Take the edge off the US election with a bourbon cocktail November 5, 2020 With the Presidential election still dragging on, you could be forgiven for having somewhat frayed nerves right now. Will it be resolved with decisive-enough wins in the outstanding states? Will it end up in the courts? Will it lead to the death of democracy and civil conflict? As if 2020 was already stressful enough, without [...]
Blithe Spirit at Duke of York’s Theatre review: Jennifer Saunders shines in this playful ghost story March 16, 2020 Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit is a merry supernatural farce, which the old boy hurriedly knocked off as a distraction from the beastly inconvenience of the Blitz. It seems appropriate that it should manifest again now, as the country stockpiles toilet paper and prepares to baton down the hatches, not against the menace of the Luftwaffe, [...]
You Stupid Darkness! at Southwark Playhouse review: a quietly life-affirming apocalypse comedy January 24, 2020 You Stupid Darkness! is a harrowing comedy about four volunteers, crammed into a dank call centre, filling the midnight to 4am slot on Wednesday mornings at Brightline; a dial-in emotional support service helping callers come to terms with the apocalypse. Things have been getting worse for a while now. The world isn’t ending with a [...]
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie musical review: Major changes revive this popular musical January 24, 2020 Popular musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is switching it up for 2020, with some major cast changes, including a new Jamie. Based on the 2011 documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is an inspirational coming of age tale about a young man taking his first high-heeled steps into the fantastical world [...]
Teenage Dick at the Donmar review: High school reimagining is a hit December 19, 2019 Teenage Dick transposes Shakespeare’s murderous monarch Richard III from Plantagenet England to the halls of a modern American high school; the perfect setting for a twisted tale of ambition and resentment. Roseland High School junior class secretary Richard’s desire for respect and attention is frustrated by his physical disability in a community that worships sporting [...]
Measure for Measure review: A play given impetus by #metoo November 29, 2019 Measure for Measure has great contemporary resonance, with the tale of a man abusing a position of authority for his own sexual gratification echoing the complaints of the #MeToo movement. The Duke of Vienna fears that his lax enforcement of public morals risks becoming a crisis, and so rather than dealing with the matter himself [...]
Botticelli in the Fire at Hampstead Theatre review: A giddy nihilistic romp November 1, 2019 Botticelli in the Fire is a giddy nihilistic romp. A pyrotechnic period drama that vigorously thrusts its way into a position of contemporary cultural relevance, somewhere between Brexit and RuPaul’s Drag Race. Jordan Tannahill’s script is Shakespearean in its regard for historical fact and Brechtian in its regard for the fourth wall, a mish-mash of [...]
How whiskey became Kentucky’s multi-billion dollar cottage industry October 30, 2019 Standing in the private dining room of a Louisville hotel, I angle a roasted marrow bone towards my face and pour a shot of Wild Turkey down the emptied channel. It sluices the remaining beef fat into my mouth, adding a rich, silky finish to the oaky caramel of the bourbon. A cheer goes up [...]
A Doll’s House at Lyric Hammersmith review: Ibsen classic rejuvenated by relocation to India September 23, 2019 There has been a fashion in recent years to take 19th century European dramas and relocate them to modern-day India, where it is imagined that their overt classism, sexism, paternalism, and obsession with family and honour, will seem less anachronistic. The results have been varied – from the fun and frivolity of the Jane Austin-masala [...]
The King of Hell’s Palace at Hampstead Theatre review: a blistering political thriller September 23, 2019 The King of Hell’s Palace is a gripping political thriller, rooted in family drama; an exposé of the corrupt business practices that emerged in China following Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms. In the early ‘90s, the Chinese economy was liberalising, consumerism was on the rise, and the clamour for export-led growth encouraged some budding entrepreneurs to [...]
