[title of show] takes you back to a time before the fast paced social media where word of mouth for a positive show came from chat boards, video diaries or (god forbid) blogs. A simple staging makes it an ideal (and economical piece to stage), but it’s sweet and earnest take on just putting on a show, and putting it out there and taking a chance gives this show its heart. With a strong and energetic cast and endless musical theatre references, it’s hard to resist and it’s currently playing at the Southwark Playhouse . It opens with Hunter (Jacob Fowler) and Jeff (Thomas Oxley) as struggling young writers in New York City. An upcoming New York Musical Theatre festival, inspires them to write an original musical within three weeks to make the deadline. As they discuss ideas, writers block, distractions and endless other good and bad musicals, an idea for a show emerges. Which is about writing a show for a musical theatre festival. Their friends Heidi (Abbie Budden) and Susan (Mary Moor
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Theatre: Four Nights in Knaresborough
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A play about the men who assassinated Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1171 seems an unlikely source of an entertaining night. But this production at the Southwark Playhouse of Four Nights in Knaresborough is so sexually charged, so pumped up and full of machismo and so bloody and funny that it is hard to resist.
Paul Webb's play first appeared in London in 1999 and has been given various comparisons to Reservoir Dogs, Blackadder and A Knights Tale (the film that made Heath Ledger a Hollywood star). It is a sharp and funny take on historical events where the four knights responsible for the assassination flee north to Knaresborough castle where they stay for over a year.
What may or may not have happened while they were there is not clear, but in this telling of the story the characters talk about perpetual hard-ons and wanking as they complain about the wine, the weather and the fact they are essentially imprisoned in their own castle. Some of this is anachronistic, but you begin to accept this as the play unfolds (along with the fantastic soundtrack that is certainly not inspired by any music from the period).
There is a love interest, and not just with Catherine, the woman who stays when the servants flee. The introduction of a love triangle between the men is introduced rather matter-of-factly without much fuss, along with other references to the men having sex with men. This play explores the natural practicalities I suppose of being in cold damp castle for a year where there is only one hot woman around...
But against the comedy and tenderness are the inevivitable shocks and ordeals that lie ahead that include some terrific fight scenes and tense moments that will have you on the edge of your seat.
The cast are excellent and there is a sense of chemistry between them that makes you feel as if they really have bonded through their bloody experiences. And the layers of characterisations that emerge as the play unfolds make it all rather satisfying.
This is a slick production that makes great use of the railway arches of the Southwark Playhouse. The sound effects are complimented by the rumbles of the trains above. Candles drip wax. It may not be cold in the theatre, but it is so moody is damp-like that you could be forgiven to wanting to wrap up in sympathy with the characters.
Photo: Lee Williams as Morville and Twinnielee Moore as Catherine (Production Photo)
Half time Audioboo with @Johnnyfoxlondon showed we were ready for more... Although maybe the second half could have been a little bit shorter.
The show runs until August 13 and tickets are available from the Southwark Playhouse website. It is a great alternate venue to the West End and a short walk from London Bridge. I also discovered a gastropub nearby that had a "Monday night is sausage night" menu. Now who could resist a few bangers before a 7.45 show?
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
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Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
