production of Rae McKen’s Richard III. Having finished a run at the Cockpit ...
The National Theatre of Scotland’s production of Let the Right One In was presented in London at the Royal Court Theatre from November 2013. Following this, John Tiffany’s production of John ...
Movie lovers that celebrated the original 1998 release of Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s award winning film Shakespeare in Love will be thrilled to know that they can experience it live on ...
Each week Josh Haigh takes you through the best gay nights out in London over the next 7 days.
THURSDAY 31ST JULY - PORN IDOL: WILLAM – G-A-Y (SOHO)
The capital’s classiest gay night is ...
With the highly acclaimed musical Avenue Q back on tour in the UK, Mary Nguyen recalls the first time she saw the outrageous production.
I recall seeing Avenue Q a decade ago in the West ...
Leading stars Eva Noblezada, Rachelle Ann Go and Hugh Maynard from the ‘smash-hit’ musical Miss Saigon will be joining a young and creative cast for a one-off Gala show, The Philippine ...
Each week Josh Haigh takes you through the best gay nights out in London over the next 7 days. This week we have a special bumper Bank Holiday edition.
THURSDAY 21ST, FRIDAY 22ND & ...
There is a new sensation on the London theatre scene. Since opening on 1st July, Richard III has enjoyed sell out shows and standing ovations almost daily.
Running as part of the ...
Very few stories remain in the collective memory like Romeo and Juliet. When the play is performed in an unusual venue like Temple Church, the magical illusion of theatre can invigorate the ...
We know much about the musical success of The Beatles and their journey to fame, yet do we know enough about the man who made them?
Brian Epstein is that man: an enigma in the history of ...
Bob Comfort wrote the screenplay for the successful Hollywood blockbuster Dogfight with River Phoenix as the lead. Peter Duchan then swooped in and made it into a musical with the songwriter ...
Wednesday 3rd September was a special occasion for me. It was the first time I attended a Royal Shakespeare Company Live screening, of Shakespeare’s first written play, Two Gentlemen of ...
Mark Anthony Turnage’s third opera, Anna Nicole is opening at the Royal Opera House tonight (Thursday 11th September) after receiving acclaim following its première in 2011. The first night ...
This week saw the opening night of the second presentation at the Royal Opera House (ROH) of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s modern day opera of breast pumped TV personality, Anna Nicole Smith. With ...
Our opening scene in Nicholas Hytner and ENO’s revival of Xerxes is a green park. No! It’s a garden - a vision of 18th century Vauxhall pleasure gardens - as opposed to Persia during Xerxes ...
Sweeney Todd, the bloodthirsty and vengeful barber of Fleet Street, is back to the tread the London boards at Twickenham Theatre, presented in a terrific musical performance.
The theatre ...
Having recently left the Glastonbury festival tents this summer, Briefs, the naughty and crazy Aussie boys, have transported to the tents of London’s Southbank due to popular demand. Hence ...
Although reminiscing can be cathartic, sometimes revisiting the past can be more detrimental than one could ever imagine. This is the harsh lesson that East End bruiser Travis Flood ...
Squint has a reputation for serving up a more abstract form of modern theatre, one that some in the audience might at first struggle to come to grips with, but a "willing suspension of ...
I am incredibly thankful that National Theatre Live and over 1000 cinemas throughout the UK (including the Gate Picturehouse I watched it at) gave audiences the opportunity to see screenings ...
A fusion of hip-hop, martial arts and manga, The Five & the Prophecy of Prana places ancient philosophy in a more modern day setting. It tells the story of five tearaway youths destined ...
Next Fall is an a semi-autobiographical tale written by Geoffrey Nauffts, based on his own love life. It was off Broadway in 2009 and then moved to Broadway with Elton John and David Furnish ...
How often do we get to see a musical that’s not so serious? That sings and dances about the major hiccups of other West End shows; their songs, their stage direction and, even, their ...
DumbWise, the actor musician led theatre company, is touring the UK with its own contemporary interpretation of Goethe’s highly regarded German play Faust. Adapting an 18th century play for ...
The Out on the Dock team are back this Winter and they’re bringing the Frost Festival with them. Held at Tobacco Docks on November 15th, the party promises to bring together all the best ...
Go back in time and remember your first school play where something went wrong. Someone forgot their lines, an important prop had gone missing, part of the set had broken off; the list is ...
With RSC productions of Henry IV Parts I & II coming to the Barbican in November (tickets on sale now), Mary Nguyen went along to the original production of Part I in ...
