theatre reviews

I write up-to-date reviews on professional and amateur theatre for online mag "West End Best Friend".

Review: INTERVIEW, Riverside Studios | West End Best Friend

“Just the truth or someone’s version of it”. Interview’s tagline lets us know that we’re in for 90 minutes of twists, unreliable narration and ethical debates - and it definitely delivers. Robert Sean Leonard accurately captures the disgruntlement of passed-up political journalist Pierre Peters, who opens the play by complaining to his bed-ridden colleague Theo about his latest assignment: interviewing successful influencer-turned-actress Katya. Pierre’s frustration at the lowness of this gig se...

Review: HOT MESS, Southwark Playhouse Elephant | West End Best Friend

It’s not been an easy ride for “the universe’s most iconic couple”, Earth and Humanity. New musical Hot Mess, fresh off the back of a successful run at Edinburgh Fringe, is a playful imagining of how the pair came to be, but will their relationship last? For 65 minutes, it delivers meaningful commentary about our over-exploitation of the earth’s resources without feeling preachy or overly earnest. We instantly know Danielle Steers is Earth, as she comes on stage in a silk dressing gown with her...

Review: THE SENTIMENTAL VALUE OF A HALF-EATEN BISCUIT AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF A LOST HAIR-TIE, Bread & Roses Theatre | West End Best Friend

The Sentimental Value of a Half-Eaten Biscuit and The Psychological Ramifications of a Lost-Hair Tie is a tonally accurate title for this one-person play by Sian Kayleigh. Oakley - who’s also played by Kayleigh - arrives on stage dancing to the music in their headphones before giving themselves a strict schedule in which to tidy their room, shower, eat, and get changed. Spoiler alert: they achieve one out of four things. This is one of the strengths of the piece, the subtle but effective depicti...

Review: English National Ballet's R:EVOLUTION, Sadler's Wells | West End Best Friend

Is ballet a rigid, unchanging discipline? Over just over two hours, the English National Ballet proves that’s not the case. The performance is divided into four pieces which couldn’t be more different from one another. Yet each is as beautifully performed as the previous, conveying the range of emotions that can be expressed through the power of dance. The first piece is “Themes and Variations”, choreographed by George Balanchine, which appears to be the most traditional. It evokes a wedding cel...

film analysis

I write articles that explore love, loss and connection in contemporary women-led and queer films.