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Tag: Arts Theatre

All the latest breaking news on Arts Theatre. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on Arts Theatre.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Toxic Avenger The Musical, Arts Theatre, London

    ★★★★★ | The Toxic Avenger, The Musical

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Toxic Avenger The Musical, Arts Theatre, London

    There’s a monster loose at the Arts Theatre in London; it’s toxic, it smells, and it’s completely hilarious!

    It’s The Toxic Avenger, the show that was originally a movie (circa 1984) and just last year played at The Southwark Playhouse to rave reviews. Well, The Toxic Avenger is getting revenge by coming back to a much larger theatre, with a superb cast!

    In a nutshell, the show takes place in New Jersey. You know the place, people only pass through there to get to the bright lights and big city of New York. Well, New Jersey is where the denizens of Manhattan dispose of all of its waste – not just garbage but everything and anything that they don’t want, New Jersey, unfortunately, gets.

    But in a town called Tromaville, New Jersey, which gets the worst of the wasted, there is nerd and aspiring earth scientist Melvin Ferd the Third (Mark Anderson), his mom Ma Ferd (Natalie Hope), Sarah the blind librarian (Emma Salvo), and host of other characters played by Ché Francis and Oscar Conlon-Morray, named appropriately as black dude and white dude. But when Melvin decides to find out who is responsible for the vats of toxic waste in Tromaville, he plans to put a stop to it. His investigation leads to the Mayor (Hope again), but when she finds out Melvin is on her case, she gets her two goons to get rid of Melvin, and they throw him into a vat of toxic sludge. But Melvin does not get killed, he comes back bigger and better than ever – he’s been transformed into “The Toxic Avenger” (a/k/a Toxie)!

    Toxie attempts to get his revenge, but in the meantime, blind librarian Sarah has a thing for him because she thinks he’s French (though when Toxie was Melvin he had a huge crush on her but she rebuffed him). Meanwhile, the Mayor is still up to no good and vows to kill Toxie no matter what it takes. But hilarity (and lots of physical comedy) ensue; lots of running on and off the stage by the cast, Sarah doing everything she can to get with Toxie, and the brilliant Hope has a scene with herself as both the Mayor and Ms Ferd – and one time she’s on stage as both characters! It’s a tour de force performance! Will Sarah and Toxie find love with each other? Will the corrupt Mayor have her way and turn Tromaville into more of a toxic waste dump? Will the front row of the audience escape unscathed? You will have to find out and buy tickets to this must-see show. And did I mention that it’s a musical? Everything you want and more is this show! And the cast are brilliant!

    It’s hard to single out any one performer, but I’m going to. Of course, Hope gets the most exercise (and laughs) as both the Mayor and Melvin’s mother, but it’s Salvo’s performance that is most memorable because she’s playing a blind woman, and it’s so believable! And she’s so funny! Kudos to the cast, and production team, including director Benji Sperring, for bringing us a show that’s one not too miss. It’s got everything a musical should have; escapism, fantasy, great story, amazing performances, and some rocking songs. Buy tickets for this show now!

    From Joe DiPietro and David Bryan (original founding member and keyboardist/vocalist for Bon Jovi), the Tony Award-winning team behind the hit West End musical Memphis.

    The Toxic Avenger The Musical is now playing at The Arts Theatre in London until December 3, 2017

  • THEATRE NEWS | Comedy, The Ruby Slippers, makes London debut

    The sell-out comedy The Ruby Slippers is making its London debut!

    The Ruby Slippers comes to London

    It enjoyed standing ovations and rave reviews during its sell-out premiere run in the North West last year. And now The Ruby Slippers is on its way to London for a date at the hottest new theatre in the West End.

    The comedy-drama about love, friendship and identity will get its debut at the award-winning Arts Theatre West End on Sun 2 July. Slap on some lipstick put on those high heels and get ready for a riotous rollercoaster of emotions at one of the two performances on the day, taking place at 4 pm and 7.30pm.

    Raz is on top of the world. He’s the owner of his own paradise drag club in Blackpool, The Ruby Slippers, and has met Ryan, the man of his dreams.

    However, all is not as it seems. Business is poor, while a rival club, Nine Inches, has opened which threatens to not only steal Raz’s customers but also his star acts, Drag Queens Phoenix and Destiny.

