SYDNEY AND THE OLD GIRL plays at Park Theatre until November 30th. Details and tickets here
IN BRIEF Well-played toxic comedy three-hander leaves a bitter aftertaste
A wheelchair-bound mother in her tatty house watches
her twitchy, jowly blancmange of a son trying to mend her ancient telly. The
atmosphere of mutual loathing is palpable. And yet it is also funny, as played
by the inimitable Miriam Margolyes and Mark Hadfield, and written by Eugene O’
Hare.
Here are two desperately lonely people who have fallen through the social fabric, forced together by circumstance, hating yet needing each other. As their bitchy ping-pong continues, we slowly fill in the causes of this dysfunctional relationship. There is much pain in their mutual histories, touched on but not dwelt. Disability, abuse, death, ignorance, fear, guilt and shame have all played their part in sculpting their current grim coexistence
As the novelty of the bitch-fest starts to produce diminishing returns, the plot thankfully kicks in, which concerns Mum Nell’s inheritance and what becomes of it. Conspiring with care nurse Marion, Nell cruelly snubs her son Sydney to leave all her worldly goods to charity. Or so she thinks…
When the dynamics of the trio changes, Nell and Sydney find that they have something in common to hate that surprisingly leads to an outbreak of civility. But unexpected events scupper this, making it a short-lived truce.
Margolyes is always a delight to watch at work; here, as Nell, her beady eyes dark with a thirst for any tiny victory in these microscopic power-games, she’s about as cuddly as a rattlesnake. Her scenes with Marion are sly and gently manipulative, and Margolyes brings all her considerable talents to this mind-gaming old woman.
Mark Hadfield is an ideal foil to Margolyes- highly watchable as damaged son Sydney, from his edginess to his drinking to his overwhelming sadness. His disabling uneasiness with people is hilariously illustrated in a deeply uncomfortable “chat” sequence with Marion where he unsuccessfully attempts to mask his fear, loneliness and ingrained racism.
Vivien Parry as Irish carer Marion is all
religion, care and concern, a Mother to the Mother and whose good-hearted
nature is ripe for exploitation; who is used so badly and makes us feel for her
in a detailed performance.
All three make a terrific ensemble, with long
passages of monologue and dialogue expertly navigated by each.
Eugene O’ Hare’s jagged, tricky dialogue is a minefield of timing, with misunderstandings (deliberate or otherwise) and tiny trips in communication peppering the text, well executed under Philip Breen’s direction.
I was reminded several times of the Galton and Simpson classic TV show Steptoe and Son which had a similar dynamic between father and son; however this play is much darker, which in many ways works against its appeal, for O’Hare’s characters are hard to care about in any sense. Nevertheless, for me, the three performances make it worth seeing.
SYDNEY AND THE OLD GIRL plays at Park Theatre until November 30th. Details and tickets here
Welcome to November’s show highlights. Here are my picks of the most interesting shows that you can find around London and the UK.
Off-West End
Opening
The new Boulevard Theatre’s opening production is GHOST QUARTET, an intoxicating musical of love, loss and spirits – of both the spectral and alcoholic kind. Three-time Tony Award-nominee Dave Malloy’s hauntingly beautiful song cycle is a story about stories themselves; how we tell them, how we hear them, and how they evolve, intertwine and draw us in. With an intriguing cast including Carly Bawden and Zubin Varla this looks set to be a highlight, especially after the triumph of Malloy’s other show, the excellent PRELUDES which played at Southwark Playhouse in October.
But back to GHOST QUARTET. Rose has a problem. She’s been betrayed by her lover, a local tree-dwelling astronomer, with her very own sister. Rose seeks vengeance and a passing bear might just offer the answer. But his services come at a price: a pot of honey, one piece of stardust, a secret baptism – and a photo of a ghost.
A kaleidoscopic journey spanning continents, centuries and the cosmos ensues. But even through the fogs of time and a haze of whiskey, Rose can’t shake the feeling that she’s done this all before…
Dave Malloy is the writer of the Broadway smash-hit Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. GHOST QUARTET runs until January 4th.
C’est Magnifique! Achieving the near-impossible task of translating a unique French movie to the stage, and doing so in some style, this AMELIE will bring a smile to your lips and warmth to your heart, as we follow our heroine helping others but finding it hardest to help herself. With a tuneful score and dynamic Audrey Brisson as Amelie, this is your passport to joie de vivre. Playing a season at The Other Palace Theatre in London from 29 November to February 1st.
At the Royal Court, Ed Thomas’s ON BEAR RIDGE plays until 23rd November
“One minute we had customers, the next minute there was no-one.”
