'A Steady Rain' at the Arcola Theatre, 17th February 2016
It's an urban nightmare. Pimps swarm the streets, prostitutes cower in condemned tenements, bullets freely zip through the air. There's even a cannibal serial killer on the loose. Welcome to A Steady...
View Article'One Under' at the Vault Festival, 18th February 2016
Mental illness is no laughing matter. Well, not usually.One Under is a one woman comedy show by Amy Fleming that explores attitudes to mental illness. Equal parts social experiment/personal...
View Article'Four Play' at Theatre503, 19th February 2016
Long term relationships can be a tremulous beast You can be spun up in the thrill and happiness of love one minute, then glance over at your partner the next and think "Is this really the face I want...
View Article'Firebird' at Trafalgar Studios, 22nd February 2016
Firebird is utterly brutal. Playwright Phil Davies, a native of Rochdale, unflinchingly examines the notorious sex trafficking gangs that exploited children in his hometown up until a couple of years...
View Article'After the Heat, We Battle for the Heart' at Vault Festival, 25th February 2016
After the Heat, We Battle for the Heart is a play divided. With a split narrative, duelling lead characters and even a split audience, it bristles with conflict. The central motif is bullfighting;...
View Article'Eggs' at Vault Festival, 26th February 2016
Eggs is aptly named. We open on an argument that vegetarians should eat eggs, one is obsessed with their conception as an IVF baby, egg props dot the scenery - even the costumes are color coordinated...
View Article'All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever' at the Vault Festival, 2nd March...
All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever opens with a gag about how brilliantly relatable Simon, the show's white, male, hetero protagonist is. He's also a long distance runner, wears glasses, enjoys...
View ArticleLenard Pink's History Lectures Tours 2016, National Portrait Gallery, 4th...
London's major art galleries are usually hubs of respectable, hushed appreciation. Visitors travel from around the world to silently gawp at Great Britain's dead luminaries, imperiously peering down...
View Article'Marguerite' (2015) directed by Xavier Giannoli
As a boy I was taken aside by the school choir teacher and gently told that it would be better that I mime rather than sing. Friends and family will attest that my vocal skills have not improved with...
View Article'Correspondence' at the Old Red Lion, 10th March 2016
Modern Warfare strides across the gaming landscape like a colossus. The games allow players to simulate war, either engaging in Michael Bay-esque single player campaigns or the (far more popular)...
View Article'The Wick in Layers' at arebyte Gallery, 11th March 2016
Hackney Wick is under a death sentence. You might not have heard about it; but the grit, grime and graffiti is on the way out and these beautiful post-industrial warehouses are scheduled to be...
View Article'The Skull' at the Drayton Arms Theatre, 15th March 2016
Adapting Philip K Dick usually requires cutting edge special effects wizardry. The cinematic reworkings of his stories Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, They Can Remember it For You Wholesale and A...
View Article'BU21' at Theatre503, 18th March 2016
Grandiose apocalyptic disaster used to feel like the stuff of fiction. Now, 15 years on from the Roland Emmerich nightmare theatre of 9/11, it feels increasingly like we're living in a bad disaster...
View Article'Ballet Black : Triple Bill' at the Barbican Theatre. 19th March 2016
I don't know much about ballet, but I know what I like. And I like Ballet Black. Founded by Cassa Pancho, the company's goal is to grant black and Asian dancers an opportunity to shine. Sadly, black...
View Article'Comeback Special' at Shoreditch Town Hall, 24th March 2016
If you've ever wondered what'd be like to watch the 1968 Elvis Comeback Special while dosed to the gills on ketamine, this is the show for you. Four years ago Greg Wohead watched the 1968 Elvis...
View Article'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016) directed by Zack Snyder
I've always gone to bat for Zack Snyder, often despite my misgivings. Sure, 300 was queasily fascistic, but it was visual dynamite. Watchman was flawed, yet studded with nuggets of brilliance, the Dr...
View Article'Henry V' at Middle Temple Hall, 1st April 2016
It's real easy to heroically "Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' when danger is at arm's length. It's considerably less easy to do so when your lungs are filling with muddy water, when...
View Article'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' at the Tristan Bates Theatre, 5th April 2016
"I'm a trained killer", she cheekily explains. For once it's true. The vast majority of theatre I see is conceived, produced and performed by art school bohos whose life problems probably only extend...
View Article'Labels' at Theatre Royal Stratford East, 7th April 2016
Labels opens with Enoch Powell's notorious 'rivers of blood' speech, then segues through Idi Amin, Jeremy Clarkson and Donald Trump. We conclude with the infamous 1964 Conservative slogan: "If you want...
View Article'Russian Dolls' at the King's Head Theatre, 8th April 2016
The young delinquent building a fractious/supportive friendship with an elderly person is familiar dramatic territory. From the moment the house lights dropped I sat felt pretty confident that I knew...
View Article