Dance: Do you wanna funk?

Out
creator-director Ray Young
performers Azara Meghie, Bambi Phillips Jordan
set Naomi Kuyck-Cohen • costumes Mia Maxwell
lighting Nao Nagai • sound Naomi Jackson
Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells, London • 25-26.Apr.24 ★★★

An astonishing celebration of culture and queerness, this experimental piece is quite demanding of the audience, as it uses dance and performance art to both delight and provoke the senses. Skilfully performed, and staged with a wonderful mix of lights, costumes, music and even smells, the show is energetic and also somewhat indulgent in extended, repetitive sequences that are carefully designed to make a point.

The first section features Jamaican music, with performers Azara Meghie and Bambi Phillips Jordan already circling around each other as the audience enters the studio and takes seats around the edge of the dance floor. This Caribbean vibe kicks up a gear as Vybz Kartel's It Bend Like Banana blasts from the speakers, and the dancers begin striking lively acrobatic poses while both oozing attitude and gleefully hamming it up for the crowd and each other. Sexy and sleek, their costumes are made of leather and lace with red accents.

In the style of an epic lip-sync, they alter their costumes on-stage, losing the lace and replacing trainers with stiletto-heeled boots, and the music changes gear. Their body-positive chemistry is strong, adding a sexy vibe as puffs of smoke billow across the space and both the music and choreography take on more sensual R&B rhythms. Behind this are spoken words that emerge as an evangelistic sermon exploding with homophobia. The words become louder, and the movement gets stuck on repeat, locked in spotlight squares for what seems like an eternity.

Finally, they are able to break out of this nightmare to the groove of Sylvester's Do You Wanna Funk, producing a bucket of oranges, which they begin to peel in silence, competing to de-skin each one in a single spiral move. Once all the oranges are peeled, they pass halves to the audience and begin eating them in increasingly seductive ways, covering the stage with juice and flooding our nostrils with the scent.

Through all of this, both Meghie and Phillips Jordan allow their personalities to come through, playfully using their distinct physicalities as they blur the lines of culture, race and sexuality. Aside from the extremely extended middle section, which is deliberately harrowing, they also have a lot of fun with each other, and their cheeky smiles and seriously gifted dance skills combine to create a terrific atmosphere in which bigger ideas can swirl around hauntingly. It's rather elusive, but also unforgettable.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Jack Thomson, Rosie Powell • 25.Apr.24

Critical Week: On the front line

I've missed several big films recently simply because studios are not notifying me about press screenings. Screenings are taking place, but they tend to only invite influencers; in other words, studios just want an Insta post, not a full review. It's been frustrating to watch distributors undermine the entire industry like this, but I have stopped chasing these things. So if it's something I want to see, I'll watch it later. It took me a week or so, but I finally saw Alex Garland's new film Civil War at my local cinema. It's a strikingly well-made, involving thriller that feels oddly hollow in the middle, where a thoughtful exploration of the story's political reality should be. The terrific cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura and Cailee Spaeny (above), plus a nerve-jangling cameo from Jesse Plemmons. I'll try to catch up with others I missed, like Monkey Man and Kung Fu Panda 4, as well.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Infested • Challengers
Kidnapped • Omen
Drifter • Nowhere Special
ALL REVIEWS >

As for upcoming movies, I watched the satirical fantasy The American Society of Magical Negroes, a fascinating approach to a complex racial theme starring Justice Smith and David Alan Grier. It's entertaining, but the plot abandons pointed comedy for a simple romcom. Nikki Amuka-Bird is excellent in the contained and rather thin thriller Jericho Ridge, which is relentless enough to hold the attention. 

Marco Bellocchio's historical drama Kidnapped recounts a jaw-dropping story from 18th century Italy. The film is overlong, but gripping. From Germany, the involving but uneven drama Elaha is set in the Kurdish subculture as a young woman struggles with her heritage. And it felt like spider week for me as I faced off against the insanely intense, brilliantly well-made Infested from France and it's an alien spider that causes blackly hilarious mayhem in Sting, set in Brooklyn but made in Australia

There were also two press nights for stage shows. Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England at Southwark Playhouse Borough is a ripping one-man show, both hilariously raucous and darkly moving as it explores Britain's lad culture. And Roy Young's dance piece Out at Sadler's Wells is provocative, playful, demanding and perhaps a bit indulgent.

This coming week I've got: Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy, Josh O'Connor in La Chimera, Lea Seydoux in The Beast, Jesse Eisenberg in Sasquatch Sunset, a new version of Lassie, Argentine drama Adios Buenos Aires, British actor doc Much Ado About Dying and a new production of King Lear at Riverside Studios.

