These Theatre Thoughts

  Photo credit: Mark Senior  Date: 22nd March 2024 Seat: H21 (Stalls) Tickets: Gifted Rating: 2 Stars Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry … that’s what we had to tell ourselves by the time we got to the end of Wild About You , a new musical by Chilina Kennedy with a book by Eric Holmes that took place on 25 th  and 26th March at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane as a staged concert.  That’s because the final scene is one that stirs up all kinds of emotions about grief, loss, regret, and, luckily, some hope thrown in too. The problem is, however, that it takes so long to get to that pretty good ending that you might not really care anymore. And that’s not because it’s a long musical (it clocks in at about two and a half hours including the interval), it’s just that it has a tendency to drag. There’s so much chatting and fluff and filler that seems completely unnecessary (why do we keep hearing about Michael’s religion when it comes to nothing?) that no matter how rousing the...

  Date: 22nd March 2024 Seat: Unallocated (Front Row) Tickets: Gifted Rating: 3 Stars Dr John D.O.G. Dolittle has written a book all about his exciting exploits, and he wants us to know about it. That’s why we’re there, after all – he’s going to read extracts from that book and regale us all with his amazing adventures.  To be fair, that’s pretty much what Dolittle (played by Aidan Pittman who also wrote the play) does over the course of a hilarious and absolutely bonkers hour in Dr Dolittle Kills A Man (and reads extracts from his new book) , and I am absolutely here for it. If you’re a fan of The Mighty Boosh or The League of Gentlemen , this is exactly the show for you.  The titular book is massive, and Dolittle can only choose one story to read to his audience, so he picks one about a f*cking huge ruby, which includes Nazi birds, bodybuilding puffins, a “small little man” called Dog, references to Indiana Jones galore, a brain-eating worm, Charles Darwin, Curious Geo...

  Date: 20th March 2024 Seat: Unallocated - Studio Floor Tickets: Gifted Rating: 4 Stars A woman enjoying a Calippo stands on a stage. It sounds like the beginning of a long-winded joke, but it’s actually the start of Karen, a one-woman play by Sarah Cameron-West (who also stars), and she doesn’t enjoy that Calippo for long because her boyfriend, Joe, dumps her. On a day out at Alton Towers. On her 30 th birthday. Not quite the surprise she was hoping for, especially as she had her nails done in I Do Pink because she thought she was going to be getting a ring.  Of course, this is all Karen’s doing. Or so the protagonist (she’s so angry at everyone that she never actually gives us her name) thinks. After all, Karen is her ultimate nemesis at work, and since the three of them work in the same office, why wouldn’t it be Karen that Joe is having an affair with? And the thing is, our protagonist hits the nail right on the head.  Over the next hour or so, Sarah Cameron-W...

Date: 18th March 2024 Seat: R17 (Stalls) Tickets: Gifted Rating: 5 Stars Jesus Christ Superstar has been around for such a long time (okay, since 1971, or 1973 if you’re thinking of the original movie) that it’s just one of those shows that’s there , burned into the subconscious so that even if you don’t find yourself humming the tunes on a daily basis, once you’re reminded of them, you remember just how incredible they are – and you can probably sing most of them all the way through.  Just me? Perhaps. Although I think that with this new, absolutely stunning and brilliantly energetic version, a whole new crowd of fans are going to be created. This is not your traditional Jesus Christ Superstar , but that’s not a bad thing – it’s a modern retelling of the oldest story and those songs still rock.  Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar tells the story of the last week of Jesus’s life, a story that everyone (probably) knows to some extent, and al...

  Photo credit: Johan Persson Date: 11th March 2024 Seat: J28 (Stalls) Tickets: Gifted Rating: 3 Stars It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time, well within living memory, when the NHS just didn’t exist. Unless you had money and privilege or lived in a big city, access to healthcare wasn’t guaranteed, and even if you could get to a hospital or call on a doctor, the cost was often prohibitive – if you couldn’t afford to get well, you didn’t.  It’s also hard to believe now that when Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan came up with the idea of the NHS, it wasn’t exactly a resounding success – there was a fair amount of opposition, and it wasn’t until just ten days before its launch on 5 th July 1948 that the doctors, who had been holding out, agreed to join the National Health Service. Talk about a close call. And talk about a great moment in history.  And that’s precisely what Nye , written by Tim Price, directed by Rufus Norris, and starring Michael Sheen as Nye Bevan, doe...

Photo credit: Jane Hobson Date: 26th February 2024 Seat: D12 Tickets: Gifted Rating: 3 Stars  On 4th October 1936, hundreds of thousands of people from all faiths and backgrounds clashed with Oswald Mosely’s fascist Blackshirts (otherwise known as the British Union of Fascists, or BUF) in what became known as the Battle of Cable Street. With barricades made of furniture and little more than the strength of their convictions, the residents of London’s East End joined forces to keep the fascists out, joining hands to create a human shield, their battle cry of “They shall not pass!” ringing out. And it worked – the crowd was too strong, and the Blackshirts, despite having a police escort, had to turn back. The Battle of Cable Street is remembered as a time when people showed how powerful it is to stand up for what’s right, and Tim Galvin and Alex Kanefsky’s new musical, Cable Street , tells the story of that time through the eyes of three young people and their families – Sammy (Joshu...