Tezza's Theatre Place

There’s not many things that get me travelling out to West London in the early hours of a rainy Wednesday morning, but sometimes, the reviewer’s life means sacrificing sleep so that you can get to the Lyric Hammersmith in time for a 09:30 performance of  Father Christmas . Based on the 1973 book written and drawn by Raymond Briggs,  Father Christmas  tells the story of the man himself from the moment he is dragged out of his sleep on the morning of the 24th December until he finally gets back into bed on the evening of the 25th. Now, this is not the jolly Santa shown in so many adverts. Oh no,  Father Christmas  is an old man who is, well let’s not beat about the bush, a bit of a curmudgeon. He lives in a fairly ordinary house with his cat, dog and two reindeer and you get the feeling he is less enthusiastic about Christmas Eve than the majority of the world. Still, he is nothing if not a professional, and deep down he does still love his job, and so he dons...

An Honourable Man The problem with politics at the moment is that there is just far too much of it about and if we take the human element out, it makes rather good theatre. With Brexit, Trump and questions as to who will be PM this time next week, do we really need another political play? Well, let’s find out with a visit to the White Bear Theatre for Michael McManus’ play  An Honourable Man . It’s by-election time in Teesside Central and, against all the odds, the incumbent MP, Joe Newman (Timothy Harker) has won a famous victory and increased his majority. The reason for the surprise is that Joe is standing as an independent rather than as the Labour candidate he had previously been. His constituency party has been infiltrated by Momentum and tried to have him deselected. After a battle with the activists, particularly the young Josh Phillips (Thomas Mahy), Joe gave in, resigned his seat and forced the by-election that he has now won. Now, the problem facing Joe and his t...

Radiant Vermin by Philip Ridley Getting on the housing ladder these days is no easy task. There are lots of schemes to help but in order to get that first rung on the ladder, many couples have to compromise their wishes to get something. One plan is to buy a property that needs renovating. The idea being, get it cheap, spend a couple of years with the old DIY manual then sell it on for a fortune. This is great plan unless you are someone like me who is to DIY what Liberace was to subtlety, in which case you might need a helping hand and in Philip Ridley’s  Radiant Vermin  at the Brockley Jack, that help comes in the strangest way possible. Ollie (Matthew John Wright) and Jill (Laura Janes) have both good news and a problem. The good news is that they are expecting their first child. The problem is that they are living in a poky flat on an exceptionally bad estate – where drug dealing and suicide (even in the same family) are the norm – and there seems little chance o...

Urinetown, The Musical There are some words that just go together. For example, ham and eggs, fish and chips, gin and tonic, etc and if you are a writer of theatrical pieces, then two words that have to go together are dystopian and future. I can’t think of a single show I’ve seen where the future looks bright. Still, it makes for good theatre and one of my favourite dystopian future shows is currently being put on by one of my favourite production companies. Welcome then to the SEDOS production of  Urinetown: The Musical  at the Bridewell Theatre. In a dystopian future, water shortages have become so bad that in a bid to conserve the limited supply, all private toilets are forbidden by law and if you need to spend a penny, then you need to have a penny (or more) to give to the custodian of the official toilets run by UGC. The laws are rigorously enforced by the police, personified in Officer Lockstock (Luke Leahy) and his sidekick Officer Barrel (Stephen Kellett) who ensu...

Peter Groom in Dietrich Natural Duty – Photo by Monir El Haimar Sometimes it’s amazing how a celebrity is well known but actually isn’t. Take Marlene Dietrich for example. I grew up knowing Marlene and her songs, especially “Lili Marleen” and “Falling in Love Again” but have never seen any of her films or even seen a recording of her performing. In fact, beyond the image, I knew nothing about Dietrich until I made a visit to Wilton’s Music Hall to see the amazing  Dietrich: Natural Duty . Created and performed by Peter Groom.  Dietrich: Natural Duty  is a wonderful tribute to a truly remarkable singer, actor and all-round performer. Peter, looking absolutely stunning, really brings Marlene Dietrich to life in a one hour show co-written and directed by Oliver Gully. Everything is there. The flawless makeup, the beautiful hair, the gorgeous gown by Kathleen Nellis, and the attitude are on a simple stage and Dietrich is back in the limelight once more. The show is basica...

