Bitch Boxer @ Watford Palace Theatre

The 2012 play Bitch Boxer gets an update for 2025, with a fresh view of the young female boxer as a black and queer character. There is little need to change the text to achieve this, however this simple change breathes new life into the script, meaning that it doesn’t feel dated at all. Indeed the story of a working class girl, whose relationship with her father centres around her connection to sport feels even more relevant in the years since the Lionesses Euros win has invigorated a focus in women's sport.

The production is helmed by Prime Isaac in their first major theatre production as director; there is a vision at play here, and at times it comes together beautifully, however on the whole the direction is a bit uneven. It is clear which moments are clearly aligned versus those which felt a bit underdeveloped. This is unfortunate, as Prime has brought together an excellent actor, clever designer, and intelligent sound design — it just all doesn’t quite come together in a cohesive whole. Jodie Campbell is quite strong in the solo show, for her first stage performance, bringing a calm and nuanced performance. That said, the unevenness in the production as a whole is seen in her performance as well; while there are nice moments of giving her space to breathe and play, it also does mean that at times the production feels rudderless. This isn’t a discredit to Jodie’s work; she is engaging, funny, serious — and impressive, she skips and boxes like an athlete throughout the play.

What was strong, however, was this commitment to the community. Jodie is a Watford local, with her first stage performance, and in the Q&A following the show several audience members spoke up, commenting that they heard about the show on instagram or that they don’t normally go to the theatre. The local connection, centred around a stage newcomer, was really exciting to see, and clearly created a moment for the community. 

A Knock On The Roof @ Royal Court Theatre

“Why do you warn us before you kill us?”
Khawla Ibrahim’s solo show at The Royal Court explores a woman’s life, restrained by the realities of living in a war zone with a small child. Told through direct address, engaging the audience, the protagonist, Mariam, shares her anxieties. When the knock on the roof — a smaller bomb intended to warn residents of a bigger bombing incoming — happens, she has 5 minutes. How far can you run in 5 minutes? This isn’t a question of competition but of survival; she trains through the night, running, carrying heavy objects to prepare herself, timing how far she can get, her increasing strength. Thinking about the practicalities; what if the knock comes while she is in the shower? or while she is asleep? or going to the bathroom?

The production’s pacing creates this tension for the audience, contrasting relaxed, calm, chat, interaction with the audience and stories of her life with panicked moments of preparatory timed runs, and eventually the real thing.

It is a sobering watch. One which reminds the audience that the people in Gaza are people just like us, with anxieties and worries, hopes and regrets. Ibrahim’s performance is beautifully nuanced, calm and physically expressive.

This is a thoughtful production and well worth seeing.

My Mother's Funeral @ The Yard Theatre

My Mother’s Funeral is a play about grief, but moreso it is a play about class, particularly about the relationships ambitious young people from working class backgrounds have with their families, and with the middle class environments they find themselves in. Abigail is a young playwright whose mother has just died; a working class woman who raised her two children on benefits, her mum did not have any money to leave her, so Abigail is faced with the financial burden of a funeral and the social burden of her feelings of inadequacy around her inability to provide one, and the anxiety around a council funded funeral and the lack of dignity that may hold. She chooses to cave, to make the art that is demanded of her as a working class artist — poverty porn — to hopefully earn the money to pay for her mother’s funeral. 

The play weaves between spaces and times in a really clever way, with the 3 actors shifting between characters. With only 3 actors a host of places, times, and characters are shown, and the structure mirrors the overlapping worlds Abigail is facing, as she unsuccessfully attempts to simultaneously sell her personal story, but keep her personal life and the shame she feels about it separated. What really struck me (as an artist from a working class background) was the explorations around love — what does it mean to love your children and express that love when money isn’t an option? One scene in particular was stark in its criticism of both the middle class inability to understand love without finances, and the working class inability to fund love. The friction between these two points of view was present and really thoughtfully articulated through Abigail’s struggle. It is refreshing to see such an honest examination of the working class experience, and in particular the experience of the children of working class parents entering middle class spaces, where despite their intelligence and passion, they will always feel like outsiders. 

The staging is simple yet layered, using the play about a play within a play (how meta) to create additional meaning in the spaces and relationships of objects. Simple moments are both hyper real and clearly theatricalised. At times the performances are a bit shouty where they would benefit from nuance, but overall the pacing and staging were very good as were the performances — in particular the physical work of the performers. 

