REVIEW: NewsRevue at Canal Café Theatre Thursday - Sunday

‘NewsRevue is a West London institution, and deservedly so’ ★★★★

What do you get when you give four ex-musical-theatre kids a box of cheap wigs and a brilliant pianist, then order them to tear apart the headlines? Sixty minutes of surreal, slapstick fun. NewsRevue is a West London institution, and deservedly so.

A warning for my fellow internationals: This is one of the most British things you’ll ever see. If William Wragg’s Grindr woes, Princess Anne’s affinity for horses and Angela Rayner’s red mane (no pun intended) mean nothing to you, get ready to strap in and catch up. But it doesn’t really matter. NewsRevue is satire at break-neck speed, its four performers (and one pianist) whirling from one topical scandal to another. If one reference isn’t for you, the next is just around the corner.

Perched by the waters of Little Venice, Canal Café Theatre has been ripping apart politicians and the news for nigh on half a decade. Its cast rotates every six weeks, and this lot is dizzyingly skilled: Jay Dodd, Steph Darcey, Tia Hyson and Zach Morley throw themselves into their countless roles, mashing together boundless energy, spot-on comic timing and genuinely lovely singing voices. They open and end the show with some banger medleys—Keir Starmer singing Poker Face? Our pollution problems in the style of NSYNC? And if you know your musical theatre canon, you’ll be particularly in on the jokes: Les Mis’s “One Day More” becomes “One Pound More” (and “I’m So Poor”), while Rishi Sunak makes a smashing Roxie Hart. 

Not everything is political: Steph Darcey and Tia Hyson’s walrus duet is a highlight and delight. And not everything is musical either: Zach Morley and Jay Dodd’s Keir Starmer/Angela Rayner double act pop ups repeatedly, with “Get in the fucking car” getting more laughs each time. As with any sketch show, some entries are weaker than others—it’s probably unsurprising that a British show’s Donald Trump satire will be less specific than its local references. Jokes may get dark—a Prince Andrew reference drew delighted gasps—but the point is always to entertain, not analyse or preach.

Director Lucie Neale has done an excellent job at juggling scene transitions and costume changes at hyperspeed, letting her performers pop up and out of the small stage like jack-in-the-boxes. A shout out as well to musical director Harry Gascoigne’s arrangements and on-stage playing.

This is a clever and deeply silly show that know its audience, and has many more years ahead of

it.

NewsRevue, Thursday – Sunday every week

Canal Café Theatre

Box Office https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/newsrevue/

Current Team

Director: Lucie Neale

Musical Director: Harry Gascoigne

Cast: Jay Dodd, Steph Darcey, Tia Hyson & Zach Morley

Running from Thursday 11th April – Sunday 19th May 2024

Reviewed by Anna Clart