Hay Fever - Review

Wyndham's Theatre, London

*****

Written by Noel Coward

Directed by Emily Burns

Richard E. Grant and Christine Baranski

Marking a trifecta of Noel Coward's work that has played on London's stages in recent weeks, Hay Fever has just opened a two-month residency at the Wyndham's Theatre. It speaks volumes for Coward’s writing that, when sublimely performed as in this instance, a farce that is firmly fixed in the Roaring Twenties can make for exceptional entertainment some 100 years later.

A wealthy household, headed by the eclectically appalling and bohemian Judith and David Bliss, and shared with their equally appalling adult children Simon and Sorel, sees each of that quartet having invited a guest to stay for the weekend. While romantic intentions may have inspired each of those four invitations, such is Coward’s genius that the carefully laid plans all go deliciously awry. Imagine if you will The Great Gatsby having been given a comic makeover, and you start to get close to how this classy confection of a play gloriously parodies England after the Great War.

The show’s star billing sees Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant sparking off each other as Judith and David, with Will Close and Ophelia Lovibond as their petulantly privileged offspring. The evening’s comedy however is driven not by its leads (gifted though they are) but rather by the entire company, in a show that offers possibly the finest ensemble work in town. Nancy Carroll, Charles Edwards, Ash Hunter and Lucy Karczewski complement the Bliss family as their respective paramours with the acting and interacting between the eight, combining  to create a production of comic excellence.

Fusing acid barbs with immaculately timed and withering silences - matched only by moments of excruciatingly brilliant awkwardness - each of Coward’s quips lands perfectly, Emily Burns having helmed a magnificent company. Credit too to Jo McInnes as the much put-upon housemaid/domestic, Clara. As with Still Life, Coward’s gimlet eye picking out the nuances of the English class system.

The show’s production values are equally sumptuous. Frankie Bradshaw has designed a stunning lounge for the Bliss residence where all the action takes place, lacing the room with sufficient doors to enable the proceedings to run like clockwork.

Frightfully fabulous five-star farce!

Runs until 12th December

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Child - Review

***

Directed by Cyrus Neshvad

Certificate 18, 80 minutes (2026)

Child, Cyrus Neshvad’s debut full-length feature sets out to be an intriguing psychological horror. Filmed entirely in Luxembourg – and with much of the action set deep in eastern Europe, a decision that clearly taps into an American market that has long perceived central European locations as being full of horrific potential – Neshvad’s narrative explores the brutal, criminal amorality of organ harvesting.

Brigitte Urhausen and Malik Zidi are Anne and Greg, a married couple now estranged, whose son Leo is in intensive care awaiting a vital transplant. We follow their drive across the continent to collect the (unspecified) organ, from a mercenary mafia based deep in the forest. Neshvad also lobs into the plot an understandably vengeful mother played by Lydia Indjova whose child has been murdered by the organ harvesters. If his plot had remained there, exploring the potentially terrifying dynamic between these three parents, with also perhaps a deeper look at the medical professionals who are clearly complicit in this despicable trade, then the film would have made a far more satisfying view.

Neshvad chooses however to introduce a freakish monster into the tale, itself the victim of mutilation from years gone by, and what could have been a truly intriguing and terrifying narrative, descends into far shallower waters. Neshvad’s plot, and its action sequences defy credibility. Longlisted for the 2027 Oscars, the movie may be beautifully photographed and equally well acted, and with excellent sound and visual effects, it is ultimately a disappointing tale that could have been so much more.

In cinemas from 2nd October

Present Laughter - Review

Richmond Theatre, London

****

Written by Noel Coward

Directed by Lindsay Posner

Tracy-Ann Oberman

Noel Coward is in vogue right now. With Still Life having only recently played at Drury Lane, the tour of Tracy-Ann Oberman's reinterpretation of Present Laughter has just arrived in the London suburbs. This glorious translation of the Coward comedy sees his 1943 original being gender-swapped, given a transatlantic makeover and pivoted into 1970s New York in an evening of fabulous farce.

