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Welcome to Cultural Binge
The rating system is simple:
★★★★★ – Terrific, world-standard. Don’t miss.
★★★★ – Great, definitely worth seeing.
★★★ – Good. Perfectly entertaining. Recommended. Individual mileage may vary.
★★ – Fine. Flawed and not really recommended, but you may find something to appreciate in it.
★ – Bad (& possibly offensive).
See more reviews over at The Queer Review.
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Email: chad at culturalbinge.com
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Forgetting Tim Minchin (Belvoir 25a) ★★★★
Book, music and lyrics by Jules Orcullo. Belvoir Street Theatre. 12-29 July 2023.
Ooh what a cheeky little show this is! It had me all living off the scrappy underdog vibe and then [SPOILERS]. I love a meta-musical about musicals as much as the next theatre nerd, but to add this much heart into it as well – fuck-a-doodle-doo, it’s genius!
Writer & performer Jules Orcullo plays Jules, a writer & performer who has moved back home in her thirties to focus on her art. She’s fighting to define her own voice, paranoid that she’s mimicking those who’ve come before her (Jason Robert Brown, Pasek & Paul and Stephen Schwartz all get a name check). But most of all, she wishes she could write something as clever as Tim Minchin’s work. When one of her songs mysteriously appears on TikTok she’s frightened and delighted when Minchin reaches out and asks if she’d like to collaborate on a new musical.
Jules Orcullo. Photo: Clare Hawley. Jules goes out of her way to stress that this is not real. She has never met Minchin. All the interactions she has with Minchin are figments of imagination. And she uses the concept of Tim Minchin to pick at musical theatre (and theatre in general). Jules is fighting against all the assumptions about who she is. The daughter of an immigrant, she refuses to write an autobiographical show about how hard it is being the daughter of an immigrant. As Minchin pushes her to get more personal, she resists. Dealing with reality is not something she’s ready to do just now. There is a heated urgency to her pleas, and we only discover why at the very end.
Nova Raboy. Photo: Clare Hawley. Along the way we meet Jules’ mother, played by Nova Raboy, who just wants Jules to be happy… and to do a lot of laundry. Her joy when she discovers Jules writing music is palpable, as is her excitement when Jules speaks to Minchin. It’s a soul-warming performance that really delivers the necessary emotional kick.
Forgetting Tim Minchin is a great example of how great writing and a solid concept triumph over budgetary limitations. Orcullo isn’t the strongest singer, but she’s a smart songwriter who can work a melody and a lyric into something fresh. Limiting the action to the inside of Jules’ bedroom keeps things contained and drives the fever-dream aspect of the story. It may cover some similar beats to [Title of Show] but spins things off in a completely different direction.
Jules Orcullo and Nova Raboy. Photo: Clare Hawley. The play’s finale turns everything on its head in a way that proves to be the perfect twist to the meta-musical groundwork that’s been laid over the last 90 minutes. If it doesn’t grab your heart like a vice then you’re frankly dead inside.
At the time of writing Forgetting Tim Minchin has a few days left to play so rush and grab a ticket. This is sharp, insightful, wickedly funny and moving musical theatre that deserves to be given more time and money to really take flight.
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On The Beach (Sydney Theatre Co.) ★★★★1/2
Adapted for the stage by Tommy Murphy. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute. Sydney Theatre Company, Roslyn Packer Theatre. 18 Jul – 12 Aug, 2023.
On The Beach opens with a tableaux of 60s beach-side bliss, all pastels, buff bodies and short shorts. Soak in the eye candy because things get darker from here. Tommy Murphy’s adaptation of Nevil Shute’s novel gives us a mid century take on the ‘post-apocalypse’ world delivered with style – this is an existential Eames Lounge Chair of doom.
In the aftermath of a nuclear war, the Northern Hemisphere is an irradiated wasteland with no survivors. Australia is pinning its hopes on the equatorial winds to keep the fall out from moving south. In Melbourne, scientists are studying the environment looking for signs of hope. When they suddenly hear garbled morse code coming from a naval base near Seattle, one of the last remaining US nuclear submarines that happened to be based in Australia is sent to investigate. If there is a survivor in the midst of this holocaust, then maybe there is hope for them all.
Tai Hara & Elijah Williams. Photo: Daniel Boud. Written in the 50s (and adapted into a film starring Gregory Peck in 1959) On The Beach is focused on the story of two couples. Peter Holmes (Ben O’Toole), an Australia naval officer brought in to support the US crew, and his wife Mary (Michelle Lim Davidson) who is left to care for their newborn girl; and Dwight Towers (Tai Hara), the American captain of the submarine, and Moira Davidson (Contessa Treffone) a rambunctious local girl with eyes on the captain. They are joined by a young CSIRO scientist Dr John Osborne (Matthew Backer) with no illusions of their chances.
Following on from the beautiful production of Do Not Go Gentle, On The Beach is another tale of dignity and despair told with elegance. Director Kip Williams knows how to create an image on stage, a moment of awe. Who knew the simple act of watching a sheer curtain wash over the stage would evoke such calm and wonder – like watching a wave crash on an expansive beach. On The Beach is filled with such moments of visual grace, where the work of the design team: Michael Hankin (sets), Damien Cooper (lighting), Jessica Dunn (sound) and Mel Page (costumes) coalesces into something truly stunning.
Contessa Treffone & Tai Hara. Photo: Daniel Boud. You’ll find many familiar tropes of the post-apocalyptic genre. The last ditch mission in the search for hope, and maybe a cure, residing in a child who is immune to the radiation. The mix of hedonism and denial in society at large as it faces the potential end. The ghosts of our mistakes that haunt us. The mid-century setting heightens the optimism as well as the sorrow.
