REVIEW: Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre (2021) closing 8th January 2023

"No Woman No Cry" sees Gabrielle Brooks perform a real show stopper and in the splendid final songs is "Redemption Song", the inspirational words of which the audience know "the songs of freedom" with its contrasting folk-based rhythm. The gentle "Three Little Birds" follows with "every little thing gonna be alright" and its "don't worry" message .  "One Love" calls for peace, unity and inclusion.  "Could You be Loved" has a magical and irresistible vibe.  To close is the title song of the show Get Up Stand Up!   and yes we got up and stood up as I suspect they will every night for some years to come.

Continue ReadingREVIEW: Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre (2021) closing 8th January 2023
Read more about the article REVIEW: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida (2021)
James McArdle as Macbeth and Saoirse Ronan as Lady Macbeth

REVIEW: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida (2021)

What Yaël Farber has constructed is a Macbeth full of action and visual, visceral excitement. Still moments are rare as there is almost always something to watch.  Along with the audience are the three Weird Sisters (Diane Fletcher, Valerie Lilley and Maureen Hibbert) who watch from the back of the smoky stage throughout the play when they are not speaking their ominously accurate predictions.  The programme explains that the histories of the Wyrd sisters "are a reformed patchwork of myths and narratives…. who hold all destinies in their hands."

Continue ReadingREVIEW: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Almeida (2021)
Read more about the article REVIEW: Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes from the Inquiry, Tabernacle Theatre W11  (2021)
Ron Cook as Richard Millett QC (Photo: Tristram Kenton)

REVIEW: Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes from the Inquiry, Tabernacle Theatre W11 (2021)

Theatre is not supposed to work this way. Yet this is one of the most compelling pieces of theatre you will ever see.

Continue ReadingREVIEW: Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes from the Inquiry, Tabernacle Theatre W11 (2021)