Abi at the Theatre

  When: 19th July 2024  Where: The Royal Court Theatre, London Writer: Nassim Soleimanpour Director: Omar Elerian This production was unlike anything I have seen before. It is an experience not just for the audience but for the actors that take to the stage each night.  Soleimanpour's play is performed as a cold-read, unrehearsed with a different actor taking on the role each night, unaware of what is going to be asked of them. On our night Rebecca Lucy Taylor took on the role of the actor. Taylor is relatively new to acting and whilst I think many audience members will choose to see actors such as Fiona Shaw or Adrian Lester who are trained or have years of experience, I personally think Taylor's lack of training made the production even more raw and moving. Without this training Taylor fully allows herself to take the soul of the story onboard reacting genuinely and in real time, not trying in any way to perform. As an audience it felt as if we were going on the journe...

  When: 10th July 2024 (Matinee) Where: London Coliseum, London Writer: John Caird and Maoko Imai (After Hayao Miyazaki) Director: John Caird After seeing the RSC's stunning production of My Neighbour Totoro this production of Spirited Away had a lot to live up to, and it managed it beautifully. This production of Spirited Away is a perfect adaptation of the film, holding onto its joy and excitement transporting us into the world of the bathhouse.  In it's approach to adaption Spirited Away feels similar to My Neighbour Totoro, using Puppetry and practical sets to bring the magical world of Miyazaki's award winning film to life. Not only are the puppets beautifully crafted, but the performers puppeteering them expertly give them life. Each character looks, moves and acts in their own specific way, so whilst we may never hear them speak they are all individual and understandable. With more complex puppets again this production took a practical approach using its ensemble...

  When: 5th July 2024 Where: Young Vic, London Writer: Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald Director: Liesl Thomas  The first thing that stands out about Passing Strange is the performers, every single one of them from the band to the ensemble to the narrator were phenomenal. The casting of Giles Terera as the narrator is perfect, his charisma from the moment he steps on stage is electric. The style of the production is very chatty, ignoring any existence of a fourth wall and bringing its audience along for the ride and Terera plays a brilliant leader for this. Similarly the way in which the ensemble move into and out of the stage space and for that matter the auditorium feels as though the characters of the story are infiltrating the audiences space rather than the audience simply being onlookers. Through this the ensembles range is also tested, at points it feels experimentalist, perhaps verging on University drama with the mad over exaggerated characters and playing with ster...

  When: 27th June 2024 (Matinee) Where: Duke of York's Theatre, London Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Jamie Lloyd  This production has been highly anticipated due to the casting of Tom Holland, selling out within hours of the tickets going on sale. If I'm being honest unlike the majority of the audience present I was not there to see Tom Holland, in fact it almost put me off going. However, having enjoyed two previous productions by Jamie Lloyd, and my sister wanting to go anyway I thought I would be annoyed if I missed out. Whilst I don't think I would have missed out by not seeing this production it was interesting and I am glad I got to see it.  I have seen two productions previously by Jamie Lloyd (The Seagull and The Effect) both of which I thought were brilliant. I have always been a fan of the use of film and technology within theatre, since seeing Ivo Van Hove's production of All About Eve in 2019, but in this most recent production I fear Lloyd was too ...