Simon Haines

REVIEW: For Reasons That Remain Unclear, King’s Head Theatre ✭✭✭

Reviews
For Reasons That Remain Unclear

Mark Ludmon reviews Mart Crowley’s play For Reasons That Remain Unclear now playing at the King’s Head Theatre. For Reasons That Remain Unclear King’s Head Theatre Three stars Book Now All is not as it initially seems in Mart Crowley’s play For Reasons That Remain Unclear which is having its European premiere at the King’s Head. A handsome, stylish young man, Patrick, brings an attractive older man, Conrad, back to his luxurious hotel room in the heart of Rome. There is sexual tension in the air, fuelled by subtle flirtation, but their reasons for being there together are clearly more than just a casual pick-up – signalled most portentously by Conrad being a Roman Catholic priest in his full cassock and collar. Over the space of an hour and a half within the claustrophobic confines of Patrick’s hotel room, the two learn about each other and a past that connects … Read more

PREVIEW: Europe After The Rain At The Mercury Theatre Colchester

Features, Regional
Europe After The Rain Mercury Theatre Colchester

Paul T Davies takes a look at Oliver Bennett’s Europe After The Rain and talks to the cast who are now in rehearsals ahead of a season at the Mercury Theatre Colchester. I’ll admit to a “humble brag” regarding Oliver Bennett’s surreal, funny and disturbing new play. I was on the reading panel for the Mercury Theatre Playwriting Prize 2017, and, at the second round, I championed Europe After The Rain. In fact, I confidently said, “This is the winner”, one of the few occasions in which I felt I might know anything about plays. It did indeed win, and now the Mercury are about to stage Oliver’s vision, and a wider audience will hear his unique voice. I caught up with cast, James Alexandrou (Will), Simon Haines (Max), Natasha Kafka (Marta) and Anna Koval (Yana) and director Cara Nolan during rehearsals. The play imagines a near future where the … Read more

3 Guys Naked From The Waist Down Comes To Finborough Theatre

News, Off West End
3 Guys Naked From The Waste Down at Finborough Theatre

It’s the 1980s, and three guys – three very silly guys – aren’t nearly as famous as they think they ought to be. Comedy fame just isn’t happening quickly enough for charming Ted, rage-filled Phil and otherworldly Zen Catholic Kenny, until the three of them decide to form a team. Once united, the dizzying heights of late night chat shows, smash-hit TV sitcoms and international tours awaits. But, as it always does, fame comes with a price. It’s not easy living life naked from the waist down. 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down is a 1980s comedy musical about 1980s musical comics. This funny, vulgar and quintessentially 1980s show traces through stand-up, sketch and song the rise of three young stand-up comedians chasing the American Dream in a world where there are no heroes left. The cast includes Simon Haines as Ted, Benedict Hastings as Phil, and Guy Woolf … Read more