Tezza's Theatre Place

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178769/review-of-coming-clean-at-the-kings-head-theatre/ Jason Nwoga, Elliot Hadley & Lee Knight in COMING CLEAN. Credit Paul Nicholas Dyke Relationships used to be so easy. Two people met, fell in love, moved in together and remained faithful to each other through the rest of their lives. Of course, this is utter balderdash and in reality, relationships can be quite complicated with monogamous, open, polyamorous to name but three. The important thing in maintaining a relationship is, so we are told, to be honest and communicate with each other. But, is it really? The subject is explored in Kevin Elyot’s play  Coming Clean , a 35th-year-anniversary revival, as the headline of the Queer Season at the King’s Head Theatre. It’s 1982 and in a flat in Kentish Town two friends are comparing their previous night. William (Elliot Hadley) is recounting his exploits after he left best friend Tony (Lee Knight) to go off with some ‘trade’ he had pic...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178599/the-secret-diary-of-adrian-mole-aged-13-%C2%BE-the-musical/ Adrian Mole. Kelly Price (Pauline), Asha Banks (Pandora), Amir Wilson (Nigel), Benjamin Lewis (Adrian) & Dean Chisnall (George). Credit – Alastair Muir The world in the early 1980s was a really different place. There was a female Prime Minister, The Tories were tearing themselves apart over Europe. There were massive inequalities in wealth.The Labour party looked unelectable and there was a nutter in the White House threatening other countries with terrible weapons. See, nothing like today at all. There was one big difference though. If you wanted to record your everyday activities and thoughts, then there were no online video logs or laptops with built in webcams. Oh no, you had to use a book and a pen to chronicle your life for future generations. And, unlike today where you pray people will view your blog, in the 1980s your diary was kept a secret from all but your closest f...

https://www.carnstheatrepassion.com/review-loved-lucy/ ★★★★★ Review By Terry Eastham One of the most difficult things for an actor to be asked to do is to play an icon, whether living or dead. No matter how the actor may be able to portray every facet of the individual there will always be some who say it’s not right and it will be impossible to please everyone in their portrayal. However, at the Arts Theatre, you will find an actor who is her subject to the tee as Lee Tannen’s lovely two-hander  I Loved Lucy  returns to London. Photos by Alessia Chinazzo Background Based on Lee’s book of the same name, the story follows the relationship of Lee (Matthew Scott) and his idol Lucille Ball (Sandra Dickinson) in the last ten years of Lucy’s life. She may no longer have been a massive film and television star but Lucy was still a Hollywood star and Lee had a wonderfully close relationship with her. Lucy is everything Lee hoped she would be. Warm, friendly, feisty an...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178307/review-of-lazarus-theatre-companys-the-taming-of-the-shrew/ Lazarus Theatre Company’s The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare wrote his many plays, sonnets, etc over 400 years ago, when times were very different. Should his work, therefore, be judged against current standards of morality and political correctness? Well, probably not but I have a confession to make. There is one Shakespeare play that I have assiduously avoided. This is mainly because I have thought that no matter how the text is treated, the basic premise of the play will always be wrong from every standpoint and, rather than be entertained, I will end up incensed by the production. However, I was recently persuaded to give it a go and so headed to the Jack Studio Theatre to see Lazarus Theatre Company’s production of  The Taming of the Shrew . The production starts before it starts and, there is a great deal going on as the audience take their seats, so it is definitely w...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178230/briefs-close-encounters-underbelly-festival-southbank-review/ Briefs Close Encounters: credit Kate Pardey Well the big purple cow may have gone up north for a while but that doesn’t mean the fun is over on the South Bank and taking up residence in the Spiegeltent for the next twelve weeks are a group of talented chaps from Australia who plan to totally blow your mind as they take you to a galaxy far, far away. Welcome to  Briefs: Close Encounters. Sometimes you can gauge the type of show you are about to see by the audience. And the first thing to notice about this group was how excited they were. The queue to get into the tent started about half an hour before the doors opened. Lots of very excited looking people stood laughing together waiting to be let in. Once in, people who had seen the Briefs boys before headed to their favourite seats while everyone milled around – all the seating is unallocated. My companion and I managed to ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178118/review-of-dessert-at-southwark-playhouse/ Dessert: L-R Stuart Milligan, Teresa Banham, Graham Turner – photo credit Catherine Ashmore As the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6, verses 9-10 “ those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. ” Yet, we all do want money. Millions are spent every week on various lotteries. The strange thing is, that wherever we end up on life’s rich list, there is always someone who we envy for having more. And occasionally this envy can spill over into action as demonstrated by Oliver Cotton in his play Dessert at the Southwark Playhouse. In a rather nice country house, four people are enjoying a dinner party: Sir Hugh Fennell (Michael Simkins) and his lovely w...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178072/review-of-kevin-elyots-twilight-song-at-park-theatre/ Twilight Song Bryony Hannah (Isabella), Philip Bretherton (Harry), Hugh Ross (Charles) & Paul Higgins (Basil)(c) Robert Workman Walk into an old house and someone is bound to say “O h, if only these walls could talk ”. So much happens over the course of the lifetime in a house that there are always going to be stories and secrets hidden in its history. This is probably even truer if the same family has inhabited that property for half a century or more. Thus then, we have the backdrop for Kevin Elyot’s final play,  Twilight Song  which is receiving its world premiere at the Park Theatre. In a North London Victorian Villa, the owner Barry (Paul Higgins) is showing a local estate agent Skinner (Adam Garcia) around. Barry has recently retired and is looking at getting a valuation whilst his mother Isabella (Bryony Hannah) is at an appointment in Dunstable. The two men chat a...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/177840/review-of-boys-in-the-buff-at-the-stockwell-playhouse/ Boys in the Buff at Stockwell Playhouse Musical theatre is there to entertain the theatrically non-discerning members of the public and give work to people that can sing, dance and make jazz hands, isn’t it? Obviously, the answer is a resounding No! It is true that some regular theatregoers look down on musicals as low brow but, in fact, they are missing out on so much. Think about shows like  La Cage Aux Folles, Wicked  or  Fiddler on the Roof . Each one of these has an amazing story to tell and raises awareness of issues in a subtle way and each one is a successful musical production. So yes, it is possible to combine the frothiness of musical theatre with an important story or message. Just such a show has recently opened at the Stockwell Playhouse with the arrival of LAMBCO productions Boys in the Buff. The show starts with our wonderful hostess, the lovely Diana D...

