Tezza's Theatre Place

ROCK OF AGES. Lucas Rush ‘Lonny’. Photo Richard Davenport. There are various elements that have to be in place to make a jukebox musical successful. No. 1, some great music, No. 2, a simple story that fits the music and No 3. a really strong cast to deliver the story and music. Based on those criteria, its no wonder  Rock of Ages  has been a hit, and I was lucky enough to catch the show as it touched down at the  New Wimbledon Theatre  as part of its current UK tour. According to our narrator Lonny (Lucas Rush), Sunset Strip in 1987 is the place to be if you are looking for a good time and a chance of success. Of course, then as now, the odds were against you, but that doesn’t deter aspiring rocker Drew (Luke Walsh). Although currently working at The Bourbon Room, owned by an old rocker by the name of Dennis Dupree (Kevin Kennedy), Drew has his dream and knows that one day he is going to make it. That dream of fame also burns in the heart of Sherrie Christian (J...

(L-R) Flora Spencer-Longhurst (Simona) and Lucy Sheen (Ye) in A Pupil – Park Theatre. Photography by Meurig Marshall What is greatness? Shakespeare addressed this question in  Twelfth Night  with his famous line “ Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them ”. The one aspect that is not looked at here is whether or not greatness can be taught, and if so, what does it take to get from good to great? And, maybe more importantly, why would you want to make that transition? All of this and more is explored in Jesse Briton’s new play  A Pupil  which is having its world premiere at Park Theatre. In a rough old bedsit, Ye (Lucy Sheen) is contemplating something from which there is no return. Tired, stuck in a wheelchair she is reaching for the pills and the bottle, as a way out of all of her problems. However, her friend and landlady – a well-intentioned, interfering, evangelical Christian by the name of Mary (Melanie Marsh...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/194550/madonna-or-whore-the-vault-festival-review/ When you think about it in the great scheme of things, sixty minutes is not a long time. Two episodes of a standard sitcom or the average lunch break. Let’s be honest, I can put off writing a review for longer than an hour and not notice the time pass. However, Holly Morgan’s production  Madonna or Whore? , down at the Vault Festival, managed in just sixty short minutes to affect me so much, it may even have changed my life in some small way. The show itself is based on the “Madonna–whore complex” first identified by Sigmund Freud. Under the rubric of psychic impotence, this psychological complex is said to develop in men who see women as either saintly Madonnas or debased whores. I’m guessing right now you’re thinking “that sounds like it’s not for me”. I can understand that, as my first reaction was also along those lines. But stick with it as Holly has not only written a fantastic one a...