Tezza's Theatre Place

Chaplin Birth of a Tramp – Photographer credit Davor@OcularCreative Charlie Chaplin is one of those actors that I thought I knew a bit about. I knew he was born and lived around the Elephant and Castle area – there used to be a pub named after him by the shopping centre. I also knew he was a star of many silent movies but fell out with Hollywood during the McCarthy era and moved to Switzerland. Of his life before fame, I knew nothing but thanks to the good folks at Arrows & Traps, and writer Ross McGregor, and their play  Chaplin: Birth of a Tramp , at the Jack Studio Theatre, I now know a lot more than I did before. The show starts in 1928 Hollywood where Charlie Chaplin (Conor Moss) is auditioning Virginia Cherrill (Laurel Marks), for the female lead in his next film. Cherrill has no real acting experience, but Charlie remembers her from a modelling shoot on Santa Monica beach. During the audition, Charlie’s brother, and business manager Sydney (Toby Wynn-Davies) comes i...

Micha Colombo as Prospero.  Photo by Adam Trigg. How important is gender these days? Worry not, this is a review not a political commentary, but gender has recently been at the forefront of news around the world. The thing I, it’s not a new phenomenon, back in William Shakespeare’s day, only men were permitted to act on stage – bringing up the vision of a burly bearded bloke in a dress playing the teenage Juliet. Recently, the National Theatre put on a very well received version of  Twelfth Night  with a female Malvolio. Groundbreaking Lazarus Theatre Company have taken this idea a stage further with their version of  The Tempest , the first of their three production series at the Greenwich. The story is the same. Prospero (Micha Colombo) has been usurped as Duke of Milan by an alliance of her sister, Antonio (Peace Oseyenum), Alonzo (Nicolas Salmon), King of Naples and Sebastian (Nell Hardy) the King’s sister. Thanks to the intervention of a friendly noble, G...

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...

Nick Barstow TE: It isn’t often I get the chance to talk to people known as the creatives in the theatrical family. Usually, everyone concentrates on the actors. Writers, producers, directors etc are often the unsung heroes of theatre but few of them become really well known outside of their community. So when I was offered the chance to interview Nick Barstow – an acclaimed musical director, arranger, composer and vocalist who has won awards and plaudits from all sides for his work, I leapt at the chance. I managed to pin him down to a coffee between shows at the Union Theatre – where he is currently MDing the Offie-nominated  It’s Only Life  for a chat. I started off by asking Nick to tell me about himself. NB: That’s the worst question ever (laugh). So, I’m me, I live in London and I like to say I work in theatre, and then leave it at that. I don’t like to be more specific than that as there is a lot of stuff I enjoy doing and want to do. TE: If I held a gun to your h...

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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...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/188725/review-awkward-conversations-with-animals-ive-fcked/ Some things really should not be written about. If a writer has the temerity to write about the subject, then that writing definitely should not be turned into a play. And, if it is turned into a play, it should never be performed with the original title. And if all the above have been ignored, then we are left with Rob Hayes one-act play  Awkward Conversations With Animals I’ve F****d  at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre. Told as series of individual monologues,  Awkward Conversations With Animals I’ve F****d  is the story of Bobby (Linus Karp), a young man with serious social issues. Bobby lives alone in a bedsit with very few possessions and the first time we meet him, he has spent a night of ‘passion’ with a dog he met wandering the streets the previous evening. Whilst the conversation is one-sided, it flows rather well. Bobby is obviously an intelligent and articu...