What a weapon invective is in Bloomshed’s fun-filled, hilarious take on Pride and Prejudice. The basic ingredients are there, but the twists are delicious and enormously satisfying in what is a social satire dressed as a period drama. For starters, Mr Bennet is a withering plant (yes, a potted monstera, in fact) that Mrs Bennet…
Oh my. What would lauded Russian playwright Anton Chekhov think if he came back to life and saw Pony Cam’s hilarious reimagining of The Cherry Orchard. Written in 1903, the original concerns an aristocratic landowner returning to her family estate and sanctioning its sale to pay the mortgage. As the orchard literally faces the chop,…
The singing and dancing in this Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) musical spectacular is off the charts. Featuring a blend of hip-hop and Latin rhythms – salsa, merengue and samba – it is an energetic and colourful cultural celebration, marked by superb performances. It is clear why In the Heights, which opened on Broadway in 2008, claimed…
If you ever want evidence that sex sells, go and see Miss Julie. It is all about manipulation, class, power and control, which is just as delicious as it sounds. That is the currency in a modern retelling of Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s 1888 play. Set in the pressure cooker environment of the kitchen of…
Freedom of choice. We have it. But that doesn’t mean it comes without judgement. I am speaking about the decision to have a child or not. Is it selfish to want the independence to do as we please without the encumbrance of being stopped in our tracks by nappies and school runs and so forth?…
A man mistreats a woman in a relationship – emotionally or physically, or both. The warning signs are there, so why doesn’t the woman leave? Why doesn’t she get out at the first sign of a red flag? If only, it was that simple. Truth be told, expressing regret, saying they will be better, that…
MTC keeps lifting the bar. Kimberly Akimbo is a superb, zany, comical and tender production. The five-time Tony Award winner, which included Best Musical, concerns a lonely girl about to turn 16 who has a very rare genetic condition. She ages four to five times faster than normal, which means she looks old long before…
Powered by super group Queen’s magnificent repertoire, PLOS’ We Will Rock You is a hyper energetic production. Any good rock concert is big on sound, lighting and staging and this jukebox musical nails that. We are in a dystopian future. The premise is trying to save rock ‘n roll 300 years from now. Truth be…
Having sold more than 100 million records and amassed in excess of two billion streams, singer songwriter Cat Stevens’ laid back style of folk pop made him a leading hit maker in the 1960s and ‘70s. And now, it all comes flooding back in a superbly rendered, melodious concert by a group known as Music…
Having seen The Forgotten Songbook, I am left wondering why Wilbur Weissman isn’t talked about in the same breath as the great composers of Broadway’s Golden Age. I speak of the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Leonard Bernstein, to name but a few. I was captivated by the music I…
