Bacchanalia - Sleepwalk Immersive @ St Peter's Crypt

An exciting performance space, Bacchanalia uses the basement crypt of an old church in Bethnal Green to create an immersive performance telling the story of Dionysus’ return. Using a strong physical performance vocabulary, the performers move between multiple areas while the audience, clad in black capes, are allowed reign to roam and watch where they like. There are scenes which overlap that serve one another, however there are also times where the sound bleed from one room to another is more distraction than support. Despite strong work by all performers, I found it hard to find space to watch, or to hold attention outside the the group scenes. There also seemed to be a few red herring scenes, objects or plot lines introduced that went nowhere.

On the whole, a fun experience, but with its heavy reliance on the techniques of Punchdrunk who have made great strides in the immersive space, it is hard to see that this production brought anything new to the discourse of immersive theatre.

The Mountaintop @ Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre

Katori Hall’s script is an imagining; what, if anything, did MLK Jr do and think on that fated night in a motel room before he was tragically killed? The play begins innocuously enough, King (played to perfection in this production by Ray Strachan) runs in from the rain, settles in, and orders a coffee from room service. Room service arrives (via a hilarious and engaging Cherissa Richards) and the banter begins. They debate his choices, his speeches, his willingness to be political. . . and all seems to be progressing as a straightforward play.

Until things take a twist, and we depart speculation for full blown extravagant surrealism. Walls fall away or turn to fire, and eventually we see the ideal King’s final speech.

Richards and Strachan give strong performances; they first played these roles in 2020, in what became a filmed production during lockdowns, and are clearly comfortable with them. Unfortunately reliance on the 2020 work is where this staged production falls down; while both performers are exceptional in their roles, it is in the moments of transition that the production falls down. The movement between the real and surreal are stilted, and not sufficiently thought through in the direction to smooth them, whereas in a recorded production this could be handled with editing.

Journey of a Refugee @ Stanley Arts

This inventive production was an absolute treat. Set in the under-construction Stanley Arts Centre in Croydon, Journey of a Refugee creates an interactive promenade performance tackling challenging issues but targeted to young audiences. The refugee crisis isn’t a light topic for adults, much less 10 year olds, yet the creative staging making use of the construction site materials and absolutely brilliant lighting design, coupled with strong choreography, and an interactive gamified experience at the end, does just that.

The production doesn’t talk down to the youth audience; rather it simplifies complex concepts through movement. The children around me were rivete throughout; the production wisely chose when to move the audience, and how to do this, creating a seamless action — this physical movement and engagement was timed perfectly to keep the kids engaged but give them space to move and stretch.

I sincerely hope this delightful production is remounted so more can see it.

The Investigator - Yukon Digital Theatre Collective

The Investigator is one part digital performance, one part choose your own adventure novel. Positioning the audience member as the leader of their own story, the experience leverages the choices and judgements of the audience in their first-person-player capacity to drive the narrative. You can choose to participate with audio, visual, or both components, however the experience is crafted to work with any of these. The use of font as a character signifier in the written elements was quite effective, although some of the fonts may have lacked readability for those with lower vision (although to be fair, there was an audio option available in this case).

There was a playful yet sinister element to the experience, culminating in questions about your choices. The many paths were cleverly devised by creator Wren Brian, and following my first outcome I was compelled to try another to see what other options and outcomes I might manage to elicit.

On the whole, this was an inventive experience well worth your time.

You can experience the production here - for free!

Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands @ Sadlers Wells

How does one express what it is like to witness pure magic? Utilising an adaptation of the Danny Elfman score, and a set design which utilises perspective and scale to create a cartoonish magic world, Matthew Bourne’s ballet adaptation of Edward Scissorhands is quite frankly one of the most beautiful things I have seen performed.

The intricacy of the choreography, telling multiple concurrent storyline, enables the creation of a fully textured world. At times you forget you’re watching a ballet, despite the almost nonstop movement of the dancers.

The subtlety of all of the elements working together spins a delightful story that whisks the audience along —truly the work of a master at the top of his prowess. If this is remounted, go see it.

