Genre: Comedy
Review: Viking 9-5
What can being in a game-show and acting as a Viking teach a 20-something man about life? A fact and fun-filled story written and performed by Tom Draper.
Review: Awful People
As someone who lists one of her pastimes as ‘spite’ Julie Burchill - who’s written the play Awful People with Daniel Raven – seems in remarkably forgiving mode. It’s a benign intergenerational tussle. Burchill and Raven have built up chuck-lists of late boomer assumptions. When the crisis arrives, outcomes are well-devised and pacy.
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Enough questions with the child, cruelty and othering, to raise questions that don’t dissolve in a dream. Yet there’s light enough to resolve this too. A warmth between the lovers somehow drags us out from the mask of branches Terry revealingly doffs at the end. Absorbing and a must-see.
Review: A Bunch of Amateurs
Directed by Jacqui Freeman, this latest LLT offering sparkles in a heart-warming tribute to amateur dramatics, with a plot denouement as dizzying as a Shakespeare comedy. There’s not a weak link here. Indeed it’s to be hoped several newcomers will return.
Review: The Way Old Friends Do
In a show celebrating the revival of friendship, twice, through the love of a non-binary ABBA tribute band, it’s good to know who you can rely on. You can rely on this scintillating, bittersweet play too. Absolutely recommended.
Review: Quality Street
Don’t miss this exquisite confection. After this production, there’s possibly no return to the original. It’s a rethinking paying homage to both the sentiment, which it never upstages, and the brand and its factory-workers the comedy gave its name to.
Review: Sound of the Underground
It’ll remain one of the break-out, breakthrough, certainly ground-breaking shows this year.
Review: James and the Giant Peach
With memorable music and ensemble singing added to a first-rate BLT production, there’s no better Christmas show in town.
Review: Mother Goose
This is more than panto: it’s an affirmation of something that panto here welcomes in, in our time uniquely invoking layers as only Elizabethan/Jacobean drama can.
Review: Dinner With Groucho
McGuinness produces one of his finest works wrought from the sawdust of others and rendered it the burst of stars that irradiate the end.
Review: The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary!
An outstanding revival, full of fierce fun, pathos and a massive tragedy for Christmas, wrapped in red bon-bons.
Review: The Lavender Hill Mob
Certainly enjoyable and the second act shows what it might be. There’s not a moment’s longeurs
Review: Troy Hawke: Sigmund Troy’d!
Character comedy takes the audience on an hilarious flight of fancy
Review: Noises Off
An outstanding must-see, even for those who might have seen Noises Off more than once before.
Review: Short Plays 2022 New Venture Theatre, Brighton
Absorbing and a small feast of theme, acting and writing style.
Review: How to Catch a Karen
Baba Yaga weaves her spells on us, she is enthralling, with endless catch phrases, content tropes and challenges. Also, she goes there, and further!
Review: Love All
Another first-rank revival from JST, specialists in rediscoveries: a fitting end to Tom Littler’s tenure.
Review: The Comedy of Errors
One of the most vivid, aesthetically cogent, certainly funniest OFS productions
Review: Church Girl, Interrupted
An amusing hour spent in the company of a delightful former evangelical Christian.
Review: Born Under a Bad Sign
A brilliant exploration of what hope can do when you follow a team that’s not one of the big two…
Review: An A to Z of Fish and Chips
"a pleasing show that may just leave you restless to plunge a little wooden fork into a saveloy."
Review: Too Fat for China
A funny and sometimes heartbreaking story of one couple's journey to international adoption.
Review: Tom Little Has Good Reviews So Prepare to Be Impressed
An hour of fast-paced, warm and intelligent comedy with plenty of surreal and funny twists
Review: Up Her Sleeve
An insightful journey of a young girl from childhood to adult through a number of difficult periods
Review: Michelle Kalt: God Hates You
A good hour or so in the company of a very funny Swiss comedienne
Review: Waiting For God
Sarah Mann and Nathan Ariss lead a fine company into a dash to eternity and back. With a memorable finale of two weddings and a funeral.
Review: Ian Lynam:Autistic Licence
Verbal and visual funny man from autism's front line (and with blue hair)
Review: Palimpsest
A very creative and funny show about going on a date and finding yourself in a show.
Review: North Star (What I Listed to Instead of My Intuition)
North Star was heartfelt, uplifting, and enjoyable at times.