Small Forward - Belarus Free Theatre @ Barbican Pit

Working with famous Belarusian basketball player Katya Snetsyna, Belarus Free Theatre’s latest production, KS6: Small Forward, focusses on Katya’s experience of coming to the realisation of the atrocities her government commits against its citizens, and being ostracised and outcast herself after standing up against the dictatorship, speaking out, and coming out as homosexual. 

The production deploys Belarus Free Theatre’s trademark playful stagecraft, this time framing the production around a basketball game, including a kiss cam, live DJ, and half time basket competition. While it is fun and engaging, the production as a whole doesn’t quite hang together — which is unfortunate, as the story is compelling, and important to raise awareness. 

The use of music was clever, with the live DJ Blanka Barbara not only hyping up the crowd as if at a basketball game, but then also live mixing the underscoring for the entire play. The design used the tools of a gym and basketball game to create multiple spaces and evoke feelings which were at times really powerful, but also at times didn’t quite have the desired impact. 

All in all not a bad production, just not their best — which is unfortunate as the subject matter deserves attention. While led by Snetsyna who is an engaging person (she lit up in the pre-show chat) most moments of her as an actor fell flat — which is fair for a first time actor leading such a huge story. Additionally, I really liked the touch of sharing images and QR to write to prisoners, but although it did tie in to an element of the story (when she speaks of her friend who was imprisoned) the link feels tenuous — and again here I just wanted it to connect a little more deeply. 

The Years @ Harold Pinter Theatre

Adapting an epic novel which spans multiple decades is no easy feat, and in particular, one which follows the same woman through phases of her life. Eline Arbo’s adaptation tackles this with seeming ease; with 5 actors portraying the woman at each phase of her life, while also embodying the other people and events in her orbit, there is no artifice of realism. The production’s clever staging brings to life major events, all while making it quite clear we are watching a performance.

Each of the 5 women is given some properly chunky material to work through, the emotional baggage we pick up as we age, the memories of the past. There is no weak link in this production, across the script, performers, direction, and design. It is clearly well conceived — so much so that it makes me wonder whether there could be another production that would do it justice.

As you can imagine, covering the life of a woman who was born during WW2 through the many radical shifts of female rights and public existence in this time, from illegal back room abortions to the feminist movement and increase of divorce rates covers a lot of ground. In what definitely didn’t seem like the first time (from the swift professionalism of stage management and the exceptional technique of the performers to pause and then drop back in) the show had to be stopped due to someone in the audience being overwhelmed by the abortion scene. While it is risque as far as West End performance, it was brilliant to see materials that was modern, feminist, and intellectually challenging on a West End stage.

A very good production of a good script - definitely worth your evening.

... blackbird hour @ Bush Theatre

...blackbird hour is told primarily through Eshe, a young woman battling demons. We see her primarily anchored to her bed, a place of comfort but also one of enablement. Voiceover haunts and interacts with her heavily at first, and then with a lighter touch as she is visited by two lovers, each of whom represent a connection to one of the sides of her. The text is delightfully poetic; sharp and soft at the same time, moving through the story with intense reality, heightened through the language to align with Eshe’s heightened state, her struggle. As it shifts further into Eshe’s mind, reality shifts. Where in earlier scenes Eshe is the one who is outside normality, while Ella and Michael are grounded, later on the tone shifts so that we experience from Eshe’s point of view, Ella and Michael becoming exaggerated and robotic, and the experience of time expanded yet contracted. 

While this is not babiyre bukilwa’s first production, it was their first play — which makes the quality of the language and layers of the story all the more astounding. This is a masterful piece of writing that gets inside mental illness in a truly unique way. 

Evlyne Oyedokun is powerful as Eshe. She moves through rippling emotional shifts effortlessly, shaping the manic and depressive moments with care. Despite rarely leaving the bed for a significant period of the play, she is physically dynamic and engaging, embodying Eshe with every ounce of her being. This is a thoughtful, nuanced, and challenging performance of difficult content and text. 

One element that will stick with me, however, is the inclusion of surtitles. Where many productions will include these, projected across the top in plain colours, never moving...this production made them a part of the experience of the play. Words appeared in different fonts, colours, and positions in alignment with who was speaking them, which was ingenious to create the different voices visually. But most importantly, the pace of words appearing and disappearing had a powerful effect; at times the delay versus what was spoken aided in tense moments, creating the effect of feeling the character’s mouth was racing ahead of their thoughts as we often do in arguments....or conversely, when a word or phrase remained projected during a pause, it quite literally hung in the silence, echoing at us through the visual representation. This was an incredibly powerful choice to not only make accessibility a part of the production, but arguably a part of the storytelling itself. 

