Tezza's Theatre Place

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/197788/review-redbellyblack-theatres-ok-bye-vault-festival/ RedBellyBlack Theatre’s OK, Bye – VAULT Festival 2018 (courtesy of Robert Boulton) There is a saying about opera that ‘it ain’t really over till the fat lady sings’. This is probably because lots of operas end when a well-proportioned lady sings her final aria then dies, bringing the curtain down with her. This expression has made its way into normal language, a fact exploited by the RedBellyBlack Theatre Company in their production  OK, Bye which I saw at the Vault Festival. This is the story of three siblings – April (Kate Goodfellow) the eldest, Peter (Sam Cornforth) an advertising executive and baby of the family Oliver (Oscar Scott-White) a successful freelance nature photographer – who have come together for the funeral of their mother. It’s the first time the three have been together for a while as the boys are very busy with their professional lives and only got home to vis...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/171444/becoming-mohammed-pleasance-theatre/ Becoming Mohammed (Jack Hammett) – courtesy of And Many Others It’s surprising how, even with all the social media and communication devices available, families can drift apart. Mine live up in Lancashire and I get to see them once or twice a year. Imagine though if I had been away for a couple of years and then went home to find my brother had fundamentally changed everything about his life. How would I react? A conundrum that is at the heart of Claudia Marinaro’s new play  Becoming Mohammed  at the Pleasance Theatre. In a very sparse living room, a young man is about to start his prayers. Dressed in a simple white robe and kufi, he carefully places his prayer rug to face Ka’ba and begins to perform Salah. Unfortunately, a loud knocking at the door interrupts his prayers and, he hurries his way through to the end. Removing his Muslim clothes the man is revealed as Thomas (Jack Hammett) a ta...