Reviews

‘some very well-executed rug pulls’ ★★★ ½ Friends can often be as close as family, but they can never quite be family. As we grow older and differences in economic and familial circumstances become more apparent, that truth can make sustaining a friendship difficult. And that’s before you throw romantic relationships into the mix. It’s this fertile ground for drama that Zoe Hunter Gordon’s ‘1.17am, or until the words run out’ inhabits. Katie and Roni, played by Catherine Ashdown and Eileen Duffy respectively, have been friends since childhood, but a series of events has pushed them apart in adulthood. One night, they meet in an incredibly inauspicious location and hash it out. The play asks whether their friendship can be revived – and, more importantly, whether they truly want it to be. This is a closed-time, closed-location two-hander. At points, that confinement results in a sense of repetition, with the characters circling the same arguments without clear progression. Yet Gordon largely sustains dramatic tension across the 75-minute runtime, aided by some very well-executed rug pulls (on that note, I would urge prospective audiences to avoid promotional material, which reveals one of the play’s early twists). Sarah Stacey’s direction ups the ante on the script’s tension. Two particularly effective aspects of the production are the set and sound design. Mim Houghton’s set includes walls that tower over the characters, intensifying the claustrophobic atmosphere. Meanwhile, Sarah Spencer’s sound design – much of it muffled, thumping techno – pulses beneath the dialogue. The script’s dialogue leans heavily into naturalism: Katie and Roni trail off, interrupt one another, and allude to things rather than tackling them head-on. Whilst this lends a compelling truthfulness to the dialogue, it becomes somewhat frustrating, as the audience is left with too little to hang on to. This is especially true towards the end of the play, where the precise nature of a pivotal rupture remains unclear. Some may find this ambiguity compelling; I found myself wishing the script would offer a little more. 1.17am, or until the words run out by Zoe Hunter Gordon / Finborough Theatre / 10 February – 7 March 2026 https://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/117am-or-until-the-words-run-out Production Images Credit- Giulia Ferrando

‘These Roots are Made for Walking is a unique anthropology of 3 feminist and queer stories that only leaves us wanting to hear more.’ ★★★★ 3 performers, 3 different women, 3 different stories in time and place. From London during the 2 nd world war, through the very first Dyke March in Washington D.C. to an exotic dancer accused of collaboration in Paris, the audience is swiftly transported into each setting. With minimal props or set design, the performers all succeed in grasping us into the lives of these women, ultimately in search of freedom, meaning and justice. They move between humour, joy and tragedy striking us with a play full of emotions and poetic imagery. Thrown amidst a moving goodbye dance, a crazy declaration of love through karaoke, or a very funny exotic dance, there is no time in this piece to feel disengaged. Emily Wollenberg, creator of Unearthed Theatre Company, opens the show with ‘She’, a story of impossible queer love in 1941 in London. Told with a delicate tone and heartfelt humour, this hidden love story set in an artillery factory reminds us both of the fate of women during the war – which is often too little talked about – and the hopelessness of an unthinkable love. Caro Vinden swoops in with incredible energy in her play ‘Lesbians Eat Fire’ which transports us effortlessly, with a selection of 90s hits and an electric dance sequence, to the heart of New York City where the Lesbian Avengers fight for lesbian visibility and battle the AIDS crisis. Joanne falls in love with a woman she saw speaking at a Dyke March, and as she throws herself impulsively and passionately in this new world we can’t help but fall in love with her too. In the third act, Isabel Hees incarnates the mystic Mata Hari, and tells us with flair and wit a story of survival, of a woman pursuing her own freedom, and inevitably, the fatal consequences of it. Isabel carries this third part brilliantly and gives the show a poignant end. Why the choice of these 3 women in particular? Firstly, even though the stories are dated, the relevance of this play today is obvious both for the feminist and LGBTQ+ communities. And ultimately, as Isabel Hees says it in the end, there are so many untold stories of women - looked over, imprisoned or even murdered - that deserve justice. This show is for them. These Roots Are Made For Walking, a new play by Unearthed Theatre Company Canal Cafe Theatre, Little Venice 7 p.m. Feb. 11th, 13th, 14th, and 15th BOX OFFICE

