Reviews

‘Lush & ribald, a swoon of Shakespearean slang.’ ★★★★ It’s the oldest story in the book. Boy meets girl; boy loses girl. It’s a cliché, nothing new but nonetheless devastating when it happens. The boulevard of broken dreams is a well-trodden path, in art and life, but this interpretation is fast, funny, and fresh. One man, skinhead geezer, shiny dome, spray-on jeans, red braces, the writer of this piece (Matthew Lyon) is also the alpha male who falls for the young woman in a little denim skirt with red flowers in her hair. (Laura Maxwell) In “a SodaStream of gilded beams” they lock eyes on a tube, Last Tango in Shepherds Bush. The arc unfurls: love, sex, dreams, connection until the rot sets in. Broken presents the particulars of this relationship in West London, with sticky duvets and a mountain of fast-food wrappers. The initial idealism and fantasy, just looking at her gives him “eyegasms” is set against the disillusion and reality of two individuals who so wanted to become their own rhyming couplet. Inevitably, it all finishes with “boo hoo eyes and lamenting sighs.” There’s some wildly entertaining physical theatre in Broken, accompanied by the playful piano keys of silent cinema but it’s the language that sets it apart as something unique and enjoyably different. The entire 75 minutes is told in verse, his perspective and hers. Ribald and lush, it’s a swoon of Shakespearean slang delivered with the proletariat vowels of Alex’s Nadsat from A Clockwork Orange. Fans of poetry and the Bard will enjoy the verbal footnotes and references to many classic plays and poems scattered throughout. Impressively crafted and well-paced, the mood chops and changes as the relationship runs its course. Alongside the many laugh-out loud scenes, are a few that are genuinely moving which explore the painful solitude of a fresh extraction. There’s a real rapport between these two performers. Lauren Maxwell who has toured internationally with mime, circus and clown performances sparkles as a posing, posturing, pint-sized pin-up, the perfect complement to his wide swagger and blokeish demeanour. Broken by Matthew Lyon has been treading the boards for seven years and last year won the Best Writing award at the Bitesize Festival, 2024. Now at the Riverside for only a few days more, catch it while thee can. BROKEN by Matthew Lyon at Riverside Studios until June 15th 2025 Box office https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/broken-166501/

 ‘an entertaining ride, especially for those looking for a blend of circus, camp, and mythology’ ★★★ There are four gods featured in this cheeky circus retelling of Greek mythology: Cupid, Dionysus, Apollo, and Hercules. Though, one might ask, does Hercules really count as a god? That debate becomes part of the show’s narrative. What do we expect from a circus? Daring feats, gasps of wonder, and bursts of applause—moments that push human physicality to the edge. GODZ certainly delivers some of these “wow” moments: aerial stunts, precarious balances, and yes, full nudity. But while the spectacle is there, the variety is limited. The majority of the routines centre around balancing on high objects, with few diversions. Aside from a humorous nude dance involving plates, the show can feel repetitive, making the pacing feel somewhat flat. Rather than relying solely on momentum and spectacle, GODZ introduces a loose narrative arc—Hercules’ mythic journey—as a way to thread the acts together. It’s a clever device, but the execution doesn’t always land with the finesse required to keep the audience fully engaged. That said, it’s still an entertaining ride, especially for those looking for a blend of circus, camp, and mythology. Somewhere between acrobatics and theatre, GODZ doesn’t fully commit to either form, and that in-between space can feel both novel and uneven. HEADFIRST ACROBATS GODZ PEACOCK THEATRE 11-14 JUNE Wednesday to Saturday – 7.30pm Saturday matinee – 2.30pm 75 mins Tickets £18 to £45 The show is recommended for ages 18+ This performance contains full nudity We’re sorry, children under five are not allowed to attend this performance. Booking https://www.sadlerswells.com 020 7863 8000 (Mon-Sat, 12-6pm, excluding Bank Holidays).

