Theatre review: The Play That Goes Wrong (West End, London)

Theatre review: The Play That Goes Wrong
Duchess Theatre, 3-5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA
Duchess Theatre – map
Performance date: Tuesday 9 September 2014
Production run dates: from 3 September 2014 till at least 1 February 2015
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Credits for this production include: Writers – Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields. Directed by Mark Bell. (NB: writers also star in the show)

Nutshell review: This really is great, ingenious and hilariously funny stuff. It is a farce and therefore is a specific type of humour, but if you love farce you will love this. Cast is quick-witted and have to move and think quickly to keep up with all the action that happens here. Really brilliant and worth your time. You will leave the theatre laughing.

Here’s the official synopsis spiel: “The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempt to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does, as the accident prone thesps battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call.”

Further information:
The Play That Goes Wrong (official site)
Duchess Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Hetty Feather (West End, London)

Theatre review: Hetty Feather
404 Strand, London, WC2R 0NH
Vaudeville Theatre – map
Performance date: Saturday 30 August 2014
Production run dates: from March 2014 and beyond
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Credits for this production include: Based on the book by Jaqueline Wilson. Directed by Sally Cookson. Stars Phoebe Thomas as Hetty Feather.

This is the story of ‘foundling’ Hetty Feather. Set in and around London, this is the story of a poor child who is accepted at the Foundling Hospital in the early 20th century when her mother can’t afford to take care of her and gives her to the hospital instead of her daughter starving and growing up completely impoverished. Her mother, at the beginning of the story, is unknown, although we later learn that actually Hetty’s mother is her foster mother.

So, Hetty’s adventure is one of self discovery and trying to spend as little time as possible at the Foundling Hospital. The first six years of her life are good as she is in a foster home but then she has to return to the hospital to be educated and she rebels throughout. One of Hetty’s routes of escape is going to the circus and dreaming of being an acrobat like Madam Adeline as well as playing with her foster brothers.

This is a great show. The acting, storyline and presentation are all much fun. There is much dangling, dancing and diving above our heads in a big suspended hoop. There is definetly a circus vibe throughout the show. The costumes, sets and lighting are all creative, classy and tasteful. There is something very Lemony-Snicket noir about this show. Highly enjoyable for all ages. Tickets for the show were reduced to £10 if you were up in the balcony. They said they were restricted view, but the view was perfect. I won’t complain – a great night out at a reasonable price!

Further information:
Hetty Feather Live (official site)
Vaudeville Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (West End, London)

Theatre review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Savoy Theatre, Savoy Place, The Strand, London, WC2R 0ET
Savoy Theatre – map
Performance date: Saturday 23 August 2014
Production run dates: from March 2014 and beyond
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Credits for this production: David Yazbek – music & lyrics. Jeffrey Lane – writer. Jerry Mitchell – director. Cast includes: Robert Lindsay – Lawrence Jameson, Katherine Kingsley – Christine Colgate, Rufus Hound – Freddy Benson.

Nutshell review: This is about the Riviera hustle, where male and female hustlers are out to scam the guests at a posh hotel for as much money as possilbe. This musical shows you how the hustle works. It is a cheesy, feel good show, but lots of fun and the cast are great.

Kudos to the main roles – they can dance and sing well. They love this show and it happily shows and puts the audience in a good mood. If you can do cheesy, then this’ll sit well with you… oh wait a minute, all musicals are a bit cheesy aren’t they… ah right, no problem then! We all danced and sang after leaving the theatre… yes, I think this is worth a visit if you have some spare cash and time!

Further information:
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels UK (official site)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Wikipedia)
Savoy Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London)

Theatre review: Julius Caesar
Performance date: Thursday 28 August 2014
Production run dates: 2 July to 11 October 2014
The Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside,
London SE1 9DT
020 7902 1400
Globe Theatre – map
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: *** (out of 5)
Credits for this production: Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole.

Nutshell review: This is the tale of Roman General Julius Caesar and as the saying goes, “those who live by the sword, die by the sword.” So, set in ancient Rome, we hear Caesar’s tale of how he did well at war and refuses to become emperor but his power-hungry colleagues remain suspicious and desperate for power, so they stab him over and over and the poor chap who plays Caesar has to lie in a pool of fake blood, on the stage, for at least 15 minutes. This, and the thought that there are indeed better jobs out there, are what stuck in my mind.

