Tezza's Theatre Place

AFTERGLOW – Jesse Fox, Danny Mahoney, Sean Hart photo Darren Bell. Being honest, an open relationship wouldn’t work for me. However, I have friends who have the ability to keep sex and their relationship separate and really enjoy both. Whilst I agree that is fine in theory, for me, that separation would not be that easy and emotions always become involved somehow. In many respects, this is the issue that is at the heart of S. Asher Gelman’s play  Afterglow  at the Southwark Playhouse. Josh (Sean Hart) and his husband Alex (Danny Mahoney) are enjoying life. They live in a nice apartment in New York, have jobs they both, on the whole, enjoy and are having a baby together. Sexually, they have an open relationship with only one rule – no overnighters – and are happy to play together or separately. When we first meet them, they are having a passionate threesome with twenty-something masseur Darius (Jessie Fox), an event that all three of them really enjoy. In fact, Josh enjo...

The Unbuilt City: Sandra Dickinson (Claudia) and Jonathan Chambers (Jonah) – Photo by PND Photography People keep secrets. They keep things from their nearest and dearest, their friends, random members of the public. They also have a tendency to keep things. When my grandmother died and we were clearing the house, we found every utility bill she had ever received kept in a folder in her desk. I mention this because the idea of keeping secrets and things is at the heart of Keith Bunin’s one-act play,  The Unbuilt City  which is getting its European premiere at the King’s Head Theatre The story takes place in the Brooklyn Heights townhouse of Claudia (Sandra Dickinson), a reclusive socialite. It’s a cold February and she is welcoming a visitor in the shape of Jonah (Jonathan Chambers) a young man on a mission, He has two things on his mind. One finding out if Claudia has certain, almost mythical, item in her possession and two, if she has it, convincing her to part with it....

Laura Pitt-Pulford (Melanie), Jonathan Cake (Frank). by Manuel Harlan Job interviews are horrible. It doesn’t matter how many you have been through, they are always terrifying, And these days, the higher the position, the more difficult the interview process. Of course, the important thing is how much do you want the job? And this is where the ultimate interview comes in, which is the subject of Jordi Galceran’s play – translated by Anne García-Romero and Mark St. Germain –  The Grönholm Method  at the Menier Chocolate Factory. On the 11th floor of a Manhattan building sits a small meeting/reception room. It is nicely furnished, with chrome and leather chairs that look good but are, like most corporate offices, prob\bly very uncomfortable. Floor to ceiling windows look out over ‘downtown’ and on a table in the seating area sits four glasses and four bottles of water. Only one chair is currently occupied, and that is by a besuited man called Frank (Jonathan Cake). He is not...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197345/harold-and-maude-charing-cross-theatre-review/ Harold and Maude – Bill Milner and Sheila Hancock PHOTO by Darren Bell What exactly is the relevance of age? I’m in my fifties but have good friends ranging from twenty-five to sixty. Yes, we all have different experiences of life but it is our interests that unite us. Ultimately, age is just a number and if you find a spark with someone older or younger than yourself then you should give that a chance and see what happens. Who knows, it might even change your life. This then is the basic principle behind Colin Higgins’ play  Harold and Maude  enjoying a limited run at the Charing Cross Theatre. Set in New York in the 1970s  Harold and Maude  tells the story of two very different people. Harold (Bill Milner) is a nineteen-year-old boy with a peculiar outlook on life. Whilst most teenagers are interested in sex, drugs, alcohol, rock & roll, or at least some combination ...

https://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/collective-rage-a-play-in-five-betties-review/ Collective Rage at Southwark Playhouse. Sara Stewart (Betty 1) Photo by Jack Sain Terminology around the LGBT+ community can seem like a bit of a nightmare. People get so worried about saying the right thing and using the right words that they forget everyone they are talking about or to is a person, an individual in their own right. Bringing the whole thing back to people is Jan Silverman whose play  Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties  is getting its UK premiere at the Southwark Playhouse. Told both as monologues to the audience and interactions between the characters, and using a play within a play device, Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties is exactly that. Five, and I apologise for the terminology, ladies, named Betty, are brought together in this one act story of rage, desire, lust and love set in New York. Betty 1 (Sara Stewart) is a socialite, married to ...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/192580/review-42nd-street-theatre-royal-drury-lane/ Everyone heading off to drama or stage school has a dream. They all want to be a star. Now some may deny it and say they would just be happy with an established career but secretly every one of them wants that five-pointed gold star on their dressing room door. The best way to achieve that stardom may be to start in the chorus then work your way up to lead actor. But, for the hero of  42nd Street  at the  Theatre Royal Drury Lane , there is a shortcut. 1933 and as the Great Depression really starts to bite, it’s announced that famous musical theatre director Julian Marsh (Tom Lister) is putting on a new show. Every hoofer in New York wants to be working on it and none is more determined than former Miss Allentown Peggy Sawyer (Clare Halse) but she’s too late to audition and everything seems to be going wrong for her. Can anything be done to rescue Peggy’s dream and get her on a B...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/167236/the-wild-party-the-other-palace-review/ Ever thrown or been to a party where things have got a little out of hand? Yep, me too. In fact, there was a certain party where……. Well, I can’t say any more because my mother sometimes reads these reviews. However, no matter what has happened at your party, it pales into insignificance compared to the shenanigans at Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe’s The Wild Party which has re-launched The Other Palace (formerly the St James Theatre) in Victoria. 1920s New York and Vaudeville performer Queenie (Frances Ruffelle) is getting bored with her relationship with fellow performer Burrs (John Owen-Jones). In an effort to calm her after one particularly nasty fight threatens to get out of hand, Burrs suggests they throw a party and invite all their old friends. This is destined to be some party and Queenie is planning to really enjoy herself and...