The Hunger Games On Stage - Review

Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, London

*****

Based on the book by Suzanne Collins & the Lionsgate feature film

Adapted by Conor McPherson

Directed by Matthew Dunster

The company of The Hunger Games On Stage

Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games leaps from page and screen to the London stage with breathtaking force. Staged within the striking setting of the Canary Wharf Troubadour Theatre, this production is nothing short of a triumph — a thrilling fusion of innovation, emotion, and stagecraft that redefines immersive theatre.

From the moment the lights dim the fictional world of Panem is enveloping. The arena-like stage, complete with moving rows of seats, pyrotechnics, fog and precision-timed lighting transforms the space into a living battleground. The inventive use of practical effects — arrows, knives, fire, and illusion — conjures pure theatrical magic, every scene delivering energy and purpose.

The emotional core of the story lands with equal power. Mia Carragher plays Katniss whose self-sacrifice for her sister remains deeply moving, as the cast deliver performances of intensity and heart. Stavros Demetraki as Caesar Flickerman gives an uncanny and crowd-pleasing echo of Stanley Tucci’s original, commanding laughter and tension in equal measure. The ensemble excel at audience interaction, especially during the Capitol’s television sequences, where the line between performer and spectator is delightfully blurred.

Visually, the contrast between the Capitol’s lavishly complete sets and District 12’s resourceful, fragmented design could not be more striking. It’s a masterstroke that mirrors the story’s central theme of inequality — those who struggle to survive versus those who pay to watch. Every technical element, from sound to lighting, serves the narrative rather than overshadowing it.

What makes this production exceptional is its balance of spectacle and soul. It dazzles the senses while keeping its heart firmly rooted in the humanity of its characters. Rarely does a show of such scale retain this much emotional truth.

In short, The Hunger Games is a landmark piece of live theatre — visually stunning, emotionally charged, and conceptually daring. A must-see for both fans of the franchise and anyone passionate about what can be achieved on stage.

Booking until 25th October 2026

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Reviewed by Eris

Hostage - Review

*****

Written by Eli Sharabi

It is rare to be both heartbroken and humbled by a book. Eli Sharabi’s Hostage however is more than just an autobiographical comment on the last two years of his life. It is the testimony of a man who has had to bear witness to some of the darkest depths of human wickedness and depravity.

Published less than a year after his release from being held hostage by the terrorists of Hamas for 491 days, Sharabi’s writing proves to be a tragically compelling commentary. Hamas seized him in their attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7th 2023. Unbeknownst to Sharabi, on that same day, his wife Lianne and their two teenage daughters Noya and Yahel were brutally murdered by the terrorists. Eli’s brother Yossi who that day was also taken hostage, was murdered by Hamas while in captivity.

At less than 200 pages, the book has been precisely written and skilfully edited and crafted into its final published form. Sharabi tells of the horrors of October 7th that surrounded his being taken hostage. He then describes, in meticulous detail, the physical horrors of being shackled hundreds of feet below ground in the terror tunnels that had been painstakingly carved out by Hamas.

Sharabi speaks of those fellow hostages with whom he shared different periods of captivity, with a picture emerging of a man who not only possesses a remarkable mental energy to drive himself forward amidst such an unimaginable nightmare, but who also found it in himself to support his fellow hostages wherever and whenever he could. He truly is a giant amongst men.

Sharabi also tells of his captors, some of whom he became able to profile having been held by them for so long. The hostages named the terrorists who held them with impersonal titles such as the Circle, the Triangle, or Peaky - descriptions that identify them as individuals but which deny them the humanity of a name. Such denial seems to be profoundly correct - for these people prove themselves within Sharabi’s pages to be devoid of the basic tenets of humanity.

Towards the book's final chapters, Sharabi describes the emergence of a negotiated hostage release and he writes of the planning that went into the staged charade of his being handed over to the Red Cross and ultimately to the safety of the IDF and his family. What is clear throughout the release process is the baying populace of Gaza, who even has Sharabi was being driven to his freedom, would still have lynched him in a heartbeat. On reading the book, one is reminded of the words of Mia Schem, a hostage who was released in November 2023, that “there are no innocents in Gaza”.

Sharabi’s subsequent telling of the moment that he learned that his beloved wife and daughters had been murdered makes for writing that is profound, personal and deeply painful to read.

Hostage is essential reading.

Hostage by Eli Sharabi can be purchased from all good booksellers and online channels

Mr Jones - Review

Finborough Theatre, London

*****

Written by Liam Holmes

Directed by Michael Neri

Mabli Gwynne and Liam Holmes

Stephen Jones (played by Liam Holmes) is a young lad from Aberfan in south Wales. A gifted rugby player, he’s the ‘King of the Village’ have just propelled the team into the cup-final. Angharad Price (Mabli Gwynne) is his teenage sweetheart and a young nurse. Stephen lives with his widowered father and his little brother David who’s a pupil at the village primary school.

But this is 1966 when on Friday 21st October a waterlogged, mountainous tip of spoil slid down the hillside and devastated Aberfan. 116 children at the primary school perished in the disaster, together with 28 adults - and the tight, tiny village community was shattered.