It was a decent telling of this Shakespearean play but if you didn’t see it, you weren’t missing much. Thanks to The Globe for putting on one of Shakespeare’s war/history plays but I saw more exciting productions there this summer – ie Titus Andronicus and The Last Days of Troy. The costumes are also weird in this and a mix of Elizabethan English and Roman. Maybe they did this because it’s getting cold out? But, it disrupts the historic tale.

This production is quite lacklustre but then again this year’s Antony and Cleopatra was too melodramatic in comparison so I prefer this to that. Sure you can go see it and support The Globe – worth it for that reason and to see it on stage – but you are not going to walk away going, “wow”.

Further information:
Titus Andronicus (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
Antony and Cleopatra (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
The Last Days of Troy (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
Julius Caesar (Wikipedia)
Julius Caesar the play (Wikipedia)
William Shakespeare (Wikipedia)
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Tommy & Tuppence in The Shepherd’s Warning (“interactive dinner theatre murder mystery experience”)

Theatre review: Tommy & Tuppence in The Shepherd’s Warning (interactive dinner theatre murder mystery experience)
Based on Agatha Christie’s writing
Date: Sunday 6 July 2014
Location of show: Crathorne Hall Hotel, North Yorkshire, England, TS15 0AR
(NB: this is a touring show that changes locations)
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

If you love mysteries and want the chance to try and solve one, then you have come to the right event! During this Tommy and Tuppence interactive mystery experience you are set to have much fun.

It is the 1930s, Mr Shepherd has been murdered. A girl who came to the hotel (which is the scene of the crime) for a job interview has been arrested for the crime, but did she really do it? During this 3 or so hou- long interactive mystery, you will have the chance to interrogate witnesses to the crime, learn much about the suspects, and see various pieces of evidence!

Tommy and Tuppence are two private detectives who have been called in to solve Mr Shepherd’s murder. There are various witnesses that have to be questioned – from hotel servants to members of the hotel’s club. It is possible to solve the mystery and if you do, you could be the winner of the entire evening. Great cast, interesting premise and you get dinner at the same time.

A fun and laugh-worthy experience to remember with good acting and nice people. Worth the time, effort and money!

Further information:
After Dark Murder Mystery Events (official site)

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Theatre review: The Pajama Game (West End, London)

Theatre review: The Pajama Game
210 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8DP
Shaftsebury Theatre – map
Performance review date: Saturday 21 June 2014
Performance run: 2 May – 13 September 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ** (out of 5)
Credits: Based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. Score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Directed by Richard Eyre. Stars Michael Xavier and Joanna Riding.

The official blurb: “Romance is blossoming at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory as handsome new Superintendent Sid Sorokin (Michael Xavier) falls head-over-heels for feisty Union rep, Babe Williams (Joanna Riding). But when the employees are refused a seven-and-a-half cents an hour raise, the pair find themselves riotously at odds in this joyous musical comedy. Will love, eventually, conquer all?”

The Pajama Game history (from Wikipedia): “The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The original Broadway production opened on May 13, 1954, and ran for 1,063 performances. The original London West End production opened at the London Coliseum on October 13, 1955 where it ran for 588 performances.

Review: A 1950s-style musical in an American pyjama factory. Now, what can a creative team do with this – and make it succeed? Well, the original Broadway, and also London, shows did extremely well. Shame that this production is not exciting.

This piece has a feel-good factor and it tries hard, but just isn’t very original or entrancing! I was hoping that this one would be vibrant and take my breath away like Top Hat, Singin’ in the Rain or Kiss Me Kate, but sadly it was boring. The costumes and sets were boring as were the numbers. The cast wasn’t very special although they did try hard. There was one good bit of dancing by the pyjama factor boss and his overweight secretary in Act I. Sadly, the duo were doing tap but not wearing tap shoes! That lovely clickety clack would have added so much to the fast-stepped number! What was the director thinking! Well, he wasn’t thinking very much during this production. It’s, sadly, a sleeper.

