Abi at the Theatre

  When: 14th January 2023 (Matinee) Where: Soho Place, London Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Josie Rourke I was supposed to see this production in December but sadly due to cast illness we had to postpone it. However it was well worth the wait, this play is extraordinary. One of the greatest things about this production is it's accessibility. Introducing the use of sign language to the piece, captioning and casting Rose Ayling-Ellis in the role of Celia, entices a wide variety of audiences that have previously been excluded from theatres. For me, not only was this openness a great way of getting people into the theatre, but it added new levels and textures to Shakespeare's work that I don't think have been seen before. The way in which the captions and sign language are incorporated into the piece make it feel cohesive and as if it was meant to be there. As is discussed in the programme this is a story of love languages and within this sign language becomes another y...

  When: 12th January 2023 (Matinee) Where: Wyndhams Theatre, London Writer: Lolita Chakrabarti Director: Max Webster After a while hearing rave reviews and wanting to experience this play, I finally got around to doing so during its final week. I think this play deserves all the accolades it has recieved, and is a beautiful representation of theatre as a medium for storytelling.  The biggest draw to this play for me was the puppets, and I do think this is the most enthralling aspect of the production. Unlike previous puppetry that I have seen the puppets in this are constructed in a much more artistic style. Whilst they are clearly the animals they are presenting, without the work of the puppeteers they would not be seen as anything but figurines. Each animal has multiple puppeteers, some such as the tiger have a puppeteer that practically wears the puppet, walking on all-fours throughout. This sort of puppeteering defintely stretches the boundaries between the puppet being a ...

When: 21st December 2022 (matinee) Where: Barbican Theatre, London Writer: Tom Morton Smith / Hayao Miyazaki Director: Phelim McDermott I could tell from the moment this production was announced it was going to be one of those performances that only happens once and is talked about for years to come. Whilst it is still playing at the Barbican and they are yet to announce any further performances, I would be really surprised if they did. Watching it you can tell that they had an absolutely massive budget and that reproducing it in a different theatre would likely cost too much. But, I am so glad I got the chance to see it.  Taking on such a beloved story, and character, doing it justice is an unimaginable task, but I think this production blows all expectations out of the water. They have done a really good job at keeping the puppets off social media, and so unlike most performances I didn't really know what any of it was going to look like. From the moment the lights go down, you a...

  When: 12th November, 2022 (Matinee) Where: Harold Pinter Theatre, London Writer: C.P. Taylor Director: Dominic Cooke This play was a really interesting one. Intially I felt quite confused about what I felt about it, I think this is a good production, but for multiple reasons not one that I would shout from the rooftops about. Like many other plays in the West End at the moment one of the biggest draws for many people to see this play is the casting of David Tennant and to be honest this annoys me. I think David Tennant was brilliant for this role, but sadly by placing him in the West End and putting his name on all the posters, a completely wrong audience has been brought in. The piece is uncomfortable and raw, it's not a light piece of entertainment and from what I could tell the audience were not prepared for that. The majority of the audience were middle aged women, who were in big groups drinking Rose even at a matinee peformance. For me this is so frustrating, overhearing co...

  When: 20th October 2022 (Matinee) Where: Rose Theatre, Kingston Writer: Bertolt Brecht Director: Christopher Haydon I studied this play at A Level and to say I didn't like it would be an understatement, it was the bane of my life. I hated it and when my A Level was over I never planned on going near this play again if I could. I umed and ahed about seeing this but decided I would give it a shot not being one to turn down a trip to the theatre. I am really glad I did whilst the play it's self is still not my favourite, I really enjoyed this production of it and I think it has definitely weakened my hatered towards it.  One of the driving factors for this performance was the singer (Zoe West), she perfectly led us on the journey becoming that go between for the characters and the audience. This was just as Brecht had intended, the audience never became immersed in the story you were constantly aware that this is a story being told but we were still able to have emotional react...