Five Lines @ Barbican Pit for Mime London Festival

Five Lines bills itself as micro cinema; live projected and manipulated models of miniature objects, with a mixture of live and pre recorded sound as well as video, and some moments of live action. The seed of the idea was interesting; a couple meet and fall in love, then there is a natural disaster and they are forced to live in a shady underground hierarchical world where their work is exploited, and their interests (he a musician, she an activist) diverge. The cast were responsible for manipulating the scenes and lights, as well as the cinematography. There was a lot going on, a lot of ideas, but rarely did they feel like they held together for more than a moment or two.

Choices around how elements were used, and the scale of action, or even what was live/manipulated/pre recorded felt arbitrary and confusing. Indeed even choices around when to see the manipulation of miniatures and when it was “magic” were inconsistent and arbitrary. This isn’t to detract from the skill of the performers, or the seed of the idea…it simply did not translate into anything compelling or meaningful.

La Manekine @ Barbican Pit for Mime London Festival

Le Manékine is a dark fairytale, told through music, clown, puppetry, and video, all of which come together through the evocative performances of the two performers. The production shifts in its magnitude, starting with small puppets, shifting to bigger mask and full body puppetry, transforming the two performers into a whole suite of characters. Video then supplements, with stop motion style masked performers progressing the story. This is all underscored by one performer who plays so many instruments i lost count, often multiple at once. The music was truly integral, and supported the transformation of the other performer between many chars, each unique physically and vocally. The creation of spaces through small objects and puppet focus was inventive and fun.  

It had moments that didn’t quite work, specifically some of the earlier song breaks, although they fed into the final one which was haunting. Overall a unique and playful performance that packs a punch. 

Hold On To Your Butts @ Arcola Theatre

Positioned as a low-budget live action re-enactment of Jurassic Park….in a theatre….Hold On To Your Butts is a semi-improvised theatrical presentation of the story of the film (sort of), with silly character traits emphasised, and cardboard cut out kid’s basement style interpretations of costumes to create the heightened moments of the story.

It had moments of humour, but for me just wasn’t sufficiently a parody, or sufficiently campy to elicit more than a chuckle, leaving me to question what the point was. Granted, the audience seemed to enjoy the point of view more than I, so perhaps I am just not quite the right audience for this. It wasn’t bad, it just for me wasn’t particularly new or interesting.

The Devil Wears Prada @ Dominion Theatre

One expects high camp from an adaptation of a cult classic film about fashion, with music by Elton John and starting Vanessa Williams. And to a large extent, the production delivers. It is silly and delightful and funny — at times it takes a serious turn to tackle subjects like impostor syndrome and growing up gay, but a chuckle is never far away.

Adapting a cult classic movie for the stage is tricky; you have to contend with the ghosts of a production not just that people saw or read about, but have watched repeatedly, memorising not only the script and snappy one liners, but the cadence and delivery of each beat. The West End production does a decent job at balancing this, giving faithful audience members the lines they want, while also trying to get new life out of the material.

The music is very good, enhanced by incredible performers. The lyrics and script, however, let the production down; attempts at new text fall flat, and often the rhymes in the songs feel shoehorned. The choreography and design (particularly the costumes). Where some scenes choreography is cleverly pedestrian, using runway struts and campy drag style movements to enhance the story, some scenes feel almost as if the choreo was thrown together on a lunch break, eliciting no meaning from the text or moment in the play. Similarly the costumes are uneven, some opulent, some Primark.

On the whole it isn’t a bad production — and the people it is directed to will adore the campy fun of the entire experience. You enter The Dominion Theatre and feel as if you’re at an exclusive party — house music playing, backdrop for red carpet photos, beautiful flowers and RUNWAY posters abound (a beautiful foreshadow to the most exceptional scene in the play, the Met Gala style event which echoes Phantom’s Masquerade). The performances are exceptional from all leads, and they’re supported by a generally strong chorus.

So long as you go expecting camp, not commentary, you’ll have a great time.

Aladdin @ Watford Palace Theatre

Watford’s panto offering this year benefits from a strong cast of highly talented performers, strong musical direction, and clever and inventive design. Re-imagining the story of Aladdin, there are hijinks and a little magic. There are talking animals - the monkey sidekick you expect (an incredible Kate Donnachie) but also a duck (replacing the princess’ confidant tiger), and a frog — not sure of the reason for the frog other than a single (very funny) bit. 

The design really shines, with the lights in particular working extra time to create many magical stage moments. The illusion in particular to create the flying carpet is achieved to outstanding effect.