Oberman takes Coward’s leading character Gary Essendine, transforming him into Geri Essendine, an actress past her prime, but oozing narcissistic glamour and star quality from every pore. Under Lindsay Posner's direction, Oberman’s Essendine becomes an irresistibly intoxicating fusion of Joan Collins, Basil Fawlty and Max Bialystock. 

Coward’s plot flickers into a bonfire of vanities as Essendine’s secretary, estranged husband and various producers and admirers fawn around her - but even while the story may occasionally defy credibility, Oberman commands every scene, bestriding the stage like a Colossus.

There is glorious talent too amongst her supporting company. James Dreyfus as her secretary Monty is a wise, camp, inspired performance, while Adrian Lukis puts in an equally brilliant turn as Len, her aforementioned spouse.

The action plays out in Essendine's Manhattan loft apartment, an inspired design from Peter McKintosh of stripped-back steel and brick. McKintosh has also designed Oberman's stunning array of gowns (both the dressing and evening versions!).

Only on for the week at Richmond before returning to the road, Present Laughter makes for a great evening at the theatre. 

Runs until 26th September, then tours

Photo credit: Simon Annand

Kimberly Akimbo - Review

Hampstead Theatre, London

*****

Music by Jeanine Tesori

Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire

Directed by Michael Longhurst

Maria Friedman

Arriving in London after a Tony-studded run on Broadway three years ago, Kimberly Akimbo from David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori is possibly their finest work to date. Offering the writers' signature approach of viewing life through an unconventional lens, Maria Friedman plays Kimberly, a teenage girl afflicted by an extremely rare condition that has seen her age at between four and five times faster than normal. We meet Kimberly around her 16th birthday - in what is to be, effectively, the last expected year of her life. This skewed concept of time’s passage drives the narrative with Soutra Gilmour’s revolving set, focussed upon a clock face, has its hands sweeping throughout the show at a tragically accelerated pace.

Naturally at the perfect stage of her own life to play the prematurely aged Kimberly, Friedman acts a 16-year with a heartbreaking sincerity that brings a kinetic credibility to the emotions of joy and profound sadness that her character experiences. As she relates to her family as well as to her own awkwardly adolescent high school peers, Friedman navigates Kimberly through perhaps the most nuanced and bittersweet journey to be found on a London stage.  Not only that, Friedman’s singing is heavenly too - a truly outstanding leading performance.   

Friedman is matched by a fine company with, on the night of this review, Rachel Flynn, one of the show's two swings, stepping up to the role of Pattie, Kimberly’s mother. Pattie is a complex creation of a character, in part a monster in how she treats her daughter, elsewhere a mother desperately trying to reconcile herself to Kimberly’s disability. Flynn’s cover work was sublime, and her powerful solo number Father Time, sensational. 

Peter Hannah puts in an equally fine shift as Buddy, Kimberly’s alcoholic father while Alice Fearn as the teenager’s errant aunt Debra offers the evening’s comic moments with her razor sharp acerbity.

As Seth, Kimberly’s closest school friend, Gilli Jones delivers thoughtful work, beautifully sung, that elegantly speaks of his love for his friend. His is a particularly challenging supporting role, with Jones flawless in his work.

In a show that is a homage both to the state of New Jersey and the ideal of the road trip that Kimberly dreams of before she dies, Tesori’s tunes prove to be a medley of well constructed Americana, perfectly conducted on the night by Nigel Lilley. Matt Cole’s choreography, best deployed amongst the quartet of Kimberly’s school friends is imaginative and immaculately drilled.

Fabulous new musical theatre!

Runs until 7th November 2026

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Thelma & Louise - Review

Young Vic Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Neko Case

Book bu Callie Khouri

Directed by Trip Cullman

Rachel Tucker and Amy Lennox

Thelma & Louise was one of the defining movies of the 1990s. With an Oscar winning script from Callie Khouri and Ridley Scott behind the camera, this unlikely road trip following two girlfriends on the run, tapped into a powerful condemnation of misogyny and a profound celebration of friendship.

