Terminus **** TNT

There’s no way of knowing where Mark O’Rowe’s compelling verse drama will 
lead you as his three protagonists recount their stories in a tense, 
unbroken 100 minutes of unobtrusive rhythm and rhyme.

Isolated on a bleak 
set, bare but for the reflective glass shards which hint at danger and 
other worldliness, A, B and C deliver their monologues which overlap as 
subtly as their lives intertwine on this dark, Dublin night.


A (Olwen Fouere) recognises the voice of a former pupil, now pregnant, on 
the other end of the phone during her shift at the Samaritans and foolishly, 
determinedly goes in search of her.

Catherine Walker’s lonely B fends off
 the attentions of her best friend’s lecherous husband on top of a crane and
 finds herself rescued by a soul sold to Satan who’s in pursuit of his 
corporeal self.

Secretly golden-voiced C (a riveting Declan Conlon) has a
 penchant for Lockets and for murder as he despatches his victims both with 
casual intent and by unhappy accident.


Directed by the playwright himself, it’s a powerful and unusual piece of 
theatre which relishes the evocative potency of language as it moves
 seamlessly from the mundane to the metaphysical, from the comic to the
 macabre, from the brutal to the tender.

Young Vic, The Cut, SE1 8LZ Tube Southwark / Waterloo (0207 922 2922) youngvic.org Till April 16 (£17.50)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg *** TNT

I’ve only seen the briefest of clips of the original 1964 through-sung film but it had such poignancy that the tune has remained with me ever since.

Emma Rice’s adaptation for Kneehigh doesn’t really pull off the magic, adding a superfluous framework and a trio of cheeky matelots which are strangely at odds with the innocence of the thwarted central romance between car mechanic Guy and his teenage sweetheart Genevieve. He’s called up to fight in Algeria, her mother (Joanna Riding) doesn’t approve, and life leads them down divergent paths.

Ironically it’s only the closing sequences and cabaret artist Meow Meow’s imported solo which truly evoke a sense of love lost. Elsewhere there’s too much striving for originality and, although they sing sweetly, there’s no real chemistry between the lovers.

Gielgud, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6AR (0844 482 5130) Tube: Piccadilly Circus umbrellasofcherbourg.com; delfontmackintosh.co.uk Booking until 21st May (£19.50 - £59.50)

Wastwater *** TNT

This “elliptical triptych” is well acted, sympathetically directed, faultlessly designed and promises much more than it actually delivers. Taking its title from England’s deepest lake, Simon Stephens’ new play intimates hidden secrets and dark dealings.

Certainly the mood becomes increasingly threatening as the evening progresses. Linked by location (the edges of Heathrow Airport, the dialogue punctuated by the drone of overhead aircraft with their promise of new adventure) and, tenuously, by reference to characters in common, these three short playlets are, in themselves, confidently written. Frustratingly, they leave too many questions unanswered.

In the first, serial foster mum Frieda (a convincing Linda Bassett) says goodbye to Harry, her favourite, before he flies off to Canada and a life without her. Next, art teacher Mark has a tense hotel room encounter with older, married police officer Lisa whose sexual tastes are way beyond his comfort zone. Finally, a chilling meeting in a deserted warehouse between manipulative, child trafficking Sian (another of Frieda’s foster children) and Angus Wright’s cowering Jonathan (who once taught Mark) leaves one uncomfortably uncertain as to his motives.

Katie Mitchell’s direction ensures that each scene holds the attention, and Lizzie Clachan’s design provides a trio of completely different sets in not much more than the blink or two of an eye. But Stephens offers both too much and too little in these rather pessimistic snapshots which never quite add up to a complete picture.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS (020 7565 5000) Tube: Sloane Square royalcourttheatre.com Until May 7 £10-£28

The Hurly Burly Show ** TNT

Even after a couple of mellowing glasses of wine consumed over a pre-show meal, my male companion was (like a completely sober me) distinctly unimpressed by this repetitive and, for the most part, tediously unimaginative show.

Billed as a contemporary burlesque review, this bump and grind offering was as sexy as a cold shower, the Hurly Burly Girlys often seeming uncomfortable when called on to interact with a member of the same sex.

The first half is dominated by bland if serviceable American crooner Spencer Day and a lot of wiggling by the scantily clad Girlys, but there’s little variety or fluidity as the minimal layers are removed to reveal the almost (but not totally) bare flesh beneath.

Even fire-eating Kitty Bang Bang’s attempt to add a bit of excitement fell flat as the flame on one of her strategically placed nipple tassels extinguished itself before a single swing.

Things looked up marginally with the appearance of Miss Polly Rae, a sweet-voiced songstress with a taste in elaborate costumes who dresses up as a naughty nun pleasuring herself on a crucifix and Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine.

But this is a very thin show, lacking in real sauce or sensuality and (despite input from Kylie collaborator William Baker) only a half-cocked celebration of the female form.