The script isn’t the greatest, but it is more than made up for by the talented cast, who squeeze every drop of comedy out of it; in particular John Henry Falle as Abanazer the villain is delightful in his improvised banter with the audience. 

Overall a a strong performance supported by great design, which covered for an okay script. 

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake @ Sadlers Wells

It is challenging to describe the magnitude of this ballet and its lasting influence without veering into what might seem like hyperbole; but the impact cannot be understated. Twisting the story of Swan Lake and forbidden love from its traditional arch, and refocusing it on male homosexual love, it gender bends the majority of the story and casting. Most notably, it is the swans, performed entirely by male dancers, that are pure magic. Unlike female swan choreography, the male dancers are strong and aggressive, in the way swans are — and the choreography mimics this. The sheer strength and endurance to perform the choreography, and with Tchaikovsky’s score performed at a breakneck pace, the story races along in a delightful manner.

The two dancers performing The Prince and The Swan/Stranger were incredible, the agony of their forbidden love palpable to the highest reaches of the Sadlers Wells, and they are supported by an incredible company. There was not a single weak link or weak moment, and the ballet’s language reads as just as modern today as it would have decades ago at its premiere.

Peter Pan @ Harrow Arts

Harrow Arts Centre’s 2024 panto offering is a high-energy “what came next” story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, leaning on the traditional storyline of the boy who won’t grow up to tell a story of family love, friendship, and second chances. 

The production values are high overall; a cleverly deployed yet simple set, supported by well considered costume design, with foy for Peter to fly (!) and multiple pyrotechnics and confetti cannons at key moments, creating an air of circus-like excitement. The young audience were engaged throughout, and the script cleverly adjusted in time to the weaning attention spans of young audience members, with surprises and interaction at just the right moments. 

The cast were evenly matched, with standout performances from Captain Hook (James Tobias Clifford), Silly Sammy (Emmett Carroll), and Sally Starkers (the hilarious dame, performed by Philip McParland). The chorus were well rehearsed on challenging choreography, and the young cast members rounding out the production were eager and skilled. 

Music Direction and lighting were the only areas that lagged; despite clever muical choices and a talented group, a few song choices didn’t suit the range of actors (Peter Pan in particular) and despite the excitement of the foy, an over-eager fog machine and missed lighting design meant we hardly saw Peter flying. 

By Their Fruits @ Theatre 503

This is the story of a young couple, fiery, in love, and intertwined. They have known one another from childhood, grown together, struggled together. Told in the tiny space of Theatre 503, the players and the design transform the space magically. Their bodies intertwine, weaving choreography seamlessly in and out of more natural movement - it is both smooth and staccato, harsh and soft, fast and slow, interchangeably. The heightened poetic language of the text is emphasised by these movement, which take place in a set which is somehow static and transformational at the same time. It is rare to see a production where the pacing is pitch perfect throughout two acts of heigtened text, but this one was. All of this might sound experimental, which it was, but within the constructs of a “well made play”. The form was constantly rebelled against, then fallen into, repeatedly, mirroring the experiences of the characters who rebel against their past, their history, then fall back into old and familiar comfortable patterns. This is all supported by the lighting design and sound design which create a seamless world for this language and play. 

The two performers are captivating, their connnection to one another permeating the space, making the audience feel a part of their story yet voyeurs at the same time. It is difficult to describe the patter, the connection - you believed for every second they had known one another a lifetime, with the deepest intimacy. 

None of this would be possible without a strong guiding directorial eye. Every breath, every moment thought of, planned in the most beautiful detail yet somehow feeling organic and spontaneous. 

My only qualm was with the story itself — the form was so delightfully challenging and intellectual, that the content itself (a simple story of love, family complexity, and unwanted discoveries) was nothing new, nor did it elicit response from me in a new way as an audience member. It was as if the form was so powerful the content took a back seat. This isn’t a complaint, but I would say that the story was the weakest element of the script. The text, however, filled with vivid imagery and biblical references was well constructed and clearly a delight for the creatives to work with. 

Tender @ Bush Theatre

Eleanor Tindall’s latest play, Tender, weaves a story of two people who at first appear to be disconnected, each working through their own trauma, who meet by happenstance, and then are drawn together. As the play progresses, we learn that in fact, they were connected all along. 

The script begins rather poetically, with a story of Ivy’s self destruction as a teen. The poeticism continues, through pulsing walls and choreographed interactions, with some truly delightful moments between the two actors. That said, the script and production don’t quiite click into place and race forward in the way you would like them to — the style of the script jumps around a little too much, and despite the efforts of the very talented cast, it is good, but just never reaches great. Frustratingly, there are glimpses of what could have been for the production - through perhaps another round of dramaturgy. 

