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More sex and violence: Playfight @sohotheatre

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The funny thing about three girls growing up under a tree is that you never quite know when they're being serious or just messing about. One time, they might be talking about giving blow jobs on a tennis court at school and another, they might be yearning for a connection that they can't quite explain. That's what happens in Playfight, an Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024 hit currently showing at Soho Theatre .  Writer Julia Grogan doesn't give us much time to dwell on the lives of these three young teenage girls. One minute, they're fifteen and giggling, and then the next thing, they're off getting married or going to University. But underneath all the smutty talk, humour, and quick scene changes, there is a darker underbelly about relationships, power, and consent. It's about finding your way in a complex world that can dehumanise and degrade you. But as things move so quickly, you could blink and miss it. This is too bad as the performances capturing this co...

Panto: Dick Whittington



It's the tail-end of panto season. School is back, Christmas and New Year have come and gone and the holidays are over. But fortunately the New Wimbledon Theatre's Dick Whittington is a welcome hanger on from the period. Its funny, sharp and varied enough to keep people of all ages entertained. There's even a 3D film segment in the second half to scare the children. But top billing for this show is Dame Edna as the Spirit of London fairy helps Dick (and the show) along. The show gives and opportunity for Dame Edna to fly through the audience, riff on old routines and muse about the genre of the pantomime. It is hilarious stuff. The jokes about empty seats being the result of subscribers to the theatre from the posh parts of Wimbledon, who have since died, are comedy gold...

Of course when Dame Edna isn't around there is the good looking Sam Attwater as the hero and Anna Williamson as Alice along with a host of supporting characters that work so hard it is exhausting to watch.  Even if you are not so sure whether pantomime is your cup of tea (it is a curious mix of children's comedy and adult filth), it is a hell of a night out... It finishes Sunday...

The Wimbleboo with johnnyfoxlondon on the train home (with apologies for the station announcements):
Wimbleboo: Dick Whittington (mp3)

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