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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 ...

Long term relationships: Chutney @BunkerTheatreUK

The central message from Chutney, is that anyone you date at University is not worth staying in a long term relationship with. You get bored with your smug post-university life and soon you’ll be wanting to murder the neighbour’s cat. Or their parrot. Or a few hedgehogs. It’s currently playing at The Bunker.

We’re introduced to Claire (Isabel Della-Porta) and Gregg (Will Adolphy) after something terrible has happened. They’ve just been dog-sitting for some friends and then a fox came and ripped the dogs head off. Or was it a homeless man. Or did they do it?

There’s a middle class kitchen complete with John Lewis kitchen appliances. It sets the scene where boredom meets murderous thoughts and actions. It’s American Psycho meets Croydon Cat Killer. Without the moral panic.

There’s plenty of gross, stomach churning dialogue. But playwright Reece Connolly has some sharp observations about the lives of millennials. Not old enough to have positions of power. Not young enough to have carefree University existences. They are charting the world of binge-watching Netflix and dreaming of exotic escapes that they can’t afford. It’s enough to bring out more primal, animal instincts.

Adolphy and Della-Porta are remarkable as they navigate characters that teeter between sympathetic and psychopathic. It’s a fine line they tread but both are engaging throughout. Acting out and narrating their inner-evil thoughts.

The production with its all-white kitchen and stainless steel appliances makes it feel as if you’re entering an abattoir. Maybe we are. And it will make you think twice before asking a millennial to dog-sit while you’re away...

Directed by Georgie Staight, Chutney is at The Bunker until 1 December.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos by Rah Petherbridge Photography

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