On The Beach is an elegy for the human race, centred on Australia. You’d have to be a fool, or a member of the Coalition, to miss the subtext here. Sure, the context may be that of a 60s cold war turned hot and the inexorably arrival of clouds of radioactive death, but only the deliberately ignorant would fail to see the clear silhouette of the climate crisis. Humanity has created its own demise, but how would you face the last days?
Michelle Lim Davidson. Photo: Daniel Boud. Williams has balanced out this existential dread with beauty, be it beautiful human forms, abundant blooms of flowers, some magical quick-changes or a gorgeous towering tree (yes, this is another stunning tree from STC). Things may be grim for the most part, but there is a majesty to the storytelling – like attending a very stylish funeral. The presence of a child on stage only makes the gut-punch of a message more painful.
Which makes it frustrating that, for me, one of the central performances didn’t hit the mark. While everyone else was delivering nuanced depictions of people dealing with grief, one performance felt frankly false and performative – lacking in actual heart. Surrounded by naturalistic, honest work, they were play-acting emotions.
Matthew Backer & Ben O’Toole. Photo: Daniel Boud. I’ve been thinking about On The Beach all night since seeing it. It tapped into my own fears for humanity, and unease about the futility of our fight against the future. I was triggered, and I hope more people are as well, because we’re going to need everyone to be to make the big changes ahead.
Sydney Theatre Company has had a near flawless first half of 2023. I’ve seen all bar one (I missed The Poison of Polygamy sadly) and I’ve not hit a dud yet. Shows like Julia, Do Not Go Gentle and Fences definitely deserve a life beyond their original limited runs, and On The Beach is another addition to this must-see list.
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The Hero Leaves One Tooth (KXT on Broadway) ★★★1/2
Written by Erica J. Brennan. KXT on Broadway. 14 – 29 July, 2023
Fucked up dinner parties are a theatrical staple. Get a bunch of characters around a table and let their personal drama’s play out as subtext, hidden by polite behaviour… at least at first. That basic premise gets turned into a speculative, body-horror-infused exploration of trauma and sexual politics in Erica J. Brennan’s stunning (in both senses of the word) The Hero Leaves One Tooth.
Neeve and Felix’s relationship is tense. Back from a holiday abroad, Felix has planned a night that’s all about him – to show off his cooking and his photographs. But it’s clear they are both on edge. As their friends arrive the night is full of ominous portent – Felix demands everyone puts their phone in a locked box, they’re both furious with Gem when he drinks all of the “special wine”, there is a sense of panic when Sasha brings an unannounced date. Things really go off the rails when Neeve’s ex-boyfriend (and former teacher) Mark turns up without warning…
The Hero Leaves One Tooth. Photo: Clare Hawley. The key to The Hero Leaves One Tooth is the pacing. Information comes out in cryptic snippets, stolen moments at a party, that slowly build to a fuller picture of Neeve’s life. Gem, Felix’s former queer lover, is furious at the sexless state of Neeve and Felix’s relationship. Dentist friend Kadi knows more of Neeve’s medical history and recent trauma. Sasha is throwing barbs about how Neeve just needs to try harder to get over it. The opening scene shows us Neeve being attacking while jogging, but it’s only later we realise the true extent of the sexual violence inflicted. And trust me, you think you know, but you don’t know!
Director Cam Turnbull has a good sense of space and timing, keeping the action moving and playing with the comedy of this menacing piece. Kira-Che Heelan is excellent as Neeve, holding her secrets, shame and strength in tight control. I’ll confess some of the other performances felt forced and unnatural, dissipating the emotional heft of the piece, and the presence of musical performances felt distracting (not helped by the fact the lyrics were often inaudible as they laid out important information).
The Hero Leaves One Tooth. Photo: Clare Hawley. As intriguing as the concepts at play are, the story never really rounds out to a satisfying conclusion, with some character behaviour stretching credulity and much of the atmospheric set up lacking solid follow through. Heelan’s performance holds it all together.
I called this “speculative” because in some ways this is a fantasy world. Similar to ours but with one key difference. From here we get slightly spoilery so you have been warned (everything I talk about is featured in the show’s digital programme, but I think it’s best not to know going in)…
Here we go…
The story is set in a world in which 10 years ago women developed vagina dentata – teeth in their vaginas. Brennan has taken this myth and played out the reality in interesting new directions. Now that women can inflict damage to rapists in real time, does this empower them? What does it do to the sex life of straight men in their lives? What if you can’t control your new ‘mouth’ and start to bite? What are the ethics of extracting the teeth – with or without consent? With this knowledge, the puzzle of everyone’s behaviour starts to fit together.
The Hero Leaves One Tooth is dark and intriguing. While I can’t say I really “enjoyed” it (bodily fluids on stage are not my thing), it’s fresh ideas and interesting take is exciting to see.
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City of Angels (Hayes Theatre) ★★★1/2
Music by Cy Coleman, Lyrics by David Zippel and Book by Larry Gelbart. Hayes Theatre. 23 Jun – 23 Jul, 2023.
Cy Coleman’s City of Angels is possibly my favourite musical, it’s definitely in the top five. A sparkling, jazzy score filled with wickedly saucy lyrics and melodies only a professional could master. A book laced with double entendres and homages to classic noir cinema. It’s a sexy show with some brilliant tunes. I knew I loved the base material, but would this new production at the Hayes Theatre stack up to my expectations? For the most part, it’s a big yes.