“director Sam Smithson comes to play in this funny, provocative and inventive piece of theatre” ★★★★1/2 Martin Crimp’s ‘Attempts on Her Life’ is a director’s playground, and Not Quite Ready’s director Sam Smithson certainly comes to play in this production at the Hen & Chickens Theatre. With ‘17 scenarios for the theatre’ written sans character, sans stage direction, and sans narrative thread bound only by a female other, namely Anne/Annie/Anya/Annuhska – who might be a terrorist, or an expensive sports car, or the girl next door, or a backpacker or an artist documenting her suicide attempts – Crimp’s play demands a response to present socio-political context. His surrealism is aptly summarised in the line, ‘it’s surely the point that the search for a point is pointless,’ as the play cuts between harrowing depictions of ethnic violence and satirical monologues on capitalism. Not Quite Ready Productions boast an impressive ensemble who manage, with great energy and craft, to build a narrative out of the apparent episodic chaos of the play. What that narrative is depends on the audience member, so I will avoid my own interpretation so as not to ruin the fun. There are many elements to compliment, notably the video and lighting design from Beril Yavuz; I was absorbed particularly by animations of girls in lingerie that felt like a strange crossroad between a strip club, The Sims and a campaign for positive sex work. Wil Pritchard’s sound design and composition is equally as effective, the final piece of a unique creative puzzle. Director Sam Smithson demonstrates a sophisticated command of storytelling, staging THE CAMERA LOVES YOU in a 2000s nightclub, GIRL NEXT DOOR as a leather-clad rock number (performed by a captivating Tom Terry), and TRAGEDY OF LOVE AND IDEOLOGY as a kind of writers’ room set against the backdrop of the Third Reich. Another favourite was UNTITLED (100 words), where Cameron Wilson plays a flamboyant art critic, glasses thick-rimmed and nose up-turned, walking the boundaries of satire with expertise. Meghan Bartual Smyth brings a calm steadiness to the play’s anarchy, while Bethany Monk-Lane delivers racking monologues with a crazed but crafted twinkle in her eye. While the company’s name does suggest that the show needs a final polish, this is a funny, provocative and inventive piece of theatre that entertains on both an absurd and a human level. Whether you know the play or it’s your first venture into Crimp’s weird world, Not Quite Ready’s production of ‘Attempts on Her Life’ is not to be missed. Photography: Claire McHugh Attempts on Her Life by Martin Crimp Not Quite Ready Productions Hen & Chickens Theatre 10 th – 14 th June 2025 Box office: https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/attempts-on-her-life-by-martin-crimp/ CREATIVE Director - Sam Smithson Video and Lighting Designer - Beril Yavuz Sound Designer and Composer - Wil Pritchard ENSEMBLE Bethany Monk-Lane Cameron Wilson Meghan Bartual Smyth Tom Terry Social media: @nqrproductions

‘based on real people and real events, it gets right into your head and leaves you asking, what really happened’ ★★★ Ruthless is an interesting look at the “One-Lady-Trauma” that was Ruth Madoff, the wife of multi-billion dollar Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff. We find out that her husband was the mastermind of the world’s largest ever Ponzi scheme, a fraud where early investors are paid off with the investment funds deposited by more recent investors. To those of you who are unfamiliar with this, it is like a certain famous politician’s recent bit-coin scam, where he and his associates made millions and hundreds of thousands off gullible MAGA supporters who lost all their money. These ‘Ponzi schemes’, like crypto currencies have been referred to as “crime-ridden scams” though little is ever done to reimburse the victims. Perhaps they are viewed as what in a war might be called collateral damage. In this case Ruth Madoff is clearly one and very possibly her son too, who committed suicide by hanging himself in front of his own child. There is little mention of or thought given to the harm done to the thousands of innocent investors except for the effect it has on the mind of the guilty. Although one does make a brief appearance late in the play. Starting at a sedate crawl, the curtains are opened on the pill and alcohol fueled self pitying misery of Ruth’s last days. We are uncertain who she is talking to until we realize that this poor woman is leading a life of delusion. Is she alone? No, she is just the lonely victim. Everything in her life that meant anything has been taken away from her but her self-pity flies out of the window at the drop of a hat when the hunky Italian pizza delivery man rings the doorbell. We are left wondering if she is really that damaged as from that point her self-pity turns into blame. Indeed, Emily Swain steers us through a journey of ever-changing moods and reflections of a woman whose life’s events have left her clearly disturbed. Eventually moved to suicide she enters a state of hallucination or visit to heaven, depending on whichever belief you decide to adopt in your own life, where the truth of the matter is laid bare to her. In reality, employees in fact stated “Ruthie runs all the books” a reference to her job as the bookkeeper of the family firm, which does rather point the finger of guilt or at least compliance in the fraud in her direction. And back in the play Ruthie is tormented with guilt at the accusation that she may well have been the driving factor that caused the whole fraud to happen in the first place. Although the play is fiction, it is based on real people and real events and so gets right into your head and leaves you asking what really happened. Although a whole range of reasons, excuses, blames, lies and bullshit were thrown at Ruthie by her lost family members and her own twisted mind, we in the audience may be left to figure it out for ourselves. In the end it makes you want to go home and look up what really did happen or for the less interested, it leaves you guessing as to the truth about this weird sort of who-done-it type of mystery. Or if you feel less motivated you can take it just as it comes. Read LPT interview with the writer Roger Steinmann here RUTHLESS At Arches Lane Theatre (formerly The Turbine Theatre), Battersea 3 - 29 June BOX OFFICE https://app.lineupnow.com/event/ruthless-by-roger-steinmann Written and directed by Roger Steinman Emily Swain as Ruth Madoc

