In 1973 the satirist Tom Lehrer famously declared satire was obsolete when a warmonger was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. God knows what he'd make of today's politics. Only this morning the immigrant wife of an anti-immigration, right wing presidential candidate addressed a political convention with words plagiarised from A liberal First Lady. A situation so absurd that you couldn't make it up with any credibility, let alone poke fun at anything so unlikely. In such a climate it's hard for the 1997 musical by Dana P. Rowe and John Demsey, spoofing the sex and drug fuelled rise and fall of a fictional US political dynasty, to pack much of a punch when reality is so much more shocking.
West End Theatre News and Reviews
21 Jul
Reviews 
Review: THE FIX at the Union Theatre
By Phil Willmott Thursday, July 21 2016, 08:04
20 Jul
Reviews 
Review: AMERICAN IDIOT at Arts Theatre
By David Scotland Wednesday, July 20 2016, 16:50
This month sees the UK production of Green Day’s American Idiot return to the Arts Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Racky Plews, it stars The X Factor alumni Amelia Lily and music artist Newton Faulkner.
American Idiot has a big advantage over it’s ‘jukebox musical’ cousins. It does not have the usual cobbled together plot that has no other purpose than to facilitate a tour through a band’s greatest hits. Instead the show takes its title and score from a hit album, which itself was written as a rock opera in the vein of The Who’s Tommy and perhaps less obviously Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
19 Jul
Reviews 
Review: HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES at the Duke of York's Theatre
By Andrew Bewley Tuesday, July 19 2016, 12:57
It’s the 60s. Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy presents three couples: Frank and Teresa Foster (old, stuffy and, in Frank’s words, married “because it’s better than nothing”), Bob and Theresa Phillips (burdened with a child, and burdened by each other for most of the play, before passionately resolving their differences in the bedroom) and William and Mary Featherstone (you really pull for these two: Mary is scared of social situations, and William has spent all his life trying to make Mary less scared of social situations, but Mary is still really scared of social situations..and sherry).
18 Jul
Reviews 
Review: IMPOSSIBLE at Noël Coward Theatre
By Monty Leigh Monday, July 18 2016, 11:55
After last year’s commercial success IMPOSSIBLE returns to the Noël Coward Theatre, where a gang of illusionists and escapologists utilise their unquestionable skill to amaze and ultimately baffle their audience.
“A journey through the history of magic,” IMPOSSIBLE treats to a variety of acts, from Chris Cox’s enigmatic mind-reading abilities to daredevil Jonathan Goodwin’s upside-down escape from a strait jacket, in a blaze of fire, which kept me perched on the edge of my seat.
18 Jul
Reviews 
Review: INTO THE WOODS – Menier Chocolate Factory
By Harriet Grenville Monday, July 18 2016, 09:37
Menier Chocolate Factory is currently home to Fiasco Theater’s Off-Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical, Into The Woods. This company of actor-musicians demonstrates story-telling and ensemble work at its finest. The 10 performers multi-role excellently, with a particularly amusing turn from bearded Andy Grotelueschen, transforming between Jack’s female cow Milky White with a baby’s milk bottle for an udder, to an Ugly Step-Sister with a floral curtain rail as a dress, as well as playing Rapunzel’s cock-sure prince on a hobby horse.
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