Tezza's Theatre Place

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198881/review-adam-hannigans-game-night-drayton-arms-theatre/ There is nothing better when you have exciting news than getting your friends together to share it with and help you celebrate. At least that’s what the two boys in Adam Hannigan’s new play  Game Night at the Drayton Arms Theatre believed at the start of their night. It’s going to be a big night for Michael (Adam Hannigan). Not only is it the regular monthly get together with his friends, but he has exciting news for them all. He has got engaged to his partner Jacob (James Labdarbs). Okay, maybe the terminology isn’t right and the night should be focussed on both of them, but Michael is very excited about telling their friends the news. Unfortunately, things may not be as easy as Michael, and Jacob of course, hope. For a start, the first people to arrive, married couple Kate (Amelie Rose) and Tom (Jimmy Jameson) seem to be in the middle of a world-class row. Not only that, but th...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198832/review-the-4-clowns-of-the-apocalypse/ The 4 Clowns of The Apocalypse Way back in 1967, a comedy film was released called “The Plank”. What made this film unusual was that there was virtually no dialogue in it. The comedy around the story relied entirely on the action, it was a sensorial treat for all that watched it. I only mention this as yesterday I was lucky en0ugh to see a stage show that used the same principle of silent but splendid acting to tell a story when I caught a showing of  The 4 Clowns of the Apocalypse  as it visited the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre. It is the end of the world and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Pestilence, War, Famine and Death are prepared to fulfill their function and set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment, Well, actually only three have turned up. Pestilence, War and Famine (Eduardo Correia, Abel Duarte and Paulo Duarte), Death appears to be mis...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198816/review-philip-ridleys-vincent-river-park-theatre/ Vincent River – Thomas Mahy (Davey) Louise Jameson (Anita) Photo by David Monteith Hodge Losing a son or daughter must be devastating for any parent, but when that loss is the result of murder and nobody has been brought to justice then the pain and need for answers must be almost unbearable. This is the starting point for Philip Ridley’s one-act play  Vincent River currently in residence at the Park Theatre. Anita (Louise Jameson) has recently moved into a flat in Dagenham. The flat is a bit of a tip, and she hasn’t really done much about unpacking, but she is glad to be away from her old estate. Anita has moved because of the sniping and gossip following the murder of her son, Vincent, in a surprising and unlikely location. She is pleased to be away from everyone and is looking forward to starting a new life with no more prying eyes and wagging tongues. However, today she is not alo...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198793/banana-crabtree-simon-by-david-hendon-drayton-arms-theatre-review/ CJ de Mooi as Alan in Banana Crabtree Simon There is a wonderful newspaper cartoon I saw once where a man was talking to his wife and said: “ How is it I can remember the tune from a twenty-five-year-old advert but can’t remember what I’ve just walked over to ask you? ”. This sort of thing happens all the time as you get older. For example, I can sometimes sit for what feels like hours looking at the screen trying to remember what word I wanted to type next. We put these little memory anomalies down to various things. But what if they are the harbinger of something far worse than just ordinary forgetfulness? That is the prospect facing the protagonist in David Hendon’s play  Banana Crabtree Simon  which is receiving its world premiere at the Drayton Arms Theatre. Banana Crabtree Simon  (a fruit, the road he lives on and his son’s name) are the three words th...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198612/review-northanger-avenue-by-jack-saville-white-bear-theatre/ Sharing a house is pretty much a fact of life for people that want to live in London. Most people here will at some point share a house with friends or often complete strangers who find each other through social media or various websites. The concept of house sharing is a potentially rich seam for a playwright to mine and writer Jack Saville has done that in his play  Northanger Avenue  at the White Bear Theatre. In deepest Lewisham, 23-year-old teacher Tom (Chris Born) has found a great property to move into. The rent is amazingly cheap and the room is huge. All he has to do is convince the current occupants that he has excellent housemate potential. So far, he has met Sam (Rob Oldham) a young vicar with some interesting theological ideas that, if pursued, might possibly stop him becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. Tom asks about the previous housemate – Dan – but befo...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198426/review-of-together-by-factory-irregular-at-camden-peoples-theatre/ Sometimes I get asked to review a production that turns out to be very difficult to write about. It could be that it is a one-off or something that can only be experienced or even something that simply defies description.  