Thursday 31 December 2009

Darker Shores ** TNT

Thursday 31 December 2009 11:51 GMT

I’d like to report that the Hampstead Theatre’s 50th Anniversary season is going out with a big successful bang. Unfortunately, although there are overhead thumps galore in the Sussex house where natural history professor Gabriel Stokes comes to write his anti-Darwin thesis, Michael Punter’s ghost story is unlikely to have you at the edge of your seat.

Stepping gamely into shoes unexpectedly vacated at the last minute, Tom Goodman-Hill is an austere and dignified presence as the widowed professor who believes in the bible but not the paranormal. Still grieving for his wife and child lost at sea 15 years earlier, he lends an air of gravitas to the proceedings.

In contrast, Julian Rhind-Tutt’s American spiritualist from Virginia sports a bright red frockcoat, dishevelled hair and a taste for the bottle as he attempts to summon the disruptively restless spirit.

There’s one surprising, chilling moment and the cavernous set, lit by ominously swaying chandeliers, is promisingly swathed in inky black. Yet, for the most part, this Victorian style tale of a mysteriously haunted house is a rather clunky, over fussy affair with too much detail and not enough spookiness. A levitating table is more laughable than scary, and despite the actors’ best efforts there’s nothing here to send shivers up your spine.

Hampstead, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU (020 7722 9301) hampsteadtheatre.com until 16th January (£15-£25) Under 26 - £10

Rope *** TNT

Thursday 31 December 2009 11:14 GMT

Inspired by the real life case of Americans Leopold and Loeb, Patrick Hamilton’s psychologically macabre 1929 thriller is an unpleasant study of a supposedly perfect Mayfair murder carried out as an intellectual exercise in Nietzschean superiority.

The initial exposition is clunky and it’s obvious that a panicky Granillo (the nervier of the two privileged Oxford undergrad perpetrators) will give the game away.

But this is a stylish revival, played in the round and at its best when Bertie Carvel’s effete, war-wounded poet Cadell challenges Blake Ritson’s chillingly composed Brandon who has not only orchestrated the strangulation of a fellow student but arrogantly invited the victim’s unsuspecting father and their vacuous friends to a supper served off the trunk which holds his body.

Almeida, Almeida Street N1 ITA (020 7359 4404) almeida.co.uk until 6th February (£8 - £32)

Morecambe *** TNT

Thursday 31 December 2009 11:08 GMT

At the height of their fame, the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise commanded an audience of 28million viewers for their 1977 TV Christmas show, so no doubt there’s a multitude of fans out there who will relish the chance to see the bespectacled Eric Morecambe (he died in 1984) brought back to life in this one man tribute show.

The short one – Ernie Wise - is there too, but only in the token form of a ventriloquist’s dummy in a suit which spends most of the time lolling on a plush red sofa as Bob Golding’s Eric whizzes us along the career path of this much-loved and enduring pair, punctuating the surface-skimming narrative with jokes, marriage and the birth of a baby or two.

From a pushy mother and a change of name (from Bartholomew to Morecambe) to a long stint in variety and a slow rise to fame, there‘s nothing here to tarnish fond memories of his dedicated love affair with showbiz. Tim Whitnall’s script tells us little about the man – glossing over his personal life and only creating some much needed tension when Eric tempts fate and keeps on performing even after a second coronary To be fair to Golding, he puts his all into this Edinburgh hit – but it just isn’t funny.

I laughed only once – a line about too much whisky making you see double and act single - and smiled a little more. Not surprising, then, (to me at least) that their playful, rather silly brand of humour flopped in the States.

Still, a standing ovation on press night puts me firmly in the minority – though I doubt this affectionately nostalgic show will have much appeal for those who aren’t already familiar with whatever quality it was that made Morecambe’s forty year partnership with Ernie so popular in its heyday.

Duchess, Catherine Street, WC2B 5LA (0844 579 1973) nimaxtheatres.com Until 17th January (£20 - £37.50)

Wednesday 30 December 2009

Sweet Charity **** TNT

Tuesday 29 December 2009 14:44 GMT

Director Matthew White and choreographer Stephen Mear inject the thin plot-line of bittersweet 1960s musical comedy Sweet Charity with a sultry touch of sexy insouciance in a classy revival.

