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Wee liberties: Beauty and The Beast: A Horny Love Story at Charing Cross Theatre

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It may not be a tale as old as time, but it’s still the same old story, almost, with Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story currently playing at the Charing Cross Theatre .  As the title suggests, this is not family holiday entertainment, but neither is it all gay gore. And a surprisingly large number of clever gags, a gorgeous-looking production, costumes, and an ensemble make for a classy night out with the occasional lashing of sluttiness.  It’s been a while since I have seen an adults-only panto. Like many things at the theatre—ticket prices, opening nights, age of social media influencers—things have changed. Happily, things have changed for the better here. The show focuses on assembling an excellent cast. Elaborate costumes by Robert Draper and David Shields’ set pieces help give this adult panto a touch of class. There are the usual lewd jokes and a quick flash of buttocks.   The setting of the story is in the northernmost village of Scotland, Lickmanochers. Not...

Man Overboard: The Light House @ParkTheatre


Lightness and dark are in the balance in The Light House, writer and performer Alys Williams's story about the complexity of love. It is a love story about the highs and the lows of falling in love with someone who doesn't always want to be alive. But with some deft storytelling and some inspired audience participation, the piece is an uplifting and funny tale about the joys and otherwise of being in love. After a tour of the UK, it is having its London premiere at Park Theatre as part of their Make Mine a Double season of short plays.


From the outset, Williams sets the piece's tone by calling for audience involvement to help shout "Man overboard" or blow whistles. She is a reassuring navigator, so while every show differs depending on who agrees to participate, you get the sense that you're in safe hands with her.

And that becomes the story here as well. After falling in love with a fellow acting student, how does she find a way to keep the lights on, deal with emergency rooms and long distances and live together? There may be rules and procedures for various things, but what can you do when someone you love doesn't want to be alive? A safe pair of hands is perhaps a start. 

It's a sensitively told story enhanced by an uplifting soundtrack including "Singing in the Rain" and Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love". If songs are the soundtracks to our lives these serve to remind us of the how much there is to life.  

Directed by Andrea Heaton, The Light House is at Park Theatre until 13 April.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Photos: Ant Robling




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