Fast forward 35 years and Khouri has returned to her story, translating the fable from screen to musical theatre, with music and lyrics penned by Neko Case.

It’s a fair transformation of the tale that sees Amy Lennox and Rachel Tucker playing the titular protagonists, and it is within their performances that much of Case’s songwriting shines. Lennox defines Thelma’s journey of sexual and emotional emancipation, while Tucker peels away the layers of Louise’s carapace to reveal a deeply damaged woman. As Tucker sings of her character’s back story beneath a starlit desert sky, the moment is profound and powerful.

But there are times when the stage show falls short of the brilliant original. While Lennox and Tucker are an inspired choice to replicate the movie’s Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, casting the (talented) Trevor Dion Nicolas as Hal, the cop on the women’s tail and a role originally played by Harvey Keitel, is less successful, not helped by a thinly written sub-narrative involving his wife and daughters.

Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis have designed the show’s setting - that imaginatively suggests America's bars, motels and highway traffic. But one of the outstanding components of Scott’s stunning movie was its magnificent cinematography- and for all the best intentions of the musical’s producers, their attempts to recreate the film’s original vistas on stage, miss the mark. 

The show’s creative contributors are impressive. Choreographers Bobbie Jene Smith and Or Schraiber deliver some moments of impressive footwork, while straddling the stage atop the wings Kimberly Grigsby conducts her 9-piece band that is deliciously loaded with strings.

Female-focussed theatre.

Runs until 24th October

Photo credit: Helen Murray

Million Dollar Quartet - Review

The Arts At Marble Arch, London

****

Co-authored by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux
Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle

The cast of Million Dollar Quartet

Rarely does a jukebox musical sound as though it had been lifted straight from, well, a classic jukebox. But played out on Libby Watson’s set, lavished with neon that ingeniously suggests an authentic 1950s Wurlitzer, Million Dollar Quartet does just that. Over two hours the most gifted actor-musician company in town recreate the (real life) magical evening at Tennessee’s Sun Studios in December 1956 when, for one night only, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley came together to salute Sam Phillips, the studios’ owner and the man who had launched all their careers.

Boasting a platinum-plated track list, the evening is a sparkling tribute to both rock and roll and rockabilly with songs that are not just stunningly sung, but have their timeless melodies played to perfection.

Of the quartet, Christopher Erasmus’s Johnny Cash is the most unnervingly realistic - his baritenor voice plumbing delicious Cash-defining depths, that is matched only by his impeccable guitar skills. The remaining trio of leads are equally gifted with Joey Bradick’s Carl Perkins and Connor Payne’s Elvis proving simililarly flawless in their delivery and guitar work. Joe Bence as Jerry Lee Lewis however, not only leads his songs spectacularly, his phenomenally manic piano playing (Bence is also the show’s music captain) has to be seen to be believed. Jenay Naima plays Presley’s girlfriend Dyanne - who also turns in a neat take on Fever - , while Darren Day gives a thoughtfully poignant performance as Phillips, the man who having discovered the four stars (as well as Roy Orbison!) ultimately recognising that Sun Studios were too small for his protégés’ stellar trajectories.

The evening’s music is a glorious compilation that acknowledges the sounds’ deeply Christian/Gospel roots. Every song sparkles, with some harmonies (including a remarkable fusion of 16 Tons with My Babe) proving exquisite, such is the talent on stage.

Million Dollar Quartet is a tribute to an era that was to shape popular music for decades to come - the ultimate jukebox musical.

Runs until 6th December

Photo credit: Alex Tabrizi

Woody Sez - Review

 Underbelly Boulevard, London

****

Devised by David M. Lutkin

Directed by Nick Corley

David M. Lutken

Returning to London for a two week residency at Soho’s Underbelly Boulevard, Woody Sez is a slick 80-minute tribute to Woody Guthrie, a man whose songs were to describe much of America’s 20th century history.

Devised and led by David M. Lutken, this Fringe favourite is a cleverly curated compilation of Guthrie’s compositions, beautifully performed. Via song and narration Lutken steers us through the singer’s life, highlighting his milestone successes alongside numerous tragedies. As we learn and listen to Guthrie’s navigation of the Great Depression, largely through the Dust Bowl of America’s Midwest, the history is compelling. Guthrie's lyrics match the writing of John Steinbeck in their harrowingly ingenious simplicity. 

