Read more about the article REVIEW: Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies <br>Aldwych Theatre (2014)
Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell (Photo: Keith Pattison)

REVIEW: Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
Aldwych Theatre (2014)

In Bring Up the Bodies we see that Henry's marriage to Anne is already in difficulties as she fails to deliver alive the longed for son. Henry, without the male heir, starts to speculate that he has been influenced by witchcraft and in this world of shifting power, Thomas Cromwell remarkably detaches himself from Anne Boleyn and survives. As he says, "Our requirements have changed and the facts must change with them." Anne loses her head after, along with a number of men, she is accused of adultery and therefore treason, although historians are largely convinced that Anne was innocent of these charges.

Continue ReadingREVIEW: Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
Aldwych Theatre (2014)
Read more about the article REVIEW: Frozen, the West End Musical, Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)
Samantha Barks as Elsa (Photo: Johan Persson)

REVIEW: Frozen, the West End Musical, Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)

How refreshing to have a Disney film that doesn't end with a marriage! There is much to entertain and please adults in this show but your six year olds may need the stamina for a two and a half hour spectacle with brilliant singing and performances.  However many will be pleased that the scary Marshmallow monster does not figure in the UK musical.  Casting Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon with their acting ability and contrasting singing voices is a master stroke. 

Continue ReadingREVIEW: Frozen, the West End Musical, Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021)

REVIEW: Oleanna, The Garrick Theatre (2004) from our archive, at the Arts now

Neither actor really pulls off Mamet's very difficult first act. Full of unfinished sentences and interruptions, it is very hard to play it as fast as it needs to be played and still ensure that the English audience will grasp it. But your perseverance will be rewarded after the interval when the play concentrates less on academia and dry educational approaches and more on power and both actors get into the swing.

Continue ReadingREVIEW: Oleanna, The Garrick Theatre (2004) from our archive, at the Arts now