In a lost village, blurred by redrawn borders, hidden under a crumb on the map, Bear Ridge Stores still stands. After a hundred years, the family butchers and grocers – a place for odds and ends, contraband goods, and the last petrol pump for 30 miles – is now silent.
But owners John Daniel (Rhys Ifans) and Noni (Rakie Ayola) are not leaving. They are defiantly drinking the remaining whiskey and remembering good times, when everyone was on the same side and the old language shone.
Outside in the dark, a figure is making their way towards them.
A semi-autobiographical story about the places we leave behind, the indelible marks they make on us, and the unreliable memories we hold onto.
#WeAreArrested (running from 13 November to 7 December) is Arcola Theatre’s first co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It’s a vital story about the cost of reporting the truth in the age of fake news.
When a journalist is sent a
flash-drive containing critical evidence of illegal government activity, he is
duty-bound to publish the story. But with the nation destabilised and divided,
a sinister power is eroding the rule of law. What price will he pay for
speaking out?
Adapted from the book by Can
Dündar, who was arrested for publishing footage of Turkish State Intelligence
sending weapons into Syria, this deeply personal and universal story finds
urgent new life as authoritarian politics spread across the globe.
“It doesn’t feel like a disease, it feels like… falling in love. Your heart races, and your skin tingles. It’s perfect. At first.”
Running until 23 November, CHEMISTRY receives its European premiere at the Finborough Theatre
Steph struggles with chronic
depression. Jamie just overachieved himself off the deep end. When they meet in
their psychiatrist’s office, sparks fly and they stumble unexpectedly into a
beautiful relationship. But how do you trust someone else when you are already
in a battle with your own brain?
Last year, 70.9 million prescriptions for antidepressants were dispensed in England alone, while, in the United States, an estimated 15.5 million Americans have taken antidepressant medication for at least five years and over. With dark humour, a beautiful soundtrack and captivating visuals, CHEMISTRY is an intimate, frank and uncompromising examination of the chemicals we take and how they impact our ability to love.
GERM FREE ADOLESCENT is an OCD love story that asks: what exactly is ‘normal’ anyway…? Running until November 9th at The Bunker.
Ashley is 16. She’s lived in
Medway for 15 years and 6 months. She has 2,354 leaflets on sexual health. She
knows exactly how many she has, because she’s counted them 1,582 times… At 7.48pm
tonight, she will have been going out with Ollie for exactly 3 months, which he
thinks means it’s time to take their relationship to the next level; especially
given her position as their school’s resident expert on sexual health. But what
if counting leaflets can’t protect Ashley from getting hurt when she decides to
take her biggest risk yet?
1 in 10 young people experience a mental health problem, but how do you go about discussing this with your first boyfriend or girlfriend? Written by Natalie Mitchell, the play draws on her own mental health experiences, and the painful yet often funny stories collected during an extensive research and development process. Fierce and funny, serious and irreverent – this play will resonate with anyone who’s ever worried they’re not “normal.”
“He’ll look different. My little boy. When I get out. Like… to the picture I’ve got in my head. Be like meeting him all over again. Be a whole new start.”
The winner of the annual Papatango New Writing Prize is always worth seeing. This year’s winner, Samuel Bailey’s SHOOK, tenderly and honestly examines the young men society shuts away.
Instead of GCSEs, Cain, Riyad and Jonjo got sentences. Locked up in a young offenders’ institution, they trade sweets, chat rubbish, kill time – and await fatherhood.
Grace’s job is to turn these teenagers into parents, ready to take charge of their futures. But can they grow up quickly enough to escape the system?
Running at Southwark Playhouse until 23rd November.
“I’ve spent so much of my life wondering…passing people on the street… and now, yeah… you’re here”.
A World Premiere written and directed by Olivier Award-winning director Bijan Sheibani (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Brothers Size), THE ARRIVAL plays the Bush Theatre from 21 November to 18 January.
When Tom and Samad meet for
the first time, they are stunned by the similarities they share. In spite of
Tom’s adoption and all the years spent apart, the two brothers are joined by an
undeniable biological bond.
But as they become closer and their lives entangle, they realise that finding each other comes at a price. THE ARRIVAL is a taut family drama about obsession, betrayal and the human need to belong.
Following the sold-out hit MADAME RUBINSTEIN in 2017, Miriam Margolyes returns to Park Theatre in the World Premiere black comedy SYDNEY AND THE OLD GIRL.
Nell and Sydney Stock are at war – and it’s mutually assured destruction. After 50 years cooped up in the same shabby East London house where ghosts of a hard life still linger, the points scored in never ending arguments continue to bind the pair together. And then, there is the not so simple matter of the inheritance…
As the twisted game between mother and son reaches breaking point, the care worker finds herself an unwitting pawn, played from both sides. Nell will stop at nothing for her bitter triumph over Sydney – but he has his own plans on how to end this for ever.
