West End Theatre Reviews

No Man’s Land Review

November 6, 2008 – 9:20 am
NO MAN'S LAND. The Duke of York's Theatre. As Briggs describes a route involving an intricate one-way system, with unfathomable twists and turns, it soon becomes clear that his directions lead to a kind of no man's land. ‘This trip you've got in mind,' he says, ‘drop it, it could prove fatal.' The speech could be a metaphor for the play itself though its two central characters. Hirst (Michael Gambon - pictured), a successful, well-heeled poet and ...

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ZORRO REVIEW

October 23, 2008 – 8:58 am
So this is Zorro, or more correctly, Diego: only son of a 19th century Californian aristocrat, who is ‘never where he should be', a dashing and somewhat feckless lad sent back to Spain to be turned - via a military academy - into the sort of kindly, prudent ruler his father is. Many a rueful parent of teenage boys will sigh in recognition of Diego's behaviour. He escapes from the academy to run with the gypsies ...

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The Female of the Species - Review

September 23, 2008 – 7:49 am
Though Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith denies that Margot Mason (Eileen Atkins – pictured) the heroine of her new play The Female of the Species is based on her fellow country woman, Germaine Greer, there is no mistaking the similarities between the two women. For starters, both are rampant feminists with an impressive body of work behind them and, just as Greer was once the victim of a young female stalker who caused her a certain ...

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Binkie Beaumont Centenary

August 28, 2008 – 10:11 pm
He's the most famous West End theatre producer you've probably never heard of. For over 30 years he dominated what audiences would enjoy in the West End, at one point producing half of the city's stage shows. This year is the centenary of the birth of Binkie Beaumonth (1908 - 1973). Please find info links below. Richard Huggett's books would not win any great biography prizes but is full of camp anecdotes and a rich ...

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Piaf Review

August 24, 2008 – 5:48 pm
I was really looking forward to seeing this sold-out show – and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed. But I didn’t leave the Donmar feeling as elated as I thought I would. It’s no fault of this production that it has to follow the superb film La Vie En Rose, which kind of renders Pam Gems’ play slightly redundant. And Elena Roger has the physical presence (her slight build perfect for Piaf) and awe-inspiring ...

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The Chalk Garden Review

June 25, 2008 – 2:36 pm
One doesn’t gush orrrrfen but I feel I have to about The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse, which I saw last night. You might have thought this was creaky old war horse and wondered why Michael Grandage dug it up, but it turns out to be best re-discovery on the London stage since “Absolute Hell”. Probably the best play that will be on this year. Beautifully written, like a cross between Wilde and ...

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Marguerite Review

June 24, 2008 – 7:07 pm
It's a truth, universally acknowledged, that for a musical to succeed, you need to have a leading man or woman (preferably both) for whom you can root. The only exception I can think of is Sweeney Todd – and even that show was never the popular success of, say, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, West Side Story or Rodgers and Hammerstein's blockbusters. One of the numerous problems with Marguerite, the new Boublil/Schonberg ...

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Gone With The Wind Review

May 29, 2008 – 11:11 am
Quite apart from garnering some pretty damning reviews, Trevor Nunn’s production of Gone With the Wind, at the New London Theatre, has also provided a springboard for several showbiz writers to bounce off memories of some of the most disastrous musicals in the West End has ever seen. This ignominious roll call of unmitigated ineptitude includes the likes of Bernadette, Kings and Clowns, Blondel, Twang, Carrie, Leonardo and The Hunting of the Snark. ...

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Never Forget Review

May 29, 2008 – 7:35 am
This show proved a totally unexpected pleasure. Having read some of the reviews I braced myself for a cheese-fest extraordinaire; well, I got that, but not in a bad way. The musical's book hurtles along at break-neck speed; Take That's songs are shoe-horned into every conceivable gap in the action. But a witty script that never takes itself too seriously, and knockout performances from a young and Über talented cast, more than make up for any ...

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Never Forget promo video

May 18, 2008 – 3:55 pm

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