Ex-EastEnders actress Tamzin Outhwaite exudes an indefatigable optimism and infectious vitality as not quite tart with a heart Charity, and Josefina Gabrielle and Tiffany Graves slink cynically as her fellow dance hall hostesses, sullenly sussing out the next Big Spender.

Best of all, Mark Umbers proves a charismatic chameleon as all the men who mess up Charity’s life, including a flamboyantly narcissistic Italian film star and a nerdy tax accountant who drops his trousers when panic strikes in an immobilised lift.

Menier Chocolate Factory, Southwark St, SE1 1RU (020 7907 7060) Until Mar 7. From £29.50

Saturday 26 December 2009

Camille The Dark Angel *** TNT

Wednesday 23 December 2009 11:08 GMT

Dark? Definitely. Angel? Well that’s debateable. But one thing’s for sure – Camille O’Sullivan’s neo-burlesque, cabaret-style show is anything but ladylike as she sits with her legs apart, crawls barefoot round the stage in fishnets and hitches up both the top and (even more frequently) the bottom half of her costume.

She also hops, meows and makes an entrance through the stalls trailing her hand across the shoulders of the aisle-side audience. When she addresses us between songs, what she says seems, for the most part, pointless – except, perhaps, to give her the chance to get her breath back.

She really doesn’t need all these extraneous distractions - the dim, smoky set hung with dresses and her five strong band attuned to her changing moods are all that’s necessary to show off the talents of this architect turned singer who know how to take a familiar song and make it her own.
There’s poignancy (Dillie Keane’s Look Mummy, No Hands) disappointed, rasping passion (Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice), foot-stomping anger (Tom Waits’ Misery is the River of the World) and sadness (Jacques Brel’s Marieke) delivered in a husky voice which ranges from the quietly gentle to the defiantly powerful.

I wouldn’t want to watch the show again – though she’s played the Sydney Opera House and the Albert Hall - but I’d happily buy the CD and let her compelling voice and idiosyncratic interpretations speak, unencumbered, for themselves.

Apollo, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EZ, (08444124658) nimaxtheatres.com (£21- £36) until 16th January

A Daughter's A Daughter **** TNT

Wednesday 23 December 2009 11:55 GMT

There was considerably more to the prolific doyenne of the murder mystery, Agatha Christie, than Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and the eternal Mousetrap which has been a West End fixture for well over half a century. Under the name Mary Westmacott, she also wrote several novels as well as this rarity which played for a single week in Bath back in 1956 and has barely been seen since.

Though decidedly old-fashioned in structure, it turns out to be an acute and involving study of a mother and daughter relationship, set immediately after the Second World War. There are no dead bodies, but rather a touching, sometimes witty and psychologically perceptive account of two women who end up hurting each other in ways they never intended.

Jenny Seagrove (excellent) is Ann, the long-widowed, but still very attractive mother of recently demobbed Sarah who returns to their comfortable, middleclass home and expects nothing – not even the placing of a chair – to have changed in the three years since she went away. But in the meantime, Ann has fallen in love with and become engaged to decent (if rather pompous) Richard and Sarah (Honeysuckle Weeks) does all she can to sabotage their imminent marriage.

The consequences of her selfishness are revisited three and four years later and Christie (who apparently drew partly on her relationship with her own daughter) has constructed an engrossing and credible account of unhappiness and misguided maternal indulgence which, in essence, still rings true today.
Roy Marsden directs with a sure hand and, against all my expectations, this proves to be a surprisingly satisfying and recommended revival.