Acerbic humour from the inimitable Miriam Margolyes in a rare London stage performance alongside co-stars Mark Hadfield and Vivien Parry make SYDNEY AND THE OLD GIRL a production worth seeing. Running Until 30 November.
“If I had Wings I’d fly.”
Following a run in Swansea, London audiences have a rare chance to see the renowned stage and screen director Sean Mathias revive his award-winning 1985 play A PRAYER FOR WINGS.
Rita lives in a derelict church in Swansea with her disabled mother, for whom she has been carer since she was ten years old. With Mam suffering from multiple sclerosis, and no family or friends to turn to for support, Rita fills her days with romantic dreams. She yearns for the love of a man, fantasises of escaping on a cruise ship to America and aches to fly away to a life of beauty and love.
With an all-Welsh cast, this mesmerising and darkly entertaining production tells a tale of bravery with startling humour and passion, exploring the intense conflict of care, family and interdependence, set against a woman’s hopes and dreams. The show runs at the King’s Head Theatre until November 23rd.
“I have to draw a new map. I have to be seen. For her. For all of us!“
Since her ordeal five years
ago, nineteen-year-old Nene rarely leaves home. Secure within her mum’s
embrace, Nene now keeps the outside world securely on the other side of her
bedroom window.
But weekly visits from her
best friend Lea start to fill the void and on one unexpected day, when she is
finally beyond the walls of her sanctuary with her vibrant, funny, and spirited
girlfriends, a long-forgotten spark is powerfully reignited in Nene, one which
will change her direction forever…
Chinonyerem Odimba’s poignant and life affirming new play UNKNOWN RIVERS is a testament to the extraordinary powers of female friendship – where there’s turmoil, trauma and hardship, there’s also love, bravery and hope, making it possible to go with the flow… and live. Odimba’s plays include Princess and the Hustler, which is currently on a UK Tour. UNKNOWN RIVERS runs at Hampstead Downstairs until December 7.
Nouveau Riche and Omnibus Theatre present QUEENS OF SHEBA at Battersea Arts Centre from 18 to 23 November.
At a London nightclub in 2015,
the lives of a group of friends were changed forever when confronted with
misogynoir – where sexism meets racism – in its most vicious form.
Turned away from a nightclub
for being “too black”, four passionate women re-affirm the joys of sisterhood
as they tell hilarious, moving and uplifting stories that shed light on the
lives of everyday women battling what shouldn’t be an everyday problem.
Written by Jessica L. Hagan, QUEENS OF SHEBA is an hour-long journey of laughter and reflection.
A HAUNTED EXISTENCEDIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS
Two interesting shows addressing gay history appear in November. The first, running from 7 to 9 November at Battersea Arts Centre, is set in the 1950s.
In A HAUNTED EXISTENCE, Tom Marshman weaves together history and hearsay to highlight turmoil, stigma and heartbreak and tell the story of Britain’s very recent, shameful past, through the lives of gay men living at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
In the early 1950s, 17-year-old Geoffrey Patrick Williamson was on the Exeter-to-Bristol train when he got into a conversation with another man – also travelling in his train compartment – who accused Geoffrey of making ‘improper approaches’. The other man was a Railway Officer in plain clothes. Geoffrey was arrested at the next stop. When questioned, Williamson revealed the names of men he had had sex with, so beginning a domino effect of arrests, prison sentences, aversion therapy and suicide.
Tom Marshman skilfully blends creative technology, music and projection as he retraces a forgotten true story.
At the White Bear Theatre until November 16th is DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS an intriguing show about a film made just after the end of World War One. In 1918-1920, there existed a brief, an ever so brief moment, a mere 20 months when sanity prevailed. Men held hands in public, Moscow and St Petersburg were gay and free from discrimination, and Germany, feeling the full brunt of blame had yet to establish itself.
In that tiny window of opportunity came something quite extraordinary. Four years after “Birth of a Nation”, before Valentino and Garbo there came a full-length motion picture so advanced in its depiction of same-sex love that it could have be written by modern gay rights activists.
The author, Claudio Macor, stumbled across the film on YouTube, gay history that demanded to be told. which inspired his show- the World premiere of DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS.
Off West End – Last Chance
Okay listen up, you have seventy-five years to be all you can be!
LITTLE BABY JESUS, a 2011 work by writer/performer Arinzé Kene, introduces three characters. Joanne is dipped in rudeness, rolled in attitude and is fighting to keep her life afloat. Sensitive and mature he may be, yet Kehinde struggles with an obsession for mixed race girls as he eyes his place on the social ladder. Rugrat, class clown and playground loudmouth, just wants to make it past GCSEs and keep their name on the tip of your tongue.
