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Cinderella on Ice – Royal Albert Hall

Composer: Tim A Duncan & Edward James Barnwell Director: Tony Mercer Reviewer: Honour Bayes The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ For the first time in 25 years the Royal Albert Hall’s stage has been transformed into an ice rink for a performance as grandiose as its historical host. With fire on ice, breathtaking moments of aerial work and enough spins [...]

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Off The Endz – Royal Court Theatre, London

Off the Endz1

Writer: Bola Agbaje Director: Jeremy Herrin Reviewer: Honour Bayes The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★☆☆ Off The Endz is a punchy little number that jabs away at the financial entrapment of modern life like an edgy cage fighter. At times brilliant, at others erratic, it is too patchy in form to completely hit home but the surprisingly vocal audience seemed [...]

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Megan Mullally & Supreme Music Programme- Vaudeville Theatre, London

Reviewer: Becky Middleton The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ There was no irony in Megan Mullally’s song choice I Was Meant for the Stage, as she claims. “This was supposed to be ironic” She laughs. But despite her obvious nerves, Mullally seems most comfortable in front of an audience. A slim and sleek Mullally, who is best known for her [...]

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The Elixir of Love – ENO at the London Coliseum

Writer: Gaetano Donizetti Director: Jonathan Miller Reviewer: Lauren Rare The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★★ Jonathan Miller’s latest offering at the ENO, Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, started with a superb orchestral opening conducted by a most enthusiastic Pablo Heras-Casado, making his UK debut one to remember. Set designer Isabella Bywater had opted for sophisticated simplicity and as the curtain [...]

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Madness in Valencia – Trafalgar Studios, London

Writer: Lope de Vega Translator: David Johnston Director: Simon Evans Reviewer: Jenni Rymer The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★☆ Lope de Vega’s lost classic, ‘Madness in Valencia’ is an outrageously funny hidden gem of the theatrical world. The inspiration of this Spanish play was derived from Lope’s own exile to Valencia in 1588 from the confined society of Madrid. The [...]

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A Man of No Importance – Arts Theatre, London

Book: Terrence McNally Music: Stephen Flaherty Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens. Director: Ben De Wynter Reviewer: Ian Foster The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★½ After a well-received run at the Union Theatre in Southwark, A Man of No Importance has transferred to the West End to the Arts Theatre with a limited run of just 3 weeks. Based on a film from [...]

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The Early Bird – Finborough Theatre, London

Writer: Leo Butler Composer: Philip Stewart Director: Donnacadh O’Briain Reviewer: Deborah Klayman The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★½☆ Intense, intimate and unsettling, The Early Bird traps both the audience and characters in a nightmarish cycle of guilt and blame experienced by a couple whose child has gone missing. Using a striking set, comprising a Perspex cube with little inside other [...]

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The Hostage – Southwark Playhouse, London

Writer: Brendan Behan Director: Adam Penford Reviewer: Ian Foster The Public Reviews Rating: ★★☆☆☆ After having one of the hottest tickets in London in January with The Rivals, the Southwark Playhouse had quite an act to follow and it has done so by reviving Brendan Behan’s play The Hostage, the first new production in the UK for 16 years. [...]

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