This powerful Ken Loach drama is about a former mining town in the North East and how different people treat Syrian refugees who seek refuge in their community.
8/10
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The Old Oak (2023)
I got a £20 offer the week before the so saved over half price on opening night tickets.
I had seen the West End version a few years ago. This was seemed to be on a significantly smaller budget with a lot of projections – which looked slightly distorted from the dress circle. Other changes included a taller Lord Farquad. Also they didn’t have all the merchandise available.
However, it was still an enjoyable enough evening despite a delay at the start and end of interval.
7/10
This was the second performance of this official touring production and the first time I’ve seen the show since it’s original tour about 9 years ago.
It was just as hilarious with a couple of changes updates from the original version and the TV adaptation.
It is a farce about an amateur drama group putting on a production of Peter Pan – and chaos ensures.
As with other Mischief productions there is a pre- show that starts about 20 minutes before the show which involves various cast searching the auditorium for a hammer, electricity problems, an over-enthusiastic Max waving at the audience and Lucy trying to escape.
They also had a bigger selection of Mischief/Pan related merchandise than I have seen before.
10/10
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A Haunting in Venice
This is the 3rd Kenneth Brannagh Poirot film. It is now 1947 and Poirot has retired to Venice. An old associate the who done it author Ariadne Oliver persuades him to visit a seance with her where mysterious events occur and people start dying.
It has a few jump scares and a bit of a weird story, with supernatural elements and some ambiguous back stories, in this lesser known story.
6/10
This is a satirical farce about corruptions and cover ups involved in deaths in police custody.
Despite the subject matter there are laughs at the absurdity of what occurs during an investigation of an earlier “accidental death of an anarchist” who “fell” out of a window during questioning and died.
7/10
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Mrs Doubtfire
I got a Rush Ticket from to say is saving well over 50% on face value.
From the “pre-show” announcements, all the way through to the ending, this was far more hilarious than I imagined. It included many moments adapted from the film but with some changes such as more topical impressions, updated technology.
10/10
I got a reduced price seat from the London Theatre Seat sale. It was a restricted view due to a pillar but as there were empty seats in the bay I was able to move so that pillar wasn’t a problem (the two on stage still blocked a bit as did the structure when the cast slid some its in the pit.
I wasn’t familiar with the story except knowing it was a comedy, but despite this was able to follow the general plots and even got some of the jokes.
It has familiar Shakespearian comedy elements including disguises, unrequited love and couples separated be circumstances beyond their control.
There was a very appropriate sound effect from a very young audience member for a line about an infant mewling (although thankfully they did not provide an example of puking.
It rained a bit so I was pleased I hadn’t gone for the cheapest option – as in addition to standing for over 3 hours they also got a bit wet. The sun then made an appearance and some of us got free paper sun visors if the stewards could see we were in the sun.
It was quite long and although I didn’t get rained on, there isn’t much of room and despite bringing my own cushion I found a wooden bench without a back uncomfortable.
6/10
This comedy based around the true story of Colonel Blood’s a plan to steal the Crown Jewels is slightly bawdy but still amusing.
The staging can cause problems for quite a few at times when there is interaction with the audience with at least half the circle and upper curve being unable to see what is going on despite not officially being in restricted views. The running time wasn’t accurate and it was far closer to 2.5 hours than the advertised 2.
Despite the problems it was an enjoyable show.
7/10
I got a good seat (well over half price) through TodayTix’s Rush Tickets. It was slightly to the side but I didn’t feel I missed any action and the rear stalls are very well tiered.
The auditorium was nice and cool on a hot day but the stairwells and toilets were like ovens on a hot summers day.
I came to this show not knowing too much about it – I was just aware of the name and a couple of songs. It was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story, performances, dancing, songs and humour.
10/10
This is a musical comedy parody of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things. There are a lot of in jokes so it is best if you have watched the show. It focuses on season one but there are elements from later ones dotted about too. There is a limited cast who all play multiple roles which you just have to try to ignore.
For those who remained in the auditorium in the interval they played theme tunes from various kids shows from the 80s.
The the theatre was a bit basic with no raised stage, but the seats were ok and all were discounted due to previews. There were no programmes or merch for sale – there was a QR code for a free program, but it wasn’t working.
8/10