The way they changed the sets with everything moving electronically and quickly was cool and the set wasn’t cheap-looking. But the piece just didn’t have the pizazz it needs to be exciting. It is fairly memorable, but just not a 9 or 10 (or even 6) out of 10 like I was hoping.

Don’t waste your time or your money on this one. It will put you right off musicals! It kind of broke my heart as the producers spent money on the sets but things were just under par. No wow factor, no pizazz – shame that.

Further information:
The Pajama Game (Wikipedia)
Shaftesbury Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Skylight (starring Bill Nighy) (Wyndham’s Theatre, West End, London)

Theatre review: Skylight
Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DA
Wyndham’s Theatre – map
Performance review date: Tuesday 17 June 2014
Performance run: 6 June to 23 August 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: 0 (out of 5)
Credits: Written by David Hare. Stars Bill Nighy.

This show looked and sounded trite from the information and posters, but I decided to give it a go due to the fantastic Bill Nighy being in it. Well, Bill was fabulous – nervy, uppity, confident, tall, fast-moving, great cheek bones, nice suit. But the show was boring. This is about a 1990s to 2000s or so romance between an older married man and a woman who worked at his restaurant then lived in his home. It’s predictable and lifeless. Swears are cheaply used. Not even seeing the fun Bill (who took a role to close too what he has already played recently in I, Frankenstein – ie a posh, bad guy, main character) was enough to save this piece. Have now seen both Judas Kiss and this play, Skylight, by David Hare. Definitely not a fan of his writing.

This is an urban, couple-relationship-drama and a poor one at that. Mike Leigh, Alan Ayckbourn or Harold Pinter he is not (all British and generally good at these kind or dramas). This is David Hare and who he appeals to, I don’t know. Waste of time and money unless you are a total Nighy fan. I prefer him in the film Love Actually or even the time I saw him sitting quietly and totally self-absorbed on a British Airways plane.

Further information:
Wyndham’s Theatre (Delfont Mackintosh official site)
Bill Nighy (Wikipedia)

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Theatre review: The Last Days of Troy (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London, SE1)

Theatre review: The Last Days of Troy (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London)
Performance date: Wednesday 18 June 2014
Production run dates: 10-28 June 2014
The Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside,
London SE1 9DT
020 7902 1400
Globe Theatre – map
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Credits for this production: Based on The Iliad by Homer. Dramatisation by Simon Armitage. Directed by Nick Bagnall. Designed by Ashley Martin Davis. Cast includes: Lily Cole as Helen of Troy.

Helen of Troy… the “face that launched 1,000 ships”. She is famous for being, legendarily, the most beautiful woman in the history of the “Western” world. With this kind of premise to represent, staging the battle over Helen of  Troy, you would imagine, would be a challenging feat and maybe it would be done well, maybe it wouldn’t. Fortunately, Simon Armitage, Nick Bagnall and Ashley Martin Davis have done a fantastic job that exceeded my expectations. I was scared that this production would have been lifeless, long and hard to sit through – like this year’s production of Antony and Cleopatra at The Globe was (that suffered because it was literally a dull delivery of the play without my ingenuity or excitement). Fortunately, however, it was not like this at all! The Last Days of Troy ended up being amazing, exciting, grand and deliciously overwhelming.

From the start, we are brought into the exciting and tense battle between Greece and Troy – a battle that has been going on many years after Helen of Sparta was given by the gods to Paris, one of the royal family of Troy. This 2.5 hour play is about the battle to get Helen back to Greece and the downfall of Troy in doing so. Troy is plundered and all riches taken by an army of Greeks headed by Agamemnon and Odysseus and including famour warrior and hero Achilles among the fighters. The entire cast is witty and passionate in their roles. The minimal set works well because Armitage has written a good script (except for the modern slang including the term “f*cking” – fortunately there is not much of this*) and Bagnall has transferred it to the stage perfectly. Lily Cole is great in her role as Helen of Troy and Richard Bremmer is hilarious as Zeus (in the play, it is amusing as Zeus is immortal and besides being at the Battle of Troy, he is also brought forward into the 21st century as a seller of tourist souvenirs). One minor flaw in the piece – Helen of Troy (a native Greek) would not have had hair or had Lily’s anglo looks. Other than that it was fine.