Lutken, a Texan, is supported by a talented trio of North Americans, with Raquel Chavez, Nyssa Grant and David Finch accompanying him on guitar, fiddle, bass, zither… the list is as endless as the troupe’s playing skills are sublime.

The Guthrie classics are well represented in a setlist that includes This Land Is Your Land, Tom Joad and The Sinking of the Reuben James.

Woody Guthrie fans will love it - not least the evening’s singalong vibe. Classy, sassy entertainment.

Runs until 19th September

Photo credit: Jake Oseland

The Story - Review

National Theatre, London

***

Written by Tracey Scott Wilson

Directed by Clint Dyer

The cast of The Story

A play about the search for truths in a world of blurred and corruptible sources, The Story sets massive issues of press accountability against a backdrop of racially charged American inner-city tension.

When a white liberal teacher is murdered in a deprived black neighbourhood of an unspecified city, the search for his killer throws up some curious revelations. This is set against power dynamics and personal petty squabbles within the newspaper industry - and as the evening unfolds, what could be a powerfully driven narrative on both journalism and deeply personal sacrifice descends increasingly into a melodramatic shouting match. With scenes jumping jarringly and the fourth wall frequently smashed, The Story feels more like an untidy collection of events rather than a coherent drama.

The story’s key protagonists - hardened publisher Pat played by Lorraine Toussaint and rookie journalist Yvonne played by Letitia Wright - are both magnificent. But notwithstanding Anna Fleischle’s impressive stage designs, this play could have been so much more.

Runs until 24th October

Photo credit: Feruza Afewerki

Still Life - Review

Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London

*****

Written by Noel Coward

Directed by Tam Williams

Rachel Pickup

In an afternoon of simply exquisite theatre, the Grand Saloon Bar at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is transformed into the tearoom of Milford Junction station to bring Noel Coward’s Still Life, literally, to life.

This gem of a short play, written in 1936, was the inspiration for David Lean’s movie Brief Encounter that was to follow some nine years later. Rachel Pickup and Alasdair Craig as Laura Jesson and Alec Harvey, the star-crossed couple at the story’s focus, are faced with the challenge of massive shoes to fill.

The pair rise to the challenge magnificently, and in performances of the utmost tenderness and nuance, rekindle perhaps the greatest British love story of the 20th century. Coward’s writing was magnificent at depicting the detail of England’s niceties, courtesies and class segregations and his script is a work of art in how so much is suggested with such minimal dialogue.

Both leads are flawless in their delivery, but in Pickup’s work particularly, as she grapples with her conflicting emotions, there is perhaps the finest acting to be found in London today.

The supporting cast of Elizabeth Elvin, Antony Jardine and Seren Sandham-Davies in assorted roles are equally top-notch, with an enchanting romantic subplot playing out alongside the hustle and bustle of a busy railway station, itself cleverly depicted by well timed sound effects.

The acoustics of the room occasionally muffled the dialogue - but the occasional musical interludes (including some stunning keyboard work from Sandham-Davies) more than compensated.

Credit to director Tam Williams for taking Coward’s genius and crafting it into this gem of a production, performed by a gifted company.

Only pulling into town for one week, jump on a London-bound express to catch this unmissable treat. Did I mention that the ticket includes a first-class cream tea too?

Deeply moving drama, I think I might have caught a piece of grit in my eye…. 

Runs until 12th September

Photo credit: Andreas Lambis

Chum - Review

***

Screenplay by Joe Leone and Jonathan Zuck

Directed by Jonathan Zuck

2026, 93 minutes, Certificate 15

A bunch of wealthy Westerners head to Malta for a glamorous destination wedding - and as they charter a swish catamaran for a day out on the ocean, it soon becomes clear that rather than savouring a fine Wedding Breakfast, these hyper-privileged folk are destined to be feasted upon themselves by a rogue Great White shark that has unexpectedly made its way into the Med.