https://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/king-kong-is-a-superb-and-highly-entertaining-production/ King Kong A Comedy – Benjamin Chamberlain and Rob Crouch The great ape has fascinated the world for years. From his first appearance on film in 1933 – complete with Fay Wray’s screaming – through to the Dino De Laurentiis version which substituted the World Trade Centre for the Empire State Building, and the subsequent versions, the primate resident of Skull Island has held a special place in the cinema going public’s heart. So, I was very excited to be asked to go along and see a theatrical version of King Kong at the Waterloo Vaults Theatre. Notorious director Carl Denham (Bob Crouch) is heading off on an adventure. He has heard of a mysterious island where the locals worship a 100ft ape called Kong. Carl has found a boat, a captain (Sam Donnelly), a dashing – well sort of – first mate Jack Driscoll (Ben Chamberlain) and a crew, which includes Token Guy (Brendan Murp...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/177779/review-of-touch-by-vicky-jones-at-soho-theatre/ Touch – Edward Bluemel – Amy Morgan – photo credit Helen Maybanks Why do people flock to the metropolis? After all, everyone has known since the days of Dick Whittington, that the streets aren’t paved with gold and lots of people I meet, that have moved to London, simply complain and say how wonderful their home town was. But still they come, and one such newcomer to the bright lights is the heroine of Vicky Jones’ play  Touch at Soho Theatre. Swansea girl Dee (Amy Morgan) is doing okay for herself. She has come to London with a job – well maternity cover in a marketing company – and somewhere to live – an estate agent would say a compact and bijou studio apartment, normal people would call it a really tiny bedsit. Having split up with her long-term boyfriend Sam (Matthew Aubrey), Dee is ready to jump into London Life. Through the magic of Tinder© she meets Eddie (James Marlowe), a...