Annabel Baldwin stands out in the highly skilled duo, with their ability to embody the text with beautiful subtlety. 

L'Addition @ Battersea Arts Centre

L’Addition begins with a foreword; the two actors coming out, lights up, to give us some information. The bit is reminiscent of the preambles ahead of performances, efforts to provide warnings to audiences. While it pokes fun at these things, at the same time it values and respects them, the tension between honouring the audience, challenging them, and respecting them at the forefront. 

We’re asked to forget the preamble, but of course are unable as the “performance” begins. Cyclical and slapstick in nature, it repeats and repeats, weaving around, never quite repeating in the same way and yet clearly the same. On the eve of the US election, it felt haunting to watch people repeating and repeating and never learning from their mistakes. 

What are we doing when we warn our audiences into oblivion? And what are we doing when we see a pattern, even say we want to break it, but are wholly unable? Absurdism feels so relevant in these times. I hear there is Rhinoceros outside…

Bert and Nasi are exceptional performers in their ability to fill the space, hold the tension, without a word. They play off one another beautifully, feeling improvised when of course we know it is wildly well rehearsed. The physical and textual choreography tripping beautifully over one another as if it is by mistake. 

Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister @ Camden People's Theatre

Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister takes us through 9 months (or 3 trimesters) of a young woman’s quest to break the cycles she comes from. She is child of a single mother who works incessantly to make a better life for her daughter; her daughter who has taken that gift and translated it into acceptance to university and an internship with a candidate for prime minister, alongside a steady relationship. The text intersperses spoken word poetry with direct address monologue and two-handed scenes (with her boss at the internship). The production moves fluidly through these elements, propelling the story forward as we learn that external barriers aren’t the only forces at work against this young woman; indeed she learns she became pregnant just before uni began, so that the trimester cycle of uni and the political campaign dovetail with her own pregnancy.

The two performers do a capable job bringing the characters and world to life, and the director sets a fun stylistic tone upfront; however as the seriousness of the challenges she is facing shift, the tone of the production doesn’t quite shift to the same degree, causing those more serious and touching moments to not work as well as they could. The script was strong in parts but did have some rather expository elements which could be done without. 

Tituss Burgess - Indecisive Warrior @ Phoenix Arts Club

I love an intimate venue, and there was no better place for the incredible Tituss Burgess to bring his cabaret style show. Supported by an excellent 3 piece band and guest performers, Burgess demonstrated why his vocal talent is sought after, and importantly why he is regularly cast in what many would consider against type roles.

Spanning rock, pop, jazz, musical theatre, and beyond, Tituss is captivating. A magnetic performer, it is hard to take your eyes off him. The structure of the evening provided opportunity for Tituss to engage with the audience both in performance, and without that artifice. While the singing was incredible, what really stuck with me was the informal Q&A that started the second act. Tituss’ vulnerability and honesty in answering questions from the audience was incredible, and really lasting.

I can’t wait to see what he does next - hopefully on the West End if he achieves his goal of moving here.

Twine @ The Yard Theatre

Selina Thompson’s newest play, Twine, explores adoption, and the search of an adopted child to understand their history. Set in a magical between place, Sycamore has been split into three parts to represent her at different points in her life. Seed is her at 5 days old (when she was adopted), Sapling is her as a teen, and Bark is adult her, hardened to the realities of life.

The premise is intriguing, and there are moments where it is truly exciting, however as a whole piece there are moments that just don’t work. The first act worked better than the second, using music to engage and weave the story, although it ran a bit long and flagged toward the end of the act. The second act felt a bit disjointed from the first until the very final moments.

The music and performances were all strong, supporting a strong idea, but the script just didn’t quite have the pop it could have.

ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen) @ Royal Court for LIFT Festival

Where does performance happen? What does it mean to be present in a space? Nassim Soleimanpour’s latest play, ECHO, digs at these questions. Using the convention of an actor who hasn’t read the script before performing live which Soleimanpour used with great success on White Rabbit, Yellow Rabbit, this play pushes that technique further. Not only is the actor contending with a script they haven’t seen, but with technology, projection, and more. This play asks big questions; about who we are, what ties us to a place or a memory, and importantly about what it means to move away from home and family, living as an immigrant in another culture divorced from your own but unable to separate yourself.

I won’t say more as to not steal the surprise — but suffice it to say that the images and questions this play ask have been looming over me since seeing it. That’s not easy.