Tezza's Theatre Place

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/178307/review-of-lazarus-theatre-companys-the-taming-of-the-shrew/ Lazarus Theatre Company’s The Taming of the Shrew Shakespeare wrote his many plays, sonnets, etc over 400 years ago, when times were very different. Should his work, therefore, be judged against current standards of morality and political correctness? Well, probably not but I have a confession to make. There is one Shakespeare play that I have assiduously avoided. This is mainly because I have thought that no matter how the text is treated, the basic premise of the play will always be wrong from every standpoint and, rather than be entertained, I will end up incensed by the production. However, I was recently persuaded to give it a go and so headed to the Jack Studio Theatre to see Lazarus Theatre Company’s production of  The Taming of the Shrew . The production starts before it starts and, there is a great deal going on as the audience take their seats, so it is definitely w...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/172465/5-guys-chillin-kings-head-theatre-review-2/ 5 Guys Chillin’ (c) Laura Marie Linck Chemsex is apparently prevalent in the gay community, and every week, there are lots of gay men attending chillin’ sessions where drugs and sex are the order of the day and hang the consequences. Unfortunately, the consequences can be quite dramatic and there has been a large rise in STDs and a lot of broken dreams as the pursuit of hedonism at any price takes its toll. There have been various books and plays written about chemsex parties and one of the most powerful is Peter Darney’s award-winning verbatim play 5 Guys Chillin’ which is back at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. There isn’t really a story to speak of in reality as there is no clear narrative, just five men (David Palmstrom, Gareth Watkins, George Bull, George Fletcher and Tom Ratcliffe) meeting in an apartment with the intention of taking drugs and having sex with each other. Over the co...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/170523/review-shit-faced-shakespeare-much-ado-about-nothing/ Shit-faced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing Alcohol and the theatre have always gone together. Normally, its some member of the audience having one too many pre-show drinks then being a nuisance during the show – or even worse, falling asleep and snoring sat next to you. However, it is always assumed that though a first night and a last night cast party may get a bit raucous, the actors themselves tend to be sober for the duration of the performance. Now imagine a scenario where a group of highly trained actors sit around before curtain up and deliberately get one of their number drunk, then send them out to perform one of The Bard’s Classics. Welcome to Shit-faced Shakespeare’s presentation of  Much Ado About Nothing  at the Leicester Square Theatre. Now, normally in a review, I would write an opening paragraph like the one above then this paragraph would give you a synop...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/170476/review-2-become-1-kings-head-theatre/ 2 Become 1 (c) The Other Richard Everyone has their favourite musical age. For me, as a child of the sixties and being a bit of a late starter, popular music reached its zenith in 1984 and has been going downhill ever since. For the newer generation then the nineties were where the music happened and, if you fancy learning about love, girl power and the music of the nineties then I would heartily recommend you get yourself along to the King’s Head Theatre and see  2 Becomes 1 Jess (Natasha Granger) is in her old dressing gown and crying like there is no tomorrow. In fact, for Jess, it feels like there really will be no tomorrow as she has just split from her boyfriend. Luckily, rather like Bridget Jones, Jess has a strong support network round her and after leaving countless supportive messages on her answerphone, the gang decide it’s time to do something about her situation. Jess’ friends make a...

http://www.carnstheatrepassion.com/review-thats-jewish-entertainment/ Did you know, in the early 1940’s all the major movie studios – bar one – had one thing in common, any idea what that was? They were all headed up by a Jewish man. Now you may wonder how this came about. If you do, then get yourself along to Upstairs at the Gatehouse where Aria Entertainments are staging That’s Jewish Entertainment. This lovely revue show takes its audience on a journey spanning over a hundred years. From the mass migration of Jews in the 19th Century, from the shtetl or Eastern Europe. Onto a new dawn in the United States of America. As they travelled, the jews took their culture with them. That culture has always been steeped in music and drama. For many of the dispossessed jews arriving in the USA, entertainment became more than just a cultural thing – It became a career. From the stages of Vaudeville they exported their skill in entertainment. Fully embracing the commercial side of show busi...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/166447/what-shall-we-do-with-the-cello-review-vault-festival/ The Vault Festival is renowned for the diversity of its productions. Over the course of the festival, there will be a show or two that are pure ‘marmite’, loved by some and disliked by others. An example of this can be found in Atelier Theatre Studio’s UK premiere of Matei Visniec’s  What Shall We Do With the Cello? . The action is set in a waiting room where there are four chairs, a cello and a bow. Suddenly, in rushes, a man (Nick Allen) obviously getting away from the storm outside. He picks up the cello and starts to play. The music is very contemporary, with hard, discordant notes that jar the ears rather than a flowing melody. Soon after the man starts to play, the Lady with the Veil (Simona Armstrong) enters. She is young and pretty but and has a rather prim and proper appearance. The two of them are not alone for long and are soon joined by The Man with the Stick (Mihai A...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/165712/willis-veres-the-starship-osiris-the-vault-festival/ It is said that inside every great actor there is a writer, director and producer bursting to get out. Sometimes this does occur and a fabulous show is born. To take an example, pop down to the Vault Festival under Waterloo Station and take in writer, producer director and star George Veer’s  The Starship Osiris . And now we hit a problem as  The Starship Osiris  is one of those shows that is very, very difficult to describe without giving too much away and potentially spoiling the experience for audience members. So here goes. George Veer has written a play set aboard a starship (the Osiris of the title) George plays the lead character, Captain Harrison, a steely- eyed, tall – some might say lanky – handsome chap in the mould of great starship captains such as the one and only James Tiberius Kirk. The starship’s crew consists of three mini-skirted ladies – Roxie (Molly ...