Marina Abramović @ The Royal Academy of Arts

The famed provocateur, not present but as a ghost in the Royal Academy exhibition from Marina Abramović. Organised thematically rather than chronologically, the exhibition felt less like a retrospective than a museum - guiding the viewer through themes and fixation in the artist’s work. Marina, of course, was not present save for in photograph or video, and although there were recreations of some of her most famous performance pieces, they were solely those with nude bodies (fine). What wasn’t fine was that at least while I was there, the only bodies were black and brown — the white famous artist absent, with black and brown (mostly women) in the vulnerable place of performance on her behalf.

That isn’t to say there weren’t interesting elements to engage with; what i found most fascinating were the documentations of performance through text or video, rather than attempts to recreate. And furthermore, the pieces that were most about her own experience of time, pain, stress, versus those that were about creating these moments for the audience. There is an element of cruelty to Abramović’s work, but this is most effective in my opinion when it is an intellectual cruelty or even boredom versus physical discomfort.

All in all, I’m glad I went but also have many questions on why and how this work was facilitated in this space. The first female artist to have a solo retrospective in the Royal Academy, yet perpetuating the exploitation of bodies that were not her own….so simply following in a long line.

Binaural Dinner Date @ University of Greenwich

How do we get to know a person? How do we fall in love?
These are the central questions to the Binaural Dinner Date, a one-to-one guided audio performance mixed with live action. Audience members are paired up as if on a blind date, and guided through a series of activities to fall in love with one another; or are they? The journey itself isn’t particularly groundbreaking, but the technical prowess of the design and execution of the performance more than make up for this. Each individual has headphones, tables are on different cycles to interact with one another and with the Waiter, and these overlap so that at times all tables are silently watching a tertiary story with the waiter’s love.

In many ways, the success of this performance is just as reliant on your partner as it is on the production — which means it can fall down quickly. That said it is a technical marvel and worth experiencing if you have the chance.

The Homecoming @ Young Vic

A play like this, with actors like this, should have teeth. It should have grit, terror, and veer into the surreal. This production, unfortunately, had the tools to achieve these things, but fell short — rather than playing into the surreal nightmare, it played it as straight as you can imagine. The result is that while Jared Harris was fascinating to watch, he wasn’t nearly as frightening as he ought to be.

I attended with my husband, who (knowing nothing of the play) left asking why tell this story? That’s the key question this production didn’t answer. Without acknowledgement of the nightmare, the play veers into misogyny, and was only redeemed by the magnetic performance of Lisa Diveney who takes control of the situation and is somehow empowered in a twisted way.

On the whole, it is unfortunate to have such an exceptional cast with such an exceptional script come off as so wildly boring.

Cinderella @ Watford Palace Theatre

You might not believe this, given the regular content around here, but we love a panto. When you think about the array of theatre experiences, panto is an entry point for thousands of people; for many kids it is their first experience of the theatre. A panto is silly, irreverent, funny, weird, and wonderful at its best.

This year’s offering from The Watford Palace had an enjoyable premise; riding the current 90’s trend, it sets Cinderella in 1990’s Watford. There are discmans, political references, and a magical furby. Some elements of this work well — the ugly stepsisters as Britney and Xtina (with Xtina in drag) are very funny, if uneven performances. Cinderella as the future popstar bringing future music is great. However the music choices do not consistently fit the theme, and at times the story and performances as a whole flag — the overall slingshot energy of the show through to the end needed work.

Overall though, the children (and lets be honest, most adults) in the audience had a delightful time that will stick with them. And isn’t that the point?

King Lear @ Wyndham's Theatre

Branagh is young to play Lear; fine. His capacity to relish the words more than makes up for the young casting, and surrounding himself with a cast of impeccable young actors doesn’t hurt. At points, his interpretation of Lear’s rage felt like a Boomer dad impatient and disappointed with his Millennial children — and on a level this worked in ways I wouldn’t have expected. All that said, while the performances were generally good (Edgar definitely stands out) they also felt fairly safe and declaratory - more “look how well we can speak the text” than raw emotion, and at times pace replaced both.

The design, however, was stunning. Creating a prehistoric world, the revolve also had magical hydraulics, and utilised projection mapping on a stonehenge like circle of stones, with a gorgeous overhead scrim that looked like an eye watching over everything at times. It was, in short, stunning. But we shouldn’t leave a production only thinking about the set. . .

