Tezza's Theatre Place

Paul Hunter (Albin), Simon Hepworth (Mercédès) and Michael Matus (Georges) in La Cage aux Folles [The Play] at Park Theatre. Photo by Mark Douet. So, you’ve gone and done it. You’ve met the love of your life, wined and dined them and finally proposed. They’ve accepted and now it’s time to think about the wedding preparations. But before the big day itself, something else needs to happen. The two sets of parents need to meet. A daunting enough experience for any young couple, but if the respective families come from very differing backgrounds, then the problems can really mount. Welcome to the first English version of  La Cage aux Folles (The Play)  at the Park Theatre. Georges (Michael Matus) and Albin (Paul Hunter) are a fairly normal couple living in Saint Tropez. Well, normal may not be the ‘mot juste’. George is the owner of a nightclub called, La Cage aux Folles, and his partner Albin, is Madame Zaza, the star of the club’s cabaret. George loves his business, even if...

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...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/195454/review-arnika-theatre-voliere-bridewell-theatre/ Arnika – Image by Tom Crooke/Bobbin Productions In these days of Brexit and Trump, knowing which country a person is from seems to be more and more relevant than before, so where are you from? I’m British, I have a friend who is Australian, another is American and so on. Simple, I have my identity and so do you. Now imagine that you were from an area of the Europe where your nationality has not just changed hands once but since 450 BC, has actually switched ‘locations’ seventeen times, and since 1900 has been seen a change of owner four times. That is the fate of Alsace, the location for Mick Wood’s new play  Arnika , part of Théâtre Volière’s Marchland festival at the Bridewell Theatre. 1951 and in a village in a forest in the Vosges mountains of Alsace, there is tension in the air. The Mayor of the town, and local hotelier – Josef Seltz (Anthony Orme) – is getting ready for an unwelc...

http://www.carnstheatrepassion.com/review-henry-v/ I n 2015, Antic Disposition celebrated the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare and the 100th Anniversary Battle of Loos in Northern France with a production of Henry V which I saw in Temple Church. Two years later and they are back with a cathedral tour of the play which I was lucky enough to catch at Southwark Cathedral. Photo Credit Scott Rylander Using a play within a play format, this version of Henry V begins in a field hospital in France in 1915 a group of French and English patients decide to put on a version of Henry V. Shakespeare’s play takes place 500 years earlier and concerns the young King Henry (Rhy Bevan) being maneuvered by his court to take up some dubious claims to Dukedoms in France. Following a visit from the Herald Montjoie (Marious Hesper) who brings, shall we say, a less than complimentary reply to Henry’s demands from the French Dauphin (Dean ...