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The brown word: Death on the Throne @gatehouselondon

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Weā€™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. Itā€™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, theyā€™re stuck in purgatory as St Peter doesnā€™t have enough space for each of them in the afterlife. And so begins a puppe...

Cattle class: Dubailand @Finborough


There is a line in the play Dubailand about all the astronauts around the world looking down and seeing people in Dubai. The implication is they will see these masters of the universe. Labourers earning loads of money. Expats in offices making a bundle. But they will see tiny people of insignificance. That's the point of the play. Whether you're a labourer or marketer, you're all the same. You're second or third or fourth-class citizens. And don't forget it.

The play by Carmen Nasr is running at The Finborough Theatre on Sundays Mondays and Tuesdays. It was first performed there as a staged reading in 2015.




There are many characters in the piece, and it builds to make its nuanced observations. There is the eager Brit marketer Jamie (Nicholas Banks) who hits on the idea to film construction of one of their towers. To reassure buyers who bought off the plan the project is on track. And there is the labourer Amar (Adi Chugh). He finds that the dreams of riches don't quite match the harsh living conditions and low pay for the dangerous work.


There's also various service workers - taxi drivers, waiters, whatevers - all played by Varun Sharma. Afterall in Dubai you're interchangeable.

Extra enjoyment in this piece comes from having recently visited Dubai. This city in the desert had left its impression. Sure it is an oasis of free enterprise and no income taxes. There isn't much to do there other than shop. And with all the people walking around with brooms and mops the bathrooms and public spaces are spotless.


But visiting it feels like its urban planning on hormones rather than steroids. It grows in fits and starts. Roads veer off to fake beaches. There are relentless rows of apartments that at night appear to be all dark as if nobody is living there. Signs are everywhere telling you what you can and can't do. For a city with no taxes prices seem high.

This play calls it what it is. A dystopia.

Directed by Georgie Staight, Dubailand is at The Finborough Theatre until 21 February.  It's run may be sold out but check the website for the additional matinee on 20 February and for returns.

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Photo credit: Production photos by Tim Hall

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