It’s been an interesting year for the English National Opera (ENO). Ever since the funding cuts from the Arts Council and onslaught of mixed reviews for their recent productions of Xerxes ...
If two ‘lads’ developed an expression that merged pop culture, surrealism and social satire you would probably point in a few directions (Flight of the Concords to name one) and say that ...
Seven Russian soldiers abandoned naked in a underground hole during World War II. They have no food, no water, no clothes. Day by day, worn out after long days of starvation and weakness, ...
Memphis, a small town in Tennessee, not too far from Mississippi, conjures a romanticised image of the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues era and its founding musicians such as Aretha ...
The Marriage of Figaro is a comic opera renowned as one of Mozart’s most wondrous masterpieces: its overture is recognisable even to non-opera fans. Yet the challenge opera directors face is ...
Made in Dagenham, the 2010 film, takes to the West End stage of the Adelphi theatre as a brand-spanking new big-budget musical directed by Rupert Goold. Our proto-feminist heroine Rita ...
There seems to be a surging demand for Sweeney Todd in London’s theatre world. First, came the announcement that the English National Opera was going to produce their own musical with Emma ...
The task of accurately portraying the perils of a 21st century, post-menopausal woman can be a tricky mission. In Unidentified Item in the Bagging Area, writer Sarah Simmonds does a superb ...
It’s London, it’s raining and I’m battling with a decision between my onesie and comfort food, or a new experience with the potential to liberate me from the frustration of the rat race. I ...
John Ford’s 17th century incestuous and blood splattered drama has made its way onto the stage at the brand new, elegant candlelit jewel box of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Its title, ’Tis ...
First staged at the National Theatre on the 8 November 1990 - one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall - The Iron Curtain Trilogy returns for the 25th anniversary of this pivotal moment. ...
I wouldn't normally find myself venturing deep below Waterloo station on a Wednesday night, but that's exactly what I'm doing tonight. No, I haven't taken up a seedy new hobby - I'm at ...
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Finger in the Pie’s Mimetic Festival and to be honest, a quick peruse of their website also had me none the wiser. The fortnight long festival aims to ...
Hidden just behind Waterloo station and a treasure trove of the meanest graffiti art (that I never knew existed) is The Vaults. In the space of two weeks, 50 theatre companies will be ...
Think you know the story of Pinocchio? Think again. In Familia de la Noche’s The Greatest Liar in all the World the audience is treated to a brilliantly bizarre version of the humble ...
After a sell-out run at Brighton’s Marlborough Theatre, Marion Deprez is Gorgeous is performing at this year’s Mimetic Festival located in the hidden gem behind Waterloo station - The ...
I think the best way to explain The Boy Who Kicked Pigs is to start at the ending, which is as gruesome, unexpected, bizarre and wonderful as anything I’ve seen on stage in a long time. The ...
Crazy Glue reminds us that in the midst of relationship problems, there are some things that even a strong adhesive can’t fix.
Inspired by Etgar Keret’s short story of the same name, ...
Consider some of today’s media scandals: Jimmy Savile, the Leveson Inquiry and the phone hacking scandal. Now compare them to the media heyday of the 1950s when under-age sex parties and ...
No one requests to experience the trenches, yet some may be curious. Vertical Line’s Fear in a Handful of Dust is one solution that you don’t need to fly abroad to experience. Tense sound ...
Is there anything more Christmassy than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol? No matter which way you approach this classic tale, the story is so simple and well built that it keeps attracting ...
Having seen the rambunctious performance of Henry IV Part I by the RSC at Shakespeare’s very own Stratford home in October, it was only natural to assume that Antony Sher’s intoxicated ...
'The Shakespeare Sessions’ conjures images of a trendy spoken word night in East London, mashing old with new, where pained artists explore their narcissism. But I found myself in the quaint ...
When the opening announcement for a theatre show begins with "No food or drink permitted due to adverse weather conditions", you know you're probably not about to see just any old, run of ...
Having gotten into the festive spirit when it was thrust upon me in mid-November, I headed east to try something a little out of the ordinary for this time of year. An eccentric sounding ...
"Wait here until the red light comes on and then go over”, said the lady at the bar. As I looked around, the tables were full of people enjoying a well-earned drink, many avoiding, many ...
The Tristan Bates Theatre is tucked away down a backstreet of Covent Garden and the small stage is perfect for George Bernard Shaw’s less well known female characters. Robert Gillespie ...