Stage: Pride and also prejudice

Why I Stuck a Flare Up My Arse for England
written and performed by Alex Hill
director Sean Turner
dramaturg Jake Vithana
sound Sam Baxter • lighting Matt Cater
Southwark Playhouse, Borough • 17.Apr-4.May.24 ★★★★

Expanding on a real event, this one-man show is a high-energy exploration of Britain's lad culture, performed with full-on commitment by writer Alex Hill. Making full use of the stage while interacting with the audience, Hill digs deeply into the allure of belonging to a club, as well as the personal cost of getting caught up in collective beliefs and behaviour. It's a powerful show that's bracingly accurate, blisteringly funny and darkly moving.

Hill is playing Billy, a die-hard 25-year-old football fan from southwest London who has gone viral as #bumflareman for sticking a lit flare in his bare backside after binging on alcohol and cocaine for the entire day before sneaking into Wembley to watch England lose to Italy in the European Cup final in July 2021. Speaking to a radio presenter, Billy is unrepentant about his actions, and goes on to describe his childhood with best pal Adam and their love for football. He also speaks about his relationship with his artistic widower father and his girlfriend Daisy, as well as the thuggish Winegum who runs his firm of football fanatics.

The script is so finely written and performed that it feels like we get to know all of these people along the way, and we can also see through Billy's delusions about each of them as he misreads a wide range of situations and conversations. All of this emerges as Hill bounces around the stage hilariously, throwing witty comments around while winning the audience over with a combination of joyfully exuberant personality and emotions that he keeps just barely beneath the surface.

The stage is fairly simple, with a wall of "Eng-er-land" flags and a couple of boxes that are cleverly used to create a range of locations. Hill gives Billy a kinetic sense of youthful confidence, darting around, downing pints and snorting powder, singing and dancing with abandon, accompanied by clever sound and lighting effects, including that bum-flare moment. He also sidles right into a row of punters to act out the show's most amusing sequence, during which Billy misses a match to attend a performance of Les Miserables with Daisy, having an epiphany in the process.

In each anecdote that Billy recounts with his engaging spark, there is striking insight into the collective hooligan mindset. But what makes the show even more provocative is the way it grapples with the racist and homophobic language these young people throw alongside the punches, never thinking about who might get hurt. It might have been even more resonant if the play addressed these things explicitly, because this vital theme remains between the lines. But as the narrative resolves itself around Billy and Adam's friendship, it becomes intensely haunting, leaving us with a plenty think about.

For information: SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE >

photos by Rah Petherbridge • 22.Apr.24

Critical Week: Pucker up

This week I attended the UK premiere of Jeanne du Barry, which opened last year's Cannes Film Festival. And there was a very rare red carpet appearance by Johnny Depp, who introduced the film with filmmaker-costar Maiwenn. It's a great film, a lavish true costume drama with an earthy edge to it. (Yes, I snapped pics for Instagram as always - see below). And then there was the lively press screening of Luca Guadagnino's new film Challengers, which stars Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist in perhaps the most detailed love triangle ever put on film. It's absolutely breathtaking cinema.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
If Only I Could Hibernate
Jeanne du Barry • The Book of Clarence
Boys on Film 24 Happy Endings
ALL REVIEWS >

Also this past week, I caught up with Matthew Modine as a cycling coach in Hard Miles, a warm-hearted true story that feels a bit obvious but still inspires. Jo Hartley leads an ensemble of British comical actors in the hilarious mock-doc Swede Caroline, although the plot spirals out of control. The French Canadian comedy-tinged romance The Nature of Love is a bracingly honest look at the rules of attraction, beautifully directed and played by a terrific ensemble cast. The Mexican drama All the Fires finds new things to say in a darkly involving coming-of-age story. I attended the premiere of the bracingly energetic music doc Bass Impact, which outlines the history of dubstep with real flair. And we also had the short film compilation Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings, which is said to be the final edition of the long-running series (I've covered all of them).

This coming week I'll be watching Justice Smith in The American Society of Magical Negroes, Nikki Amuka-Bird in Jericho Ridge, the historical drama Kidnapped, the German drama Elaha, and two spider-based horror movies: Infested from France and Sting from Australia. I also have two stage performances to attend.

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Critical Week: Watch out

There were a range of more offbeat movies to watch this week, which always makes this job a bit more fun. Not a blockbuster in sight! Furthest afield was the Belgian-Congolese odyssey Omen, a powerful exploration of identity with terrific characters and colourful settings. From Ireland, All You Need Is Death is a delightfully unnerving folk horror about a cursed song. And from Japan, Spy x Family Code: White is frankly bonkers animation (a feature expanded from the Netflix series) about a assembled family made up of a spy, an assassin, a telepath and a dog who can see the future. Jaw-droppingly hilarious.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Close Your Eyes • Opponent
The Teachers' Lounge • Omen
Since the Last Time We Met
ALL REVIEWS >

Back to more mainstream fare, we had the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, a strongly well-made if incomplete film anchored by a tremendous performance by Marisa Abela. I loved The Book of Clarence, an uneven biblical comedy-drama that's both silly and earnest, but works thanks to LaKeith Stanfield. And then there was Liuben is an awkwardly dubbed Spanish-Bulgarian drama with a strong story about a repressive society. And the delightful Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces engagingly traces the comedian's life from stand-up to movie stardom and beyond.