    And then there is the secret Ryan hides that will change everything.

    Are his business and relationship doomed? Or will the power of love win the day?

    The comedy drama, created by Break A Leg Productions in association with Bill Elms (Epstein – The Man Who Made The Beatles, Twopence to Cross the Mersey), comes from the pen of writers Emma Culshaw and David Paul and is directed by Craig Ryder.

    The talented cast also includes James Rogerson as Raz, Jamie Paul as Ryan, Debra Redcliffe (Helen), Emma Vaudrey (Laura), Owen Farrow (Destiny) and Jordan Simms (Phoenix).

    Writers Emma Culshaw and David Paul said,

    “The play tackles transgender issues and we hope audiences enjoy what we set out to achieve, creating a play full of compassion, humour and outrageous one-liners but with a strong underlying message.”

    Co-producer Bill Elms added,

    “The Ruby Slippers has a great script, great comedy and most of all a great storyline.”

    “I’ve been delighted to watch its growth, and now it’s getting the London debut it deserves – and in one of the most exciting new spaces in the West End too. London audiences are in for a treat.”

    You can win tickets to see the show… enter below

    Competition Terms & Conditions

    1. Prize includes: 2x Tickets for The Ruby Slippers at the Arts Theatre, London on the 2nd July. You can choose either the 4pm or 7:30pm performance.
    2. You have until the 26th June 2017 12.01PM to enter.
    3. Entries made after this time will not be counted.
    4. Offer is not-transferrable and no cash equivalent will be given.
    5. Entry is free of charge.
    6. Winner will be notified by email from TheGayUK by the 27th June 2017.
    7. Winner will have two days to claim their prize. Afterwards a new winner shall be drawn and previous claims will be forfeit.
    8. Winners must be over the age of 18 years.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dirty Great Love Story, The Arts Theatre

    ★★ | Dirty Great Love Story, The Arts Theatre

    CREDIT: Richard Davenport

    I’m a bit unconventional in my views when it comes to romance. I strongly believe that sex before the first date is a sensible action (who wants to sit through a tedious meal with a fake smile plastered on your face when you can cut to the chase?) but I also have a secret love of ‘will they won’t they’ romantic comedies.

    Slam poetry champion Richard Marsh and writer/performer Katie Bonna originally conceived Dirty Great Love Story as a short pub performance piece.

    It evolved into a longer two-hander play and was well received at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012 where the writers also performed the piece. Outlining a meeting between gauche and shy Richard and recently heartbroken Katie on a stag and hen do, followed by a one night stand in a Travelodge, the play then goes on to tantalise with an almost/on and off romance, that burgeons in spite of obstacles.

    It’s classic rom-com but recited partly in verse.

    In this new incarnation at The Arts Theatre, the pair is played by actors with accomplished performances from Ayesha Antoine and Felix Scott. This is where the problem seems to lie, though. Maybe performance poetry works better coming from the mouth of the poet and in this case, fails to translate over easily despite the actors’ efforts.

    In spite of their skill as performers, the verse feels stilted coming from their mouths and sits oddly with a touch of the painfully twee about it in parts. Yes, they’re sometimes talking about the dirty bits of this relationship, but in a Richard Curtis style romantic comedy format with poetry that sounds like Pam Ayres on a 1980s edition of That’s Life.

    It splutters dimly more that it illuminates and feels tired and dated. Not so great and a tiny bit dirty but a love story nonetheless, there are flashes of brilliance but they feel few and far between.

    When the funny moments hit they’re worth waiting for, there’s a clever set by Pia Furtado with bits that drop down and pop up to illustrate various scenes but overall it all falls a bit flat.

     

    Dirty Great Love Story plays at The Arts Theatre until 16th March 2017

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Savage, Above The Arts Theatre, London

    ★ | Savage

    PR Supplied

    Denmark is a country that has a long history of tolerance to gay men and same sex relationships were legal from 1933. With the German occupation of Denmark in World War Two, Copenhagen saw many of its previously openly gay men having to hide and flee. Dutch doctor Carl Peter Vaernet believed that he’d found a cure for this ‘disease’ of male homosexuality.

