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/180877/review-outlaws-to-in-laws-kings-head-theatre/ Outlaws to In-Laws 70 years is, according the bible, the amount of time that a person has on earth – Psalm 90, verse 10: “ The days of our years are three score and ten. ” Of course, in reality, people often live much longer. But, over the course of seven decades its amazing how much the world in which we live can change and this is the central message of  Outlaws to In-Laws  which is part of the centrepiece of the King’s Head Theatre’s Queer Festival 17. Outlaws to In-Laws  is not a single play but is an evening comprising of seven plays by individual authors, each taking place in a separate decade between the 1950s and 2010s. The first,  Happy and Glorious  by Philip Meeks take place on the day of the Queen’s coronation in 1953. In a ‘gentleman’s club’ overlooking Westminster Abbey, Edward (Alex Marlow) and Peter (Elliot Balchin) are welcoming a new member in the shap...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/179910/review-trouble-with-men-the-kings-head-theatre/ Sometimes a show can start a conversation just by its title. And this is particularly true of the latest addition to the King’s Head Theatre Queer Festival 2017 –  Trouble with Men . This 45-minute production consists of three gay plays, all written and directed by playwright Nick Myles and performed by a company of three outstanding actors. The evening opened with ‘The Farce’  Three Men and Some Baggage . In a regular flat, Fin (Freddie Wintrip) is getting ready for the arrival of his new boyfriend (William McGeough) but before he arrives, Fin is joined by his best friend Ray (Reece Matthews) and not to put too fine a point on it, stereotypical ‘twink about town’. Fin really wants Ray to leave before the boyfriend turns up but Ray wants to stay and check out the new guy in Fin’s life. When he does arrive, complete with a large bulging suitcase, Ray is instantly, and possibly unfai...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/171584/review-when-harry-met-barry-above-the-stag-theatre/ There are many things that theatre can do for its audience. Sometimes, it will educate, sometimes raise awareness or start a conversation and sometimes it will simply provide a very entertaining distraction from the world outside. The latest example of the latter type of show is  When Harry Met Barry  which has just opened at the Above the Stag Theatre in Vauxhall. TV celebrity chef Harry (Brandon Gale) is fed up with ‘love’. Although he is tall, handsome and runs a successful Soho restaurant, he basically only meets men who seem to think a relationship means they stay overnight and nothing needs go deeper than that. And then, one day, while sitting in a coffee shop minding his own business, Harry meets flamboyant design student and scene queen Spencer (Austin Garrett). The two of them seem to hit it off immediately and after a couple of coffees, Harry is not alone anymore. Over...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169645/review-adam-eve-and-steve-the-kings-head-theatre/ Steve (Dale Adams) Eve (Hayley Hampson) Adam (Joseph Robinson) Ask any devout Christian why they are against homosexuality and their first reaction is to reach for the trusty bible and open it to either Leviticus 18 or Genesis 1. Now Leviticus is easy to discredit – just look at the list of things that are banned in that chapter and you see why – but Genesis is a little more difficult, after all, everyone knows it takes a man and a woman to produce offspring and populating the world would have been difficult without a lot of babies being born. However, supposing there had been some judicious editing done to Genesis before publication and instead of God creating just Adam and Eve, he actually created Adam & Eve… And Steve? Well, wonder no more and just pop along to the King’s Head Theatre where a new musical of that name has just arrived to set the record ‘straight’. All is going exc...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169539/the-chemsex-monologues-the-kings-head-theatre-review/ The Chemsex Monologues at the King’s Head Theatre. Photo by Mark Douet Some of you may have heard of an app called Grindr. It is a social app for gay men that enables them to chat and arrange to meet up. Okay, it may be a bit more than that but once again I must remember my mother reads these things. Anyway, if I was to download it and switch it on now, two things would become apparent very quickly. The first is that a lot of people take really bad photographs which seem to cut off their heads and the second is that the world is divided into those that say ‘chems OK’ and those that say ‘No Chems’. Being firmly on the ‘No Chems’ side, it is interesting to delve, if only briefly, on the other. Such an opportunity is available as Patrick Cash’s play  The Chemsex Monologues  makes a welcome return to the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. As the title suggests,  The Chemsex M...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169430/run-stephen-laughton-the-bunker-review/ RUN AFPhotography Human beings are fragile things. For example, a trip when getting in or out of a taxi cab can break a small bone and render a person immobile for six weeks. We faint if it gets too hot and cease operating completely if it gets too cold. If human bodies are bad then our feelings and personalities are even more fragile. Sometimes all it takes is a word or sentence out of place to ruin a friendship, destroy a relationship or even change a life completely. At the same time as being so fragile, people can be amazingly strong. Both physically and mentally they are able to withstand things that would floor a lesser individual. A fine example of this dichotomy in the human race can be found in Stephen Laughton’s  Run  which, after a sell-out run at the Vault Festival last year has now transferred to the Bunker Theatre. Yonni (Tom Ross-Williams) is a seventeen-year-old London boy ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169092/la-cage-aux-folles-at-new-wimbledon-theatre-review/ La Cage Aux Folles – Pamela Raith Photography Some shows really have more meaning than the writers intended for members of the audience who may have their own memories associated with them. For example,  West Side Story  was the first show I ever saw on the West End,  The Car Man  was my first introduction to dance as an entertainment form in its own right and there other examples. However for memory associations, little comes close to  La Cage Aux Folles  so you can imagine how happy I was to hear that a new production is currently doing a UK tour and I was lucky enough to catch up with the show as it touched down at the New Wimbledon Theatre. La Cage Aux Folles  tells the story of Georges (Adrian Zmed) the owner and Master of Ceremonies of a drag nightclub in St Tropez. The star of the twice-nightly show is George’s partner Albin (John Partridge) w...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/168738/uk-premiere-southern-baptist-sissies-del-shores-review/ Southern Baptist Sissies Above the Stag is a theatre that specialises in putting on LGBT+ shows. I’ve been there a couple of times previously and seen some very well produced and very funny plays about gay life. So, I was really looking forward to another visit last night to see their latest show, the European premiere of  Southern Baptist Sissies  by Del Shores. This is the story of four people emerging from childhood and becoming adults. These boys are all from the great state of Texas – the ‘buckle’ in the bible belt – and all are regular attendees at their small town Baptist church presided over by a real old fashioned ‘wrath of God’ style preacher (Stephen Parker). The four boys are all really good friends who each bring something different to the group. So, there is preacher’s son Mark (Jason Kirk) the thinker, TJ (Daniel Klemens) the brawn, Andrew (Hugh O’Donnell) ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/165886/the-hiv-monologues-ace-hotel/ The HIV Monologues (c) Eliza Goroya According to the National AIDS Trust, in 2015 nearly 90,000 in the UK received HIV specialist care. That’s quite a figure. HIV is no respecter of gender, age, sexual orientation or religion and between 2006 and 2015, there has been a 73% increase in the number of people accessing HIV care. It’s a difficult subject to talk about, and one probably avoided at most dinner parties. But Patrick Cash’s new play  The HIV Monologues  which I saw at the Ace Hotel, Shoreditch, is a wonderful way to get the conversation started. ‘Resting’ actor Alex (Denholm Spurr) has a lot going on at the moment. Not only is he about to go on a first date with Tinder match Nick (Kane Surry) but tomorrow, he is going to a hospital to audition for a role in a play by writer Barney (Jonathan Blake). Alex and Nick’s date is going well – after Nick’s horrendous opening flirting and dreaming up ...