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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...

Lost at sea: Lately @proforcatheatre


What happens when two childhood sweethearts escape from each other's orbit? Well, no prizes for guessing it doesn't end well, but James Lewis's Lately tries to piece together the fragments of two young lives from the roads taken and not taken. But it may not be everyone's cup of tea, and the theatre offers up resources for those troubled by how it ends. Still, it's a delicate exploration of conflicting stories, priorities and young people navigating a confusing and messy world. 

Callum and Alison seemed like they would be together forever. They had a lot in common. Most of it was crap. They both have a crap family life and live in a crap part of England. The only things that aren't crap are the endless waves from the nearby sea, the occasional trip to the fairgrounds. And a few fireworks that go off when it's Alison's birthday. It's a monotonous and grim life. But while Alison wanted to escape, Callum remained firmly planted where he was. 

When Alison gets the chance to go to Thailand the two go separate ways. But freedom from home and from their demons proves to be illusory. And tragic for one of them.

It's a short piece lasting only an hour. Fragments of the story emerge to create a picture of loss and alienation. The performances by Matt Wake and Lauren Ferdinand highlight the isolation and loneliness in a crazy world. 

Directed by David Brady, Lately returns to the Lion and Unicorn Theatre until 9 October after making its debut there in September. There is an additional performance at the Albany Theatre (with an alternate cast) on 29 October. The piece contains strong language, themes about crap towns, suicide, the pandemic and an oblique reference to North Korean rockets and Donald Trump.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

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