REVIEW: Dirty Great Love Story, Arts Theatre ✭✭✭✭
Dirty Great Love Story’ is sweet-natured and is told so inventively, making it no surprise that it has had the success it has
Alexa Terry
CRITIC’S CHOICE 2016: Alexa Terry
We asked our reviewers to take a look at 2016 and to nominate some stand out productions for 2016. Alexa Terry replied with the following:- The Pianist of Willesden Lane Often, I find myself leaving the theatre with tear-streaked cheeks and puffy eyes. But, I was not prepared for the sobs that engulfed me, as I watched Mona Golabek’s The Pianist of Willesden Lane’ – a true story of how Lisa Jura, Golabek’s mother, was sent to Great Britain on the Kinderstransport and became a concert pianist. Overwhelming, powerful and hauntingly current, this is undoubtedly, one of the best and most moving pieces of theatre I have experienced. Vanities ‘Vanities’ completely provoked my emotions as I laughed out loud, had my heartstrings plucked and tried to cough away the lumps in my throat (I will get a reputation for being a cry-baby if I’m not careful!). With a satisfying score … Read more
REVIEW: Rent, St James Theatre (On Tour) ✭✭✭✭✭
As I write this, I am envious of those who are yet to see this brilliant 20th-anniversary production which offers unparalleled, penetrating rawness, performed by a modest cast who surrender their souls to the book, score and to the broken New York artists whose stories they tell.
REVIEW: Cats, New Wimbledon Theatre ✭✭✭✭
It has to be said: Marianne Benedict as Grizabella gives the best rendition of the infamous show tune that I have ever heard; with the climactic crescendo, her pipes burst with such raw integrity and the uninterrupted audience applause (which will undoubtedly be repeated at each performance) is whole-heartedly deserved.
REVIEW: The Entertainer, Garrick Theatre ✭✭✭✭
The Entertainer’, a brilliantly performed play paralleling the breakdown of the British Empire and the decline of music hall, which concludes Kenneth Branagh’s season at the Garrick.
REVIEW: The Book Club, King’s Head Theatre ✭✭✭
If I had been wearing a hat, I would have taken it off to Amanda Muggleton. Although I didn’t find the character to be particularly likeable, Muggleton’s extensive monologue is animated and, imaginative.
REVIEW: Murder Ballad, Arts Theatre ✭✭✭✭
for me, ‘Murder Ballad’ is all about the exciting score which doesn’t depend on the screaming tenor, but on the sultry bass and an amalgamation of sexed up jazz/pop, with thirst-quenching rock belts (which are, of course, gratefully received). With their music and lyrics, Jordan and Nash blow the dust from the spine of a told tale.
REVIEW: The Pianist Of Willesden Lane, St James Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭
The piece is told beautifully and simply, with no added spectacle or illusion: just one woman, her piano and a story – and I was holding on to every word and every note. I expected scattered sniffs and the rustling of tissues, but it was between Golabek’s performance of Beethoven’s Sonata ‘Moonlight’ and Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’ where I surrendered to the army of stomach knots and the choking lump in my throat and sobbed – the shoulder-bobbing kind.