As their lives collide and intertwine, three extraordinary young people relay the moments they ‘grew up’. Three remarkable stories. Three incredible journeys.
Directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, winner of the JMK Award 2019, LITTLE BABY JESUS runs at the Orange Tree Theatre until 16 November.
Praised as “one of the freshest voices in American theatre” by the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker returns to the National Theatre (following acclaimed runs of her mesmerising shows The Flick and John) with her latest extraordinary play THE ANTIPODES. Their phones switched off, a group of people sit around a table telling, categorising and theorising stories. This is a world that is both familiar and fantastical. Their real purpose is never quite clear, but they continue on, searching for the monstrous. THE ANTIPODES asks what value stories have for a world in crisis. Playing at the National Theatre until 23 November.
FALSETTOS , the double Tony Award winning musical from James Lapine and William Finn finally gets its London premiere (courtesy of Selladoor Productions) at the Other Palace until November 23. Featuring a brilliant cast including Laura Pitt-Pulford (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE), Natasha J Barnes (WASTED) and Daniel Boys (AVENUE Q) amongst others.
An amusing and poignant look at a modern family, FALSETTOS revolves around the life of a gay man Marvin, his wife, his lover, his soon to be bar mitzvahed son, their psychiatrist, and the lesbian neighbours, Originally created under the spectre of the AIDS crisis, this ground-breaking musical about family dynamics manages to remain buoyant and significant even as it moves towards its heartbreaking conclusion, which reminds us that love is all that really matters.
Until November 9th With five and four star reviews, Jerry Herman’s classic musical MAME is back- and how! When young Patrick goes to stay with his Auntie Mame, he walks into a fast-living world of fun and and joy. It will be a real treat to see two-time Olivier-winner Tracie Bennett (Follies) (pictured above, top right) as Mame, with the great Tim Flavin (above, left) and Harriet Thorpe (Absolutely Fabulous) (pictured above, centre) as Mame’s “old, old, old friend” Vera Charles. Get set for some high-octane musical fun! The celebrated score includes the rousing title number, plus “Open a New Window,” “If He Walked into My Life,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” “Bosom Buddies” and “That’s How Young I Feel.” Good to see that rising star producer Katy Lipson -who has now made so many excellent smaller-scale musicals – is starting to move into the bigger shows. Congratulations to everyone involved! MAME plays Hope Mill Theatre till November 9th. The show visits Northampton and Salisbury in January 2020, and must tour the whole country soon!
Touring the UK
If you love the Latin crossover music of Gloria Estefan you will enjoy ON YOUR FEET! It has had mixed but mostly positive reviews, unanimous in the musical content of the show. It looks good and sounds just great, with a brilliant band (worth the price of admission alone) who never let the energy flag.
Featuring 26 hits, this Tony Award nominated show ran on Broadway for two years, for over 750 performances. ON YOUR FEET!is the inspiring true love story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan and charts their journey from Cuba to the streets of Miami and finally to international superstardom. Featuring some of the most iconic pop songs of the era, including “Rhythm is Gonna Get You”, “Conga”, “Get On Your Feet”, “Don’t Want To Lose You Now” and “1-2-3” and many more.
ON YOUR FEET! is directed by two-time Tony Award® winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde), with choreography by Olivier Award-winner Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) and book by Academy Award® winner Alexander Dinelaris (Birdman). See it in November at Manchester, Belfast and Norwich before the show takes a break and returns in January 2020 to visit Canterbury and more into May 2020.
November brings two NTLive broadcasts to screens around the UK and further afield. On November 7th The National Theatre’s sold out production of HANSARD will be coming to a venue near you. And from November 28th you can enjoy Andrew Scott in Noel Coward’s PRESENT LAUGHTER, recorded earlier in the year at the Old Vic.
To find screenings in your area check out the schedule of NT Live website, details here.
Other Broadcasts
The recent spectacular West End revival of 42nd STREET will be screened in over 550 cinemas across the UK and Ireland from November 10th
Advertised as “Broadway’s greatest show on London biggest stage”, the production stars Emmerdale‘s Tom Lister (Julian Marsh), Philip Bertioli (Billy Lawlor), Clare Halse (Peggy Sawyer), and Bonnie Langford (Dorothy Brock).
The classic story of 42nd Street follows the lives of performers as they struggle to fulfil their dreams of stardom on Broadway. The show has a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin. It originally ran in London for five years and most recently its revival ran almost two years at the 2200-seat Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Gaining five and four star reviews from critics and audiences alike, the huge cast of 60 and orchestra of 20 ensure that this will be a spectacular show to enjoy for all the family.
