Opening this week at the Old Red Lion Theatre is a fascinating sounding new one person play, written by Jacqueline Saphra, directed by her daughter Tamar Saphra, and performed by the very talented Amy McAllister.
To find out more about the play and its themes, I spoke to the star of the show Amy, ahead of opening night. Read the interview here.
'The Noises' is on at Old Red Lion Theatre from 2-20 Apr, see the venue website here for more information and to book tickets.
THREE RUNS STARTING THIS WEEK>>
Keep Watching | New Diorama Theatre | 2 Apr-4 May (pictured)
"Kat is being watched. She knows about most of it. She ticked the box to say she'd read the terms and conditions. She accepted the cookies. She even opted in to receive occasional emails. But someone else is watching too. Someone who knows her better than she knows herself". Yikes, this sounds compelling: a thriller about watching and being watched based on first hand accounts from surveillance experts. More here.
Mouthpiece | Soho Theatre | 2 Apr-4 May
One which is down in London following an acclaimed run at Edinburgh's excellent Traverse Theatre, and definitely a must-add to your to-see list. "Libby whiles away her days in New Town cafes and still calls herself a writer. Declan is a talented young artist struggling with a volatile home. As they form an uneasy friendship, complicated by class and culture, Libby spots an opportunity to put herself back on track, and really make a difference". See the venue website here for details.
Tony's Last Tape | Omnibus Theatre | 2-20 Apr
And another that's been performed to acclaim further north (and on tour) before heading smoke-wards, this one man play about Tony Benn. "An old man sits in a room faced with a collection of recording devices that he has collected over his long and eventful life. He opens a drawer, takes out a pipe, unscrews his flask and pours himself the first cup of tea of the day. For more than fifty years he has been recording everything that has happened to and around him, but today he has decided to make his last tape". Head this way for info.
THREE SHORT RUNS>>
V | The Hope Theatre | 7-8 Apr
Sean McLevy performs Tony Harrison's long poem, 'V', written in 1985 and set in Leeds during the miners' strike. Older readers may remember how its subject matter and use of language caused a bit of controversy when broadcast on Channel 4. "Running to around 3,500 words, 17 of which are expletives, it speaks to today's bitterly-divided Britain, lamenting the toxic religious, cultural and racial oppositions that continue to undermine social cohesion". See this page here for details.
Oral | Camden People's Theatre | 6-7 Apr (pictured)
Just one of four events on as part of CPT's The Sick of the Fringe: Care & Destruction weekend. "ORAL is a show about mouths. What goes into them. What comes out of them. And what they are actually for. Based on her lived experience, Viv Gordon and company sink their teeth into childhood sexual abuse, dentistry and crocodiles. ORAL is a rebellious gobby kind of show about rising up and biting back. A jaw-dropping call to arms". See this page here for info on this show, and this page here for the full strand line up.
Deirdre O'Kane: A Line Of O'Kane | Soho Theatre | 2-3 Apr
"Deirdre O'Kane has really hit her stride. Footloose from a glittering turn on 'Dancing with the Stars' (Ireland's answer to Strictly) and revelling in her return to stand-up, Deirdre's at her hilarious best in a straight-talking look at twelve frantic months in the life of this tango-tripping, family-minding, telly-making, house-moving, comedy dynamo". And as you might expect, tickets appear to be disappearing fairly quickly. Click here.
THREE AT HOMEGROWN FESTIVAL: OCCUPY>>
A Land Without Jasmine | Battersea Arts Centre | 4-6 Apr (pictured)
We've already mentioned Homegrown Festival: Occupy to you, so it's possible you've already looked through the schedule of events and earmarked everything you'd like to see. But just in case you weren't paying attention, we're returning to BAC to recommend some more events, hurrah. We start with this, the first ever Yemeni theatre production to be staged in the UK. "Jasmine suddenly disappears without a trace from her university campus in Yemen's capital Sana'a. But who really knows what happened to her?" More here.
Wow Everything Is Amazing | Battersea Arts Centre | 4-12 Apr
"Welcome to the New Church. Where sermons are stored on servers, and data has replaced deities. As the boundaries between humans and tech become ever-more blurred, what are the implications for our species?" Our next choice is this, "a dynamic blend of performance, film and music, exploring the joy, hope and potential of an ever more connected world" created by a group of fifteen young people. See the venue website here for all the details.
Looking Forward | Battersea Arts Festival | 8-9 Apr
And another company of young people, aged 18-30, who've all experienced cancer, and here explore life after diagnosis and treatment. "100,000 young people in the UK live with, and beyond, cancer. 8 out of 10 of those diagnosed survive. But after the challenges and treatments, how do you move forward? What happens next? What now?" Head this way for info.
THREE SONG AND/OR DANCE>>
Elephant In The Room | Camden People's Theatre | 2-20 Apr (pictured)
"Something's wrong. Can't get out of bed, can't concentrate, can't shake the mounting tension. Something unspoken is building up, leaking out, taking over...". This solo performance by Lanre Malaolu fuses physical theatre, hip hop dance and spoken word, and promises to "takes a sharp sideways look at the insidious stigma around mental health issues, asking how race, class and culture can affect the way we choose to address them". See the venue website here for more.
Thrill Me: The Leopold And Loeb Story | The Hope Theatre | 2-20 Apr
A staging of Stephen Dolginoff's 2005 musical 'Thrill Me', which, as you may know, is based on the true story of thrill killers Leopold and Loeb, whose case also inspired Patrick Hamilton's stage play 'Rope', used as a basis for the Hitchcock film of the same name. So, you maybe didn't need to know all that, but if you weren't previously aware of it, that should give you an idea of the theme of the show. Head this way for all the details.
Maggie May | Finborough Theatre | 27 Mar-20 Apr
"Oh the Liver Bird is a statue, on a building high by the pier, lord of Merseyside, staring at you, to his beady eye, all is clear...". Already been running a few days this one, a rare production for Lionel Bart's 1964 musical, which hasn't had a professional London staging since its first run. Over to the blurb: "A hard-hitting celebration of working class life in Liverpool's docks in the 1960s, 'Maggie May' is the story of the doomed love affair between 'street walker' Maggie May Duffy and sailor Patrick Casey, the son of a union-martyr, initially reluctant but finally proud to assume his father's mantle". Info right about here.
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