Camille O’Sullivan : Feel

5 Stars ***** The lights dim on the packed auditorium, the twinkling fairy lights glisten on a stage festooned with dresses, doll’s house, glitter balls and of course red shoes when a caped vision in red sidles to centre stage. She starts to sing, the audience are hushed as her almost ethereal voice is initially [...]

Like a Virgin: Zoe Lewis presents

3Star *** Way back, in 2006 I think, it was when I saw Zoe Lewis perform for the first time with her one woman play ‘Touched for the very first time’. I subsequently saw he next years offering ‘Doing my Bit’ which I enjoyed even more so after a few years absence I was looking [...]

Scene of the Titans

2 stars ** If it wasn’t actually based on a true story, you could easily think the plot of this show was completely improbable and verging on farcical. However given that the premise is true, this could have been a gritty piece of theatre… unfortunately it’s not. Some of the acting and singing is okay [...]

11

4 Stars **** 11 is a new musical composed by Ian Hammond Brown with book by Suzanne Lofthus and is presented by Cutting Edge Theatre. From World War one to our present day the scenes paint a picture of stories that confront war, terrorism and our nature towards life. Ian Hammond Brown’s music is well [...]

Jamie Blake

4 Stars **** Ravenrock Theatre Company’s production of Jamie Blake, written and directed by Ashley Scott-Layton, works on several different levels. It is a neat blend of realistic, coming of age drama, humorous sketch scenes, catchy and soulful songs and clever choreography. At its core, it is the story of Jamie Blake, a young man [...]

Vinegar Knickers: Sketchy Beast

3 Stars *** A blonde, a brunette and a redhead walk into a venue and perform a sketch show.  It sounds like the start of a trite gag. The Sketchy Beast show that is subsequently served up sometimes feels trite as well. The three performers, Katie Burnetts, Samantha Baines and Harriet Fisher are good enough [...]

A Man’s a Man

Unrated. I really don’t think it’s fair to actually review this show. While all credit goes to people trying to perform a show in a language foreign to them, this is amongst one of the worst shows I have ever seen. The story is dire, the direction poor, the acting utterly appalling. The uninspiring music [...]

Pistol And Jack: Smash. Glam. Sex. Music

3 Stars *** Is this a comedy Show? A cabaret? Character comedy? A selection of all three in reality and of course music music music. The characters are Pistol, a loud raucous, needy American chanteuse and Jack, undoubtedly English, but with a strange upbringing and a penchant for women and their story, interspersed with musical [...]

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Musical

2 stars ** This was less musical theatre and more a musical story. I saw the Japanese version and despite the highly energetic performance by Jun Sawaki, you spend most of the time reading the English translations and waiting for the action to catch up. The music and songs are quite beautiful at points with [...]

The News at Kate 2011: Kate Smurthwaite

4 Stars **** It’s been a few years since I had seen Ms Smurthwaite perform comedy live but was aware of her reputation as a favourite ‘arguer’ on BBC both TV and radio. Although it’s well into Fringe week three she has a packed out room in the basement of an Italian restaurant, the walls [...]