It’s 1940 and Stine (Glenn Hill), the successful writer of noir fiction, has come to Hollywood to write the screenplay to the adaptation of one of his books featuring his hard-boiled private investigator Stone (Aaron Tsindos). In the story, Stone is hired by mysterious femme-fatale Alaura (Penny McNamee) to find her missing daughter, Mallory (Chantel Cofie) but Stone quickly learns things aren’t what they seem. In the real world, Stine is learning that screenplays aren’t books, and studio boss/director Buddy (Paul Hanlon) is walking all over him to change his beloved story… If only Stine were as strong as his character Stone.
Glenn Hill & Aaron Tsindos. Photo: Grant Leslie. The one thing you can rely on Hayes for is terrific vocals, and this ensemble doesn’t disappoint. These tight harmonies and tricky scales feel effortless – the music sounds as hot as it should. Glenn Hill is well cast as Stine, the writer at the centre of the tale. Bookishly neurotic and simmering with growing resentment at his situation. Aaron Tsindos is suitably gruff and dishevelled to play the fictional P.I. Stone – they make excellent mirror images of each other. McNamee is having a ball playing the vamp, Allura. Shannen Alyce Quan has the toughest role, playing both Buddy’s ignored assistant Donna, and Stone’s fictional secretary Oolie (she also gets one of the show’s best numbers, ‘You Can Always Count On Me’).
Shannen Alyce Quan & Mia Morrissey. Photo: Grant Leslie. But there are the chronic Hayes issues to contend with like the rattle and rumble of clunky sets being wheeled in and out of the small space. Simon Greer’s set design instantly brought to mind Star Trek’s ‘transporter room’, but on closer inspection I could see the floor represented both a six-shooter and a film reel. I feel like a few wonderful singers are miscast in their roles – if only everyone could interpret a scene as well as they could interpret a song. The staging of some of the numbers is disappointingly static.
The one thing this production of City of Angels is lacking is sex – despite sex being laced through the story. When Alaura enters, Stone comments on her legs… which are inexplicably hidden underneath her pant suit. Come on, she’s a noir femme fatale, give a girl a slit up to her armpits to flash a little leg why dontcha? The various flirtatious numbers, like ‘Lost & Found’ are as chaste as a church choir. ‘The Tennis Song’ is particularly lacklustre despite being one of the show’s most titillating numbers. If you muted the song and just watched the action you’d have no idea this was foreplay. Every character in the show wants to fuck but this production has no libido.
Glenn Hill. Photo: Grant Leslie. Luckily the material is so strong it overcomes these shortcomings to still be a hilarious, entertaining show, and with this cast the music simply soars. City of Angels is easily the best thing I’ve seen at Hayes for some time, hopefully we can convince them to stage Coleman’s The Life next!
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Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Darlinghurst Theatre Co.) ★★★★★
Music & lyrics by Dave Malloy. Australian Premiere. Darlinghurst Theatre Company. Jul 7 – Aug 20, 2023.
Dave Malloy’s cult Broadway hit, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 has landed in Sydney with a queer touch and a bold vision – this is the kind of show Sydney needs more of! Adapted from a 70 page segment of Tolstoy’s War & Peace (Natasha and Anatole’s affair), The Great Comet weaves its way through the politics of Russian nobility, from the balls, the scandals, the gossip and the drinking.
Young Natasha’s lover, Andrey has gone off to war, leaving her with her friend Sonya. When she catches the eye of the A-grade fuck boy Anatole, she is seduced and vows to runaway with him. Observing it all is Anatole’s brother-in-law, the drunken, dishevelled Pierre who is struggling to find a purpose to his own life.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Photo: Robert Catto. This is a strange fruit of a musical, made even stranger in this iteration. As the opening number explains, this is a Russian novel so everyone has nine different names and you’re going to have to keep up – thankfully, the cast are brilliant at differentiating characters and the roles tend to hold to broad stereotypes so it’s actually pretty easy to follow. The multi-instrumentalist cast play the majority of music on stage (only breaking for moments of electro-pop fury) and director Dean Drieberg has cast genderqueer performer Jules Pendrith in the role of the male cad Anatole, giving it Bowie-esque rock-god vibes.
And what an ensemble of performers this is, mostly new to me. Zoy Frangos who plays Pierre has a rich, crisp voice that radiates pain and depth. Grace Driscoll’s Natasha is innocence lost. But it is the cast in smaller roles that really grabbed me. Kala Gare’s Sonya, Natasha’s best friend and the conduit for much of the show’s emotions, sparkles for her excellent acting and vocals. P. Tucker Worley and Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward bring a variety of roles to life and bring bursts of fresh energy (through movement and vocals and comedy). In a show that is completely sung-through, in which the cast rarely leave the stage, they are all superb.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Photo: Robert Catto. To my mind, Dave Malloy is a genius. His musicals are dense and unpredictable, but filled with deep emotions and soaring melodies. It’s no wonder Tolstoy appealed to him. Years ago I saw his earlier work, Ghost Quartet, and walked out bewildered but elated. The Great Comet is much more linear and easier to digest. What I wasn’t expecting was the liberal lashings of comedy through-out The Great Comet. Some of it comes from our contemporary view of the times, and others from the characters themselves. Dean Drieberg has milked this text for all the humour and emotional clarity he can – you won’t be bored, or confused for a second. There are moments of pure beauty and bliss here not to be missed.