‘Jason Moore’s direction of both plays gives them a sense of continuity that makes sense and feels fresh.’ ★★★★ Audiences want to laugh, the old adage goes. If nothing else, The Red Peppers/Aged in Wood double bill at the Tabard proves it to be true. Set in 1936, Noel Coward’s short comedy Red Peppers follows a music hall husband-and-wife double act, George and Lily Pepper (Jon Osbaldeston and Jessica Martin), who deliver jokes on stage and insults backstage, both against each other and their increasingly frustrated colleagues. While plays about backstage antics are always fascinating to watch, OnBook’s production of Red Peppers is particularly enjoyable, with two outstanding central performances, as well as an impressive attention to detail that successfully brings to life the 1930s theatre scene within the confines of the Peppers’ dressing room. Martin and Osbaldeston play off each other with ease and the supporting cast does a fantastic job of keeping up with them. The second play in this double bill, Cian Griffin’s Aged in Wood, is a much more sombre affair. Set in the present day and in the exact same dressing room, Aged in Wood follows Denna Ames (Jessica Martin), an aging actress coming to terms with the fact that she is no longer a wide-eyed ingenue. Its title is surely a reference to the much talked-about play-within-the-film in All About Eve (1950) and it’s no surprise that Deena is a sort of modern-day Margo Channing. Her career has taken a hit, her divorce is yet to be finalised, her children want to move out of the family home and her leading man can’t remember his lines. While not particularly ground-breaking in terms of the subject matter, Aged in Wood is a performance-driven piece, and that’s where it’s at. Martin delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance, showing us that comedy is about being serious, as yet another adage goes. The occasional overdone joke about the theatre, thespians and the likes is well-balanced by an array of one-liners, delivered beautifully by Avis (Emma Vansittart), Deena’s agent and best friend. Jason Moore’s direction of both plays gives them a sense of continuity that makes sense and feels fresh. A well thought-out double bill that makes for a very entertaining night at the theatre. Photography: Leda Omra RED PEPPERS / AGED IN WOOD An OnBook Theatre production May 28 – June 21, Tabard Theatre BOX OFFICE https://tabard.org.uk/whats-on/red-peppers-aged-in-wood/ Carol Saint Martin is a screenwriter, playwright and pop culture blogger. Her play HABITAT was performed in 2024 in Twickenham and her short film OPEN HELL was selected for the London Lift-Off Film Festival in 2025.

‘Clever fun but too long’ ★★★ ½ Dating, in various forms, from the 405 BC and 1970s this pretty bonkers show tells the story of Dionysus (Dan Buckley – good) and his slave Xanthias (Kevin McHale – fine work) visiting Hades to rescue George Bernard Shaw so that he can save civilisation. As it turns out they meet Shakespeare while they’re there and set up a TV style reality competition. Of course he wins so they take him back to life and leave Shaw behind. The titular frogs, of which Dionysus is terrified, live in the river Styx. It’s certainly very funny and full of anachronisms which make for good comedy. “We’re in Ancient Greece and the present” McHale tells us at the beginning and that sums it up. There is also a huge amount of self-referential joking about theatre itself which went down very well on press night when the house was full of actors, directors and theatre creatives. It might, however, be a bit esoteric for a mainstream audience on a wet Thursday night. The writing is brilliant, however. Sondheim, with all that effortless rhyming was probably the best lyricist since WS Gilbert. And the music, played by a five piece band with Ed Zanderson (covering for MD Yshani Perinpanayagam) on keys, purrs along wittily. There are hints of other Sondheim songs and clever references to Shaw, both musical and verbal via Pygmalion/My Fair Lady. The cast of ten are a talented bunch. It’s effectively a group of accomplished principals who form a well choreographed (Matt Nicolson) ensemble when required rather than an ensemble from which small roles emerge. There is, for example, bravura work from Karl Patrick, first as the laconic Charon bobbing up and down like a jack-in-a-box and treating his passengers to a dead pan cruise-style commentary. Then he is show-stoppingly funny as Pluto’s gatekeeper complete with a speech impediment characterised by perfectly timed sibilance. Bart Lambert, who sings in an attractive rich baritone, delights as the ever serious Shakespeare who expresses every thought in his own words – another bit of quite clever in-joking. The ensemble, as and when it forms, is neat and vibrant. And the sequence at the end of Act 1 when they become frogs, all wide legs and leaps of both feet is suitably climactic. Yes, there’s plenty to enjoy here but at over two and a half hours with interval, the show is too long for what it is. THE FROGS at Southwark Playhouse 23 May - 28 June 2025 Music & lyrics Stephen Sondheim Loosely Adapted from Aristophanes by Burt Shelgrove and Nathan Lane BOX OFFICE https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/the-frogs/ Photos by Pamela Raith