    The Nazis’ belief that being gay was an ‘abnormal existence’ that should be eradicated were sympathetic to his own and he was allowed to experiment on men in Buchenwald concentration camp. His methods were brutal with enforced injections of hormones into men’s testicles.

    There’s been a worrying emergence of far right wing groups in recent times and with politicians with links to religious ‘gay cures’ or terrible voting records on LGBT rights emerging from their creepy backwaters in quests for power, it’s a good time to be reminded of the lessons from history. Indeed, British history isn’t squeaky clean and in the 1990s the prime minister apologised for the enforced chemical castration of 49,000 men during the mid twentieth century.

    Unfortunately, well intentioned though Claudio Macor is in examining this subject matter, the play fails to engage or shed any new light on history. He focuses on a gay couple, one of who is arrested and experimented upon. Alongside this he offers a contrast to their situation by showing the relationship between a secretly gay, Champagne swilling Nazi officer and a cabaret artiste who he is keeping prisoner. The script feels messy and poorly written with lines that often feel melodramatic and trite. The Nazi general struts about, boasting of torture like something from a cartoon, people stare wistfully into the distance and utter philosophical lines about life and love with misty eyes. This should be a painful play to watch because of its theme but instead is excruciating for other reasons.

    The actors are too broad in their gestures for such a small and difficult space and the production is stagey with little hint of reality or genuine emotion. Only Nick Kyle as half of the gay couple manages to make much of the unwieldy script. On a positive note there are some excellent costumes from Jamie Attle and the set by David Shields is clever in making use of a limited area.

    Sadly this is definitely one to give a miss. You’ll learn more about the subject matter from a quick read of Peter Tatchell’s 2015 Guardian article and save yourself a couple of unentertaining hours.

     

    Savage plays at The Arts Theatre Upstairs until 23rd July 2016

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Blues Brothers

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Blues Brothers

    The blues are back in town in the form of ‘The Blues Brothers Christmas Special’ at the Arts Theatre in Covent Garden. ★★★★

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | Lovesong Of An Electric Bear

    Alan Turing’s life is told, with the help of his teddy bear, in the new play ‘Lovesong of the Electric Bear.’

    Yes, you read it right. It’s a teddy bear called Porgy (Bryan Pilkington in a teddy bear suit) who guides Turing (and the audience) through the events in his life. From his life as a young boy in France, where he was a bit different from the other boys, to his time in Bletchley, where he created his machine which broke the German code during World War II. It’s a strange and unusual little show, currently playing in the small studio upstairs in the Arts Theatre on Great Newport Street, redesigned to look like a codebreakers bunker.

    It’s a true story, written by the late Andrew Wilson. Turing evidently did have a teddy bear, and it’s the teddy bear in the opening sequence who awakens Turing from his deathbed and takes him through the journey of his life.

    It’s an incredible journey, a journey we all know very well from last year’s hit film The Imitation Game, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing. Not much new information on Turing is provided in this production, but it’s the viewpoint of the teddy bear giving advice and opinion on every move Turing which makes is interesting to say the least. And it’s quite funny, and surreal, especially when Turing (played stoically and confidently by Ian Hallard) starts ‘dating’ Joan (an excellent Laura Harling), and he takes her to meet his parents, but it’s always the bear who is in the background giving advise and musing about Turing’s wrong decisions. And it’s also the bear who advises Turing to get far away from the rent boy (Chris Levens, very good in all the roles he plays in this show) that eventually brought upon Turing’s downfall. And of course we all know how it ends, and that’s the sad part, there was nothing the bear could have done for Turing, in the play and in real life. Turing’s was a life cut too short, he was a man too far ahead of his time.

    Lovesong of the Electric Bear is playing at the Arts Theatre until November 21, 2015

     

     

  • Beautiful Thing Makes Westend Return

    Jonathan Harvey’s classic play, Beautiful Thing, will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year with a brand new production at the Arts Theatre in the West End from 13 April – 25 May, with a press night on Wednesday 17 April, followed by a short UK tour visiting Liverpool, Leeds and Brighton. Directed by Nikolai Foster, and designed by Colin Richmond, the production will star Suranne Jones, with further casting to be announced. (more…)