It’s Christmas and Leicester Square has really gone to town. The Spiegeltent has been moved from the South Bank and taken up residence in the winter wonderland that the square has become. Filling the tent with their amazing brand of burlesque, drag and circus are some boys visiting from down under. Yes, once more  Briefs: Close Encounters  is back and ready to bring a spot of Christmas cheer to an appreciative audience. For the uninitiated, let me try and explain the unexplainable. Hosted by the glamorous Shivannah (Fez Fa’Anana) a time traveller from a much better future, who has come back in time with her gorgeous boys (Captain Kidd, Dale Woodbridge-Brown, Thomas Worrell, Louis Biggs, and Harry Clayton-Wright) to show current day audiences how wonderful the future is going to be. This is done with a fantastic and enjoyable mixture of the bizarre and the fascinating. Aerial gymnastics take pride of place with interpretive dance, shameless flirting and the most wonderful ...

Chutney – © Rah Petherbridge Photography A few years ago, my dad and I had a long and heated discussion about attraction and what attracts one person to another. And when you look around at couples you know or see, I’m sure at some time you’ve thought to yourself ‘why are those two together?’ Attraction can be based on many things. Physical appearance, background, interests, religion, all of these can be factors. Sometimes though, as in the case of the protagonists of  Chutney  at the Bunker Theatre, the real reason they were attracted to each other doesn’t become fully apparent until long after the relationship has begun. University sweethearts Claire (Isabel Della-Porta) and Gregg (Will Adolphy) have been together for 6 years. They are the classic DINK, settled into their nice middle-class life. Gregg is a teacher and Claire has some high powered job with a long, long title in an agency. They are the ultimate example of an up and coming power couple. What more could...

(L-R) Flora Spencer-Longhurst (Simona) and Lucy Sheen (Ye) in A Pupil – Park Theatre. Photography by Meurig Marshall What is greatness? Shakespeare addressed this question in  Twelfth Night  with his famous line “ Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them ”. The one aspect that is not looked at here is whether or not greatness can be taught, and if so, what does it take to get from good to great? And, maybe more importantly, why would you want to make that transition? All of this and more is explored in Jesse Briton’s new play  A Pupil  which is having its world premiere at Park Theatre. In a rough old bedsit, Ye (Lucy Sheen) is contemplating something from which there is no return. Tired, stuck in a wheelchair she is reaching for the pills and the bottle, as a way out of all of her problems. However, her friend and landlady – a well-intentioned, interfering, evangelical Christian by the name of Mary (Melanie Marsh...

Billy Bishop Goes To War – Courtesy of Robert Workman 2018 is, as I’m sure most people know, the centenary of the end of the First World War. It is also the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. This is, therefore, a wonderful time for the Jermyn Street Theatre to be staging a tale of one of the most famous WWI fighter aces as they present another show in their Rebels season with a production of  Billy Bishop Goes to War . Billy Bishop (Oliver Beamish) is wandering around his, what we would call today, man-cave. It is a room full of memories and Billy is in a mood to share them. He tells the audience his story. Starting with his, very undistinguished, time at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario, we follow young Billy (Charles Aitken) as the First World War starts and he receives his commission in the Mississauga Horse Cavalry Regiment. His posting to England for a period of training, and his realisation that, if he is going...

Brexit – photo by Steve Ullathorne Back in 2016, the then Prime Minister thought it would be a good idea to ask the British public the following question “ Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? ” After a hard fought battle, 52% (of the electorate that voted) voted to leave the EU and this has dominated everyone’s life ever since. I have seen a couple of plays about the effects of the referendum, and most of them are very slanted in one particular way. So, when I was asked to go and see Robert Khan and Tom Salinsk’s  Brexit  at the King’s Head, I set off prepared for a seventy-five-minute ear bashing on how the UK was going to hell in a handcart because of the referendum. It’s been six years since the referendum and the country is still in the Brexit transition period. The conservative government have jettisoned their leader and Adam Masters (Timothy Bentinck) is the new Prime Minister charged with completing the EU wi...