Trafalgar Studios 1, Whitehall, SW1A 2DY ( 0844 871 7632) Charing Cross tube ambassadortickets.com/trafalgarstudios till 9th January (£20 - £45)

Tuesday 22 December 2009

The Pied Piper **** TNT

Monday 21 December 2009 16:36 GMT
It’s about as far from traditional Christmas fare as you could get, but Blue Boy Entertainment’s Olivier Award-winning version of the fact-based legend makes a vibrant, action-packed alternative to pantomime dames and risqué jokes.
Choreographer and lead performer Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy has taken Robert Browning’s 19th century poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin and ditched the furry rats which infested the German town. Instead we get a graffitied inner city plagued by vermin of the two-legged variety – aggressive hoodies with “Asbo” defiantly emblazoned on their trackies.
Salvation appears in the shape of Sandy’s Pied Piper – but when the time comes to pay him for his services, the duplicitous authorities (portrayed as scuttling potato-heads in suits) renege on the agreement and the Piper puts his powers to vengeful use.
The narrative is slight but clear, with TV news bulletins flashed across Ultz’s set of concrete, wire fencing and black binbags. But it’s the athletic skill and skeleton-defying movement of the performers which give this show its power. Combining martial arts with edgy street moves, this super-Piper and his trio of alter egos bounce off the walls, take on the combined forces of the gangs and win.
The aggressive, synchronized sections are just as impressive as the solo flips and spins and even the local youngsters get a chance to shine – with the most talented of the thousands who attended the hip-hop workshops giving their all in week-long stints as the innocent children of the town.
Barbican, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS (020 7638 8891 ) barbican.org.uk/theatre Until 3rd January (£10 - £26)
The Enchanted Pig **** TNT

Monday 21 December 2009 16:49 GMT

Don’t be deterred if you can’t find a child to take along with you. First seen at the Young Vic three years ago, this lively revival caters for all ages. There was barely a squeak from the youngsters in the audience (the six year old boy sitting next to me sat rapt right through the two hours plus of John Fulljames’ cheeky, engaging production) and the adults seemed equally engrossed.
Inspired by a Romanian folktale, this story of a princess (Flora, the youngest of three) who is forced to marry a bristling, smelly boar is packed full of witty lyrics (courtesy of Alasdair Middleton), strong voices and all-too-true observations about love and human nature. As much musical as opera (and drawing on the talents of performers from both genres) there’s more than a hint of Sondheim in Jonathan Dove’s score, a clever mix of the sophisticated and the hummable which works brilliantly.
Simon Wilding makes a fine, operatic Pig as he covers himself in mud and he’s matched by Karina Lucas‘s determined Flora, trudging the world in cloddy shoes of iron and a grubby wedding dress as she tries to break the evil spell which binds him.
The North Wind (Jo Servi) and his missus (Beverley Klein in curlers) deliver a delightfully clever duet about the joys – or otherwise – of a very long marriage. And Klein also impresses as both a malign mother and as the strict Book of Fate which seals Flora’s future in this Beauty and the Beast style story with a porcine twist.
Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden WC2E 9DD ( 020 7304 4000) roh.org.uk/pig (£6 – £22.50) until 2nd Jan

Monday 21 December 2009

Nation - unedited version
Even the strong visual eye of director and co-designer Melly Still fails to imbue Mark Ravenhill’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel with real dramatic impetus. Set in a parallel world, this tale of the birth of a united nation and the transition from boy to man offers potentially fruitful scope for misunderstandings between cultures and clashes of belief.
The underwater scenes are beautifully realised and the teenage leads – South Seas chief in the making Mao and scientifically minded Victorian aristocratic Ermintrude, shipwrecked by the tsunami which virtually annihilates his fellow islanders - are likeable if not charismatic. Jason Thorpe’s corseted parrot, prone to tourette’s style outbursts, and a whopping lactating pig hit the mark, but the storytelling is too diffuse to significantly engage either intellect or emotion.
Nation *** TNT

Saturday 19 December 2009 17:15 GMT

Even the strong visual eye of director and co-designer Melly Still fails to imbue Mark Ravenhill’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel with real dramatic impetus.

Set in a parallel world, this tale of the birth of a united nation and the transition from boy to man offers fruitful scope for misunderstandings between cultures and beliefs.

The underwater scenes are beautifully realised, but the storytelling is too confusing to engage intellect or emotion.