I, Malvolio @ Sam Wannamaker Playhouse

SO, I have seen this show once or twice, as anyone who spends time here will know. That known, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it live performed by Tim, and in the glorious Sam Wannamaker Playhouse.

Having adapted this script to work on an audience of well behaved adults myself, I was keen to see how it would be adapted for adults in this particular space and time. All the propriety of people’s expectations for the traditional practices space (don’t get me started) piled on top of the almost rockstar status Crouch has amongst a particular subset of theatre lovers.

Cleverly, this production undermined that sense of formality and seriousness from the start. While the adults didn’t quite play along in the same way a room full of teenager would, Tim was able to pick out moments of engagement and behaviour in a manner akin to a stand up comic.

The acoustics of the space enabled a level of intimacy in Crouch’s performance as well, really performing the labour of performance, the effort of the performer to get the audience to understand.

A delightful evening full of scathing contempt for theatre. Just what we love.

Lay Down Your Burdens @ Barbican Pit

This dance theatre performance from Rhainnon Faith company created a thrust performance space reminiscent of a pub; red patterned carpet, circular wooden bar, and a mix of “immersive” seats around the performing space which the performers interacted with, and more traditional rows of seats. Right from the start the piece created a very informal and non-performative feeling; actors were in the space interacting neutrally with the audience as they came in.

Quickly, however, the production moved into audience participation, which for me didn’t feel like it was set up quite right, and felt jarring. From here the two act performance had peaks and valleys. There were some very beautiful and evocative physical moments, but also moments which felt confused and disjointed. This for me was a problem of dramaturgy and directorial vision rather than performance; the company were wildly talented, moving through the performance space with a delightful ease and confidence. Unfortunately the result of the disjointed arch is that it felt like the first act was entirely too long, or could have been done without.

The one standout element was the sound design which included a live mix of the audience recorded moments to create a unique soundscape and collective memory of the experience. This was quite delightful; and lasts much more positively in my memory than the balance of the production.

Mike Birbiglia - The Old Man and the Pool @ Wyndham's

I watched this live at Wyndham’s in London, and subsequently in the recorded version from Lincoln Centre.

What really struck me is Birbiglia’s ability to write in such a manner that he knows precisely when and how the audience will react; so moments that may have appeared improvised in the first viewing when interacting with the audience, when watching the recorded version the beats worked almost identically, despite it being a completely different audience (and country). Cultural differences seemed not to apply in this way.

That said it was fascinating to see how much MORE the really dark comedic elements hit with a British audience (live) vs American (recorded.

Overall this is a touching introspection into our mortality, aging, legacy, and finding humour in these terrifying realities. Beautiful stuff.

On Railton Road @ Museum of the Home

Performed in the light, open space in the bottom floor of The Museum of the Home, On Railton Road focussed on the Gay community who led protests for rights not only of the community, but to preserve homes across London in the 1970s. The production fictionalises the lives of a real group of squatters, then intersperses (with increased absurdity) the agit-prop punch and judy style play the group actually wrote and performed at the time. The production was part interactive performance, part play, part puppet show, and wildly touching and tender in its exploration of love and community. The choice to perform it in alley format with the lights on for the majority of the time created a sense of community in the audience; this was bolstered by the actors interaction with the audience both in formal and informal ways.

And the puppets. I cannot begin to describe the hilarity that ensued.

Overall a delightful production merging history, performance, and fun.

Othello @ Riverside Studios

An Othello full of concept, but for me, struggling with delivery. The performances were equally strong, with the performers living beautifully in the world created for the play. The power and relationships were strong, yet the concept — 3 Iagos - for me fell flat in the dramaturgy. Had the 3 Iagos clearly represented archs in his personality or actions, it had some potential, however instead it, along with the many guitar interludes and movement breaks felt like more an effort to showcase the actors than tell us something new about the script.

Again, that’s not a slight on the performances, but rather that there were simply too many ideas pressed into the 90 or so minutes, meaning that none could breathe.

Matthew Bourne's Romeo & Juliet @ Sadlers Wells

Dark and magical, Matthew Bourne’s twist on the story of young lovers is an absolute delight if you like blood in your ballet and/or Shakespeare. So clearly up my street…

Positioning the youth in a mental hospital allows freedom in the impulsiveness of their actions and the speed and urgency of their choices; these are young people for whom the necessity of action is essential. The forces against them are their parents, but also the doctors and nurses, the administrators, even society who has tucked them away.