Garrick, Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0HH (0844 412 4662) Tube: Leicester Square thehurlyburlyshow.com Until May 1 (£25.50 - £40.50)

The Hurly Burly Show ** TNT

Even after a couple of mellowing glasses of wine consumed over a pre-show meal, my male companion was (like a completely sober me) distinctly unimpressed by this repetitive and, for the most part, tediously unimaginative show.

Billed as a contemporary burlesque review, this bump and grind offering was as sexy as a cold shower, the Hurly Burly Girlys often seeming uncomfortable when called on to interact with a member of the same sex.

The first half is dominated by bland if serviceable American crooner Spencer Day and a lot of wiggling by the scantily clad Girlys, but there’s little variety or fluidity as the minimal layers are removed to reveal the almost (but not totally) bare flesh beneath.

Even fire-eating Kitty Bang Bang’s attempt to add a bit of excitement fell flat as the flame on one of her strategically placed nipple tassels extinguished itself before a single swing.

Things looked up marginally with the appearance of Miss Polly Rae, a sweet-voiced songstress with a taste in elaborate costumes who dresses up as a naughty nun pleasuring herself on a crucifix and Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine.

But this is a very thin show, lacking in real sauce or sensuality and (despite input from Kylie collaborator William Baker) only a half-cocked celebration of the female form.

2/5

Garrick, Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0HH (0844 412 4662)
Tube: Leicester Square
thehurlyburlyshow.com
Until May 1
£25.50 - £40.50

read more: http://www.tntmagazine.com/tntreviews/archive/2011/04/11/the-hurly-burly-show-theatre-review.aspx#ixzz1JJq08HvM

The Holy Rosenbergs This Is London

For decades, the Rosenbergs have made their money in kosher catering, building up a supposedly loyal clientele in North West London which kept their business ticking over nicely – until someone died suddenly of what initially appeared to be food poisoning. It wasn't, but the incident proved disastrous and ever since David and his wife Lesley have struggled to keep afloat.

Younger son Jonny has no intention of following in his father's footsteps – he just wants to set up a gambling website. Now their elder son has been killed fighting for the Israeli Defence Forces, and their daughter (Susannah Wise's Ruth) is home for the funeral. She's a lawyer working on a UN fact-finding mission on war crimes in Gaza and her presence is far from welcome in the eyes of many in the local Jewish community.

Playwright Ryan Craig owes an obvious debt to Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman and All My Sons and, though not in the same league, his new play still makes for interesting viewing with its
portrayal of loyalties put to the test.

There's some clunky plotting (which Laurie Sansom's well-acted production in the round can't quite hide) but there's real humanity here, too – especially in Henry Goodman's proud patriarch David (still making big plans with the odds stacked against him, and caught between a last chance to salvage his business and love for a daughter whose career choice he can't understand) and in Tilly Tremayne's Lesley, doing everything a good Jewish wife should but very nearly at the end of her tether.

Cottesloe

In A Forest Dark And Deep *** TNT

Bit by bit, the truth emerges in American Neil LaBute’s latest two-hander – and it definitely hurts as fading beauty Betty enlists the help of her younger blue-collar brother to pack up the incriminating contents of her cabin in the woods.

Olivia Williams’ as former wild child Betty (who believes academic status - and a pack of lies - can obliterate her teenage reputation) and Lost’s Matthew Fox as surly Bobby (constantly bringing old resentments to the surface) give strong performances as the antagonistic siblings.

But despite the twists, it’s a drawn out process and, although it wouldn’t be fair to give away what’s really been going on, LaBute, who also directs, makes it too obvious too soon just why she’s summoned him, rather than her unseen husband, to bail her out.

Vaudeville Theatre, Strand WC2R 0NH Tube: Charing Cross tube (0844 412 4663) inaforestdarkanddeep.com Until June 4 (£20-£45)

Blithe Spirit *** TNT

A ghostly spirit comes back from the dead in surprisingly mischievous form in Noel Coward’s 1941 comedy of supernatural shenanigans.

Purely in the interests of research for his latest novel, wealthy writer and once -widowed Charles Condomine (a suave Robert Bathurst) has invited local psychic Madame Arcati to conduct a séance in the plush Kent residence he now shares with his no-nonsense second wife, Ruth (Spooks’ Hermione Norris almost unrecognisable in a sleek red dress and wavy blonde hair).

But despite his cynicism, he gets much more than he bargained for when the woman he considers a charlatan manages to conjure Elvira (his dead first wife) back from beyond – and she’s none too pleased to see someone else has taken her place.

It’s a neat idea, but somewhat heavy-handedly executed in Thea Sharrock’s busy revival.

Ruthie Henshall’s teasing Elvira glows eerily as she impishly sets about wrecking Charles’s new relationship - and his home - with a fixedly determined grin. Jodie Taibi’s maid Edith stretches a small comic part as far as it could possibly go, and then some.

But Alison Steadman’s Madame Arcati (a mass of eccentric tics, weird yelps and ridiculous outfits) gives an over the top performance which yields diminishing returns and highlights the insubstantial nature of this bit of froth which Coward whisked up in less than a week.

Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EZ Tube: Piccadilly Circus (08444 124 658) nimaxtheatres.com
£20- £55 Until June 18

Remembrance Day *** TNT



A shabby apartment block proves a microcosmic hothouse of conflicting 
political views and ethnicities in Aleksey Scherbak’s short new play.


Appropriately staged so that the neighbouring flats of the protagonists 
simultaneously overlap yet are distinct, it gives an insider’s view of a 
Latvia riven by long held views and the opposing beliefs of three 
generations locked in by the events of the past.


University student Lyosha just wants to learn English and get out, but, much
 to the consternation of parents Sasha and Sveta, his younger sister (Ruby
 Bentall’s impassioned Anya) has become embroiled with anti-fascist activists 
protesting against the 16th March parade to commemorate the Latvian Legion’s 
fight against the Soviets alongside Hitler’s Waffen SS.


Their ex-soldier neighbour (also of Russian origin) still keeps the rifle he 
was awarded for his services, whilst just doors away a pair of Latvian 
veterans (one still clinging vehemently to old animosities, the other more 
easy going) reminisces comically, post march, over sausage and vodka.


Meanwhile Michael Nardone’s Sasha is vilified as a Nazi when his
 well-intentioned but misunderstood plea for tolerance is broadcast on
 television.


Well-acted and informative, this new play (translated by Rory Mullarkey for 
the Royal Court’s International Playwright’s season) highlights the problems
 faced by one nation, but it also has resonance for all countries where 
forgiving and forgetting isn’t viewed as an acceptable option.


Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS Tube: Sloane Square tube (020 7565 5000) royalcourttheatre.com Until April 16 £20 (Mondays £10)

Flare Path **** TNT

Terence Rattigan’s centenary celebrations continue with Trevor Nunn’s exemplary revival of his 1942 Second World War drama centring on a glamorous actress (Sienna Miller) torn between her former film star lover (James Purefoy) and the boyish RAF officer she married on the rebound.

The stress of young men sent out on mission after potentially fatal bombing mission, the tension of the wives waiting back at base and the stiff upper-lipped austerity of wartime Britain are all truthfully captured.

There’s humour, too, from a Polish count whose eagerness to kill Nazis far exceeds his command of the English language.

Sheridan Smith is particularly affecting as his cheery ex-barmaid spouse, but there’s fine acting all round in this moving study of emotional conflict caught up in the wider context of war. Go.

Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, SW1Y 4HT (0845 481 1870) Tube: Piccadilly Circus trh.co.uk Currently booking till 4th June £17.00 - £50.00

Sign of the Times ** TNT

It’s a shame to see two decent actors wasted in this trivial and inept comedy, which is stretched beyond credence from a single idea into a two act play with too many longueurs and too much clumsy plotting.

Initially we see middle-aged Head of Installation Frank (a nicely understated Matthew Kelly) trying to drum some sense of responsibility into reluctant work experience Alan as they erect a giant illuminated sign high up on the roof of the building where the former has worked for years. Loyal, old school Frank takes enormous pride in his work, even though he’d really rather be writing spy novels. Alan, on the other hand, couldn’t give a toss.

Three years later and the roles are more or less reversed, with Gerard Kearns’ Alan smartened up in a suit as befits his new role as electrical superstore trainee assistant deputy manager (though he still hankers after a career as a musician) and Frank on the scrap heap of the elderly unemployed, but still willing to learn.

Tim Firth (who wrote the script for the hugely successful film Calendar Girls) penned the first act two decades ago, added the second sixteen years later, and has since revised and renamed the combined result. Regrettably it’s ended up little more than a harmless but salutary reminder that sometimes it’s better just to let things lie.

Duchess, Catherine Street, WC2B 5LA (0844 412 4659) Tube: Charing Cross signofthetimeslondon.co.uk Till 2nd April (£21 -£46)

Lidless *** TNT

Alice popped pills to make sure she didn’t remember anything about her stint 
as an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, but fifteen years later it’s more
 difficult to ignore Bashir, the man who turns up at her florists demanding 
her help.


In the intervening period, she’s made a new life for herself in Minnesota – 
with a laid back, caring husband (who’s packaged up and put away his own 
junkie past) and a troubled teenage daughter.For Alice, the army was a way 
out of Texas – but she never anticipated that the price of escape would be 
so high.


In the course of 75 intense, taut minutes Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s new play
 destroys the defensive layers she’s placed between her civilian self and the
 methods she used (not just bruises but, as sanctioned by orders from above, 
Invasion of Space with all its sexual connotations) to humiliate detainees 
into confessing.
 Ultimately – and in more ways than they could ever have envisaged - Alice 
proves to be as much a victim as Bashir as their intertwined drama is played 
out in the round, the set defined by glaring neon strip lights.


Penny Layden’s Alice walks a knife edge as her world collapses, and although
 the writing is somewhat overwrought, Steven Atkinson’s compelling production 
for HighTide doesn’t flinch from showing the intimate damage that strangers 
can unknowingly inflict on each other. 


Trafalgar Studios (2), Whitehall, SW1A 2DY Tube: Charing Cross (0844 871 7632) ambassadortickets.com/trafalgarstudios Till 2nd of April (£10 - £17.50)