Delightful, enthralling and clever. Definitely worth catching! Acting was ok overall with Cole and Bremmer as ingenious sparklers. The direction, staging and script are what set this play apart and made it so amazing! Worth your money and your time! Hurry to get one of the last seats available as this piece, unfortunately, has a short run at The Globe!

* Swearing is just so dull in a play – it’s not even that it’s swears, it’s that they are stupid words that don’t fit in a play script.

Further information:
Titus Andronicus (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
Antony and Cleopatra (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
Helen of Troy (Wikipedia)
The Trojan War (Wikipedia)
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London)

Theatre review: Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London)
Performance date: Thursday 5 June 2014
Production run dates: 17 May to 24 August 2014
The Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside,
London SE1 9DT
020 7902 1400
Map to Globe Theatre (click here)
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ** (out of 5)
Credits for this production: Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Jonathan Munby. Designed by Colin Richmond.

Nutshell review: This is the long-known war-tragedy-romance of the love triangle between Roman ruler and soldier Marc Antony, queen of Egypt Cleopatra and future emperor of Rome Octavius Caesar. I’m keeping it short as this production was uninspired. It’s worth seeing if you want to see the play on stage at the theatre where Shakespeare originally performed his work in London, but unlike this year’s production of Titus Andronicus it is highly, and sadly, lacklustre and fairly boring.

The only thing that shines in this play is Eve Best as Cleopatra. Although overly melodramatic at times in this role, she is a fantastic actress and a pleasure to see her on stage. I was so hoping that this would be a fantastic production like Titus Andronicus was, but it wasn’t. Not much happening here. Just, generally, the people getting up on stage, a bit of movement and playing the parts but you don’t actually feel like they are the characters whereas you were catapulted back into Old Rome in Titus Andronicus. Worth seeing if you want to add it to your retinue of Shakespeare you have seen performed on stage but that’s about the only reason to see it.

Further information:
The Last Days of Troy (Globe Theatre, 2014) review (The London Reviewer)
Titus Andronicus at The Globe Theatre 2014 review (The London Reviewer)
Antony and Cleopatra (Wikipedia)
William Shakespeare (Wikipedia)
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (official site)

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Theatre review: Wolf Hall: Bring Up the Bodies

Theatre review: Wolf Hall: Bring Up the Bodies
14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
Trafalgar Studios – map
Performance date: 31 May 2014
Performance run: 26 March to 21 June 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: *** (out of 5)
Credits: Novels by Hilary Mantel. Adapted for stage by Mike Poulton. Directed by Jeremy Herrin. Stars Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell.

Overall, this is a solid piece and very typical of the West End – it is well made, tightly performed and fairly creative. It is not that exciting and you may get a bit sleepy in the dark atmosphere but it is an enjoyable enough night. At Wolf Hall we are brought into 1527 England during the reign of King Henry VIII. He is currently married to Anne Boleyn but he has no male heir. This worries him. Thus, enter Thomas Cromwell a cut-throat court politician who will play a lot of cunning moves to succeed. Henry falls in love with Jane Seymour. Cromwell decides to secure her as Henrys new wife so that he can become the baron of Wimbledon.  Anne Boleyn and the men named as her lover, to put it simply, are in big trouble – yes, they lose their heads thanks to none other than Cromwell.

Based on Hilary Mantel’s novels about Wolf Hall the most exciting thing about this production is that you are able to witness an intense bit of English history in an evening out.

The acting is good and the script is fair, as you learn alot. This production is not very exciting and feels very dense. The highlights: the costumes are beautiful and the actors do as much as they can with the script. I am glad I saw it and am very pleased they off £10 day tickets. At this price, the show is definitely worth the money.

I was not entranced during this production but I was fairly impressed and learned a lot. Shame it wasn’t more captivating but I could tell that all involved tried hard. It was the adaptation that made it quite a heavy piece. Direction was good but I could tell that the actors were all good and that if the director tried a bit harder he could have gotten more from them, and also more excitement and emotion going in general.

Further information:
Wolf Hall theatre production (official site)
King Henry VIII (Wikipedia)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Wikipedia)
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Wikipedia)

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