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The greatest show and other bromances: Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE Ball and Boe @sohotheatre

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Alfie Boe and Michael Ball seem to be a bit of a joke act anyway. Their endless interpretations of popular songs (also known as covers) and their double-act bromance make them quintessential crossover artists where popular music meets opera and Broadway. And a perilous choice for the discerning listener. It’s not that they aren’t talented musicians and performers in their own right. Still, their musical choices are always safe, predictable and less than their potential. But every country deserves to have a pair of self-described national treasures that can tour the local arenas and give people a good time for the bargain price of £175 a seat.  And so the concept of Adam Riches and John Kearns - two world-famous from the Edinburgh Fringe comedians taking on this bromance seems like a curious choice for a Christmas musical fare. One can only hope that over the fourteen nights, it is playing at the Soho Theatre that the show evolves into something more substantial than a series of po...

Dangerous liaisons: The Wasp


The Wasp is the perfect antidote to all that Christmas cheer. A tense, psychological thriller with a story that keeps you guessing where it is going to head to next.

It is playing downstairs at the Trafalgar Studios for those who dare to see it.

Written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, the story is about two women who were once school friends, but drifted apart. For good reason. Twenty years on Carla is living hand to mouth, raising four children with a fifth on its way. Heather has a successful career, a husband and a beautiful home. Heather has got in touch with Carla through social media, and with a wad of cash asks her to kill her husband.



And there begins the tale of schoolyard bullying, betrayal and revenge. What is fascinating about the piece is how your sympathies shift as each new piece of information is revealed. Humour also helps to release the tension.

The production gives subtle clues about where things are heading. At one point I found myself thinking that knife is way too big to be just cutting that madeira cake…

The performances by the two leads also add a touch of credibility (and a lot of class) to this piece. MyAnna Burning is Carla. She is a rough, chain smoking pregnant woman with a brutal past. Burning delivers a sympathetic performance of a woman who seems to have moved on from her darker days.

Laura Donnelly is Heather. She is the cold and unfeeling woman, bullied at school to the point of cruelty and delivers a mesmerising portrayal of  a person trapped in the past.


To give anything further away would be cruel. The intimate space of Trafalgar Studios downstairs, the subject matter, and an awful lot of chain smoking (this piece along with Hangmen must hold the current record for the most amount of onstage smoking), adds to the tension.

Social media also plays a key part in the story. As a tool to to stalk former classmates online, it may make you want to check just who you are friends with online when you get home from the theatre. Just in case…

The Wasp is playing at Trafalgar Studios through to 16 January. The production is part of the Hampstead Theatre at the Trafalgar Studios alongside Four Minutes Twelve Seconds by James Fritz. Don’t miss it.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photo credits: Production photos by Ikin Yum

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