 ‘A story of fame and ambition that explores the thin line between stardom, notoriety and obscurity.’ ★★★★ THE PAPER DOLL HOUSE is an ode to old Hollywood – the stars and the camp. Like many such tales, it is a story of fame and ambition that explores the thin line between stardom, notoriety, and obscurity. Julie Balloo’s play takes place in 1956 Los Angeles and introduces Betty and Eddie, a young couple looking to make their way in Hollywood. Despite Betty’s acting aspirations and Eddie’s on-set experience, the couple faces the economic realities of dreaming in Hollywood; bills are paid by way of Betty’s door-to-door makeup sales and Edie’s grifting. By contrast, Charlotte Shelby and her daughter Mary Miles Minter have been through fame and back. They are washed up actresses from the shores of Broadway and the silent pictures, respectively. Hollywood has not been kind to either couple. Once adored for her beauty and youth, Mary’s celebrity was unceremoniously cut short following the mysterious death of a famous director with whom she was having a romantic affair. Though the murder was never solved, the court of public opinion decided Mary or her mother Charlotte must have pulled the fatal trigger. Following their exile from the industry, the two have spent the last several decades aging in isolation surrounded by mementos of their former lives. Mother and daughter are literally and figuratively stuck in the past, still fighting over who bought the mansion in which they are slowly wasting away. To the audience, their lives are a testament to the fleeting and fickle nature of fame and the power of public perception. To Eddie, they are perfect marks and he sets out to con the women into a recorded confession. Balloo and co-writer Donna Kings’ script is full of cultural references, bordering on self-referential. Before SUNSET BOULEVARD is ever mentioned aloud, it’s clear that Jan Goodman’s Charlotte is her own sharp-tongued Norma Desmond. The script plays with form and genre. A cheeky reference to Ronald Reagan nods at satire within realism. A clever framing device draws on film noir tropes of the 1950s to immediately establish a distinct setting and ambiance. Characters are hybrids of nuance and cliché, which serves the play’s short run time. Even if we have not met these exact characters, we understand their literal and figurative roles and can slip easily into their world. The show’s success is a result of fantastic performances from all four actors. Chloe Teresa Wilson’s Betty is a wide-eyed and endearing beauty salesman with a dream. Carol Been’s Mary is a tragic representation of the generations of child stars eventually shunned from public view as soon as their value - youth and beauty - diminishes. Tom Inman as Eddie accomplishes no small feat by successfully imbuing the play’s antagonist with undeniable charm. Were these performances any less strong, Jan Goodman’s Charlotte would be an even greater standout. As it is, her incredible performance, full of comedy and pathos, is nearly matched by the fellow talent onstage. As TVs proliferate across American living rooms, each character in Balloo’s play must reconcile their role in the growing attention economy. Betty and Eddie are desperate for a way in, Charlotte is desperate for a way back , and Mary is desperate to drink away the knowledge that none of them have any control. Despite its use of tropes, THE PAPER DOLL HOUSE succeeds in offering an original look at the underside of the American Dream just beneath the glitz and glamour of showbiz. The script is strongest when it is commenting on the nature of fame and the lengths we go to secure it and weakest when obliquely referencing gender-based relationship dynamics and violence. Much like a paper doll house, fame is not as solid as we might like or want to believe. THE PAPER DOLL HOUSE Written by Julie Balloo Additional Material from Donna King Directed by Tug J Wilson The Old Red Lion Pub & Playhouse Presented by The Lollywood Players Performance Dates: 11th – 14th February 2026 Performance Time: 8pm (3pm Saturday 14th) Run Time: 75 mins Tickets: £18 / £15 Get 15% Off on Group Bookings of 6 or more with Discount Code DOLLS 2 for 1 on Full Price Tickets for Valentine’s Day with Discount Code LOVE14 https://weareoldred.co.uk/whats-on/freshfest-2026/the-paper-doll-house/ Reviewer Jessica Steans-Gail is a New York City transplant currently pursuing an MA in Writing For Performance & Dramaturgy from Goldsmiths University. She is a life-long writer and performer and recently performed her solo show The Fundamentals of Acting across NYC. Jessica has managed multiple prominent comedy venues and worked in marketing & press for Broadway shows that include Hamilton, Mamma Mia! and more.

