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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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We’re warned at the start of the show with an upbeat number that this is not the usual sort of musical. And it turns out to be just that. But with boundless enthusiasm and energy from its two leads, who deploy a range of voices and breathtaking energy to create a series of voices for puppet characters, a bedtime story becomes a silly oddball tale about four souls stuck in purgatory. With puppets. And various toilet humour references. It’s currently playing at Upstairs At The Gatehouse . The piece starts as a bedtime story. Daddy (Mark Underwood) is about to read a bedtime story for Louise (Sarah Louise Hughes). But her stomach felt funny, and soon, she went to the bathroom. Then, for reasons that seem to only make sense in the confines of the show, they start telling the story of four people who died in unfortunate circumstances in the bathroom. Depicted as puppets, they’re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesn’t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Scenes from the Ballet: Swan Lake

With all the talk about The Black Swan, including recent fan art, it was nice to see the Royal Ballet's classic production Monday.

Zenaida Yanowsky and Nehemiah Kish were Odette and Prince Siegfried (pictured above). It is a pleasure to watch Ms Yanowksy. Sitting close, you could appreciate the commanding performance she gives. And she is a very tall swan too...

A very satisfying production of a perfect ballet, worth repeat viewings. It is a great date ballet too and given it was Valentines Day there were a few couples around and dare one suggest romance was in the air (hopefully not the cursed kind)... It runs various dates until April 5.

Photo credit: Royal Opera House / Bill Cooper

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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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