Let’s be clear. This ain’t Jaws - itself a masterpiece of exquisite acting, suspense practical special effects, and one of the best screenplays ever. The dialogue in Chum lurches from one cliche to the next, and while the actors make the best of the material they’ve been given, it would be flattering to their characters to describe them as even two-dimensional.

All that being said, Chum makes for slightly predictable but highly entertaining nonsense. The sound effects as the shark enjoys its various meals are a treat, even if the AI visuals prove to be a bit of a bloody mess!

Notwithstanding that the film appears to have been made on slightly more than a shoestring budget the image of Alice Eve, literally, jumping the shark, will stay with me for a long time.

Whilst not of the highest pedigree, Chum still makes for a fun evening’s streaming.

Jeeves Takes Charge - Review

Charing Cross Theatre, London

****

Book by P.G. Wodehouse

Adapted by James & Edward Duke & Hugh Wooldridge

Sam Harrison

In a spectacular evening of stagecraft, Jeeves Takes Charge is English drama at its finest. James & Edward Duke together with Hugh Wooldridge have carefully crafted their adaptation of P.G.Wodehouse’s original, fashioning a handful of absolutely spiffing yarns into two acts of glorious theatre.

Set on Caite Hevner’s ingeniously simple set and aided by equally ingenious projections, the story’s action ranges from London’s Mayfair to Gloucestershire to Brighton - with the show being made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is just one actor who delivers a tour-de-force delivery of all the parts. The two key roles are of course Bertie Wooster, a toff as wealthy as he is dim and his much put upon valet, Jeeves. Not just Jeeves and Wooster, there are approximately 20 other assorted roles (including Wooster’s would-be fiancée, a precocious young schoolgirl and her domineering headmistress) that are also performed by the same actor in an evening of vocal delight and sensational physical theatre. Wodehouse's creations are magnificent, the subtlety of his wit being delightfully retained in this cleverly adapted script.

Sam Harrison takes charge as Jeeves for the vast rump of the week’s performances, but on Thursdays (perchance, the day of this review) he is a replaced by the ridiculously talented Rupert Sadler as his alternate. Sadler barely pauses for breath as he seamlessly segues between roles, always hitting his mark, and breathing a life into Wodehouse’s words that has to be heard to be believed.

Jeeves Takes Charge is the simplest form of theatre possible. One actor performing on a simply structured stage - but at the Charing Cross Theatre it makes for exquisitely entertaining theatre. The sublimely talented Sadler spirits us away to the far gentler inter-war years, when toffish buffoonery was kept in check by the impeccably understated reserve of a first-class valet.

Magnificently entertaining drama, cleverly written and perfectly performed.

Runs until 6th September

Photo credit: Craig Fuller

Three Ghosts of Silvertown - Review

Tate Institute, London

***

Written by James Kenworth

Directed by Jade Ward McFarlane

Jamal Abdul, Yasmine Meaden and Katie Smale

Set in the site-specific beauty of the Tate Institute, itself nestling in the massive shadow of its eponymous sugar refinery, James Kenworth’s play, his seventh in the Newham series, seeks to funnel Silvertown's history into a two-hour drama.

The play boasts impressive work from a gifted company of enthusiastic young locals that give the evening a pulse of authenticity. They in turn are led by four professional actors, all delivering solid work. Over the course of the narrative however there is only one standout monologue, from Katie Smale as Lizzie an East End prostitute, who harrowingly describes the horrors, humiliation and misogyny that she is forced to endure.

Otherwise Kenworth’s writing is shallow, crass and expositional. Amidst a relentless stream of (immaculately researched) facts, and focusing on the Silvertown Strike of 1889 led by Karl Marx's daughter Eleanor, Kenworth seeks to politically bludgeon his audience with all the subtlety of a Class War brick being hurled through a banker's window. There is no dramatic class to his writing and little credible storyline or crafted structure to care about.