‘the weight of living’ ★★★★ ARTISTS Hours by Rachel Elderkin Citizens of Grief by Si Rawlinson Before the After by Taylor Lauren Hughes The evening opened with a feminine piece that evoked Virginia Woolf’s The Waves. Two female dancers, with great specificity and physical precision, conveyed a sense of loss, longing, and blockage. The work was poetic and the physical execution was clear, but the overall dramaturgic arc of the piece felt somewhat muted. Although the show delved into feelings of being lost, directionless, and exhausted, it could benefit from stronger structural progression to deepen its impact. The highlight of the evening was Citizens of Grief by Si Rawlinson. The performance opened with mystical South Asian music, creating an unexpected cultural framing for the mixed-heritage British Chinese performer. What first appeared to be an exploration of identity soon developed into a deeply personal story of survival and the burden of living. The piece proposed that grief is not only tied to loss, but is something we carry constantly as part of being alive. Through a combination of elements that do not usually come together - standup comedy, hip-hop dance set to South Asian music, and themes of grief - the show left the audience with a strong sense of the weight of the lives we all carry. The evening concluded with Before the After by Taylor Lauren Hughes, guiding the audience through an Alice in Wonderland-like world filled with contorted, yogic postures and fluid movements. The structure was clear in its overall trajectory, guiding the audience from beginning to end, yet the central section felt less defined. While the choreography intentionally embraced unpredictability, with their chance-based methods, mid-section development might strengthen piece in general. Overall, the evening suggested the general impression of the weight of living - the uncertainty of direction, and the question of whether the lives we inhabit feel fully real. RESOLUTION 2026 Festival of new choreography The Place, London BOX OFFICE https://theplace.org.uk/resolution-2026/

‘The hell of war’ ★★★★ War isn’t just hell. It’s pointless, meaningless hell. Evil runs rampant, and good doesn’t triumph. There are no heroes and no villains. It offers nothing but misery heaped on misery. The triumph of London-based Ukrainian playwright Olga Braga’s Donbas is that it doesn’t take the easy route of simply lionising heroic little Ukraine. Instead it shows us the heartbreaking squalor of living in the midst of a war. Braga’s compassion and understanding extends, not just to the young Ukrainian, newly released from a Russian prison, who wants to go and fight for his country; but also to his father, who has no patience for such quixotic ideas, lives in the world as it is with his home region of Donbas under Russian control, works for the Russians, scrapes together enough to feed his family, has obtained a Russian passport, and is determined to see his son do the same. Her compassion extends, not just to the 15-year-old girl whose beloved mother is gunned down for being on the street after curfew, but also to the wretched Russian soldier who shot her. Sashko’s father’s arguments against going to fight for his country are presented cogently and forcefully. Does Sashko think he is defending his nation? But he has a Russian grandmother. Just what is his nation? What is your nation, or mine? We are all mongrels. This is a very fine play because it avoids easy answers and simplistic narratives, and it shows us human beings, with all their failings and weaknesses, in a war zone. It’s a play which really demands a bigger space and more facilities than it can have in the tiny Theatre503, and I hope in time it gets them, but meanwhile it’s brought to the 503 stage with economy and gritty realism by director Anthony Simpson-Pike, and held together by a brilliant central performance from Jack Bandeira as Sashko. (Bandeira doubles as a Russian soldier, such are the exigencies of pub theatre.) The rest of the cast are excellent too; there is not a weak performance. It’s not perfect. Sometimes Braga goes off piste for a little too long and forgets she is telling a story. I wasn’t convinced by the dream sequences, which required various members of the cast to dress up as Cossacks and stand around looking silently meaningful. Nonetheless, this play establishes Braga as probably the best writer Ukraine has given the English language since the great, and now sadly late, Marina Lewycka. It’s beautifully written, with character emerging from dialogue, as it should. “He died a good death” says Sashko of a friend killed fighting the Russians. “No, he just died” says his father. Read our INTERVIEW with director Anthony Simpson-Pike HERE DONBAS by Olga Braga at Theatre503 5 - 28 February 2026 BOX OFFICE Artistic Team Writer Olga Braga Director Anthony Simpson-Pike Designer Niall McKeever Lighting Designer Christopher Nairne Sound Designer Xana Movement Director Nevena Stojkov Cast Jack Bandeira Ksenia Devriendt Liz Kettle Philippe Spall Sasha Syzonenko Steve Watts Photography: Helen Murray