Tyler Hawkins’ set has transformed the Eternity Playhouse. The main stage is a blend of cabaret catwalk and giant eye (in Russian high society everyone is watching everyone). An enormous mirror ball hangs over the audience – like a looming cosmic figure. I really wanted it to go crashing towards the stage ala The Phantom of the Opera, but no luck there. My only critique would be the limited lighting which often saw performers singing in darkness or shadow, making for a sometimes muddy viewing experience and the music sometimes overwhelmed the complicated vocals.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Photo: Robert Catto. Following on from their success with musicals like A Chorus Line and Once; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 is a major step up in ambition. Those earlier shows were easy, crowd-pleasing fare while this is a bolder choice that shows real artistic flare and vision. This is not the work of a company playing it safe. Darlinghurst Theatre Company are reaching for the stars here and they are taking us along for the ride.
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London Week Five
On the final stretch now and my brain is starting to look ahead to life back at home. Going into the office, seeing local shows (I can’t wait to catch up on City of Angels, The Great Comet, Jailbaby etc) and sleeping in my own bed again. But first I have a couple of days and a few more big shows to fit in!
Cabaret Cabaret (Piccadilly Theatre / The Kit Kat Club) ★★★★★
Book by Joe Masteroff. Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Piccadilly Theatre / The Kit Kat Club. Booking through June 2024.
I’ve kept missing this since it opened in November 2021 with Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley. Either it was completely sold out or the prices were astronomically high. Now that the show is closing in on its second anniversary, and is onto its third (I think) main cast, things are less frantic and I managed to get a decent stalls seat for regular West End prices (still not cheap, but not ridiculous). With the lead cast of Mason Alexander Park (The Sandman) and Maude Apatow (Euphoria) I finally got to enter the drastically remodelled theatre.
I’ve not seen a theatre space undergo this dramatic a transformation before, turning the traditional proscenium arch theatre into a cabaret venue in the round. Audiences enter via the old stage door, walk through the basement as performers mingle around them, before popping up in the old front foyer leading into the auditorium.
This version of Cabaret is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, whose Romeo & Juliet I saw last week, and has some similarities in style – using dance to transition scenes, lots of more abstract movement work and a focus on the darker side of the text. The Emcee is much darker than I remember in previous versions, with Park leaning back into the queerness that Redmayne apparently did not. Apatow, a performer who was new to me, makes for a brilliantly brittle Sally Bowles. The core trio of characters was sadly let down by an actor playing Cliff that I thought was absolutely awful. His entire performance rang false and shallow while everyone around them brought shocking emotion.
I’m almost getting tired of seeing shows about the rise of facism and being reminded that we’ve not learnt the lessons of the past. They’re timely and powerful of course, but I feel like we’re screaming into an oncoming storm (the debate about whether art can change anything at all is one to have another time) but it’s Herr Schultz’s denial that something horrible is growing that hit me hardest.
A brilliant production of a powerhouse classic, worthy of its seven Olivier Awards, and finally affordable. Definitely worth seeing if you get the chance.
A Playlist for the Revolution. Photo: Craig Muller. A Playlist for the Revolution (Bush Theatre) ★★★1/2
Written by AJ Yi. Bush Theatre. 3 Jul – 5 Aug, 2023
Set in Hong Kong 2019, this meet-cute rom-com shines against the backdrop of student protests and violence. Hong Kong native Jonathan (an adorable Liam Lau-Fernandez) and Chloe (Mei Mei Macleod), a Hong Konger studying in England, have a great first date the night before she flies back to England. They’re an odd couple. She’s freewheeling and political, while he’s straight-laced. When Chloe assumes Jonathan is involved in the student protests, she’s impressed and he’s too embarrassed to correct her. When Jonathan meets protestor the older Mr Chu (Zak Shukor) who starts giving him life advice, and dubious dating tips, Jonathan is drawn into the politics around him.
The programme for this play goes to great lengths to distance itself from the political ramifications of this small play which I found bizarre. Stressing that it is all a work of fiction for entertainment value, that characters bearing any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental and that the political views of the characters in the play do not necessarily reflect the views of the writer, the creatives, Bush Theatre or the staff. Take from that what you will…
This is one of those plays I could definitely see being staged in Sydney. The topics and politics probably hit us harder than they do for the British audience seeing it now. As the rom-com fades away and the politics take control of the story, these performers got to really show their skills. Shukor’s gruff, funny Mr Chu grows to like the uptight schoolboy Jonathan, and when he joins the protestors on the streets the ramifications are all the more hard hitting.
The simple, stunning set by Liam Bunter (mimicking an aerial view of Hong Kong’s highrises) combined with lighting and video work by Gillian Tan keep it active and exciting. Director Emily Ling Williams works the comedy and drama with assuredness.
Song From Far Away. Photo: Mark Senior. Song From Far Away (Hampstead Theatre) ★★★1/2
Written by Simon Stephens. Hampstead Theatre. 28 Jun – 22 Jul, 2023.
I’ve got a soft spot for playwright Simon Stephens. His mega-hit, adapting Mark Haddon’s The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time has eclipsed all his other, excellent work. I interviewed him once for a magazine profile and he was charming, a non-stop talker, with an infectious laugh and real passion for writing. I also had left over credit at Hampstead Theatre from shows that were cancelled due to Covid, so I thought I’d use it up and see a Stephens play I’d not seen before.
Will Young has been earning his chops as an actor for quite some time now, moving from doing musicals into straight theatre and this is a big role, a monologue running just under 90min in length with some major emotions to explore. But there’s a nice synchronicity to the casting. Our narrator, Willem, is a 30-something gay man brought back to Amsterdam to attend a funeral. He is a gay man familiar to me, the outsider who left his home country to find his fate in New York, returning to a home that never felt like home and Young brings these elements to life with a verisimiltude only a gay actor could bring to the role.