In an astonishing piece of theatre, Holmes has penned the most remarkably intimate portrayal of Welsh village life alongside the unimaginable grief of the Aberfan disaster. His play is a simply staged two-hander that spends its first 30 minutes building the characters. The craft in Holmes’s writing is exquisite, with hints of Dylan Thomas in his affectionately mocking descriptions of the village characters. But that half-hour is time well spent, for it allows the audience to have deeply invested in the villagers. When the tip collapses and 150,000 tons of slurry descend on Aberfan - all we hear is a growing, growling, horrendous rumble - the look of disbelieving horror on the two actors’ faces is almost unbearable to observe.

Holmes the writer shifts his times and locations around the later weeks of 1966 as Angharad and Stephen try to come to terms with the impact of the disaster. Holmes the actor, together with Gwynne are a masterful pair. He in dealing with the loss of the younger brother who idolised him, and her in having to have coped with the trauma of receiving the bodies of the dead children at the hospital. 

It is rare to see new writing of such stellar quality. The two characters navigating their grief makes for harrowing and heart-breaking drama. Simple narratives, combined with outstanding acting. Theatre does not get better than this.

Runs until 22nd November

Photo credit:  Ali Wright

The Assembled Parties - Review

Hampstead Theatre, London

****

Written by Richard Greenberg

Directed by Blanche McIntyre

Tracy-Ann Oberman

Rooted firmly in late 20th century New York City, The Assembled Parties offers two glimpses of a Jewish family gathered to celebrate Christmas. Firstly in 1980 and then, after the interval, 20 years later.

Tracy-Ann Oberman as Faye and Jennifer Westfeldt as her sister in law Julie share the respective matriarchal honours amidst a clan that is riven with both tragedy and dysfunctionality. 

While the entire narrative plays out in the two apartments that have been Julie's evolving homes through the years, it is both women who sensitively deliver roles of fragile complexity. Oberman's presence however electrifies the drama. Faye is gifted the lioness's share of the more acerbic one-liners, presenting the rare treat of a Dorothy Parker-like wit that has been infused with the humour of the Borscht Belt. Oberman's timing and nuanced delivery is en-pointe throughout, creating a bittersweet combination of caustic compassion.

It is the fractured relationships between parents and children that drives Richard Greenberg’s story and if the overall piece feels a tad long at 2 1/2 hours, it leads towards a finale that is surprisingly satisfying and uplifting. Alongside the two leads there is fine work from Alexander Marks and Sam Marks playing a clutch of younger men caught up in the family's issues.

Blanche McIntyre directs with understanding. This is a rare chance to see a play that in 2013 captivated Broadway.

Runs until 22nd November

Photo credit: Helen Murray

Wyld Woman: The Legend of Shy Girl - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

***

Written by Isabel Renner

Directed by Cameron King

Isabel Renner

In a non-stop 70 minute whirlwind of a solo performance, Isabel Renner brings the New York angst of a single, virginal woman to the Little Space at London’s Southwark Playhouse.

Whether the play is an accurate depiction of the female psyche is not for me to say. As Renner explores her character’s frenetic anxieties, skipping backwards and forwards across the fourth wall as she does so, it is not easy to determine if her script is a brilliant study on the vulnerabilities of post-modern femininity, or more simply a sensationally sexualised and frequently tawdry self-indulgence.

Renner’s acting is top-notch. It’s hard to say the same about her writing.

Runs until 15th November

Photo credit: Charlie Lyne

Jaws : The Exhibition

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Robert Shaw as Quint during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

Walking around the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles, one could easily be mistaken into thinking that Jaws had only just opened. With its posters and banners adorning nearly every lamppost and billboard it appears as though as much marketing spend is being splashed on Spielberg’s classic picture as on the latest smash hit of 2025.

Today’s razzamatazz however is not so much about the film as about the the Academy’s exhibition that is all about the movie. For the first time in its history, the Academy Museum is mounting an an event centred solely on one motion picture in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film’s opening.

(When the movie celebrated its "40th anniversary", I interviewed Carl Gottlieb) 

50 years is a long time to look back on. If one were to rewind 50 years back from 1975, back in 1925 Tinseltown was still producing silent movies. Think of Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1924) and then remember that the first truly celebrated ‘talkie’ The Jazz Singer was not to be released until 1927 and you start to get some context of the significance of this 50-year milestone. 

Director Steven Spielberg was not widely known outside of Hollywood in 1973/74, when the movie was first conceived. It was a combination of his vision and passion to translate Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel, together with the visionary confidence of hardened producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown who had secured the movie rights even before the book was published, that saw the movie take shape.

Jaws (1975) production clapperboard
Courtesy of The Amblin Hearth Archive

As a piece of cinema, Jaws is close to perfection. With a screenplay penned by Carl Gottlieb and Benchley himself - both men have neat cameo appearances in the movie too - the script is a beautifully crafted examination of the human condition, set to a backdrop of thrilling tension and sometimes horror. That the odd moment of perfectly timed humour is also added to the mix only adds to the movie’s pedigree. If Hamlet is considered to be perhaps the finest stage play ever written, then Jaws ranks alongside Shakespeare's masterpiece as its cinematic equivalent. 