‘Undercooked and underdeveloped’ ★★ Love and theatre can both be messy. At their best, they can lead to wild, unpredictable and exciting encounters – at their worst you’ll wonder why you ever came in the first place. Game Play, by R.K. Chui, is unfortunately more illustrative of this latter tendency than the former. Things kick off with strong energy as our protagonist duo Izzy (Hayley Calleia) and Dom (Sam Law) fire themselves up with a gym workout before recounting the first date that kicked off their relationship. Filled to the brim with karaoke, to which both Calleia and Law give some very high energy lip-syncing, we jump in time almost immediately to the couple having moved in together and become thoroughly bored of each other. It’s a whiplash that glosses over the development of much-needed substance for a relationship that should be the heart of the play. Things don’t get much better as the issues in the relationship become clear – Dom is seeing other women, with the consent of a highly tortured Izzy. Suspicions that there may be more going on than it seems are fueled by Dom’s bizarre referral to Izzy as ‘holographic’, but this proves to be a red-herring for what is in fact a very straightforward and arbitrary dynamic between the two, one that plays into the ‘games’ of the title but again without much-needed substance. Many things in the play simply happen, without build-up or justification. Direction from Aoife Scott does well to inject pace and energy into proceedings, and the hour does fly by, but there’s only so much that can be done with flawed material. In particular, the pace and sense of the play is disrupted by regular fourth wall breaks in which Calleia/Law grab a microphone to either justify themselves or simply antagonize the audience. A handful of times these instances are funny, but far more often they only work to suck the oxygen out the room and undermine any tension or drama that had been built up to that point. Crucially, during the play’s climax as the couple’s problems seem too great to overcome and Law leaves, there is a quiet moment of sadness only for him to return citing that the director has told him to. So much for world of the play – it’s a baffling and self-defeating story beat that doesn’t do the show any credit and epitomizes just how undercooked the fundamentals are. While there’s plenty of talent on display, significant revision in the writing is needed before any of that same talent can shine here. Photography by Ross Kernahan Game Play runs at Brockley Jack from 3rd – 7th June Written by R.K Chui Directed by Aoife Scott Produced by Hayley Calleia Lighting and Tech by Darwin Hennessy Box office: https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/game-play/ Produced by Kitchen Revolt Productions Reviewed by Harry Conway

'Sure to score a hit with audiences' ★★★★ Two fresh-faced Ozzies are smitten with each other. Candy (Freya James) and Dan (Ed McVey, who played Prince William in The Crown) could be straight out of Neighbours. Cute, cool, and carefree, this could be Kylie and Jason, Gen Z style. But sweet as the title of this play is, which starts with tenderness, intimacy, and lots of artful canoodling, don’t be deceived. This is a play about heroin, how it finds its way into people’s lives, what it does to individuals and how it affects relationships. Dynamically directed and choreographed by Kate Elliott who worked on the adaptation of the novel with Freya James, Candy is a combination of direct address and scenes that trace the arc of this chemically challenged relationship. The 75 minutes running time flies by, always the sign of a production that is tight, focused and absorbing, as you are drawn into this sensory world, based in 1980s Sydney and Melbourne, Australia Dan is pure surf boy, tanned with floppy blonde fringe. Candy is a quirky artist, blue eyes “like a mist,” open-minded and up for new experiences. He’s a regular user; she wants to try it, just a tiny bit. Initially, he’s reluctant but eventually they become joint users, on a mind-bending journey together. This menage a trois, with heroin as the third party, soon spirals, as the drug exerts ever greater control. The use of sound and music is sometimes stripped back, and single notes set an audio framework for shifting emotions and needs. From “indescribable bliss” to desperate need, audiences experience a full gamut of emotion, from the heady peaks, to the dismal, humiliating troughs. Despite the growing dominance of the drug, the couple still have dreams. They hope for children. He wants to grow vegetables and keep chickens; she wants to paint. But heroin has other ideas. With a great rapport and two great, physical performances, the actors manage lots of entertaining multi-roling and some hilarious vignettes including a drug-addled, ‘four-way’ and dinner with her parents. You can’t, even against your better judgement, help but fall for these two hopelessly inter-dependent junkies. Based on the 1997 novel by Luke Davies, Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction, the story was also turned into a 2006 film with Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. This stage version, the second run, last seen at the Old Red Lion in 2024, doesn’t fall into any of the depressing tropes associated with heroin stories and refuses to moralise, sermonise, or demonise. Heroin is a fact of many lives and this little window, joyous in its own subversive way, offers more empathy than judgement. CANDY, a stage adaptation of Luke Davies’ novel Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction White Bear Theatre 3rd - 14th June BOOK NOW Director: Kate Elliott who worked on the adaptation of the novel with Freya James Choreography/Movement: Co-directed by Alexandria McCauley and Laure Bachelot Cast Freya James and Ed McVey

‘one of the most ingenious productions of Shakespeare seen for many a year’ ★★★★ As we filed in the four actors were already on stage. What they were doing and why wasn’t immediately obvious, pulling and straining at pieces of cloth as if they were in an ancient Roman laundry. What emerged was that we were looking at the full extent of their props and the whole cast of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Hard to believe at first and not at all apparent but what was about to unfold must have been one of the most ingenious productions of Shakespeare seen for many a year. The action started with energy and movement, a profound contrast to the deep humming soundtrack. That felt like it had been lifted off Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The pace was lively and the scenes moved well with just enough dialogue edited out to keep everyone in the audience well informed about what was happening in the story, whether this was their first time or whether they were a veteran viewer of The Bard’s work. The breaks between scenes were downtime to allow the audience and the four actors to have a breather. The physical movements were sometimes in slow-motion, sometimes synchronized between the actors but always with the booming drama of the music; a great way to slow everything down and yet build the tension for the next scene. Early in the play it became clear that the four on stage at the start were to be the entire cast of the play. For those that don’t know, Julius Caesar has a large cast. So how were the ‘fantastic four’ going to get through this without spreading utter confusion? Well they managed and they managed very well. Not sure if they stuck strictly to the words of the play, as on more than one occasion a new scene was started with one actor addressing another by name when he had just played the role of another character in the previous scene. But I could be wrong about that, maybe that is the way it was written. Whatever the case, there was no confusion about who was playing who. All four must be commended for bouncing seamlessly from Portia to Mark Anthony or Cassius to Calpurnia, Caesar to Octavius, referred to as Caesar, just to stump those not paying attention because of course he was, because that became the title of the Emperors and lastly of course Brutus to, well Brutus. Perhaps he was somebody else early on but it didn’t really matter if you forgot. In fact it would only prove how good they were if you did. The props, all cloth were used for everything. And the death toll of the many murders and suicides was racked up with sheets on hooks hung ominously along the back of the stage as the proceedings unfolded. The lights and shadows were used effectively and sparingly, giving the whole a range of dazzling, dark, secretive or stormy looks which were fitted perfectly to the individual scenes. On the whole a well thought out, well acted and well directed performance. A Rag and Bone Theatre Production Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at The Hen and Chickens Theatre 4 - 7 June 2025 BOX OFFICE https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/julius-caesar/ DIRECTOR Directed by Anna Blackburn ( Winner London Pub Theatre’s Special Commendation for Excellence with her version of The Tempest for Burnt Orange Theatre) CAST British-Chilean Louis Cruzat , (who recently performed with Steven Berkoff and was the lead in Mary & Mietek which won Best Black Box production at the London Pub Theatre Awards). Minnesotan actor Greta Hansen , (who last year worked with Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Gorge and in Adam Deacon’s Sumotherhood). German-Italian actor Clio Carrara (who led the surreal Slow Death of a Lotus Flower at the Drayton Arms Theatre).  and Arnold Patrick Lumu features, ( Ugandan graduate of Guildhall who was a part of the immersive production of 1984 at Hackney Town Hall). COMPANY This collective is coming together to create the first offering from Rag & Bone Theatre, a new company focused on reframing classical narratives for modern audiences.