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Brief awakenings: White Rose The Musical @MaryleboneTHLDN

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A fascinating and daring act of defiance in Nazi Germany by a group of university students in Munich is given a slightly perplexing rock musical treatment in White Rose, the musical. Something seems amiss in this earnest and occasionally tuneful show. It lags more than it inspires, which is surprising given the tragic and compelling history of the real-life characters the show depicts. Given that young people are increasingly likely to vote for far-right parties across Europe, it’s an opportunity to look at a time when they had a different perspective on the future. Perhaps something has been lost in the translation or the larger space of the Marylebone Theatre where it plays.  The White Rose were a group of university students in Munich who sought to undermine the Third Reich through publication of a series of pamphlets urging passive resistance to the Nazi regime. Over a brief period between June 1942 and February 1943, they distributed their pamphlets across campus using ...

Rinse and repeat: Obsession @Katzpace

The quest for perfection is at the heart of Obsession. Writer performer Kate Marston’s gives us Ivy, a young woman with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She switches on and off the lights. She uses an awful lot of hand sanitiser. She won’t do anything other than sit ups and jogging at the gym. And she will never, ever take the garbage out. It’s presented for a few nights this week at the Katzpace Theatre in Southwark.

At first things seem to be quirks of her personality. But soon things start to spiral out of control. Ivy’s relationship with her boyfriend Sean (Chris Royle) starts to fall apart as she suspects he wants to leave her. This soon becomes a reality. 

Alternatively funny and sensitive, the piece explores how mental health issues impact on the normal lives of a group of young people. 

It’s engaging throughout with its youthful line-up of characters. Rounding out the cast is Chris Udoh as the understanding physical trainer and Sophie Winter-King as the perfect woman to undermine everything Ivy does.

The piece was also selected as part of Stockwell Theatre’s 2018 One Act Festival.

The Katzpace Theatre is a newish fifty-seat venue in the basement of Bavarian Bierkeller, Katzenjammers. It has a mix of comedy and theatre nights.

Directed by Hannah Sands, Obsession is at the the Katzpace Theatre until 13 June.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


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