And while Kenworth clearly sets out to bash the rich through his prose, he’s clumsily selective in his choice of targets. With his story lazily jumping through the ages, spanning the 19th century to the present day, he conveniently for example chooses to ignore London’s latter-day epidemic of knife-crime that is blighting the lives of so many of the capital’s more deprived young people.

Political and social messaging, especially about London, can be done with wit, class and pathos. One only has to consider the works of Charles Dickens, Barrie Keefe and, far more recently the lyrics of Louis Dunford, to appreciate the wry and sometimes brutal elegance with which social commentary can be skilfully delivered.

This show’s three stars are for its terrific young, local talent.

Runs until 30th August

Photo credit: Alexander Abimbola

Dinosaur World Live - Review

Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, London

***

Written and co-directed by Derek Bond

Co-directed by Laura Cubitt

London has always been a paradise for little dinosaur lovers, its museums filled with exciting skeletal exhibits of these mysterious, extinct beasts. The 50-minute-long, award-winning Dinosaur World Live, currently running at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre offers a more immersive and exciting experience, as giant and highly realistic dinosaur puppets thump onto the stage. The gasps of pure excitement from the youngest members of the crowd were unmistakable.

On stage, we first meet Miranda (Lizzie Burder), a goofy and adorable explorer whose parents discovered a dinosaur island near Argentina. While the plot is rather simple, and perhaps could have been written in a more rounded and memorable way, it also allows the main focus to remain on the beautiful, fully puppeteer-operated dinosaurs, including a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor, Segnosaurus and even a giant flesh-eating Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The exceptional puppets are the creation of Max Humphries. His detailed designs — including less commonly depicted dinosaurs with bushy feathers — along with some of Miranda’s science-based insights, gently enrich children’s knowledge about these prehistoric creatures without turning the experience into a dry museum lecture.

As the show is recommended for children aged three and above (and probably won’t be as interesting to those already entering their teenage years), directors Derek Bond and Laura Cubitt introduce the dinosaurs on a gradual and thoughtful scare scale. So by the time the full-sized, terrifying T-Rex siezes the stage, empowered by intense lighting, the children feel brave enough to enjoy the adrenaline rush as they shoo the beast away.

The show is highly interactive, with Miranda inviting little helpers from the audience to assist her with fun tasks involving various dinosaurs. My four-year-old, like many other children, perhaps felt a little disappointed at not being chosen and not getting to see the dinosaurs up close, but the production tries to make up for this with a brief — perhaps too brief — meet-and-greet session at the end of the show, when row after row is invited close to the stage to see a baby T-Rex named Tamora, who mainly ‘sniffs’ around the stage.

After the show, those who have paid for the VIP package can meet Miranda and the cutest dinosaur in the production, the baby Triceratops Beatrice, operated by a puppeteer. This includes a longer, more direct interaction with Miranda, during which children can pet baby Beatrice and take photos with her — an experience my little one thoroughly enjoyed. However, as the show is relatively short and supposedly interactive, it seems that at least the somewhat underwhelming meet-and-greet session could be longer, more accessible and more interactive, away from an “extra” VIP package.

That being said, my 4-year old had a fun time! 

Runs until 6 September, then on tour

Reviewed by Florit Shoihet

Photo credit: Piers Allardyce

Songs of Survival and Hope - Review

 Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel

*****

(This review was first published in Times of Israel)

 

 

Sagui Dekel-Chen

                                          

On a warm August night before an audience of thousands at Kibbutz Nir Oz, a place that sits almost adjacent to Israel’s border with Gaza, Sagui Dekel-Chen hosted Songs of Survival and Hope. A concert that once seemed barely imaginable created an evening that saw the Negev dance.

Born and raised on Nir Oz, Sagui was 35 when he was kidnapped into Gaza on October 7th 2023. Taken amidst scenes of murderous carnage, that saw nearly all of his fellow members of the kibbutz’s defence team killed by Hamas terrorists and which left him with bullet wounds in his shoulder and leg, Sagui was to spend 498 days in captivity before his release on February 12th last year.

