Theatre in London

One man in his time plays many parts.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Great expectations

We love London. Food in London. People in London. Shopping in London. Theatre in London. This is what we have seen.

 

 

When What Where Who stood out Review *****
2013 Yes, Prime Minister Trafalgar Studio One Robert Daws as Jim Hacker. Good idea, but it was difficult to get the original TV-series out of the head. ****
2013 The Twelfth Night Apollo Theatre Stephen Fry as Malvolio, Mark Rylance as Olivia, Roger Lloyd-Pack as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Samuel Barnett as Sebastian, Johnny Flynn as Viola. Simply wonderful. Everybody played up to their best, and with a great sense of humour. *****
2013 The Audience Gielgud Theatre Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, Edward Fox as Winston Churchill. This classic piece was lifted immensely by Helen Mirren’s transformation into Her Majesty. *****
2013 Quartermaine’s Terms Wyndham’s Theatre Rowan Atkinson as Quartermaine. A good play, but a bit too long. Rowan Atkinson excellent with the sadness – he truly showed his wide range of talent. ***
2013 Top Hat Aldwych Theatre Charlie Bull as Dale Tremont, Gavin Lee as Jerry Travers, Vivien Parry as Madge Hardwick, Clive Hayward as Horace Hardwick. We went there without any particular expectations, we just like Irving Berlin’s music. However, we were blown away with the actors’ presence, talent – and simply a marvellous performance. *****
2014 Dickens Abridged Art’s Theatre Team performance. Not as good as Shakespeare Abridged, but many funny moments. ***
2014 Henry V Noël Coward Theatre Jude Law struggling to understand Henry V. Sadly, Jude Law didn’t seem to understand Shakespeare. He recited the words, but there was no sense of getting the gist of the play. Disappointing. **
2014 Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense Duke of York’s Theatre Stephen Mangan as Bertie Wooster, Matthew Macfadyen as Jeeves. Really fun play, but Fry and Laurie are extremely difficult to replace. ***
2014 The Mousetrap St Martin’s Theatre Benjamin Askew as Detective-Sergent Trotter. Neither of us knew the play or the plot beforehand, but it was Agatha Christie at her best. ****
2014 The 39 Steps Criterion Theatre Team performance. Excellent, funny, witty, with lots of surprises. ****
2014 + 2015 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Musical Savoy Theatre Samantha Bond as Muriel Eubanks, Rufus Hound as Freddy Benson, Robert Lindsay as Lawrence Jameson. Excellent musical with a fabulous soundtrack and wonderful actors. So good that we had to see it twice. *****
2015 Great Britain The Theatre Royal Haymarket Team performance. Good – about The News of the World scandal. A bit too lung, but funny and relevant. Great scenography. ***
2015 The Play That Goes Wrong The Duchess Theatre Team performance. What can you say? Mischief Theatre is one of the best theatre troupes with the original casting. Won best new play that year. *****
2016 Kinky Boots Adelphi Theatre Team performance. Great music by Cindy Lauper, but a bit too long. However, fun and based on a true story. ****
2016 Peter Pan Goes Wrong Apollo Theatre Team performance. The Mischief Theatre did it again! We knew what to expect, and they lived up to everything. Trevor is our hero. *****
2016 The Painkiller The Garrick Theatre Kenneth Branagh as Ralph and Rob Brydon as Brian. What a performance from two of Britain’s finest actors – the Welsh guy and the Shakespeare-loving one. 😉 Highly entertaining. *****
2016 The Comedy About A Bank Robbery Criterion Theatre Team performance. The Mischief Theatre – we had high expectations, and they all played well, but the script was a bit disappointing. ***
2016 Mrs. Henderson Presents Noël Coward Theatre Team Performance. We had no expectations, but we were really touched. Well done! ****
2016 Around The Earth in 80 Days St James’ Theatre Noone. It was more a family play than a fun play – our mistake for being wrong about the target group. The scenography was innovative and inventive. *
2017 Motown, The Musical Shaftesbury Theatre Team performance. Wonderful music, great story, a bit too long. ***
2018 The Mikado King’s Head Theatre Pub Team performance. Small and intimate theatre. They made it work perfectly with a small cast – a great transformation. *****
2022 The Book of Mormon The Prince of Wales Theatre Dom Simpson as Elder Price, Tom Xander as Elder Cunningham, Leanne Robinson as Nabulungi. Blown away – we didn’t know the story, but from the first chord, we were Mormons. We are now huge fans of Tom Xander. *****
2022 Much Ado About Nothing The Globe Ralph Davis as Benedick, George Fouracres as Dogberry, Lucy Phelps as Beatrice, Ferdy Roberts as Don Pedro. Wonderful performance. Didn’t see the necessity for it to be set in Italy 1945, or the change in casting (Leonato became Leonata) – but everybody was outstanding. Dogberry’s role is particularly difficult to reprise, when you have seen Michael Keaton in Branagh’s 1993 version, but Fouracres were brilliant – and the main characters were all excellent. *****