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One hundred people’s ninth favourite thing: [title of show] @swkplay

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[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

Last chance: Curtain Call @RoundhouseLDN


Arad’s Curtain Call at the Roundhouse has completed its summer season of live performances. But you have until the end of the bank holiday weekend to see the installation before the silicon rods are packed away.

Created by Arad in 2011, it's made up of 5,600 silicon rods suspended from an 18 metre diameter ring. The curtains first appeared in 2011 and returned this year as part of the Roundhouse’s Bloomberg Summer. The live performances with invited guests were part of a series of late night events.

Closing the live performances on Thursday were the London Contemporary Orchestra. With a combination of cool music and vocals, it was a reflective and sophisticated musical experience.


They performed a series of pieces including Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel and John Tavener’s Svyati accompanied by projections on the round canvas.

Being at the Roundhouse it was a promenade performance. With the installation you could move in or out of the "inner circle". Depending on the projections that were moving or whizzing by it was at times a disorienting. How fast the projections were moving also seemed to be an indicator of the number of people opting to sit on the floor. And not always did the music and imagery gel.

But there was enough going on to inspire many to create their own little pieces of Instagram artwork in response to the evening.

Curtain Call ends on the bank holiday Monday.

A video posted by Paul In London (@paulinlondon) on

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