But a 90min monologue needs dynamics to carry the audience through, and while the emotional through-line was clear, this production of Song From Far Away doesn’t quite have the highs and lows to fully animate it as a piece of theatre (unlike when Andrew Scott performed Sea Wall at the Old Vic in 2018 – but then that’s a shorter piece and he’s Andrew Scott). Despite some wonderful directorial flourishes by Kirk Jameson, staging by Ingrid Hu, sound design by Julian Starr. It’s definitely in the ‘good’ but not ‘brilliant’ camp for me.
Dr Semmelweiss (Bristol Old Vic). Photo: Geraint Lewis. Dr Semmelweiss (Harold Pinter Theatre) Preview Performance
Written by Stephen Brown with Mark Rylance. Harold Pinter Theatre. Booking till 3 Oct 2023.
After a hit run at the Bristol Old Vic, Mark Rylance hits the West End with this story of maverick Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis who pioneered the use of antiseptics, that he developed himself. Rylance is a legend, who recently returned to his seminal role of Rooster in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem. And while I do love a science play, this one was pretty average.
Historical plays can be tough because the ending is pre-scripted. The art in them is to make it about the journey, not the destination, and director Tom Morris has thrown everything at the stage. Rambling science, mixed with dance and the drone of four live violinists – the production was wearing a hat on a hat. Rylance tumbled from mumbling, fumbling outsider to outraged warrior in the way he has finessed, and it’s never dull to watch, but there was a lack of drive to the text.
Final thoughts from the airport terminal…
So if I were to pick my favourite shows of the trip, what would they be?
Top 3 Plays
- The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre) ★★★★★
- The Crucible (Gielgud Theatre) ★★★★★
- The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Theatre Royal Haymarket) ★★★★
Top 3 Musicals
- Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre) ★★★★★
- Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (Wyndhams Theatre) ★★★★★
- Parade (Bernard B Jacobs Theatre, New York) ★★★★★
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London Week Four
My final full week in London rolled up very quickly, and having seen most of my ‘must-sees’ I got to check out some other shows around town that piqued my interest and I’m really glad I did.
Then, Now & Next. Photo: Pamela Raith. Then, Now & Next (Southwark Playhouse) ★★1/2
Written by Christopher J Orton & Jon Robyns. Southwark Playhouse Borough. 23 Jun – 29 Jul, 2023.
A new, small musical starring the wonderful Alice Fearn felt like a fun way to start the week, and a way to break up all the big musical revivals I’d been seeing. This one sees a woman dealing with grief/depression and learning to move on. Set in the modern day, where the strong, decisive Alex Shaw (Fearn) has a stable, geeky partner Peter (Peter Hannah) and young son; and flashing back to her youth with her near-perfect boyfriend Stephen (Joaquin Pedro Valdes).
As a work-in-progress it has a lot going for it, but it definitely needs extra time to grow. It’s tricky having a lead character suffering from depression for the basic reason they’re not at their most engaging. Orton & Robyns have tried to fix this with a non-linear structure, plenty of flashbacks to happier times, which struggle to land (though director Julie Atherton has definitely given it some flair to sell the concept). Fringe budgetary restraints handcuff the ways this show can demonstrate these time jumps. We never really get to see the ways Alex has been changed by life events.
Tori Allen-Martin really shines through playing multiple female roles, it looks like she’s having a ball and so is the audience. The rest is sadly a bit muddled but hopefully, now that the show has gotten on its feet before live audiences, the creators can retool and refine it (I saw director Julie Atherton in the corner watching the crowd intently).
Romeo & Juliet. Photo: Marc Brenner. Romeo & Juliet (Almeida) ★★★★
Written by William Shakespeare. Almeida Theatre. 6 Jun – 28 Jul, 2023.
Rebecca Frecknall is in that upper echelon of “it” directors right now, having built her reputation up on revelatory productions of overlooked Tennesse Williams plays, the West End revival of Cabaret that’s still running and the smash hit Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal & Patsy Ferran. She is as much an “above the title” name as any of her stars, and her new production of Romeo & Juliet is the talk of the town.
Starring Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) and Isis Hainsworth this Romeo & Juliet wastes no time – cutting the text down to the appropriate “two hours traffic of our stage” it is frenetic and punchy. Minimal staging , scene changes are mainly signalled with a dramatic change of lighting or music breaks. Brawls are dances, and in the small confines of the Almeida they feel rough and dangerous (it helps that the box office exchanged my cheap, restricted view seat for one in the front row at the last minute).
Jimoh and Hainsworth feel suitably young and idealistic. Jack Riddiford’s Mercutio has an almost Joker-esque unpredictability about him and Jo McInnes’ Nurse comes close to stealing the show, with her sly wit and fierce will.
For all the hype though, it’s starting to feel like Frecknall and the Almeida have a “brand” they’re keeping up – that bare brick wall at the Almeida is getting a bit over-familiar IMO, especially when they replicate it in the West End with every production (like Patriots on the West End right now). I’ve not seen Cabaret yet (next week), but I’m already associating Frecknall’s work with candles, the colour brown and wooden sets with dramatic lighting. This isn’t a bad thing, many directors have signature looks (you can always spot an Ivo Van Hove or Jamie Lloyd production) but I can’t wait to see her refresh her palate a bit.
The Motive & the Cue. Photo: Mark Douet. The Motive and the Cue (National Theatre) ★★★★★
Written by Jack Thorne. National Theatre. Until 15 Jul, 2023.
Here we have a new play, directed by Sam Mendes, about the creation of Richard Burton’s record breaking production of Hamlet on Broadway. This show clearly ambition and the scope to be massive, this is theatre aimed at taking on Broadway!