Olivier at the National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 9PX ( 020 7452 3000) Until Mar 28. £10-£42.50

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof **** TNT

Friday 11 December 2009 16:04 GMT

Emotions simmer and explode in Debbie Allen’s partially recast Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ 1955 drama of frustrated desire, ambiguous sexuality, failed ambition and financial greed.

It’s a volatile mix which comes to a head as the Pollitt family gather to celebrate the 65th birthday of wealthy plantation owner Big Daddy (a commanding, foul-mouthed and misogynistic James Earl Jones) who’s dying of cancer but doesn’t know it.

Her all black revival keeps the Deep South setting but moves the action forward 30 years. It isn’t always sufficiently steamy, and Sanaa Lathan’s sensual Maggie the cat is more determined than damaged.

But Adrian Lester’s understated performance as Brick (her booze-soaked husband and the favoured son) memorably captures the former sportsman’s chronic detachment which finally detonates in a confrontation of defeated self-disgust

Novello, Aldwych, WC2B 4LD ( 0844 482 5170) Charing Cross tube. Until April 10. £10 - £49.50

Moiliere - or the League of Hypocrites *** TNT

Friday 11 December 2009 15:56 GMT

Living under a repressive regime himself, Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov used the persecution faced by actor and fellow playwright Molière as a vehicle to criticise the state of the arts in his own country under Stalin.

Almost three centuries earlier, the multi-talented Frenchman had incurred the wrath of the church with Tartuffe (a witty satire on religious hypocrisy) and, like Bulgakov, found his career in decline and his plays banned.

The star of the current production is undoubtedly Alex Marker’s design. It transforms the whole of the tiny space into a red-curtained, gilt-edged auditorium with a mock proscenium arch to frame the action as it moves from backstage at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal to the palace of the Sun King, to a dimly lit crypt and Moliere’s house.

But there are some good performances, too. Justin Avoth’s aging, short-tempered Molière, controversially rejecting his companion and former mistress to marry the woman he believes is her much, much younger sister, Paul Brendan’s long-suffering but loyal factotum, and Gyuri Sarossy’s deadpan Louis XIV whose waning patronage contributes to Molière’s decline.

There’s the frequent whiff of pantomime to leaven the seriousness of Molière’s situation – the overblown flourishes of a dastardly one-eyed musketeer contrast with dimly lit secret meetings overseen by the antagonistic Archbishop of Paris. And Michael Glenny’s decent translation forms a solid basis for Blanche McIntyre’s attractively realised production of Bulgakov’s once controversial, rarely revived work.

Finborough, Finborough Road, SW10 9ED. Earl’s Court Tube (0844 847 1652) Until 19th December £9 - £13
The Stefan Golaszewski Plays **** TNT

An award-winning hit at the Edinburgh Festival, this matched pair of hour-long monologues penned and performed by Stefan Golaszewski himself has the ring of truth and experience about it even though the second is set almost half a century into the future.

Both tell of lost love and the moment when the romantic idyll turned sour. In the first, a rather nerdy 18 year old gap-year Stefan recounts a chance meeting with the girl of his dreams. As they bond over a packet of pork scratchings, he can barely believe this perfect vision would even give him a second glance. But there’s a sting in this story of teenage infatuation. After the interval, a septuagenarian Mr G returns, dressed in brown shirt and white suit, and looks back at nearly forty years of marriage to his beloved “Pudding”. Again there’s a fly in the ointment and his memories of his now deceased wife are tinged with the uncomprehending sadness which darkened the rosy glow of young love.

Golaszewski has a vivid, often poetic way with words and his experience as a stand up comic ensures that he knows how to carry an audience along with him. It’s an accomplished and charismatic performance - one feels for him, but there’s an uncomfortable, persistent niggle about his characters’ obsessive devotion to an impossible dream.

Bush Theatre, Shepherds Bush Green, W12 8QD, Shepherds Bush tube, until 9th January. £15 (Saturday matinees £13)

Monday 7 December 2009

Detaining Justice **** TNT

Friday 04 December 2009 15:52 GMT

Comparative newcomer Bola Agbaje joins the big boys in the final offering in the Tricycle’s rewarding Not Black & White season which examines 21st century social issues from the perspective of a trio of black playwrights.