The choreography is absolutely stunning and is served by the inventive lighting design which transforms the space repeatedly. Absolutely magic.

Guys and Dolls @ Bridge Theatre

Sometimes you see a production, and it embodies all the things you have wanted for a play. (okay, maybe that’s just me). I have adored this musical since childhood, and have yearned to have others see how dynamic and engaging it has the capacity to be. Nicholas Hytner did it.

Staged in a dual fashion, with traditional seating in the round, but also an immersive floor option, the production quite literally creates the dynamic and bustling world of New York City. The stage is in pieces which reconfigure, moving up and down through hydraulics and what I can only imagine is the most complex stage management cue sheet known to human kind. What was truly incredible was that despite the movements, and complete awareness of the mechanics of the production, from the immersive floor space we were still able to be completely swept away in the story.

I am tempted to go again and sit in the traditional seats, to see what the moving and shifting looks like from the outside.

With all of this you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was simply technical prowess on display. Quite the opposite; every performance, and every step of choreography was pitch perfect. Brilliant re-imaginings of the classic and well loved songs, choreography which simultaneously felt of the period but wholeheartedly modern. Simply superb.

Please go to this. It is what musicals should be in 2023.

Carlos at 50 @ Royal Opera House

It is incredible to watch an athlete at 50. Their jumps may not be as high, or extensions as extreme, but that is all secondary. The command of space, the conveyance of a story, those are what matter. And Carlos Acosta at 50 somehow seems to have even more of those.

The programme consisted of a few pieces showcasing Acosta and his favourite partner, the ethereal Marianela Nunez, interspersed with pieces Acosta famously danced, and his choreographic work. The variety of the work on show was not only a showcase of Acosta’s own work and legacy, but at times felt like a time capsule of contemporary ballet, the array of styles coming together with the thread of storytelling from the dancers.

These events can have a nostalgic quality, yet the programme’s ending, focussed on new work and young dancers, was a beacon to the future and where ballet may go in the next 50 years.

August in England @ Bush Theatre

The intimacy of The Bush’s space welcomes us into an extended front room of a house. A house filled with memories and pictures on the wall, with well worn but cared for furniture. The house of someone who has worked hard all his life and values what that has brought him.

Enter Lenny Henry, as August. Jovial, friendly, but at times harsh. Throughout the play we learn the story of August, who moved with his mother to England as a child and grew up here. He builds a life and a family, and suddenly, like a wave, it is taken from him. This story of the Windrush generation quite literally takes your breath away, as this man who was full of life and love and hope is crushed by a technicality well beyond his control.

Henry’s performance is astounding, weaving between characters but retaining August’s point of view - everyone we see is seen through his lens. He brings the audience in with such ease, making you feel he is speaking just to you.

A Play For the Living in a Time of Extinction - Katie Mitchell/Headlong @ Barbican

It is simultaneously full of artifice, and absent it entirely. Katie Mitchell’s bicycle powered one-woman show (performed passionabely at The Barbican by Lydia West) is as much spoken word poem as it is lecture, as much monologue as it is news article. And that’s to its credit; while we are given a story and much to look at, it feels inherently un-play-like. Instead we are confronted with a barrage of information and literal labour - 8 cyclists ride for the duration of the 90+ minute performance to power the minimal lighting grid and projections. We are reminded of the energy and effort required to create theatre; that even those of us who consciously consumed our way to that point in the day, via public transport and reusable bags filled with bread from eco-conscious bakeries, and with coffee in reusable cups will sit in a theatre and absorb spectacle which takes resource from this planet. A play about a time of extinction, too.

The production leaned a little too heavily into a few moments of audience participation for my taste - the early pieces engaging with the audience I thought really fruitful and useful to the story, however while the moments bringing audience up on stage had payoff from a visual sense later in the production when the choir came on stage, it felt contrived and almost like a way to fill time, which is rarely good.

Overall the marriage of the text and its performance were strong; I just wonder whether there is any benefit of performing this for a room of reusable bag using Barbican goers. Will it change anything?