July was a month full of cricket and theatre for me and a good mix of musicals and serious drama, with some outstanding performances.
July 2nd – Kiss Me Kate – The Barbican – This was an impromptu visit, I had a day at the Oval watching me team Essex play Surrey and come back into Moorgate Station to get home, I took my chances with a Rush ticket. I got a great seat in the stalls and looked forward to a much anticipated show. Stephanie J Block a Broadway superstar was making her London debut alongside Adrian Dunbar. In recent times Dunbar is best known for his role in The Line of Duty, he has a long list of theatre credits but this is his first musical foray. Block’s singing was amazing, Dunbar’s was ok, serviceable, his acting was as we’d expect excellent. Alongside the 2 stars were Georgina Onuorah and Charlie Stemp. Onuorah has a beautiful voice and is brilliant as Lois Lane/Bianca. Charlie Stemp is – wasted and to my shock, outshone by Jack Butterworth in the song/dance number of the show – Too Darn Hot. Nigel Lindsay and Hammed Animashaun as the ‘Gangsters’ absolutely shine every time they are on the stage and ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’ is fabulous! (51)
July 3rd – Mark Simmons – The Chelmsford Theatre – another impromptu performance – I’d bought tickets for my son and his partner and he had to work. I wasn’t going to waste the tickets, although I did go alone. Mark is a comedian I know from Facebook and Instagram and is very funny, he’s the master of one liners, a very quick thinker. I really recommend seeing him if he comes to a venue near you! (52)
July 8th – Dorian The Musical – Southwark Playhouse – I didn’t know the story of Dorian Gray and this is from the theatre website – ‘Dorian is a modern, queer adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s classic fable of youth, power, and immortality. Thrust into the 21st century where in the looking glass of social media the young and beautiful hold all the cards, this bold, contemporary retelling features a glam-rock score by Joe Evans and Linnie Reedman, and a lead performance by Alfie Friedman‘. Alfie is Maria’s son and it was great to see him. This was undoubtedly an unusual production, I really enjoyed it. (53)
July 10th – Oliver – The Chichester Festival Theatre – I’d booked this for the night of England’s Euros semi- final – an oops thing, but the tickets were a great price and even my brother gave up the football for a production featuring choreography by Matthew Bourne. We had dinner in Chichester before the show and saw Cameron Mackintosh making his way to a restaurant. he then watched the whole show standing in the aisle. I’d never seen Oliver live on the stage but the film was a staple of my childhood and this production does not disappoint. So many brilliant songs, each one came with an, oh yes, this one! Another banger! Shanay Holmes as Nancy, Billy Jenkins as The Artful Dodger and Simon Lipkin as Fagin all shone. I felt that Aaron Sidwell as Bill Sikes doesn’t quite have the presence or stature I was expecting. Overall this is a fabulous production, I’m very glad to have seen it in Chichester, the London prices initially look crazy! (54)
July 12th – A Summer Musical Revival – Ware Musical Theatre – A performance of the music of Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz, what’s not to love! This local theatre group put on a great show, with some wonderful voices! I had a great evening with my friend Sheila, we both thoroughly enjoyed it! (55)
15th July – Slave Play – Noel Coward Theatre – I finished Game of Thrones on the Saturday before I went along to watch this, it took me around 4 weeks. So I was thrilled to be watching Kit Harrington on the stage. Sadly an hour in I had to succumb to food poisoning an hour in, so my thoughts will have to wait for my 2nd and 3rd visit.
18th July – Present Laughter – Everyman Cinema – Sheila and I couldn’t resist watching this for a 2nd time at the Everyman Cinema. Andrew Scott is simply wonderful in this play, I just wish I’d seen it live!
