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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...

The Monster chills: Frankenstein @Blackeyedtheatr


There are more than just the usual chills in Blackeyed Theatre's Frankenstein. And it wasn't due to the lack of any perceptible heating at Greenwich Theatre last week during a particularly bitter cold snap.

Mary Shelley's tale is given a theatrical flourish in this adaptation by John Ginman. Percussion instruments underscore the tension and the monster is depicted by a giant puppet. He isn't particularly hideous and that makes you even more sympathetic towards him.



Perhaps that is the intention. Designed and built by Yvonne Stone (of Warhorse and His Dark Materials fame) and worked on by three actors, it is an impressive thing. It breathes. It leaps about the stage. It stares. It looks abandoned and unloved.  And when he starts to kill as revenge for his treatment even if you're familiar with the story, it still manages to surprise and shock.

The piece takes a little time to get going, but once it does it is worth the wait. With music, tension  and the giant puppet it becomes quite a spectacle.

It opens with Frankenstein (Ben Warwick) in pursuit of the beast near the North Pole and Frankenstein telling his tale to Captain Walton. Here he is pretty unsympathetic. He is a man obsessed with the meaning of life while letting life (and others) pass him by.


Max Gallagher as Henry and Lara Cowin as Elizabeth give the piece its human element and its heart.

The rest of the cast fill out supporting characters and provide the evocative musical accompaniment.

Directed Eliot Giuralarocca, it has concluded its run at the chilly Greenwich Theatre.  But is continuing its tour around the country until 22 March. Catch the beast if you can. Check their website for dates.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

Photos: production images by Alex Harvey-Brown

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