Monstering the Rocketman at the Arcola Theatre takes on 1980s tabloid journalism through the lens of Elton John and The Sun. Monstering the Rocketman I briefly considered sprinkling this review with Elton John puns. It’s easily done, and I’ve seen it work elsewhere in writing about Henry Naylor’s one-man show Monstering the Rocketman, now at […]
The meeting of two women in a London train station has all the energy and mystery of quantum physics in this queer reworking of Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg. Heisenberg Formulated by the German physicist and Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg in 1927, the uncertainty principle states that we cannot know both the position and speed of a […]
Darkly comic Dear Martin is an amusing “what if” about a budding friendship between a cuckolded husband and his wife’s erotic penpal, who is also a psychopath. Dear Martin It really is the curious premise that draws you into seeing a play, sometimes. Such was the case, for me, with Dear Martin by Madelaine Brettingham […]
Suzan-Lori Parks’ play The Book of Grace packs a real punch under the direction of Femi Elufowoju Jr. The Book of Grace This is the second time I’ve seen a play by Suzan-Lori Parks. Similar to other playwrights like Lynn Nottage, Parks’ work is self-referential, creating links and synergies which reward repeat forays into her […]
Lola-Rose Maxwell and Charlie Kemp achieve feats of theatre and comedy for Arcola audiences: making up a play entirely on the spot for their viewing pleasure in The Improvised Play! The Improvised Play The premise here is simple. In fact, the title says it all. After a first run in 2022 at the Royal Court, […]
Sergio Blanco’s latest play When You Pass Over My Tomb is a wild ride through London, Paris, Switzerland, taboo topics and erudite allusions. Content warning: mentions of assisted suicide and necrophilia. When You Pass Over My Tomb My beloved Like the wind When you pass over my tomb From within my grave Desirous of you […]
Graduates from Intermission Youth Theatre’s 15-year history return in Taming Who?, a Shakespearean adaptation for our times. A Milestone for Intermission Youth Theatre Yesterday marked a special performance on this year’s theatre calendar. The latest press night for Intermission Youth Theatre (my third following Juliet & Romeo and MSND). And this one featuring alumni from […]
Haruki Murakami’s 1999 novel Sputnik Sweetheart comes to the Arcola stage, with all its ambiguity, loneliness and longing. Sputnik Sweetheart The novels of Haruki Murakami are not easy ones to stage. Ambiguous, with frequently charismatic yet unreliable narrators, and other worlds as metaphorical plot devices. I’ve read other works by the author, but not Sputnik […]
A journey through London’s heart and soul, Union reminds us of our own agency faced with a changing city. Union London. It’s a big, complex, lovely, corporate, multicultural, souless, inspiring, place. Emphasis on the complex, then. It’s also ever-changing. We here at the Salterton Arts Review know that better than most, having explored the layers […]
A new play at the Arcola Theatre, The Misandrist is an edgy tale of sexual discovery. Don’t bring your mum. Warning: some content and links very NSFW. The Misandrist I was very curious about The Misandrist. A two-hander, it is billed as “a penetrating new play”. With pegging, no less. But how would this work […]