It was while he was held hostage that Sagui began to compose songs. These were to help him hold onto his mind while locked away in Gaza’s terror tunnels, and it was amidst the beautiful bright lights of this concert, that Sagui both told his story, and paid tribute to his most dearly loved ones.

The concert comprised some nine songs composed by Sagui, together with guest appearances from some of Israel’s leading music performers. Throughout, Sagui made it clear that his songs had not been written as words of “goodbye”, but rather as words written by a man who always knew and believed that he would one day be going home.

Simply dressed in black t-shirt and jeans Sagui opened the gig apologising for the fact that he was not a singer. He did himself a disservice. The evening was the definition of hallmarked excellence, for not only was Sagui’s singing a delight, but throughout the affair, from the staging, to the light show, to the drones and cameramen and not least the 11-piece band, the whole concert dripped with professionalism and talent. Sagui may not have been a singer when he emerged from the tunnels – but boy does he have a gorgeous voice now!

Understandably, the evening’s melodies danced with all of our emotions. My Corner had been written by Sagui in the dark depths of his captivity and spoke of how he had occasionally, and very rarely, caught sight of himself in a mirror during those months. Skeletal, broken, unkempt and unshaved the song painfully described his torment. It is worth noting that the Sagui that appeared on stage at Nir Oz is truly, physically at least, a man who has undergone remarkable healing and who looked fabulous!

Sagui Dekel-Chen and his wife Mili

More than just a beloved son of the kibbutz, Sagui is a husband to Mili and the father of three young girls, Bari, Gali and the youngest Sachar Mazal with whom Mili was pregnant when Sagui was captured. As the evening unfolded, we were offered a glimpse of the pain that Sagui suffered when, having seen so much slaughter on October 7th, he had resigned himself to his supposed tragic inevitable reality that Mili and the girls were dead.

When news eventually reached him that his release was imminent, Sagui told of how he started to prepare himself for attending their funerals – and when he heard at that time, over a terrorist’s radio, a snatch of Fields Of Gold by Sting, he resolved that that would be the music to be played at the funerals. As that song was played during the concert it was hard to stop the tears, recognising the sheer immensity of the physical and emotional trauma that Sagui had endured.

Miraculously, Mili and the girls all survived the horrors of October 7th, and that all five were re-united shortly after Sagui’s release, was another of the evening’s powerfully poignant themes. The evening’s painful ironies were spotlighted again when Sagui asked everyone in the audience who had held Sachar Mazal, before he had been able to, to raise their hands. Sagui had composed individual songs for each of his family, that spoke of speaking of their strengths and their sweetness. In listening to both himself and Mili speak of their daughters, the love that clearly exists within the Dekel-Chen family is beautiful and tangible.

The line-up of supporting artists was impressive with performers including Idan Raichel and Hatikva 6 joining Sagui on stage. Perhaps the most uplifting guest performance came from Marina Maximilian Blumin’s (almost) closing number, Back Again, a song that defined the spirit of Sagui, his family and the whole of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Two weeks ago in London and in the face of a tsunami of hate, Boy George defiantly sung that We Will Dance Again. This week, at Kibbutz Nir Oz and inspired by Sagui Dekel-Chen, we danced!

Sagui Dekel-Chen and Marina Maximilian Blumin

Sagui's album can be downloaded here 

Credit for all images: Orit Pnini

CATS - Review

Open Air Theatre, London

*****

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber 

Based on 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' by T. S. Eliot

Directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie

Gary Wilmot

A star was born at CATS this week. With the show’s leading lady unable to perform, understudy Taziva-Faye Katsande faced the assembled press for the show’s opening night. Katsande didn’t put a foot (paw?) wrong from the getgo, with her Grizabella proving to be nothing short of sensational. As her voice rose to belt the immortal "Touch me!" from Memory, the audience broke into spontaneous applause before the song had even finished, then rising as one to give a spectacularly deserved show-stopping standing ovation at the song’s conclusion.

