Emma Rice and Wise Children’s Blue Beard is currently at Battersea Arts Centre, bringing Wise Children’s special brand of music, humour, and weirdness. Set in modern times, we meet Katy Owen’s Mother Superior and the other residents of the Convent of the Three Fs (fearful, fu**ed, and furious). A lost boy (Adam Mirsky) arrives seeking... The post Theatre review: Wise Children’s Blue Beard (touring) appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Rosamund Gravelle’s new play Three Queens is set in the Tudor court of Mary I. It’s the eve of Lady Jane Grey’s execution, the cousin who was named Queen but deposed nine days later. Elizabeth Tudor, Queen-to-be, plays chess with her friend and paramour Robert Dudley as her lady-in-waiting, Kat Ashley watches. Then a hooded... The post Theatre review: Three Queens (Barons Court Theatre) appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Enjoy this short film re-released this week for Shakespeare’s Birthday and directed by Jack Jewers. The set of six films takes Shakespeare’s words and explores how they resonate today. First released in November 2023 as the second series of inVerse, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, you can read... The post Shakespeare’s Birthday: a short film by Jack Jewers appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Brain injuries affecting the lives of two couples are the topic of The Almond and the Seahorse, based on the play of the same name by Katie O’Reilly. Gwen and Toni, Joe and Sarah. 15 years and 2, respectively, since their worlds were torn apart by car accident and surgery. Both Gwen and Joe now... The post Film review: The Almond and the Seahorse appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

An acclaimed hit at the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s VAULT, Adam Scott-Rowley‘s You Are Going To Die is a 70-minute show performed entirely in the nude. A physical theatre performance nudging on the margins of absurdist theatre, with only the lighting and a toilet which occasionally smokes as prop, Scott-Rowley, smeared with body paint, dabbles... The post Theatre review: You Are Going To Die (Southwark Playhouse) appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

“A collaboration between Marie Hamilton and Sharp Teeth Theatre, Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) brings a gritty and wild energy to John Gay’s scandalous follow up to The Beggar’s Opera, with original music inspired by Peaches, Britney and Nina Simone. This fierce adaptation renews Polly, Gay’s near forgotten gender-bending, anti-colonialist and proto-feminist ballad opera, originally written... The post Show preview: Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Award-winning company Ware It’s At Productions returns to Brighton Fringe with a new one-woman comedy Whoa Mama! Written, produced and performed by Stephanie Ware  and directed by renowned physical theatre maker/performer Peta Lily. “Whoa Mama! is an empowering comic exploration of the opinions, arguments, and science behind the child-free movement. You’ve never wanted to procreate, but when you’re 40+... The post Brighton Fringe review: Whoa Mama appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Ed Oulton’s play Barrier to Entry, directed by Hector Smith, is showing as part of Peckham Fringe on 10-11 May. “Barrier to Entry is a gritty exploration of class, social expectations and the British education system, seen through the eyes of an individual frustrated with the cards he has been dealt in life, but still... The post Peckham Fringe preview: Barrier to Entry appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

Sam Grabiner’s debut play Boys on the Verge of Tears won the 2022 Verity Bargate Award and now opens at Soho Theatre. It is a mature and brutal work, perhaps summed up by a character in the final scene: “You’ve a body … that has the potential for great violence. And great tenderness too.” There... The post Theatre review: Boys on the Verge of Tears (Soho Theatre) appeared first on LouReviews ..read more

The New York City Fringe has made a number of its shows available as livestreams, and for the section successive year I am reviewing a selection of them. Murder ballads and death songs have always been big business, from the old folk tunes to modern pop classics. Often recounting acts of violence against women, Eve... The post New York City Fringe: Brokeneck Girls – The Murder Ballad Musical appeared first on LouReviews ..read more