Tezza's Theatre Place

Bad Girls – Photographer Lidia Crisafulli Ever thought about going to prison? I have to admit that there are times when the idea has quite appealed to me. No real worries, three meals a day, do an OU degree/Masters for free and get fit in the gym. Of course, that is not the reality for many and prison is often a dark, frightening and violent place best avoided at all costs. Still, there’s a fascination with the idea of prison life. Look at the various films and TV shows set in one of the world’s jails. Not to be outdone, musical theatre has its own salute to life inside in the shape of  Bad Girls: The Musical  which I have just seen at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate Village. HM Prison, Larkhill is welcoming a new inmate today. Rachel Hicks (Megan Jobling) is young, terrified and totally unsure of what is going on as she goes through prison induction under the brusque and impersonal eye of Senior Officer Sylvia “BodyBag” Hollamby (Carol Sharp) to whom, Rachel is jus...

LEAVE A COMMENT Our Country’s Good Transportation was a horrific punishment in many ways. People convicted for, what would be today, the tiniest crimes were taken from their families and friends, stuck on a ship for months, travelling in appalling conditions and then dumped in the colonies to serve out their time which could be anything from a few years to the rest of their lives. Not just that but when they got to the colonies, there were none of the trappings of a civilised country. Everything was rough and ready, living in tents, limited food and horrendous punishments for any misdemeanors, inflicted by, on the whole, rather brutal members of the army forced to be moved from their comfortable billets and look after the prisoners. For some, the worst aspect of life in the penal colonies was a lack of anything to do. But in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s 1988 play  Our Country’s Good  at the Bridewell Theatre, both the convicts and the guards definitely find ways to pass the ti...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/199366/victim-exploring-life-inside-a-womens-prison-review/ Louise Beresford in Victim In this, the hundredth anniversary of woman’s suffrage, there is a lot of soul-searching going on in the world. Companies are publishing their gender pay gap analysis and also looking at the gender split at the most senior levels. Finally, it is being recognised that men and women should be treated equally even though, quite often, women can be the stronger of the two sexes. And strong women are at the heart of Martin Murphy’s one-act play  Victim  at the King’s Head Theatre. Victim  is set in a women’s prison with two protagonists, a prison officer and a life prisoner who has a finger in a lot of pies. Both women are very intrigued by the arrival of a new prisoner, one whose crime both amazes and disgusts everyone who knows why she is there. Prisoner and warder come into contact a lot but the officer is experienced and knows about keeping the r...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/151981/mule-is-a-seriously-great-production-from-start-to-finish/ According to the old song, “ A mule is an animal with long, funny ears, He kicks up at anything he hears, His back is brawny and his brain is weak, He’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak ” However, there is a much nastier side to the word and demonstrated in Kat Woods harrowing one-act play  Mule  at the Omnibus in Clapham. Based on a true story,  Mule  starts with a series of projected text messages (good work by Video Designer Carrie Shearman) between two sisters from Ireland. One having recently lost her job is heading off to spend the summer in Ibiza, while the other stays home and relays messages. As time goes on, things seem to be going okay, and then suddenly the messages stop, the phone goes unanswered and voicemails aren’t replied to. The home-based sister is getting more worried and upset and eventually calls in the Police to find her sibling, w...