Editorial Staff

INTERVIEW: Philip Ridley, Telling Stories

Interviews, Off West End
Philip Ridley

Phil Matthews meets celebrated playwright Philip Ridley. His new play Feathers in the Snow premieres at Southwark Playhouse this month. Walking into the Southwalk Playhouse during the day is an odd experience. Gone are the atmospheric lights and energy that form part of the theatre’s famous character. This feels more like being in a nightclub post-event. The cleaners have mopped up the detritus of the previous hedonistic party, and we’re left with the bare bones of the building – warts and all. Sitting in the theatre bar though, it feels rather poignant, considering the venue is in its final days of life here, a move to make the London Bridge Station redevelopment possible. Boy, if these walls could talk. I’m meeting Philip Ridley, the celebrated playwright of The Pitchfork Disney, Mercury Fur and Shivered. The latter premiered at the theatre earlier this year in a hugely successful production, and now … Read more

REVIEW: Rent, Greenwich Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Off West End, Reviews
Rent Greenwich Theatre

In this production, the creative team and cast have clarified Jonathan Larson’s message. By returning to the Broadway roots, recreating the ambiance of the bohemian Alphabet City of the Nineties, and focussing on the narrative drive of the show, Rent becomes relevant. This is an admirable revival of a modern classic.

TALES FROM THE DRESSING ROOM : Penelope Keith

Interviews
Penelope Keith

In the first of our Tales From The Dressing Room series, Penelope Keith chats candidly to JBR about the changes in the industry since her training. “Come in, come in. Welcome to the most elegant dressing room in the West End.” How could it not be? This is, after all, the famed Dressing Room No. 10 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Current resident, the ever fragrant Penelope Keith, is precisely as one imagines her to be; part hectoring schoolmarm, part favourite aunt. “I like the idea of older actors passing on what they know, but don’t make me sound too much like an old fart,” she pleads, as she crosses the room and takes her seat. The room is not the most extravagantly appointed one in the West End. A large, French style dressing table occupies the right hand side where Keith’s wig sits, proudly, on a stand. Modest amounts … Read more

INTERVIEW: Leslie Jordan – Walking Down The Pink Carpet

Interviews, West End
Leslie Jordan

It has to be the hottest pink ticket in town folks! As Jordan prepares for the opening of his one man show, can Phil Matthews get him to reveal even more? If you aren’t aware of the name Leslie Jordan by now – one has to pose the question – where have you been hiding? He may be just 4 foot 11, but wherever this pintsized power house skips, boy does he make himself heard. A true comedy star of American television and stage, Jordan eventually made his name in the sitcom Will & Grace starring as camp southern Republican Beverly Leslie. It was a show stealing role that won him an Emmy. Surely the penny is on its second bounce by now? The 55 year old has travelled across the pond and has been in the Capital on a media mission to promote his one man show – Lesley … Read more