Tezza's Theatre Place

London is a city where the past and the present live side by side. St Paul’s Cathedral sits among gleaming tower blocks. The Tower sits with fast food joints and so no. Now, thanks to the Boxlit Productions, the old and new have combined as they bring their version of  Romeo and Juliet  to Shakespeare’s original home at the Rose Bankside. Anyone that feels Shakespeare should not be meddled with should look away now as Sebastian Christophers, Chloe Levis and Andrew Livingstone – the three founders of Boxlit and co-directors of this production – have taken the original text of Romeo and Juliet and distilled it into a one hour show with two actors and a giant video screen, all contained in an illuminated box. Now, considering the original play has over twenty characters this shouldn’t work. And, I have to say, I was rather sceptical before seeing the show. But, I was wrong. Not only does the idea of two actors and a reduced character set work, but it works very well indeed. ...

LEAVE A COMMENT Our Country’s Good Transportation was a horrific punishment in many ways. People convicted for, what would be today, the tiniest crimes were taken from their families and friends, stuck on a ship for months, travelling in appalling conditions and then dumped in the colonies to serve out their time which could be anything from a few years to the rest of their lives. Not just that but when they got to the colonies, there were none of the trappings of a civilised country. Everything was rough and ready, living in tents, limited food and horrendous punishments for any misdemeanors, inflicted by, on the whole, rather brutal members of the army forced to be moved from their comfortable billets and look after the prisoners. For some, the worst aspect of life in the penal colonies was a lack of anything to do. But in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s 1988 play  Our Country’s Good  at the Bridewell Theatre, both the convicts and the guards definitely find ways to pass the ti...

Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club – Photo by PBGstudios In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Harper Lee came up with one of the most quoted sentences of all time. “ You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ’em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t .” Most people only know and use the first part of the quote, especially if a member of their family has exasperated them – I use it all the time about my brothers – but, in writing these words, Harper has perfectly summed up the central theme in Jonathan Harvey’s 1995 play  Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club  which has just opened the Above the Stag Theatre. At No 15 Rupert Street, hairdresser Shaun (Tom Whittaker) is living a good old life. He is happily cohabiting with his girlfriend Juliet. His life isn’t bad. The business is doing OK and his home life is good. Well apart from the fact that Juliet has had to go to Barbados for a fe...

I enjoy writing, but I’m certain nothing I write will ever change the world, and that’s probably true of most writers. However, in 1897, a certain Irish author by the name of Bram Stocker wrote a book that not only changed the world but also set the standard for every book, play, radio show, film, etc that followed. The book was, of course  Dracula and 121 years after first being published a new version of the play has arrived at the Jack Studio Theatre in Brockley. I’m assuming that most people will know the basic story but just in case you don’t here’s a quick synopsis. Newly qualified solicitor Jonathan Harker (Conor Moss) is on his travels. As he goes he writes to his fiance Mina Murray (Beatrice Vincent) telling her of what he has seen and how much he is looking forward to arriving in Transylvania where he will be meeting his client, Count Dracula (Christopher Tester). Back in England, Mina excitedly shares news of Jonathan’s travels with her best friend Lucy Ioannou (Lu...

Remember when you were a child? Every year, along with all the other trials and tribulations of growing up and going to school, and extra layer of intensity would be added with the annual visit of your parents to your school to learn all about you. Fortunately, I was pretty much a model pupil and so my teachers always said positive things about me. Even so, I would always get worried when it was time for the folks to pop in and have a chat about me without me being there. One thing I never thought about though, was the effect of these visits on my mum and dad, something that has been partially rectified with the European premiere of Bathsheba Doran’s play  Parents’ Evening  at the Jermyn Street Theatre. In a nice bedroom, a nice middle-class couple are discussing their ten-year-old daughter, Jessica. The mother (Amy Marston) is sitting on the bed talking whilst reading papers, whilst the father (Peter Hamilton Dyer) is pacing the room, trying to discuss their child with h...

Liberty Rides Forth! As I sit at my desk, a blank screen with a flashing cursor in front of me, I sometimes say a silent prayer asking for some form of divine intervention to give me an idea of what to write. This is the same problem facing the hero of David Kent’s new musical  Liberty Rides Forth!  Which has just started its run at the Waterloo East Theatre. In a suburban flat, things are not going well for Trevor (William Hazell). He has a simple life plan, write a hugely successful novel, make millions and get the girl – someone from his office called Susie who he has loved from afar for a long, long time. Unfortunately for Trevor, his plan has one major problem – he can’t write. Trevor is keen, he has done his research on how to write and has started lots of books in various styles but, to date, he hasn’t actually finished one and been able to add those magical words ‘the end’ to his magnum opus. Fortunately, Trevor is about to get some assistance in the shape of three...

For the first five minutes as I sat watching  Dennis of Penge  at the Ovalhouse, I was wondering what exactly I had got myself into. Annie Siddons story had started with a strange Prologue followed by an even stranger sermon to chicken. Now I’m no stranger to the bargain bucket but I don’t think I’ve ever been moved to write about it let alone share my finger licking good experiences with a theatre audience. Unlike Annie and her co-performers Asaf Zohar and Jorell Coiffic Kamal. So, there I was, sitting there thinking this could be a very long two hours when we moved on to “Introducing Wendy” and without realising it, I was completely hooked on this tale of Wendy, Dennis, Neil, Hortense, Clovis, Deb, Sylvie and the other denizens of SE20. All of whom, Annie breathes life into through her writing. Now don’t go thinking  Dennis of Penge  is a regular play, because it definitely isn’t. On the Ovalhouse website, it is described as “part gig, part poetry, part thea...