CATS has always been a beautiful show - but played under the moonlight of the Open Air Theatre allowed Sami Fendall’s simple set design to take on an ethereal beauty. Where John Napier once designed an impressive garbage dump for his cats to play on, Fendall offers us a more astral vision,  lunar-themed with incomplete circles and rocks, around which the felines gather and dance. Drew McOnie’s reimagined choreography proves not only respectful to Gillian Lynne’s brilliant original, but importantly allows the magic of Eliot’s verse and Lloyd Webber’s music to be shared through the medium of his company's exquisite dancework.

A show that hailed from an era of brave and innovative writing - who today would have the cojones or the talent to set a book of vintage poems to music? - this production has been (mostly) immaculately cast. 

Charlotte Riby kicks off the featured roles with an enchanting Gumbie Cat before Jaydon Vijn oozes testosterone as a gloriously provocative Rum Tum Tugger. There is a hint of déjà vu from producers Lloyd Webber Harrison, with the gender swapping of Old Deuteronomy who’s now played by Melanie La Barrie. A similar switch was made in LWH's recent Starlight Express, where Jade Marvin was cast to play Momma, replacing the originally created Poppa. To be clear, La Barrie is great but she lacks gravitas. The role did not need tinkering with.

The show’s first act may well be gorgeous but after the interval McOnie elevates the whole production to a Heaviside Layer of sheer genius. Gary Wilmot makes his entrance as Gus the theatre cat (and of course as Growltiger) bringing a carefully crafted fusion of frailty, pathos and swashbuckling humour to the role. Wilmot is a rare talent and an inspired casting choice. Skimbleshanks the railway cat is kept immaculately on track by Matthew Caputo, while Macavity, the mystery cat, is impressively performed (accompanied by some stunning pyro effects) by Diante Lodge. Jet Yau takes Mr. Mistoffelees to the next level with a jaw-dropping breakdance routine, and a mention too to Elliot Broadfoot whose Bustopher Jones kicks off the evening’s comic moments. In an understated role that denies him a song of his own, Jack Wilcox’s Munkustrap was key to the show’s fluidity, deftly supporting a number of key routines.

Alex Parker wielded the baton over his lavishly furnished 12-piece band, making fine work of Lord Lloyd Webbers synth-heavy score. This show’s choreography may well be strikingly for the moment, but CATS’s score truly is now and forever ! 

CATS at the Open Air Theatre is a personal best for McOnie. This show ranks alongside Trevor Nunn and John Caird's Les Miserables from 1985 and Richard Eyre's Guys And Dolls from some three years ealier for sheer groundbreaking originality. Setting his sights high, McOnie smashes his target, in a production that drips with carefully rehearsed and immaculately drilled vision.

Drew McOnie has taken CATS, one of modern musical theatre’s finest gems and re-worked it into a completely new piece of exceptional theatre. Touring from the autumn, don’t miss it!

Runs until 19th September, then on tour

Photo credit: Mark Senior

I'm Every Woman The Chaka Kahn Musical - Review

Troubadour Theatre, London

**

Written by Nia T. Hill

Directed by Racky Plews

Alexandra Burke

Chaka Kahn (and a number of her contemporaries) amassed a remarkable body of hits in their careers. Beautiful songs with strong messages and in I’m Every Woman at Wembley’s Troubadour Theatre, Alexandra Burke as Kahn smashes a fair few of them out of the park.

But 30 banging songs do not a musical make, and in between Burke’s sensational singing (and equally Sophie Earl’s fabulously fleeting stint as Joni Mitchell) the narrative that links the numbers is brief, shallow and clichéd.

Sandwiched between two glib family therapy sessions, the show delivers a whirl of brief vignettes, poorly linked, outlining Kahn’s career achievements that were peppered by battles with addiction and domestic violence. If only these darknesses had been treated with more artistic sobriety, the messages may have carried more credible impact. Notwithstanding Chaka Kahn’s real-life endorsement of the show, it all just seems at times too crass.

Give Alexandra Burke an unadulterated setlist of Chaka Kahn’s greatest hits supported by Aron Sood's excellent band from Wembley and it could well make for an evening of musical brilliance. As it is, I’m Every Woman needs an awful lot of work.

Runs until 27th September

Photo credit: Danny Kaan