Once Upon A Mattress - review

Written by: Caroline Mathias (@caroveraclare)

Union Theatre, London
****

Saturday night was freezing, and the wood-burning stove in the Union Theatre bar was very popular among the patrons of Once Upon a Mattress – The untold story of ‘The Princess and the Pea’. Formerly a Broadway hit, it’s a musical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s well-loved fairytale. I’m feeling festive already. 

This Is A Reconstruction - review

Written by: Dombo (@DomOJFryer)

Where's Dom gone?
Camden People's Theatre, London
Was Dom fond?
***


What would you expect the human race to be remembered by? I bet it isn't television. This Is A Reconstruction is a piece explaining how the end of the world comes about December 21st 2012, retrospectively using the future's interpretation of our final phenomenon: television. It's really not as complicated as it sounds.

Dick! - review

Written by: Ed Theakston (@EdTheakston)

Leicester Square Theatre, London
****

Pantomime is a form of theatre with a long and somewhat varied history. Men indulging in their guilty pleasure of dressing in girls clothes and girls in boys clothes, awful humour, cringing parents and children getting their first theatrical experience. We all hold panto near and dear to our hearts, even if a little hesitantly. Stuart Saint’s Dick! at Leicester Square is a deliciously naughty, raucous guilty pleasure.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - review

Written by: Lauren Buckley (@LaurenBuckers)

Blue Elephant Theatre, London

****

A Midsummer Night’s Dream with no Puck is like a light with no bulb; it just can’t work…or can it? That was my first question upon realising that only four Sprites and no famous imp appeared in the cast list of Lazuras Theatre’s production of The Dream at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell. This was not the only change to the script of this stylishly modern interpretation of one of the Bard’s most well-known plays but my first clue that this was going to be a very different adaptation of the play.

Cinderella - review

Written by: Peeny (@AdamPeeny)

Where's Peen been?
Lyric Hammersmith, London
Was Peen keen?
*****

Providing a pitch-perfect, joyous stomp up to Christmas, this is quite simply 2012’s must-see festive show. This more than vibrant production is crammed full of gags and awe-inspiring performances, and demands you partake to a point where everybody becomes more than willing. A slight confession: my life has been inundated with appalling (read ‘eye-gouging’) amateur panto, so to say we weren’t on good terms is the understatement of the decade. This being my first professional panto experience (cue gasp), I’m officially a convert already gagging for my next one.

The Prince and the Pauper - review

Written by: Naomi Lawson (@NaomiMLawson)

Unicorn Theatre, London

****

As the days get colder and the wind more biting, the Unicorn Theatre invites us into the warm to share the festivities in this storytelling bonanza for ages 6 plus. Jemma Kennedy presents her adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, the ultimate tale of mistaken identity which sees one young boy travel from rags to riches and another the opposite way entirely. Under Selina Cartmell’s direction, the ensemble (led by twins Danielle and Nichole Bird as the young Prince Edward and Tom Canty) brings the glitz and grime of the Tudor world to life.

DEFRAG_ - review

Written by: Andrew Crane (@AndrewRCrane)

Camden People’s Theatre, London

****

Apocalyptic scenarios incorporating computers and artificial intelligence are hardly new ground to be explored in fiction. It's a sci-fi sub-genre saturated by a plethora of dystopian visions, so surely nothing fresh could surface in this theme? Wrong. DEFRAG_ not so much re-imagines the genre, it’s rather a complete system reboot with a software overhaul of dry wit and compelling showmanship. This is quintessential fringe theatre, inventive and original to the core, or in this case, the CPU.

Straight - review

Written by: Peeny (@AdamPeeny)

Where's Peen been?
Bush Theatre, London
Was Peen keen?
****

A re-sparked friendship turns into a somewhat improbable bromance more special than most. But DC Moore’s production directed by Richard Wilson, based on the US film Humpday written and directed by Lynn Shelton, shows us the situation in a convincing manner and more prominently, makes us belly laugh the whole way through.