Reviews Written by J

The Fastest Clock in the Universe is a play by Phillip Ridley, whose work I have developed a recent fondness for. First performed in 1992, the play is revived by director Brittany Rex at the New Wimbledon Theatre's "Studio" space. As you first enter the theatre there is a kind of grotty, dinginess to the place. The herbal cigarette smoke in the air adds to the atmosphere. That cigarette scent followed me home on my clothes, just as the play's themes lingered with me too. The Fastest Clock in the Universe centres on Cougar Glass, who is obsessed with looking beautiful and staying youthful. Aging is clearly a sore subject for Cougar; he mentally spirals with any reference to his real age. We get the impression he is much older than he looks. Frederick Russell excels in this lead role as the horrible hypersexual, Cougar, becoming a swinging pendulum of emotions. In the second act, it seems he barely gets a word of dialogue, but the physical acting on...

This was my first time at The New Diorama Theatre for this production, an award winning venue. The New Diorama is at the cutting edge of British theatre. It has demonstrated its ability to spot and nurture rising talent: both For Black Boys... and Operation Mincemeat started their lives out at The New Diorama prior to their great acclaim.  The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin comes from theatre company TG Works, a migrant-led, experimental theatre company founded by Tommaso Giacomin and Manuela Pierri. The Uncontainable Nausea has played at The Venice Biennale, and as part of Voila! Festival, before working its way here to The New Diorama.  The play opens with the main character, Alec Baldwin (not the same), in conversation with an AI chat bot. T his juxtaposition presents a pensive, tense Alec, and a machine trying its best to relate. The result is a moving and surprisingly hilarious exchange, with the AI fumbling its way through normal conversation. Perhaps the best exam...

Edith Nesbit's The Railway Children is a story that should need little introduction. The delightful, yet emotional, children's story follows youngsters Roberta, Peter and Phyllis following the arrest of their father. Mark Anthony Turnage and librettist Rachel Hewer have adapted the tale into an exciting new opera.   I must admit, I have no particular fondness for the instrumental compositions I heard previously from Turnage. But clearly he has a gift for opera (this being the composer behind the Olivier award-winning Festen). The Railway Children features a small ensemble and is semi-staged, but punches well above its weight. The video design is broadly insignificant, but clearly picks up the slack where a more ambitious set design would have otherwise immersed and provided greater understanding. A slight oversight in my opinion: no surtitles. Even with the quality projection of vocalists I could not quite make out all the words from near the back of th...

An abstracted amalgam of comedy, sex and biological disgust, Tuck! (directed by Lou Bristow-Bell) describes itself as a "boun dary-pushing psycho-dream" play. An apt epithet. On this occasion, Tuck!  takes residence in the Baron's Court Theatre, nestling itself under the black painted brick arches of the pub cellar venue - a suitably unsettling setting.  The cast of Tuck! is exemplary. Of particular note are Jack Heffran and Samantha Begeman, who manage to effortlessly recreate the awkward flirting of a couple - in this scene the dialogue shines too. The comic timing and ability to enthral an audience that the entire cast possesses has to be commended.  The play's disturbing moments include: the description of a group ritualistically sucking the blood out of a used tampon, a woman achieving orgasm through being told by how petite she is, and the question "are you wet?" answered not with words - but by reaching between their legs and discovering copious amo...

Make it Happen is a dramatisation of the events surrounding the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland during the 2008 financial crash. It stars Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin (then RBS CEO), and Brian Cox as the ghost of economist and alleged forefather of capitalism Adam Smith. Written by James Graham and directed by Andrew Panton, it plays at the Festival Theatre as a part of the Edinburgh International Festival. Make It Happen is semi-s atirical, but mostly is in possession of the kind of humour that elicits a mild chuckle at most.  At first it is hard to tell if this is the writing or the delivery.  Brian   Cox however seemingly proves the latter to be true, as all his scenes inject a much needed energy. Cox's "Adam Smith" is a  campy self-caricature that is the light and humour of the production. Make it Happen opens with tourists being shown around an  Edinburgh   gallery. This being festival season, much of the audience will be tourists themselves. ...

Hood is a retelling of the classic story Robin Hood. It follows Robin (Katie Poole) and daughter of an aristocrat Briar Rose (Rebecca Caslake). When Briar Rose discovers Robin true identity, she becomes embroiled in danger. Written by Katie Poole and directed by Lucy Victoria, Hood runs at Just the Tonic at The Caves as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.  There is clearly a strong directorial voice emerging within Lucy Victoria. She has injected Hood with lots of clever elements, with strong movement coordination. The involvement of the ensemble - as jeering crowds behind the audience is very effective. There is a scene towards the end of the play where the stage is only lit by an oil lamp, with the entire cast in unison voice, in this almost tormenting way. Although interesting in isolation, and emotionally quite intense, it fractured the narrative rather than served it. Sometimes more unique ideas are applicable, and sometimes they are not, learning this is a fine art. I thin...