Tezza's Theatre Place

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/163247/review-fiona-doyles-play-abigail-the-bunker/ Abigail at The Bunker – Tia Bannon and Mark Rose – Image courtesy of Anton Belmonté “ Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger. You may see a stranger across a crowded room. And somehow you know, you know even then….. ” and so the song goes on. Often it is true as well. Two people meet, something clicks and something starts between them. All well and good you might think. But people are complicated things. Everyone comes loaded with a trolley full of luggage behind them which affects their relationships in profound and sometimes quite unexpected ways. Not sure if I’m spouting a load of drivel here? Well, pop along to The Bunker and the world premiere of Fiona Doyle’s play  Abigail  then decide. A man (Mark Rose) and a woman (Tia Bannon) meet. There is a distinct difference in age between them but despite this, there is an obvious attraction between them. They get involved in a rel...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/162872/bu21-trafalgar-studio-two-review/ BU21: Theatre503, Clive Kene, Graham O’Mara and Florence Roberts. Image courtesy of David Monteith-Hodge You may remember a few years ago on Emmerdale they dropped a plane on the village. As you would expect in a soap opera, the effect was devastating for a good month or so but then people and stories moved on and it never gets mentioned anymore. Real life is of course, different to television and it takes a long time for individuals to recover from a devastating event, a theme which is examined in Steven Slade’s BU21 at the Trafalgar Studios. There has been a terrorist incident in the UK. Using a scarily easily obtained hand-held surface to air launcher, a terrorist cell has shot down a commercial airline which has crashed to the ground wiping out part of Fulham. Six people connected to the events of that day come together to tell their story and explain the effects of the terrorist action. Graham (Graha...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/158767/review-glockenspiel-tristan-bates-theatre/ Military life isn’t for everyone. Even in peacetime, it puts a lot of strain on not only the serviceman or woman but also their family and friends. In a time of conflict, that strain gets even more intense. This gets worse if the service man/woman doesn’t fully believe in the cause and justness of the action they are being ordered to take. However, possibly the most difficult part of military life is when it ends. After a lifetime of service, adjusting to civilian life can be traumatic, to say the least. All of these themes and more are examined in Steven Dykes  Glockenspiel  at Soho’s Tristan Bates Theatre. Glockenspiel tells the story of the funerals of three current and former members of the American armed forces. Whilst none of the deceased died on active service, they are all entitled to and receive a military funeral. At each, the Defence Department has supplied an Honour Gua...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/158698/the-trackers-of-oxyrhynchus-finborough-theatre/ Many plays that are performed take place over a limited time span. Anything from a few hours to a couple of days. However, there is the odd one that spans a time period from the 5th Century BC to 2017, a range of some 2500 years. Not an easy feat you may think and to cover this in seventy-five minutes is nigh on impossible. However, it is not only possible but is currently happening at the Finborough Theatre where  The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus  has returned to London after nearly thirty years. The story starts in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt where archaeologists and Oxford Dons Grenfell (Tom Purbeck) and Hunt (Richard Glaves) are searching amongst the ancient papyrus fragments matching the pieces to make documents. Whilst most of the re-united fragments are fairly mundane – mostly pleas from the local peasantry – Grenfell is looking for something in particular. Prodded by a vision of the God ...

http://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/review-peter-pan-olivier-theatre/ There are days when I get up, face the morning commute, spend an hour stood on a crowded bus with my head thrust into some stranger’s armpit and I really wish I had never grown up to be an adult. Of course, that was impossible, after all, death taxes and growing up are about the only things you can count on happening in life. However, if you want to escape the humdrum and learn the story of the boy that never grew up, the place to be is the Olivier Theatre where Peter Pan has taken up residence for the festive season. The action takes place in Victorian England where Mr and Mrs Darling are heading off to a party leaving their three children, Wendy (Madeleine Worrall), John (Marc Antolin) and Michael (John Pfumojena) under the care of their ‘nurse’ Nana (Ekow Quartey). However, unbeknown to the parents outside their window lurks the shadowless figure of Peter Pan (Paul Hilton) accompanied by h...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/153579/swan-lakeloch-na-heala-by-michael-keegan-dolan/ Swan Lake by Michael Keegan-Dolan. Photo by Colm Hogan Sometimes a review is the easiest thing in the world to write. Everything works with a show and the words flow so fast I can’t type them fast enough. At other times, it is the opposite. For whatever reason, or reasons, the words don’t run smoothly. Michael Keegan-Dolan’s  Swan Lake/Loch  na  hEala  at Sadler’s Wells is an example of the latter type. Loosely based on the traditional tale, this version has been transferred to contemporary times and moved to a small town in Ireland. Loosely based on the traditional tale, this version has been transferred to contemporary times and moved to a small town in Ireland. The princess is a thirty-six-year-old man (Alexander Leonhartsberger), with mental illness, living with his mother (Elizabeth Cameron Dalman) in a run-down house in rural Ireland. Unusually for what...