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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...

Previews: The Dreamers @St_JamesTheatre


The St James Theatre is giving a new piece of musical theatre its London debut from 30 June. Commemorating 100 years since the Battle of Gallipoli, Runner Bean Productions is presenting The Dreamers.

With original words and music by James Beeny and Gina Georgio, this new musical tells the true story of war hero Captain David ‘Reggie’ Salomons who led his regiment Third Field Company to
Gallipoli in 1915.

Set during 1914-15, The Dreamers is based on the true story of Captain Reggie Salomons and tells the story of the outbreak of the First World War through the eyes of the soldiers and the families that they left behind.

As the Captain prepares his men for battle, one soldier grows jealous of his popularity and worried about what lies ahead, tries to stir trouble amongst the men.

Meanwhile a12-year-old boy is desperate to join the army, not wanting to be left out of the great ‘adventure’ and everyday women become nurses and factory-workers.

The work includes a 6-piece contemporary band, Virgin Soldiers,  and a cast of 20 young men and women on stage.

The piece has a short run at the St James Theatre until 11 July  and worth checking out.

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