Sir John Gielgud (Mark Gatiss, in possibly a career best performance) has been commissioned to direct a new production of Hamlet starring Richard Burton (Johnny Flynn) but this clash of styles and cultures threatens to push the whole thing off the rails. Will this be the failure that ends both careers?
The Broadway transfer feels almost inevitable. The story is the perfect trans-Atlantic blend – a play that is all about the love of theatre, featuring American icons in the newly wed Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (a pitch-perfect Tuppence Middleton) and a British legend in Gielgud. Staged in a traditional proscenium arch makes it an easily replicated production (the iris-like safety curtain of the National’s Lyttleton theatre gives it a cinematic feel as well). The whole thing is slick, funny and poignant. Ryan Murphy will make it into a Netflix series eventually.
While I felt Thorne’s When Winston Went to War with the Wireless was lacking in heart, The Motive & the Cue has no such problem, it is brimming with emotion. The air of insecurity reeks from Burton’s desperation to succeed (the motivation of which drives the story), and Gielgud’s resignation to his career winding down – these are two men struggling with their inner lives as well as their outer persona’s.
A play about plays and celebrity and art – this could not be more my “thing” if it tried.
Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall) ★★★
Written by Agatha Christie. London County Hall. Currently booking till Feb 2024.
To be honest I went to this mainly to see inside County Hall, a beautiful building on London’s Southbank, and a play seemed like a good excuse to get inside the glorious space. The play is what you expect – a legal drama centred on the murder of a rich woman, but is the young work-class man accused guilty or innocent? And what role does his double-dealing wife, the witness for the prosecution, play in all of this?
There are typical Christie twists and turns, many of which you’ll sniff well in advance, and this production has no time for subtlety. The cavernous space requires a lot of amplification which makes the whole thing feel forced (pre-recorded gasps from the “audience” don’t help). But with all of these caveats I still quite enjoyed the site specific nature of the play. If you liked The Mousetrap, you’ll definitely enjoy this.
Operation Mincemeat. Photo: Matt Crockett. Operation Mincemeat (Fortune Theatre) ★★★★★
Book, Music & Lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson & Zoë Roberts. Fortune Theatre. Booking till Nov 2023 (but I bet it keeps going).
Everyone I know has been telling me “you have to see Operation Mincemeat, it’s amazing” but the thought of spending West End prices on a show at the Fortune Theatre (a pokey little theatre that housed The Woman in Black for over 20 years) felt ridiculous, but I bit the bullet after discovering that some not-theatre-obsessed friends had already seen it multiple times and raved.
And my god – this is the kind of show we need more of in Australia! Funny, heartfelt, scrappy, this is the little show that could… and the last time I thought that about a musical it was an Edinburgh fringe hit about the six wives of Henry VII! Operation Mincemeat is the real deal, a comedy musical about the infamous WWII operation when the British used a corpse to get false invasion plans to the Germans as a misdirection.
What Operation Mincemeat does really well is hit you high with laughs while hitting you low with big emotions. It doesn’t gloss over the sexism, elitism and nepotism of the age, or the fact that a man’s corpse was used in a callous fashion. It feels like The Play That Goes Wrong meets The Producers, and I loved every second of it.
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48hrs on Broadway
An utterly insane weekend in New York, coinciding with New York Pride weekend, really saw me burning the candles at both ends – trying to pack in as many shows as I could, plus visit some galleries, plus see friends. Having to narrow down all of the theatre on in New York to just four possible shows was a tough task… so many plays I would loved to have seen… But I’m glad I saw what I could.
Days of Wine & Roses. Photo: Ahron R. Foster. Days of Wine & Roses (Atlantic Theatre Company) ★★★
Book by Craig Lucas. Music & lyrics by Adam Guettel. Atlantic Theatre Company. 5 May – 16 Jul, 2023.
A new musical by Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) was something I was interested in and this cast sealed the deal for me – Kelly O’Hara and Brian James Darcy! I wasn’t familiar with the film, but to see these two in a small theatre was a dream come true. As my flight boarded in London, it hit 9am in New York so I jumped on TodayTix and fought for a Rush ticket which I was lucky enough to get. A slightly delayed flight saw me rushing from JFK straight to the theatre and made it with just enough time to buy a drink and settle into the front row.
The musical itself sees Guettel channel more jazz than orchestral romance and I have to admit I missed the soaring melodies of Piazza. Hearing these Broadway giants sing tight vocalese (I’m a big fan of jazz singers like Kurt Elling) was bliss, even if none of the tunes really stuck in my head. Not a great show over all, but for a musical theatre nerd like me, it was worth every (heavily discounted) dollar.
Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot. Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot (Lincoln Centre Theatre) ★★★★
Original book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Revised book by Aaron Sorkin. Based on the novel “The Once & Future King” by T.H. White. Lincoln Centre Beaumont Theatre. Booking till 3 Sep, 2023.
I only knew Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot by reputation, but I knew the chances of seeing this professionally staged at this level in my lifetime are pretty low. A cast that included Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) and Andrew Burnap (The Inheritance) had me hooked even before I knew the book had been rewritten by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing etc). The one thing that really stood out for me was just how funny it was! I had assumed this was a po-faced serious dramatic musical, not a light-hearted musical comedy. Mediocre reviews had my expectations set low, but they were more than exceeded – this hit the right level of classic and contemporary for me (unlike the recent Cinderella). The show loses a bit of steam in the second act as it pivots to more serious fare but I was humming the tunes all the way to my next show. Also, this was my first visit to the Lincoln Centre – next time I need to go to the Metropolitan Opera!
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontaine Theatre) ★★★★
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Hugh Wheeler. Lunt-Fontraine Theatre. Booking till 14 Jan, 2024.