Her succinctly titled Detaining Justice focuses on the Catch 22 situation faced by illegal immigrants who arrive here without papers but with a gritty determination to stay. Whether they’ve come in search of a better life or in flight from death threats back home, they face an uphill struggle to either evade the authorities completely or convince them that they have a legitimate case to remain.

Agbaje links an often comic trio of squabbling illegal cleaners (who obtained their menial jobs using false identities) with the case of Aml Ameen’s Justice (a young Zimbabwean asylum seeker facing imminent deportation) to expose the hardship and exploitation, the discrimination and uncertainty they suffer at the hands of both black and white.

In an excellent cast, newcomer Rebecca Scroggs makes a strong impact as chatty, sometimes naïve but sympathetic law student Chi Chi, Cecilia Noble is a god-fearing churchgoer to be reckoned with – even by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s evangelical pastor – and Sharon Duncan Brewster movingly tries everything possible to secure her brother’s release from the detention centre when faced with the intractably sadistic attitude of Jimmy Akingbola’s Home Office case worker.

Indhu Rubasingham’s swiftly paced production brings out the best in Agbaje’s snappy dialogue, and although her plotting could occasionally be a little tighter, she raises important questions which need to be addressed.

Tricycle, Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR Kilburn Tube ( 020 7328 1000) tricycle.co.uk in rep to 15th December (£10 - £20.00)

Saturday 5 December 2009

The Priory *** TNT

Friday 04 December 2009 15:25 GMT

Even with ex-Spooks star Rupert Penry-Jones, Michael Wynne’s strongly cast new play is unlikely to continue the Court’s recent run of West End transfers.

The only real surprise is that the building in question isn’t the famous rehab centre but a remote country pile rented by recently-dumped writer Kate (Jessica Hynes) and her thirty-something friends to see in the New Year.

However, this reunion treads an uneasy path between farcical comedy and disillusioned pathos without hitting the heights or plumbing the lows.

Joseph Millson’s gay architect and Rachael Stirling’s bitch of a TV producer impress, but this is familiar territory that’s been visited more imaginatively – and less predictably – before.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS, (royalcourttheatre.com). Until Jan 16. £10-£25

La Clique **** TNT

Friday 04 December 2009 15:36 GMT

It’s back – the show which wowed London audiences last year has returned to the Roundhouse with a changing line-up of diverse performers and an advance box office reputedly already topping the £500,000 mark.

If you’ve seen the production before, a couple of the performers will be familiar – but cheeky striptease artiste Ursula Martinez (who hails from Croydon) is every bit as impressive second time round. What she does with – and where she finds - a disappearing red hankie defies belief and becomes a running visual gag exploited by the acts that follow.

A rather tedious drag version of the Queen gets off to a slow start, but things soon pick up. Pouting Marawa in skin tight leopard print whirls a bodyful of hula hoops into a rainbow vortex, lithe aerial artist Sam Alvarez twists sinuously on ropes of chain, and the grungy Wau Wau Sisters swing precariously from a single, low-slung trapeze.

Returnee Mario is a skinny Freddie Mercury reincarnation who juggles to the music of Queen and crowd surfs a Mexican wave, whilst shambolic Swedish magician Carl-Einar Hackner deservedly gets the biggest laugh with a hilarious banana /bandana mix up.

Watch where you sit, though, if you’re not into audience participation. Petulant cabaret diva Meow Meow enlists a couple of manly hunks to support her vertical splits and bury their faces in intimate places, and, although the skating Willers may be past the first flush of youth, their thrilling roller-skating routine had one unsuspecting volunteer in a total spin.

A risqué concoction of circus, variety, illusion and burlesque, it all makes for a great night out and a welcome alternative to traditional seasonal fare.

Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road NW1 8EH ( 0844 482 8008 ) lacliquelondon.com until 17th January (£15 - £45)