Dream Play at The Vault review: A profoundly odd exploration of human emotion September 15, 2016 Very roughly based on the story of an alien who visits Earth to experience the full gamut of human emotions, Dream Play presents a series of disjointed vignettes that teeter on the fuzzy precipice between real and abstract. That’s to say, it’s supremely odd. Actors repeatedly swap characters as the audience moves from room to [...]
The Infiltrator review: Brian Cranston makes for an underwhelming lead in this coke-fuelled true story September 15, 2016 In the years since Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston has struggled as a movie lead, with the underwhelming Trumbo being followed by this true story of Bob Mazur, an undercover customs agent who goes deep into the operations of Pablo Escobar. Despite a confident performance from Cranston, who skates the line between good and evil as [...]
Bridget Jones lives next to a hospital, right, so why does it take her so long to get to a maternity ward when she goes into labour. It doesn’t make sense September 15, 2016 Here’s a thing. Bridget Jones lives on Bedale Street, close enough to Borough Market that she could swan dive from her bedroom window and land in a basket of organic, gluten-free sourdough, or one of those massive iron pans filled with Ethiopian curry. Directly across the road from her flat is Guy’s Hospital (the tallest [...]
Blair Witch: this 2016 sequel to the found-footage classic has plenty of scares but little new to offer September 15, 2016 The Blair Witch Project was the product of a more innocent time. Back in 1999, people believed the film might have been a genuine documentary about some kids being murdered by a witch. Actor Heather Donahue, who played a fictional version of herself, even complained that “being dead” had an adverse affect on her career. [...]
The Alchemist at the Barbican review: this brilliant 17th century morality play still feels searingly relevant September 15, 2016 Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist is an invigorating blend of clever script and silly performances, in which three con artists make an uneasy alliance to fleece the unsuspecting citizens of 17th century London. First performed in 1610, The RSC’s revival at the Barbican reveals a play that’s still funny, and not just in the way you [...]
Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again at Shoreditch town hall review: an angry, uncomfortable but worthwhile play September 12, 2016 Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again begins as a series of smart, unconnected sketches exploring ways in which women are subjugated, and ends up a chilling experimental dreamscape in which language and structure have entirely broken down. Featuring no backdrop, few props and four actors playing a series of unnamed characters, this is minimalist theatre taken [...]
The Naked Magicians is a lovely show about two men who do card tricks for a while and then get their penises out September 8, 2016 Now that we all live in the future and can summon an infinite parade of willies and foofs with just a few lazy swipes of our thumb, on-stage nudity doesn’t carry the giddying air of scandal it used to. The Naked Magicians feels like a cabaret show from the pre-internet era, the sort of hotel [...]
You Say You Want A Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970 at the V&A is a chaotic, messy but satisfyingly psychedelic trip September 8, 2016 We’re not exactly short of gushing eulogies of the late 1960s, but the V&A’s new exhibition does at least allow us another chance to ponder the formative years of a generation many blame for the near-breakdown of western civilisation. Records and Rebels does little to disprove the theory that baby boomers had their cake and [...]
Vanities is a hilarious musical comedy charting the life journeys of three cheerleaders September 8, 2016 Vanities is a musical comedy that follows the fate of three childhood friends, from their days as boundlessly energetic cheerleaders in a Dallas high school in the mid-1960s to their lives as three very different adult women. Mary, Joanne and Kathy each have their own clear aspirations for the future, but shared among them is [...]
It’s not that I want horses to die for my entertainment, but Ben Hur would have benefited from at least one horse being in mortal danger during filming September 8, 2016 Ben Hur (1959) is an epic historical drama about a Jewish prince sent into slavery after some shoddy tiling fell on a centurion and made him look a right tit in front his garrison. Condemned to row himself to death aboard a Roman galley, he eventually wins his freedom and returns to his home country [...]