"It is a comedy. The subject is not funny. We shouldn’t laugh. But we do” summarised the author of Trois Ruptures (Three Splits), Rémi De Vos. His French dark comedy at the Chelsea Theatre ...
Based on Philip Pullman’s adaptations of classic fairy tales, Grimm Tales is London’s latest immersive theatre experience. Spread over five floors of Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, the set is ...
Between, a play about sexuality and gay male relationships, has returned to the Kings Head theatre after a short stint last year. The sold-out performances at both Edinburgh and Brighton ...
Based on one of the most famous and powerful Greek myths, Orpheus and Eurydice, Fat Man is a monologue, written and performed by Martin Bonger. The talented and successful musician in alone ...
If you want to get a good idea of what's going on in Legend of the Sun, read the programme. Read the programme to learn all about the pregnant woman venturing out from her village in search ...
How does anyone present cancer for the musical stage? Is it even possible? After all, these are two entirely different subjects, but Happy Ending, a musical currently showing at the Arcola ...
In the midst of mining strikes and Thatcherism, 1980s Leeds is plagued with a disillusioned generation that vent their frustrations through the violent act of football hooliganism.
This ...
Remember that play at The Globe last year, which apparently caused forty people to faint from the excess blood and violence? If you didn’t get to see it then you’re in luck, as The Globe has ...
You must have read somewhere recently that the West End is dying. Though that might be true, one hopes you did not assume that the same was true of theatre? Very much alive, just not West ...
Half comedy, half tragedy. This adaption of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by the English Repertory theatre and currently on stage at The Cockpit, can easily be divided into two parts.
The first ...
Almost everyone has seen the movie, or read the books of Michael Crichton. But if the story of Jurassic Park wasn’t entirely correct? What really happened in Costa Rica, when a group of ...
With a general election looming and a plethora of political propaganda masked as documentaries emblazoning our screens, the state of our nation is a hot topic. With the welfare state on the ...
Each week Josh Haigh takes you through the best gay nights out in London over the next 7 days.
ALL WEEK - MY NIGHT WITH REG - APOLLO THEATRE (SHAFTESBURY AVENUE)
A drama about a group of ...
Last Tuesday (17th March) was the international live cinema screening of the Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake, which gained praise and applause from, both, audiences at the Royal Opera House and at ...
In the Wild Card series, Sadler’s Wells’ is opening the floor to emerging artists to showcase their own work alongside their chosen contemporaries. I was intrigued to see what choreographer ...
It’s been 21 years since Irvine Welsh first gave us Trainspotting, and 19 years since Danny Boyle adapted this cult generation-defining novel into a globally-successful film. Now, ...
Having moved from the site-specific space of Peckham’s Asylum to the dark, cold and cavernous Rose Playhouse, small Shakespeare company The Malachites have proven, yet again, their skill for ...
Solo shows are not the easiest, neither for the actor to perform or for the audience to attend. As the performer has to catch and keep the audience’s attention with his verbal and theatrical ...
I don’t know whether coincidences exist or whether life’s twists and turns have a greater meaning. Obsessed with a critically acclaimed book about psychopaths for the past three days, ...
The Twits provides a welcome addition to the Roald Dahl legacy with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory & Matilda already in full swing. Sadly, unlike the two aforementioned books, and now ...
Exploring the highs and lows of the comedy world, Death of a Comedian is a timely new play which asks the question: How far would you go to get what you want?
Written by Owen McCafferty ...
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's classic tale Alice in Wonderland and to celebrate, productions are being seen across the globe. Theatre group Les Infants Terribles ...
If you are a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show you might have found yourself wondering what the hell happened to Brad and Janet Majors after that crazy night at the castle. Yes, you may ...
Performance art, what is it? It’s one of those obscure creative genres that requires an audience to work, but not just any audience - an audience with an open mind. They play an integral ...
With a general election looming the fringe theatre stage has seen a rise in politically motivated plays that evaluate significant policies and areas that will influence Britain’s vote. Brave ...
This week the UK is gripped by politics and the most exciting general election for decades. What better way to spend an evening then, than with a theatre show designed to shine a light on ...
The stage is a used hotel room. The bed hasn’t been made and a bathroom robe lies on the floor by an open window. Frederick Salomon, a world-renowned photographer who captured a historical ...
The prodigious theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, who is 80-years-old this year, has brought an exacting production of Hamlet home to the London stage. Set in a humble Japanese village in the ...
Pavel Pryazhko is being talked about in hushed tones in literary circles as the new voice emerging from and beyond the Eastern ends of Europe. He uses subtlety to achieve an effect similar ...