“The truth is priceless” ★★★★ This two-hander production exhibits the friendship of William Hogarth and David Garrick; exploring themes of legacy, competition and aspiration. An intriguing compilation of encounters between the pair; highlighting the professional achievements of them both. This work paints them not only as the great figures of their time but as life-like, faulted characters too. While this play presents Garrick in a flattering light; his initial upper class ignorance to poverty is not something that this production shies away from. Hogarth's persistence to inform him, allows this work to feel relevant to the present day. Over the course of the play we spectate how the two challenge and spur one another on. How does one create art? How does one perceive it? How do we use art to challenge an unjust world? Between Hogarth’s blunt wit and Garrick’s florid linguistics we find ourselves searching for the answers. Gareth Armstrong, writer and director of this staging, sheds light on these influential artists with intelligent, funny dialogue and presents us with a thoroughly researched script. He gives us a peek into who these men are morally and how this influences their artistic processes. We feel both boldness and sensitivity from the characters which feels natural and genuine. Set and Costume Design by Rachel Griffin is refined and understated; rounding the show in perfect cohesion. This is a definite feast for the intellect, with in-depth references to eighteenth century art and theatre. Alongside insights of how Shakespeare was perceived and performed during this era. Round About Hogarth brings humour, expertise and artistry to modern day audiences. You will leave with a warm sense that you’ve been brought closer to Hogarth and Garrick, with your knowledge bettered and your heart entertained. Round About Hogarth 12 - 21 Feb 2026 Tabard Theatre, Chiswick BOX OFFICE The Cast : David Garrick Miles Richardson / William Hogarth Terence Frisch The Creatives: Writer & Director | Gareth Armstrong Set & Costume Design | Rachael Griffin Sound Design & Music | Simon Slater Associate Director | John Griffiths Stage Manager | Sandra Szaron Produced by | Simon and Sarah Reilly for Take Note Theatre for the Tabar Photography: Matt Hunter

"An intoxicating fusion." ★★★★ Miles Davies, the iconoclastic jazz trumpeter and composer, is the inspiration for MILES, which after strong reviews at Edinburgh in 2025, is now at Southwark Playhouse Borough. Combining the impressive acting talents of RADA graduate, Benjamin Akintuyosi as Miles Davies, matched by the musical skill of Jay Phelps, an international jazz trumpet player and DJ, this immersive, layered production takes the audience into the heart of the music created by Davies, his philosophy and character. Directed, written and produced by Oliver Kaderbjai, Artistic Director of Delirium, the approach is episodic and impressionistic, not what you would recognise as a traditional linear biopic,and is all the better for it. Structurally, the play is more a series of beats or fragments, and weaves together cleverly, something like winding, smoky jazz. Rather than dull out the audience with endless autobiographical detail, we witness a series of moments and emotions, while somehow absorbing the very essence of Miles Davies. Jay Phelps as Jay Phelps, plays a contemporary musician, stuck, frustrated and lost. He’ll get dumped by his record label if he doesn’t deliver, so locks himself in a studio at Columbia with the session tapes from Kind of Blue , Miles Davis’s seminal 1959 album recorded over two days. As he tries to crack the musical code of this genius, he conjures his hero and mentor into the room. Their conversation across generations, one artist to another, provides the narrative frame. Peppered with the endless prompts of an eager student, Miles Davies relives the highs, lows, loves, addiction, racism, the beautiful act of creation and the ugly face of desperation. This encounter gets to the heart of making music and what that creative act entails including the sacrifices. Miles, broken-hearted after his love affair with Juliet Greco in Paris, uses his experience to make art, “it was my pain on a 78.” His influences meld the European classical cannon with the rhythms of modern dance including tap, and draw on African and Cuban rhythms, "black and white". We learn that every spare, intentional note has meaning and that Miles is just as interested in the spaces between the notes. Benjamin Akintuyosi in the central role is magnetically charismatic. Resembling a young James Baldwin, Miles is constantly wreathed in clouds of cigarette smoke. He prowls around the stage and flits effortlessly between the gravelly, growly Miles (post larynx removal) and Miles the younger, consumed by fury, fervour and fierce talent. He dances and plays, declares and instructs, rues and rallies. It’s a quite breathtaking and brilliant debut performance. Phelps' talents - while not in the same acting league - are the sound engine to this production and his character provides the creative impulse for the story that unfolds. His trumpet, that can be heard in many live interludes, is a character in its own right, with its own musical arc, from a shrieky, cluttered, confused thing, “too many notes!” critiques Miles, to one that is spirited and self-assured, Phelps eventually learns to “create not recreate.” This rewarding creative collaboration is, in terms of length, stretched just a little too far and long and loses pace towards the end, but overall offers an intoxicating fusion: audio, visual, performative and experiential, that gives insight into the complexities, dichotomies and brilliance of Miles Davies. BOX OFFICE