This was the big one. I spent more money than I am comfortable saying for a mediocre seat to see Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford do Sondheim. I’d never actually seen Sweeney Todd staged professionally before so that in itself was a treat – just hearing that music with full ensemble and band. As good as Groban is, Ashford blew him off the stage. With an accent I can only describe as “the Moira Rose of London’s East End” she nailed every note and comedic beat. Also starring Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) and Australia’s Jamie Jackson, I can’t say it’s my favourite Sondheim (that’s probably Company, or Into The Woods) but was still spectacular.
Parade Parade (Bernard B Jacobs Theatre) ★★★★★
Music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Book by Alfred Uhry. Bernard B Jacobs Theatre. Booking till Aug 6, 2023.
It doesn’t get better than this. Parade is undoubtedly Jason Robert Brown’s best musical, mainly thanks to the excellent book by Alfed Uhry who has written a brilliant play that weaves in and out the songs. Much like rewatching The Crucible, Parade is a reminder of how horrible we can be as humans – the mob is always hungry for blood. Ben Platt was excellent but Micaela Diamond was the real stand out here. I’m always amazed at how much voice can come out of a physically smaller performer but her moments rocked the house.
This beautiful production keeps the reality of the story it’s based on front and centre, projecting archive photographers of the people and places on the wall behind the performers. As much as it’s a story rooted in antisemitism, it’s also a battle of the North/South political divide, city vs country, working class distrust of university educated elites and the rabble’s need for closure regardless of guilt.
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London Week Three
Things got a little manic this week as I made a side trip to Broadway for the weekend. Plus there was a West End opening night, a fringe show and some big revivals. Here are some mini reviews in chronological order.
Self Tape. Photo: Bonnie Britain. Self Tape (Kings Head Theatre) ★★★
Written by Michael Batten. Kings Head Theatre. 18 Jun – 2 Jul, 2023.
An actor, making ends meet with some cyber-sex work, faces the realities of both industries that force him to pretend to be someone else to get by. I’ve written a full review up on The Queer Review.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Photo: Marc Brenner. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (Wyndhams Theatre) ★★★★★
Music by Richard Rodger. Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Wyndham’s Theatre. Booking till Sep 2, 2023.
This revival has been picking up acclaim across the USA for a few years already before it landed at London’s Young Vic (one of my favourite theatres) and now it resides on the West End. I know people who raved about it, and those who think it’s an abomination. But I’ve never been a fan of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals to be honest, so directors Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein’s radical new take filled me with joy – it’s actually sexy and dangerous and youthful without changing the text. This is the sort of interpretation we’re used to seeing with classics like Shakespeare, and it’s terrific to see this same process turned to classic musicals as well (another example will be coming up when I talk about the Broadway shows I saw).
By treating the tunes as country music, rather than musical theatre, it puts the testosterone and sweat back into them – honestly, I can’t believe they made “Surrey with a Fringe on Top” sexy! The whole production simmers with sexual tension and violence. I think the ending may overstep the mark a bit, but this is a visionary take on the material.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist. The Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Theatre Royal Haymarket) ★★★★
Written by Dario Fo and Franca Rame in a new adaptation by Tom Basden. Theatre Royal Haymarket. 12 Jun – 19 Sep 2023.
What drew me to this updated Dario Fo farce? The £25 ticket lottery. But once in the door I couldn’t believe what a bargain that was. This is one of the most fiercely political plays I’ve ever sat through as well as being hilariously funny. Adapter Tom Basden has taken Fo’s tale of fascist Italy and planted it firmly in modern day London and it does not pull its punches.
The behaviour and the corruption of the Metropolitan Police is on full display here, and while the script elevates things for comedic effect, the statistics that are used (and slipped between the jokes) are shockingly real. Since 1990 there have been 1861 deaths in police custody or following contact with police in England and Wales. It’s an appalling state made worse by the culture of cover-ups. Daniel Rigby runs an onstage marathon, busting through gags at a break-neck pace (verbal and physical) and making sure all the dramatic beats hit with enough force.
Guys & Dolls. Photo: Manuel Harlan. Guys & Dolls (Bridge Theatre) ★★★★★
Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Bridge Theatre. 3 Mar 2023 – 24 Feb 2024.
This was one of the shows I pre booked well in advance as I’d heard nothing but rave reviews from friends and critics alike. Nicholas Hytner presents this well-worn, much loved musical in “promenade”, meaning the stalls have been removed and a large proportion of the audience stands in the pit with the performers (with the staging rising out of the ground so those in the seats around the edges can see them). It’s dynamic and full of carefully choreographed chaos. But it’s not just the technical details that got me all hot under the collar, it’s the four excellent leads. Marisha Wallace, Celinde Schoenmaker, Daniel Mays and Andrew Richarson. And to up the ante, the Act One ending scene in Havana is now staged in a gay bar, with Sister Sarah drunkening attacking the men dancing with Skye. This managed to be both classic and incredibly fresh at the same time.
Mrs Doubtfire. Photo: Manuel Harlan. Mrs Doubtfire (Shaftesbury Theatre) ★★★
Music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell. Shaftesbury Theatre. Booking till June 2024.
My review is coming to The Queer Review, but needless to say this is exactly what you expect – fun but nothing special.
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London Week Two
Two new musicals, two existing musicals and two play revivals, mixing off and on West End productions – it was a nice mix this week, including a pleasant surprise and a clanker of a show. Here are some mini-reviews in chronological order
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The Musical. Photo Juan Coolio. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The Musical (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★★
Book & Lyrics by Jethro Compton. Music & Lyrics by Darren Clark. Southwark Playhouse: Elephant. 22 May – 1 Jul, 2023.
