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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...

Two women in a boat: previewing The Gulf @TristanBates

Currently running at Tristan Bates Theatre is the European Premiere of The Gulf by Audrey Cefaly. An exploration of the challenges facing all relationships. Including LGBTQ+ ones...

Stranded on a boat together on a fishing trip in Alabama, two women are forced to confront their differences. Louisa Lytton and Anna Acton feature.

The Gulf made its world premiere as a short play in August 2010. It’s now been developed into a longer piece that premiered in 2016. It received the 2016 Edgerton Foundation New American Play award and was nominated for The Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding new Play. 

Directed by Matthew Gould, The Gulf continues until 5 May at Tristan Bates Theatre.


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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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