'The overarching theme of this evening’s Resolution was, I would say, femme ’ ★★★★ Artists Room- Room Dance Company Remains Still – Lilah Bobak Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizards: Act1 – Kirstin Halliday The evening opened with a striking image of red threads, suggesting the veins of a womb. Accompanied by projected footage of cell division, Room by Room Dance Company explored female energy from within the body. Refreshingly, although the work touches on birth, it is not framed through motherhood, but through the internal rhythms of the body itself. Rather than explaining or narrating, the piece gently flows with this pulse, offering a reflective glimpse into processes that usually remain unseen. This was followed by remains still by Lilah Bobak. Most striking were the elongated, interconnected costumes, which seemed to define and extend the performers’ movement. Despite the visual suggestion of entanglement, the effect felt less restrictive and more like a gesture of connection and longing, producing a smooth, continuous physical dialogue between the dancers. The evening closed with the witty non-movement piece Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizards, Act 1 by Kirstin Halliday. After two more elaborate dance works, it was refreshing to encounter performers who largely remained still, embodying desert lizards. A documentary-style narration accompanied them, and as the audience waited for movement to begin, subtle shifts emerged: fingers slowly unfurling, a twitch here, a breath there. This near-stillness created a strangely dizzy sensation, like air vibrating in desert heat. Referencing the whiptail lizard species in which males have gone extinct and only females remain, the work comically subverted the male gaze on the female body. Overall, it played more like a loosely connected triple bill. RESOLUTION 2026 Festival of new choreography The Place, London BOX OFFICE https://theplace.org.uk/resolution-2026/

‘Ferrets, lies and the glory days of The Sun’ ★★★ ½ 1987. The Sun Newspaper runs a salacious story about Elton John sleeping with a rent boy. John provides clear evidence that he was halfway around the world and nowhere near where the incident was said to have occurred. But Sun Editor Kelvin Mackenzie doesn’t care about truth. He is only interested in selling stories, whether they are true or not and regardless of who is damaged in the process. Thus begins a battle between The Sun running story after fabricated story about Elton John and the Mirror newspaper countering with evidence and John’s side of the story. Monstering Rocket Man is not really about Elton John. It is about the corruption and ultimate redemption of a young cub reporter nicknamed Lynx, who is desperate to prove himself in the sleazy, expletive fuelled world of 1980s tabloids. Henry Naylor both wrote and performed Monstering Rocket Man. The writing is exceptional, with multiple characters knitted together to make up a rich tapestry within which Lynx’ story unfolds. It was very well researched, and images of the newspaper headlines from the stories he described flashed up on a screen throughout the show. In performance, I don’t know if it was tiredness, and Naylor certainly sounded vocally strained, but he stumbled over his lines too often. His high energy was great, but in his attempts to be fast paced, Naylor ended up rushing and scrambling through many of his lines. The show would have benefited from varying the tempo occasionally. All in all, this was a fascinating show, shining a light on an era of tabloid journalism, the consequences of which reverberate to this day in the phone hacking trials and the way fake news have become a staple of social media. Well worth seeing, though the show would be stronger if Naylor just slowed down a little. Monstering Rocket Man by Henry Naylor, Arcola Theatre, 3-21 February 2026 BOX OFFICE https://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/monstering-the-rocketman/#event-booking Performer and writer: Henry Naylor Director: Darren Lee Cole AV Designer: Iain Pearson Photography: Steve Ellathorne Reviewer: Srabani Sen Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full length plays. Her play Tawaif was longlisted for the ETPEP Finborough award, and her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.