I also watched three films from Argentina: Close Your Eyes is an epic-length mystery that makes the most of its extended running time with an attention to character and detail; Since the Last Time We Met is a remarkably sensitive look at a rekindled relationship; and Carnal Sins is a clever, beautifully made folk horror about a monster in the woods. 

This coming week I'll be watching Zendaya in Challengers, Johnny Depp in Jeanne du Barry, Matthew Modine in Hard Miles, the Canadian romcom The Nature of Love, Mexican drama All the Fires, the mock-doc Swede Caroline and the final compilation in the series Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings.

Stage: Past the wit of man to say what dream it was

FLABBERGAST THEATRE’S
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
director/designer Henry Maynard
with Lennie Longworth, Reanne Black, Krystian Godlewski, Simon Gleave, Elliot Pritchard, Vyte Garriga, Nadav Burstein, Paulina Krzeczkowska
music Nick Hart • lighting Rachel Shipp
Wilton's Music Hall, London • 9-20.Apr.24 ★★

As with last year's staging of The Tragedy of MacBeth, Flabbergast presents Shakespeare's oft-performed comedy in a blindingly impenetrable flurry of lavish costumes, masks, puppets and outrageous physicality. There are moments of genius along the way, with a playful play on gender and clever touches that are hilarious, moving and strikingly visual. Those who know the play well will find plenty to enjoy. Others will struggle to understand much of the over-performed dialog, which makes it impossible to get involved in the story. So the farce begins to feel like it will never end.

Set in Athens, this is the lively multi-strand story of four lovelorn young people lost in a forest where fairies are manipulating their emotions. Hermia and Lysander (Krzeczkowska and Pritchard) are trying to run away together, while Hermia's best friend Helena (Garriga) wants to capture her crush Demetrius (Burstein). Fairy Queen Titania and King Oberon (Black and Godlewski) use the sprite Puck (Longworth) to manipulate their affections, but get tricked themselves. Meanwhile, a troupe of actors led by the preening Bottom (Gleave) gets entangled in the chaos.

The lushly cluttered set features a large carriage, as if a theatre company stopped alongside the road to perform for us. This gives the show an intriguing timeless feel, and we can almost imagine the play being put on like this 400 years ago. With colourful costumes and props, and a clever use of the venue, the actors invest their full bodies into these roles, creating sparky personalities, big emotions and pointed interaction. Standout turns from the clownishly gifted Godlewski and the fearlessly silly Gleave keep us laughing; they and others provide a few moments of pathos. The entire cast has such a big stage presence, overflowing with cheeky energy, that it's fun to watch, even if we can only rarely make out the words spoken in such a range of accents amid constant physical movement.

Punctuated by group sing-songs, wildly energetic action and of course an entire play within the play, there's plenty here to hold the attention, even if the incomprehensible delivery makes it feel like it drags on far too long. What's most surprising is that there's nothing particularly new or enlightening about this production, which for all its irreverence is slavishly respectful toward both Shakespeare's play and traditional performances of it. Perhaps Flabbergast needs to more inventively adapt their approach to their audience, because this production feels like it's only made to please themselves.

For details, WILTON'S MUSIC HALL >

photos by Michael Lynch • 10.Apr.24

Critical Week: Another nosey novice

Hot on the heels of Sydney Sweeney in Immaculate, here comes Nell Tiger Free investigating another sinister female-centred Catholic conspiracy in The First Omen, a 1971-set prequel that's strong on atmosphere and gothic grisliness but never feels hugely original. The events around setting up the notorious 2019 Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew is dramatised in Scoop, an interesting if straightforward account starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Evil Does Not Exist
Io Capitano
The Old Oak • Luca
ALL REVIEWS >

And then there's Woody Allen's latest, the sparky French comedy-thriller Coup de Chance, which maintains an entertaining tone even when it gets rather dark. Viggo Mortensen wrote, directed, composed the score for and stars alongside the always-superb Vicky Krieps in the Western dramatic thriller The Dead Don't Die. It's gorgeously shot and strongly involving. The faith-based drama Someone Like You is sunny and beautiful and almost painfully sudsy and predictable. And the Mongolian drama If Only I Could Hibernate is a fascinating glimpse into a complex culture, through the eyes of a stressed-out teen.

This coming week I'll be watching the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, the biblical epic The Book of Clarence, Irish horror All You Need is Death, Spanish mystery Close Your Eyes, Congolese thriller Omen and the Japanese anime Spy x Family: Code White.