Together  which I caught at the Camden People’s Theatre is pretty much all three of the above. Together  is a sort of combination of immersive theatre and a free for all. It starts from the moment you receive your show notes and are given a website to open in order to communicate with the performers (Smaragda Kara, Piotr Mirowski, and Yujing Yan). All becomes slightly clearer when you go into the – for want of a better word – performance space. In three of the corners there is a screen and behind that a performer who is talking into a webcam – the screen, acting as a PC, showing them to you and the rest of the audience. You are then free t...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198412/review-old-fools-tristan-bernays-southwark-playhouse/ OLD FOOLS – Frances Grey (Viv) Mark Arends (Tom) Photo Nat James Photography Remember in school being taught that “ For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction ”? Although this is Newton’s third law of physics, I believe that, in reality, it is applied in many walks of life. For example, it often feels that as soon as something positive happens in my life, then along comes a big fat negative to even it out. The effects of this law certainly apply to the couple in Tristan Bernay’s play  Old Fools  at Southwark Playhouse. Old Fools  is the story of Tom (Mark Arends) and Viv (Frances Grey) and their lives together from their first meeting until final parting. Theirs is a pretty ordinary tale really. They meet, fall in love, get married, have a child and after a lifetime of unforgettable experiences, look set to spend their twilight days together watching the s...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198074/review-brief-encounter-empire-cinema-haymarket/ Jim Sturgeon as Alec & Isabel Pollen as Laura in Brief Encounter, credit Steve Tanner Britain in 1938 was very different to how it is now. For the second time in most people’s lives, war was once again a strong possibility. Everyone dreamed of settling down into a strong stable marriage. Divorce was not something that society approved of – it was only two years previously that the King had had to abdicate for wanting to marry an American divorcee. This is a Britain where the middle classes are responsible for the moral backbone of the nation. This the Britain with  Brief Encounter  at the Empire Cinema in London’s West End. A railway station refreshment room is the unlikely setting for romance to spring. Though this is no ordinary refreshment room as it seems to be a magical place with a direct line to cupid and his bow. Presided over by Myrtle Bagot (Lucy Thackeray) a rather...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197791/review-red-squash-theatres-stuffed-brockley-jack-theatre/ I think there was a day, a long, long time ago, when I really wanted children. A youngster or two to look up to me, trust my judgement, call me Dad and support me in my old age. Luckily for me, and the world,, someone opened a bottle of wine, and the moment passed, never to return. So, no, I’m not keen to be a father but some people really do want a child of their own. Fortunately, if the standard method – kids ask your parents – doesn’t work, then there are a range of options available. Welcome to the world of Red Squash Theatre’s  Stuffed  at the Brockley Jack. Kim (Faye Maughan) and partner Jack (Ben Scheck) want a baby. Kim is forty and, as people are wont to say, the biological clock is ticking. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, the couple have found lots of advice on how to improve their chances of conceiving, such as drinking special teas or Kim spending a per...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197788/review-redbellyblack-theatres-ok-bye-vault-festival/ RedBellyBlack Theatre’s OK, Bye – VAULT Festival 2018 (courtesy of Robert Boulton) There is a saying about opera that ‘it ain’t really over till the fat lady sings’. This is probably because lots of operas end when a well-proportioned lady sings her final aria then dies, bringing the curtain down with her. This expression has made its way into normal language, a fact exploited by the RedBellyBlack Theatre Company in their production  OK, Bye which I saw at the Vault Festival. This is the story of three siblings – April (Kate Goodfellow) the eldest, Peter (Sam Cornforth) an advertising executive and baby of the family Oliver (Oscar Scott-White) a successful freelance nature photographer – who have come together for the funeral of their mother. It’s the first time the three have been together for a while as the boys are very busy with their professional lives and only got home to vis...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197762/review-macbeth-olivier-theatre-national-theatre/ Macbeth: Royal National Theatre London – Credit Brinkhoff/Mögenburg Once again Shakespeare has come into my life. This time it is the turn of ‘The Scottish Play’ to be given a makeover and presented in a new format to the theatregoing public. So, off I go to the South Bank and the National Theatre to see  Macbeth . In the wilds of Scotland, three witches (Hannah Hutch, Anna-Maria Nabirye and Beatrice Scirocchi) are preparing mischief. They meet with Macbeth (Rory Kinnear), Thane (Duke) of Glamis and his bosom friend Banquo (Kevin Harvey). Hailing Macbeth first they tell him that he shall be “Thane of Cawdor,” and “be King hereafter”. When Banquo asks for a prophecy for himself, the witches answer “that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one.” the witches disappear and another Thane runs in d...