Tezza's Theatre Place

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...

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/187131/review-three-mothers-waterloo-east-theatre-london/ Europe is awash with migrants. War, genocide, economic conditions and deportation have caused a mass of dispossessed people to be wandering around seeking everything from a new life away from fear to just somewhere warm to rest their head. The funny thing is, anyone reading this opening will believe they already know about the migrant issue. It’s on the news all the time and has become a bit of political hot potato. But, the current situation is not the first time Europe has suffered a migrant crisis. You only need to go back seventy years to find another time when migration was a major problem for the countries of Europe. Today and the past are at the heart of Matilda Velevitch’s play  Three Mothers  at the Waterloo East Theatre. Told as three intertwining monologues,  Three Mothers  tells the story of three women separated by time and space. First, there is Khady (C...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/186047/review-richard-iii-cockpit-theatre/ As Napoleon once said, “ Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them .” And nowhere is the idea of ambition explored in greater style than in William Shakespeare’s  Richard III . This tragic story can be seen in a new production by Front Foot Theatre at the Cockpit Theatre. Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Km Hardy) has a simple wish. He wants to be King of England. The problem is that between Richard and the throne is his brother George, Duke of Clarence (Thomas Walker Barron), the current king, and another brother, Edward IV (Oliver Hewett) and his two sons, the Prince of Wales and Duke of York. However, Richard is not going to let a minor thing like this stop him achieving his ambition and, he quickly puts his Machiavellian brain to work on the problem. Clarence is soon dispatched an...