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A Man For All Seasons: Seagull True Story - Marylebone Theatre

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It's not often that you see a play that tells you not so much a story but gives you a sense of how it feels to be in a situation, how it feels to be silenced, how it feels to be marginalised, how the dead hand of consensus stifles your creativity. However, in Seagull True Story, created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov and based on his own experiences fleeing Russia and trying to establish himself in New York, we have a chance to look beyond the headlines and understand how the war in Ukraine impacted a a group of ordinary creatives in Russia. And how the gradual smothering of freedom and freedom of expression becomes impossible to resist, except for the brave or the suicidal. Against the backdrop of Chekhov's The Seagull, which explores love and other forms of disappointment, it presents a gripping and enthralling depiction of freedom of expression in the face of adversity. After playing earlier this year in New York, it plays a limited run at the Marylebone Theatre . Fro...

Mostly harmless caper: Corpse! @parktheatre


In times of national crisis, there is nothing like a good old fashioned comic murder-mystery to take your mind off social distancing and voluntary isolation. Or perhaps a silly murder-mystery. And even if the story is a bit suspect, Corpse! is mostly harmless fun and staged with a lot of panache and energy by Tom York. It's currently playing at the smaller space of the Park Theatre.

Set against the backdrop of another national crisis, Edward VIII's abdication, Gerald Moon's Corpse! (complete with an exclamation point) was first seen in the early eighties. It is about two identical twins who despise each other. The oldest (by a few minutes) Evelyn, is poor and living in a squalid Soho flat. His acting career hasn't progressed much after being accused of poisoning cast members. He gets by shoplifting from Fortnum and Mason and promising favours to his lonely landlady. His younger brother Rupert is incredibly rich after inheriting the family fortune. Evelyn has decided that the best way to change his life would be to kill Rupert and assume his life. And so he enlists the help of a dodgy ex-army major to do the deed.

What then ensues is a series of mistaken identities, double-crossing and some canny staging in this black comedy. Tom York switches between the camp Evelyn and the sensible Rupert in a blink of the eye. His energy is infectious and amusing even when the farce is straining for laughs.

Beth Colley's inventive set which spins around from a Soho bedsit to a Regents  Park mansion before your very eyes is also a delight. The Soho bedsit also includes a cooker which treats the audience to the smells of some onstage onion cooking.

Directed by Clive Brill, Corpse! is at Park Theatre until 28 March. Worth a look if you're able to get out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



Photos by Anna Urik

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