This musical has been in development for a while and I know friends who’ve seen smaller, rough versions of the show in years previous. This incarnation feels like it’s primed for a main stage now. It reminded me strongly of Once: The Musical, thanks to the celtic/folk score and feel-good/feel-bad energy. Jamie Parker is great as Benjamin Button, his earthy, easy charm helps to sell the conceit of the piece. My only complaint might be that the music does get a bit too familiar at times, but overall, this is a very exciting new piece.
Frozen: The Musical. Frozen: The Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) ★★★
Music & Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Book by Jennifer Lee. Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Currently booking through Jan 2024.
I had very little interest in this one to be honest, as much as I like the film. I’d heard nothing but mediocre reviews since it opened and hadn’t summoned up the energy to see it in Sydney. But on a particularly hot summer day, the allure of air-con, and a £25 rush ticket got me inside… and I was pretty entertained. This is corporate theatre at its most cynical but the polish and gloss got me most of the way there. Great central performances by Samantha Barks as Elsa and Emily Lane as Anna (and Oliver Ormson as Hans) won me over.
The special effects ranged from excellent to rather pathetic, which is disappointing after so many recent shows have shown us how much magic can be seen on stage. Overall the show is the most fine, average thing possible and I mean that as being it’s completely watchable without being exceptional in the slightest.
The Third Man: A Musical Thriller. Photo: Manuel Harlan The Third Man: A Musical Thriller (Menier Chocolate Factory) Preview Performance
Book & Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton. Music by George Fenton. Menier Chocolate Factory. 10 Jun – 9 Sep, 2023
This one had me excited from the minute I heard about it. A new musical, based on Graham Greene’s book (and the Orson Wells film), with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, directed by Trevor Nunn with a cast of 18 in a small, well-respected venue – this was clearly the “out of town trial” for a show aimed at the West End. So I grabbed a ticket to the previews (so yes, the show is still in flux, take everything I say with a grain of salt).
It’s a shame it’s so dull. The score is unremarkable with some really obvious lyrical choices, I could guess the end of most of the lines in the songs. The show itself seemed to forget it was a musical for long stretches of time (and was better off for it – it works much better as a play). Even the swelling music couldn’t really sell the convenient “I just met someone and am now madly in love” moments. All of that said, the cast are fantastic, especially the three leads of Edward Baker-Duly (Calloway), Simon Bailey (Crabbit) and Natalie Dunne (Anna).
The Shape of Things. Photo: Mark Douet. The Shape of Things (Park Theatre) ★★★★
Written by Neil LaBute. Park Theatre. 24 May – 1 Jul, 2023.
I have a real soft spot for this play. When I was first discovering theatre for myself in the late 90s / early 00s I saw the Sydney Theatre Company production and was blown away by Neil Labute’s moral ambiguity and sharp language. It’s one of the first times I saw a play explore a contemporary issue and make me really think. This new production is equally as pointed and the play has a new resonance in 2023 than it did back in 2001-03. Issues of male body image and “human-optimisation” culture are more prevalent now as Adam (Bridgerton‘s Luke Newton) goes from nerd to hipster in a dark reversal of Pygmalion. Evelyn (Amber Anderson) is even more ambiguous than she was originally – channelling a post-Me-Too rage blended with a nihilistic worldview that feels sadly contemporary. This is still a biting satire and worth every penny.
The Crucible. Photo: Brinkhoff Moegenburg. The Crucible (Gielgud Theatre) ★★★★★
Written by Arthur Miller. Gielgud Theatre. Booking till 2 Sep, 2023.
The National Theatre’s 2022 production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible received rave reviews and has now transferred to the West End. Again, thank god for £25 rush tickets. For me the selling point was Es Devlin’s design (she’s possibly my favourite stage designer), and its mixture of simple spaces and dramatic scale give this a ghostly air. You are greeted by a nonstop curtain of water, starting the show with an impression of awe and a sense of overwhelming power.
Maybe it’s the world climate we live in, but The Crucible feels frighteningly modern. As the force of reality-defying mobs swell (be it Covid, or Trump, or religion, or science) this tale of superstition and seemingly unstoppable powers made me squirm. If you ever want a reminder how stupid and evil humans can be, just take a seat and let Miller’s brilliant characters show you. Everyone here has fallen for a lie and refuses to turn around, choosing instead to double-down on their blindness rather than admit they’re wrong. This is the kind of pride and hubris that kills people (just look at every Covid-denying, anti-vax person you know and you’ll see the same stubborn lack of humility).
Milly Alcott (best known for the Game of Thrones spin off, House of the Dragon in her stage debut) is brilliant as Abigail Williams – she has an undeniable stage presence that she channels into Abigail’s manipulations. Matthew Marsh’s Judge Danforth is scarier than anything you’ll see in 2:22: A Ghost Story (which, to be clear, I really enjoyed too).
This is as brilliant as everyone has said.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Photo: Pamela Raith. How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★
Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser. Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert, Based on the novel by Shepherd Mead. Southwark Playhouse: Borough. 12 May – 17 Jun, 2023.
Gender flipping this musical/comedy of mid-century corporate incompetence is a cute idea that just doesn’t really pay off in this revival of How to Succeed… In fact, in softening the edges of the sexual politics it removes some of the sting from the text. That said though, the tunes are great and are sung to perfection. The real standouts are the two characters played more or less ‘straight’, the sexy Hedy Larue (Annie Aitken) and the sweet secretary Rosemary Pilkington (Allie Daniel). Everything else about this quite cartoonish production feels like it’s trying too hard to be funny.
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