As a pre-teenager (just) I queued excitedly in December 1975 to catch the movie on its Boxing Day release in the UK. Since then (and latterly with my sons) I have watched it countless times in the cinema, in IMAX, as well as on smaller screens too. So my sense of anticipation, expectation and excitement on entering the Academy’s 4th floor exhibition hall this week was as pumped as Richard Dreyfuss’s Matt Hooper on catching his first glimpse of the shark in the movie.

I was not disappointed. My expectations were not just exceeded, rather, and much like the shark’s final moments in the movie, they were blown to bits. In a stunning array of exhibits, the Academy’s curating team have deconstructed the movie, virtually scene-by-scene, explaining both the story’s narrative and the technological accomplishments of Spielberg and his gifted cast and crew.

Concept illustration by production designer Joe Alves
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

The exhibition’s displays are both imaginative and informative. Aside from a breathtaking presentation of props and costumes that have been wonderfully preserved over the last 5 decades, a number of ingeniously presented looping projections present some of the movie’s key moments. Chrissie’s death, the attack on Alex Kintner (which, through Spielberg’s vision, brilliantly included so much of the Mayor’s despicable behaviour in the few minutes immediately prior to the young lad’s demise), Quint’s USS Indianapolis monologue are all there to be savoured. There is even “that” scene with Ben Gardner’s severed head, looping in a discrete corner of the exhibition hall -  complete with the prosthetic head that was created for the moment displayed alongside!

Director Steven Spielberg and editor Verna Fields during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The explanatory texts that accompany each exhibit are fascinating. Who even knew that that head scene was only added to the picture after the first preview audiences had seen an early cut? It was on seeing the muted audience reaction that Spielberg knew he needed to add a “jump-scare”. With principal photography having long concluded – and the budget exhausted - the scene was shot in the backyard swimming pool belonging to Verna Fields, the movie’s Oscar winning editor. Not only that, Speilberg funded the costs of that scene out of his own pocket!

The exhibition has some interactive moments too: explore the pneumatic workings of Bruce the shark; try your hand at that famous dolly-zoom shot before going on to see (carefully preserved within a clear viewing case) the massive Panavision anamorphic zoom lens that Director of Photography Bill Butler actually used to create that shot.

Roy Scheider as Martin Brody and Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody in a scene from Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

Cast and crew during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

The details on display at the exhibition ensure that it will appeal equally to students of cinema as well as to fans of the movie, or of Spielberg's work, or just those who enjoy a good story that is brilliantly told.   

Exhibitions of this outstanding quality and detail are as rare as an attack by a great white shark off the New England coast. If you are able to find your way to LA in the next nine months, then a trip to the Academy Museum is essential. 

Jaws : The Exhibition. It's the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.

Runs until 26th July 2026

Jaws: The Exhibition is organized by Senior Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Assistant Curator Emily Rauber Rodriguez, with Curatorial Assistant Alexandra James Salichs

My thanks to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for allowing me to access their image collection 

Director Steven Spielberg, kneeling with camera, during production of Jaws (1975). Others unidentified
Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Don't Look Now - Review

New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

***

 

Adapted by Nell Leyshon

From the story by Daphne du Maurier

Directed by Douglas Rintoul

Evie Marlow

Don’t Look Now is a tough story to translate to the stage. It is a tale of the rawest emotional cruelty, as we find leading characters John and Laura trying to come to terms with the recent loss of their five year-old daughter Christine to meningitis. That the story is set in Venice, against a backdrop of psychic phenomena and a serial killer on the loose, only adds to the challenges facing the show’s creative team.

Daphne du Maurier crafted her yarn perfectly, paying perfect respect to John and Laura’s unimaginable grief. In a compellingly scary tale, she wove the returning spirit of Christine into her parents’ Venetian stay via two sisters, one a blind medium, whose paths frequently and coincidentally collide with the grieving couple’s in the city’s restaurants and cathedrals.

Perhaps the biggest horror story of the night is Nell Leyshon's creaking adaptation. For while the script bears a resemblance to the du Maurier's original in its plotline, the dialogue on offer is a disappointment. The incredibly sensitive subject of the loss of a child is tackled addressed with far less care than is merited. To condense the work of a genius into a one-act 100minute thriller requires writing and acting skills of the highest quality. Sadly, Douglas Rintoul directs a cliched take on the original which, for all his cast’s good intentions, barely rises beyond melodrama.

Mark Jackson and Sophie Robinson play the bereaved parents, as Alex Bulmer plays the medium and Olivia Carruthers her sister. All put in solid performances, together with the excellent young Evie Marlow whose Christine is spookily fun. But for any story’s suspense to truly work, let alone a horror story, its first requirement has to be to suspend our disbelief. Sadly such suspension is patchy at best and while the story’s bloody climax offers a moderately satisfying dose of gore, it’s a long time to wait for a slashed splash of stage blood.

There’s a modicum of Halloween horror to be enjoyed in Don’t Look Now. Just don’t look to set your expectations too high and you won’t be disappointed.

Runs until 25th October then on tour

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan