Tezza's Theatre Place

Occasionally in the theatre, a show is just a show. The audience, and especially the reviewer, can sit back, relax and enjoy the production solely for its own sake without having to think too deeply about plot-lines, sub-text, or any of those other things. In fact, sometimes you just have to give yourself over to absolute pleasure. And this was definitely the case last night at the King’s Head Theatre where I experienced the awesome  Schlong Song . Woody Shticks burst onto the stage in a blaze of light, sound and really skimpy ‘Daisy Dukes’ and delivers an amazing talk on gay life in general and his in particular. From his first stirrings of knowing he was different from the other boys at his ultra-conservative Christian school, through to an amazing and very emotional encounter with a closeted man in Eastern Europe – an area not renowned for its tolerance of man on man action. Woody does not hold back, both physically and descriptively in connecting with the audience and wh...

One of the distinctive features of a short play is that the writer has to introduce their characters fast and the audience have to make their mind up about them at once. On the whole, this works. A short play doesn’t have the time for huge character development so you are probably going to feel the same about the characters at the end as you did at the start. But this is not a hard and fast rule as Simon Stephens demonstrates in his one-act play  Country Music  which has recently opened at Clapham’s Omnibus Theatre. Starting in a car sitting in a lay-by,  Country Music  is the story of Jamie (Cary Crankson) a troubled teenager who has done something bad. He has stolen a car – along with various snacks for the journey – and picked up his schoolgirl girlfriend, Lynsey (Rebecca Stone) to run away to Southend. Whilst the plan sounds good in theory, Jamie has a volatile personality that varies between extreme excitement and violent lows, and is pretty unsuited to thi...

Elegies Company by Mark Senior PR To Southwark’s Union Theatre for a new production of a very unusual show with one of the most intriguing titles I’ve seen for quite a while,  Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens . This is not a play, nor is it a conventional musical, instead  Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens  is a song cycle with music by Janet Hood and lyrics and additional text by Bill Russell. It centres around the  NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt  and follows the individual stories of various people who have died from AIDS and have a patch on the quilt. Each story is different and very personal, but also really relatable for the audience. With one exception – Ailsa Davidson who plays Judith – the entire cast (Aidan Harkins, Althea Burey, Calum Gulvin, Charlie McCullagh, Chris Cahill, Fraser Leigh Green, Jackie Pulford, Jade Chaston, Jade Marvin, Kristine Kruse, Marcus Ayton, Matthew Grove, Michiel Janssens, Paige Fenlon and Rhys Ta...

Alice Hutchinson as Ralph in Lord of the Flies. Photo by Adam Trigg. S ome books have a real pedigree to them. For example, one well-known book was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor’s list, and 25 on the reader’s list. It also made number 70 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read. In 2005, it was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. The book is Lord of the Flies and the Lazarus Theatre Company are presenting the theatrical version of the story as the second in their current season at the Greenwich Theatre. The story starts with a plane crashing on an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The survivors of the crash are all school children being evacuated from the UK. The children are scattered around the island until they hear the sound of a conch shell, which acts as a rallying cry calling them to come to the blower. This is a boy called Ralph (Alic...

Bizet’s opera  Carmen  holds a special place in my heart.  Not only was it the first opera I saw, but Matthew Bourne’s danced version –  The Car Man  – was the first time I really understood how a story could be told so well only by movement. So, when I heard that the King’s Head were presenting a new version of the story, I leapt at the chance to go. This new English version, with libretto by Mary Franklin – who also directs – and Ashley Pearson, brings  Carmen  solidly into the twenty-first century. The action starts here in the UK. where we meet Jose (Mike Bradley/Roger Paterson) a nurse fed up with his lot. He hates his life, consisting of a job he dislikes, a very sick mother being looked after by his wife, and his unrequited love for hospital cleaner Carmen (Ellie Edmonds/Jane Monart). Then one day fate, and Carmen’s naivety changes their relationship and enables Jose to both assist Carmen and get her into his debt. Months later, now work...

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...

Dracula – Sophie Greenham and Bart Lambert (Mina and Jonathan Harker). Between 1890 and 1895, the Business Manager (Bram Stoker) from the Lyceum Theatre could be found in the London Library pouring over some very interesting books as diverse as “The Devil: His Origin, Greatness and Decadence” through to “A Glossary of Words used in the Neighbourhood of Whitby”. Subsequent research has shown that during this time, Bram Stoker was working on one of the most famous works of fiction known to humanity. 121 years later Creation Theatre have returned to the London Library to bring Dracula home once more. This version of  Dracula  is very different to any other you might see. For a start, it takes place in the reading room of the library, an atmospheric location that is steeped in history and which Director Helen Tennison uses very effectively. The second unique thing about this production is that there are only two cast members (Sophie Greenham and Bart Lambert). And finally, th...