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197726/review-hidden-figures-ww2-colab-factory/ HIDDEN FIGURES: WW2 Time for some magic. I want you all to sit back and relax. Now name three people you can think of from  World War II  – but not anyone related to your family. Think hard about them. OK. I’m going to make a prediction. Everyone you are thinking of have three things in common: One, they are men. Two, they are white and three, they are English/American. Because those were the only people that took part and won the Second World War weren’t they? We all know, that in reality millions from all walks of life were involved in the war. Quite a lot will have fitted the stereotype above, but a significant number didn’t. All have a story to tell and some of these stories are truly amazing and can be discovered in the immersive show  Hidden Figures: WW2  at the Colab Factory. This really is an immersive production which starts well before you arrive at the location. The i...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197709/review-the-tower-theatre-companys-1984/ 1984 – Photography by Robert Piwko Some books never leave you. Even though you are forced to read them at school, they stay with you for the rest of your life. If they then get turned into a TV show, film or play, then they have a real uphill struggle trying to get over your original thoughts on reading the book. A case in point is George Orwell’s 1984 which has been adapted to every medium short of musical theatre – that’s isn’t a challenge – and I’ve seen the lot. Today, I added to my list with a visit to TheatroTechnis in Camden. It is 1984 and London is the capital city of Airstrip One (formerly Great Britain) of Oceania, one of the three great powers in the world. Following a revolution years before, Oceania is ruled by the omnipresent Party and the principles of Ingsoc (English Socialism). There are three strata to life in Oceania – the Inner Party, the Outer Party and The Proles. Party membe...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197698/review-fckinglifemate-bread-and-roses-theatre/ Is one’s life plan pre-ordained? It’s true that for certain people it pretty much seems to be. For example, Prince Charles, will one day be king and his son will follow him and so on. Although as Edward VIII proved, it is possible for even the Royals to get away from their allotted life. So, if the monarchy can carve a new future for themselves, maybe everyone can. Let’s hope that true for the characters in Scott James’ new play  F*ckingLifeMate  at the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham. Told as a first-person monologue interspersed with acted scenes,  F*ckingLifeMate  is the story of Kirsty (Kelsey Short) a fifteen-year-old girl growing up on a traditional rough council estate in Thamesmead, South East London. Life is not good for the residents of this estate and the most that the majority of them have to look forward to is repeating the cycle of their parents’ lives – ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197662/review-bismillah-an-isis-tragicomedy-vault-festival/ Bismillah! An Isis Tragicomedy The media likes things to be easy. Everything is black or white. You’re a Brexiteer or a Remainer. Jeremy Corbyn is an inspired leader or a closet Trot, etc. Obviously, this approach ignores the shades of grey that are between the two extremes and sometimes leads to very skewed reporting. Still, there are some absolutes in the world and in the war against the Caliphate, it’s really easy. ISIS is bad and everyone that fights them – especially our brave troops – is good, simples! Let that be your starting point as you head into the Vault Festival for Wound Up Theatre’s one-act play  Bismillah! An Isis Tragicomedy . The show started when we entered the performance space. There, in the centre of the room surrounded by the audience – was a man in army uniform tied to a stake as the music of Queen blasted out. This is Dean (Matthew Greenhough) a soldier who...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197560/review-and-the-winner-is-vault-festival-2018/ They do say ‘be careful what you wish for’ and I think most of us can agree with that at various points in our lives as the thing we thought we wanted turns out to be a mistake. And down at the Vault Festival, Paul Westwood explores this idea in his one-act play  And the Winner is… This short show, running time around twenty minutes, is a difficult one to describe. But let’s start with the easy bits. The production started with the small audience, nine all together including yours truly, meeting at the entrance to the Vault and then being taken for a short walk to a caravan parked around the corner. We entered and sat down, the door was closed and for a few moments, we all sat there unaware of what to do now. There was a little small talk and then the caravan door opened and the performance began. The story basically revolves around Julie (Julie Yammanee) a young attractive actress in her...