Review: Earwig
A fast-paced elegant exploration of female emancipation in the 1920’s world of entomology (things with wings that sting!)
Review: One of Two
Wry, poetic and just plain angry - a comedy drama from a young Scot about him, his twin and why life has treated them differently.
Review: Wilf
: Profound, hilarious comedy where gay tart Calvin tries to sort out his life and mental health with the help Wilf, a rusty Volkswagen polo.
Review: The MP, Aunty Mandy and Me
A young gay man from a small northern village gets sucked into the heady world of working for his local MP, and faces many big dilemmas.
Review: The Last Return
A highly entertaining ensemble performance that is a masterclass in characterisation and comedic timing
Review: Spill Your Drink – A Deaf Cabaret
A rude, riotous celebration of Scottish deaf talent for everyone to enjoy.
Review: Weegie Hink Ae That?
Ye just canny whack it, sae ye cannae – pure Scottish humour that hits every funny bone you have.
Review: Boris the Third
A lighthearted telling of Boris Johnson’s less than successful acting career. Slapstick abounds!
Review: Little Git
A musical story of everyday disappointment, told by two musicians, reaching a significant age with equally significant decisions to be made.
Review: Famous Puppet Death Scenes
"A visually appealing and brilliantly creative massacre of tiny people."
Review: Notflix: Binge
Five actors, one movie idea, a suggested setting, and off they go to improvise a musical
Review: Horrible Herstories
An attempt, in the best possible tradition to retell a history which was very much her story to tell
Review: Done to Death, By Jove!
Traditional fare of the English murder mystery served wrapped in a conundrum of a puzzle with Marple, Poirot, Holmes and a far from elementary theatrical solution
Review: Classic!
A world record attempt at 42 classic texts in one go that provides joy in an uneven presentation.
Review: A Political Breakfast
An amusing hour in the company of three fixers giving us humorous solutions to the pressing issues of the day.
Review: Harry Potter or My Girlfriend… Who Do I Love More?
A very funny hour in the company of a comedy wizard
Review: Self Service
Original idea, well developed and crafted. Mild-mannered delivery is refreshing!
Review: Sylus 2024
A quick witted comedy improv look at a potential 2024 candidate for U.S. President
Review: War of the Worlds (On a Budget)
The unmissable, definitive version of a a budget-driven War of the Worlds
Review: With all Jew respect
"a host that left me wanting to follow him out of the theatre into the bar to continue the not always kosher conversation."
Review: The Tempest
A joyous production, that without its gimmicky close, could certainly furnish a way in for many
Review: Jack Absolute Flies Again
What Richard Bean and Oliver Chris manage is homage, both to Sheridan’s shade, his early bawdy, and despite anything a memorial to those who laughed at themselves to death. A must-see.
Review: Much Ado About Nothing
This isn’t the most revelatory Much Ado, but the most consummate and complete for a while.
Review: Communicating Doors
An excellent revival and the best chance to see this remarkable thriller-cum-farce-cum-meditation.
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
An exciting sense of being at the cusp of a new generation. There’s no knowing where this Dream might end.
Review: Dad’s Army
You feel you’ve been part of an invited audience at one of the original TV productions
Review: The False Servant
It’s not just gender-swerving but role-swerving that threatens sexual and social order. Surprises light up even the last fade.
Review: Cluedo
An object lesson in comic timing; a steep cut above the ‘real’ whodunnits we’re likely to see this year or next.
Review: Artificial Intelligence Improvisation
Professional improvisers beware. The robots are after your jobs.
Review: Laughing Horse Clean Pick of The Fringe
The best stand up-up comedy from the fringe but with the swear words removed!
Review: Underdogs
The latest play by Brian Mitchell (Lord God, Ministry of Biscuits) and Joseph Nixon (The Shark is Broken)
Review: Moral Panic
A film censor navigates turbulent times in his work and at home - a comic one-hander with some horror thrown in.
Review: Now That’s What I Call A Lot Of Songs About Science
John Hinton performs hilarious songs of science from a very extensive repertoire
Review: Hay Fever
An exceptional production in so many ways, this Hay Fever boasts some superb acting, on occasion great aplomb
Review: Nathan Cassidy: Observational
With a crippling bad back, Nathan joins a gym and a big, strong man changes his life