2018 Bleach – Paris Fringe The Vault Festival continues to amaze and entertain with a whole range of shows and productions that cover every taste and interest. Virtually everything I have seen in the years I have been covering the Vault Festival has been somewhere between good and awesome – in fact, only one show comes to mind that I really didn’t like. However, occasionally there is a production that totally takes your breath away and leaves you with a profound sense of seeing – and maybe participating in – something exceptionally special. A case in point is Dan Ireland-Reeves’  Bleach  which runs at the festival until the 10th February. Tyler Everett is a lad who has a degree under his belt and has, like so many others, come to London to make his fortune. Unfortunately for Tyler, his life is not like Dick Whittington’s and he is currently living in a small – or compact and bijou in estate agent speak – bedsit. His initial entry into the employment world sees him startin...

Tyler Luke Cunningham (Lee) credit – Idil Sukan. Hercule Poirot once said that “ It is a profound belief of mine that if you can induce a person to talk to you for long enough, on any subject whatever! Sooner or later they will give themselves away. ” And, in his various cases, this has often proved to be the case. Conversations are a potentially dangerous thing, particularly when two people don’t know each other very well, because no matter how hard someone may try to conceal themselves, the longer they talk the more they are likely to give away. And conversations are at the heart of Gabriel Gbadamosi’s new play  Stop and Search  which has just opened at the Arcola Theatre. In fact, three separate but linked conversations make up this 90-minute one-act production. The first takes place in a car under the driving through a road tunnel under the alps. Driver Tel (Shaun Mason ) has picked up a hitchhiker Akim (Munashe Chirisa) and is taking him through the tunnel with him. ...

The War of the Worlds at the New Diorama Theatre In 1938, The Mercury Theatre on the Air theatre company created radio history with a performance of an adaptation of H. G. Wells 1898 novel about a Martian attack on the planet Earth. The effect of the broadcast was profound and has entered the history books creating a story of its own. Fast forward to 2019 and Rhum & Clay have taken the original radio production as their base for a new version of  The War of the Worlds  at the New Diorama Theatre. This 80-minute play, devised by the company writing with Isley Lynn, starts with the infamous broadcast and the wonderful opening monologue from Orson Wells (Mona Goodwin, Julian Spooner, Amalia Vitale and Matthew Wells) themselves. I have to say, speaking as someone that has a copy of the original broadcast, the cast have done extremely well to recreate the sound and feel of 1938 as they go through the start of the Mercury Theatre production. The play is not just a recreation...

Andy Nyman (Tevye) image by Johan Persson. As we get to the end of another year of reviewing, my mind has turned to the traditional list of my top ten shows for 2018. It was pretty much settled until last night when a visit to the Menier Chocolate Factory to see the new production of  Fiddler on The Roof  has caused a rethink in the rankings. It is 1905 and in the Russian shtetl of Anatevka, Tevye (Andy Nyman) a farmer lives with his wife Golde (Judy Kuhn) and his five daughters Tzeitel (Molly Osborne ), Hodel (Harriet Bunton), Chava (Kirsty MacLaren ), Shprintze (Lia Cohen/Shoshana Ezequiel/Valentina Theodoulou) and Bielke (Sofia Bennett/Lottie Casserley/Matilda Hopkins). The family are very poor – barely on the breadline, it could be said – but somehow Tevye manages to keep his spirits up and, amongst his fellow Jews in the village, he is respected as a stout member of the community. This day, there is good news for the family. Tevye has met a drifter by the name of Perc...

©Nobby Clark – L -R Sara Stewart, Theo Ancient and Tom Kanji. Before Narnia, and long before Hogwarts, there was a book where children were the heroes encountering magic, good versus evil and the saving of Christmas. The book, written by John Masefield was  The Box of Delights  and 83 years later, Piers Torday’s adaptation of the story opens once more at Wilton’s Music Hall. At the start of the Christmas Holidays, young orphan Kay Harker (Theo Ancient) is on a train to his guardian Caroline Louisa. Whilst on the train, Kay meets a vicar by the name of Charles (Tom Kanji) and his companion, the vivacious Pouncer (Sara Stewart). The two of them seem to warm to Kay and Charles introduces him to a card game called ‘find the lady’. When the two leave him, Kay is upset to find he appears to have lost his wallet. However, he cheers up somewhat when he meets an old man by the name of Cole Hawlings (Nigel Betts). Cole is a friendly chap, who seems to know a lot about Kay alre...

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...