20th July – The Defamation – Riverside Studios, Bitesize – I’m taking the description from the Riverside Studios site – ‘Inspired by the events of the Depp v Heard trial, The Defamation by Jen Tucker visualises an afterlife where a woman’s fate is debated and decided by tribunal. But something is rotten in this court. When Charity, loosely based on Amber Heard, arrives in the afterlife, she meets several of Shakespeare’s heroines who are also doomed to await trial, and patterns begin to emerge. As the women prepare Charity for court, they discover that their stories are not so different. Written in blank verse, the play aligns the 16th and 21st century, plucking Shakespeare’s women from their original plays and placing them on one stage. As present and past interact, the play exposes the treatment of women in the legal sphere throughout history, investigating good and evil, as well as the nuanced spaces between. Trapped within a rigid binary of innocence and guilt, virtue and sin, the women of The Defamation interrogate what it means to be a woman scrutinised in the public eye and explore the complex landscape of modern celebrity culture’. Lasting just an hour, hence the bitesize moniker, I thought that this was very well written and loved the language used. This is a new young writer I’m going to be keeping and eye on. (56)
20th July – Mandem – Riverside Studios, Bitesize – again I’m taking from the website – ‘Felix, Jermaine, Idris. Best friends, brothers, mandem. In the heart of the city; Felix is trying to live up to his golden boy online persona, Jermaine is forever chasing his mum’s nonexistent approval, and Idris just wants to get rich. As these three each take on the transition from boys to men, they soon realise the bridge between the verse and the chorus isn’t as harmonious as they were led to believe. They’re up against the world, but mostly – they’re up against themselves‘. this was first performed a part of the Peckham Fringe and was written by Amelia Michaels. I was at in the front row for this one and I can honestly say this was one of the most intimate performance I’ve seen. I look forward to both of these Bitesize pieces going further. (57)
25th July – Kiss me Kate – The Barbican – This was the performance with the original tickets I bought – and another good seat, I thoroughly enjoyed it again.
27th July – A View From The Bridge – Theatre Royal Haymarket – An Arthur Miller classic, starring Dominc West as Eddie alongside Kate Fleetwood as Beatrice, a couple who took in Catherine, their niece, played by Nia Towle. Set in Brooklyn by the docks of Red Hook they also give house room to Beatrice;’s cousins, Marco, played by Pierro Nigel -Mee and Rodolpho played by Callum Scott Howells, fresh from the boat from Italy, Their place is precarious as illegals, very apt for today. Eddie has muddled feelings for Catherine and begrudges Rodolpho’s emerging influence and her feelings for him. That ends in disaster. The whole thing is narrated by Alfieri played by Martin Marquez, who pays Eddie’s lawyer. It’s clear from the start of the play that tragedy is on its way. (58)
30th July – Death of England – Michael – Soho Place Theatre – In spite of having these plays on my NT at Home App, this was a first viewing for me and wow! The Concept was first introduced in 2014 with a 10 minute play with Rafe Spall in the part of Michael, he then took the role in the extended one man play. Thomas Coombes play Michael in this run and. he is excellent. ‘Michael is a man in crisis. After the death of his dad, Michael is powerless and angry. In a state of heartbreak, he confronts the difficult truths about his father’s legacy and the country that shaped him. At the funeral, unannounced and unprepared, Michael decides it is time to speak.‘ A powerful solo performance! (59)
30th July – Death of England – Delroy – Soho Place Theatre – A two plays in one theatre in one day thing, with my friend Cordell, we managed to squeeze a quick meal in between. Delroy is played by one of my favourite actors Paapa Essiedu and he is truly amazing in this solo performance, both men interacted with the audience and I’d say more so in this second play. Delroy is Michael’s schoolboy friend. ‘Unapologetically upwardly mobile and working as a bailiff, Delroy’s life spirals out of control on one surreal day as he races to get to the hospital where his girlfriend Carly is about to give birth‘. I have these 2 and the 3rd play, Closing Time, booked for September 14th. (60)
Favourite Musical Performance – This has to be Stephanie J Block in Kiss Me Kate, Broadway royalty on th London Stage.
Favourite Drama Performance – This is a no brainer, Paapa Essiedu was incredible as Delroy and it was great to be ‘up close’ as he performed.
365 Happy Days 