Tezza's Theatre Place

PBGSTUDIOS: Ashley Byam, Keeran Blessie, Declan Spaine. People go to university for many reasons. For the majority, the main one is to get a degree and, following that, a good job. However, along with the educational aspects, university is also a place to make life-long friendships and maybe even meet your one true love. But what happens afterwards? A question that is addressed in Jake Brunger’s  Four Play  at the Above the Stag Theatre. Seven and a half years after having met, and fallen in love, at university, Pete (Keeran Blessie) and Rafe (Ashley Byam) are still together and still in love. They have a lovely apartment and live the perfect DINK life – wearing designer clothes, shopping at Sainsbury’s, drinking Chablis and enjoying snacks containing sun dried tomatoes. Life couldn’t be any better for these two. But there is a niggling doubt that has wormed its way into their relationship. After over seven years together, Rafe and Peter couldn’t have a firmer relationshi...

Matthew Baldwin Queereteria TV – Credit PBG STUDIOS Ever had a night at the theatre where, by the end, you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the show but ultimately are totally confused about what you have seen? Well, I had just such a night at the Above the Stag theatre which is currently playing host to  Queereteria TV . Thanks to an accident whilst doing something interesting with a senior member of the royal family, Lady Domina Bizarre (Matthew Baldwin) has caused the planet to be pretty much decimated. Now, thanks to her actions, there is only one television channel available, funnily enough, run by and starring Lady Dominina. The channel comes from an old gay cruising club called Queereteria. Lady Domina’s show is called ‘Club Bizarre’ and, as well as the lady herself is presented by people she is control of including Rupert (Peter Straker) and the former celebrity singer Torsten (Andy Bell) now over 100 and locked in a cryogenic chamber as the show’s resident feature. But the Lady’...

Mother Goose Cracks One Out I’ve been reviewing just over four news and so far I’ve attended over 700 shows. Not a bad number but, in all that time, I’ve never managed to get to one of the famous Above the Stag pantomimes. However, this year, that is no longer true, as I attended the 2018 offering  Mother Goose Cracks One Out . In the generic northern mill town of Rugburn – Yorkshire side of the Pennines – Mother Goose (Matthew Baldwin) a kind-hearted hairdresser, runs her business assisted by her reluctant but dedicated son Gay Tommy (Liam Woodlands-Mooney). The two of them are very poor because Mother Goose is not only useless with money but is also very generous, giving away haircuts to the needy – which seems to be everyone – and generally being a bit of a soft touch. Her landlord and squire of the town Amos (Christopher Lane) is demanding his rent as he needs the money since his mill is not doing well. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anyone happy in Rugburn, except mayb...

Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club – Photo by PBGstudios In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Harper Lee came up with one of the most quoted sentences of all time. “ You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ’em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t .” Most people only know and use the first part of the quote, especially if a member of their family has exasperated them – I use it all the time about my brothers – but, in writing these words, Harper has perfectly summed up the central theme in Jonathan Harvey’s 1995 play  Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club  which has just opened the Above the Stag Theatre. At No 15 Rupert Street, hairdresser Shaun (Tom Whittaker) is living a good old life. He is happily cohabiting with his girlfriend Juliet. His life isn’t bad. The business is doing OK and his home life is good. Well apart from the fact that Juliet has had to go to Barbados for a fe...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/198832/review-the-4-clowns-of-the-apocalypse/ The 4 Clowns of The Apocalypse Way back in 1967, a comedy film was released called “The Plank”. What made this film unusual was that there was virtually no dialogue in it. The comedy around the story relied entirely on the action, it was a sensorial treat for all that watched it. I only mention this as yesterday I was lucky en0ugh to see a stage show that used the same principle of silent but splendid acting to tell a story when I caught a showing of  The 4 Clowns of the Apocalypse  as it visited the Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre. It is the end of the world and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Pestilence, War, Famine and Death are prepared to fulfill their function and set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment, Well, actually only three have turned up. Pestilence, War and Famine (Eduardo Correia, Abel Duarte and Paulo Duarte), Death appears to be mis...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/193347/bitches-down-under-review-above-the-stag-theatre/ January must be the most depressing month in the calendar. Christmas is over, the decorations are down and everywhere is looking drab and boring. The weather is awful and the credit card bills for the festive season have arrived. The best thing to do to escape the January blues is to take a holiday somewhere hot but, if your wallet won’t quite stretch to that then the next best thing is to share someone else’s holiday. So, I would recommend that you get yourself down to the Above the Stag and join the folks for  Bitches Down Under . The plane has barely touched down at Sydney airport before Drew (Liam Nooney) and his fiancé Garth (Ethan Chapples), along with their favourite “fruit Fly” Pam (Hannah Vesty) are in a bar at Bondi Beach. This holiday is very special for Garth and Drew as not only is it their first visit to Mardi Gras but afterwards they are flying off to New Zealand – P...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/171584/review-when-harry-met-barry-above-the-stag-theatre/ There are many things that theatre can do for its audience. Sometimes, it will educate, sometimes raise awareness or start a conversation and sometimes it will simply provide a very entertaining distraction from the world outside. The latest example of the latter type of show is  When Harry Met Barry  which has just opened at the Above the Stag Theatre in Vauxhall. TV celebrity chef Harry (Brandon Gale) is fed up with ‘love’. Although he is tall, handsome and runs a successful Soho restaurant, he basically only meets men who seem to think a relationship means they stay overnight and nothing needs go deeper than that. And then, one day, while sitting in a coffee shop minding his own business, Harry meets flamboyant design student and scene queen Spencer (Austin Garrett). The two of them seem to hit it off immediately and after a couple of coffees, Harry is not alone anymore. Over...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/169539/the-chemsex-monologues-the-kings-head-theatre-review/ The Chemsex Monologues at the King’s Head Theatre. Photo by Mark Douet Some of you may have heard of an app called Grindr. It is a social app for gay men that enables them to chat and arrange to meet up. Okay, it may be a bit more than that but once again I must remember my mother reads these things. Anyway, if I was to download it and switch it on now, two things would become apparent very quickly. The first is that a lot of people take really bad photographs which seem to cut off their heads and the second is that the world is divided into those that say ‘chems OK’ and those that say ‘No Chems’. Being firmly on the ‘No Chems’ side, it is interesting to delve, if only briefly, on the other. Such an opportunity is available as Patrick Cash’s play  The Chemsex Monologues  makes a welcome return to the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. As the title suggests,  The Chemsex M...