Kiki & Herb Are Trying
with Justin Vivian Bond, Kenny Mellman
Soho Theatre Walthamstow • 3-5.Jul.25 ★★★★
Saturday, 5 July 2025
Stage: Trying to put on a show
Friday, 4 July 2025
Critical Week: Duelling divas
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Heads of State Jurassic World: Rebirth ALL REVIEWS > |
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Stage: From a meow to a roar
Otto & Astrid: The Stages Tour
with Daniel Tobias, Clare Bartholomew
Jackson's Lane, Highgate • 2.Jul.25 ★★★★★
photos by Peter Enwight, Christine Fiedler, Andrew Wuttke, Aaron Walker
2.Jul.25
Saturday, 28 June 2025
Raindance: Hang on tight
The Lonely Musketeer
dir-scr Nicolai Schumann; with Edward Hogg, Richard Glover 24/UK ***.
Featuring a single person in a small room, this experimental drama is shot in black and white and edited with restless energy that keeps the pace moving. Writer-director Nicolai Schumann relies heavily on the exceptional skills of audacious actor Edward Hogg to bring the surreal set-up to vivid life, creating a riveting one-man show. As the narrative unpicks the mystery, the film becomes increasingly murky and darkly disturbing.
Breakwater
dir-scr Max Morgan; with Daniel McNamee, Shaun Paul McGrath 25/UK ***
From the start, this British drama evokes a tone that hints at intrigue with tiny glances and brief cutaways. Writer-director Max Morgan uses eye-catching widescreen cinematography to create a strong sense of the settings and characters. Although these people speak in hesitant fragments, as if they're always hiding something. So while everything seems to move at a maddeningly underpowered pace the subtle performances bring out deeper feelings.
Beam Me Up Sulu
dir Timour Gregory, Sasha Schneider; with Stan Woo, George Takei 25/US ***.
Briskly traces the production of a Star Trek fan movie, this scrappy documentary uses terrific behind-the-scenes footage and extensive clips and interviews, plus some witty animation. Warm-hearted and engaging, it's a lovely depiction of one man's passion alongside remarkable explorations of US cultural history. Yes, the film goes down several sideroads, not all of them relevant. But everything feeds into a strongly entertaining portrait of a dedicated fanbase.
The Dark Fantastic
dir-scr Lg White; with Simon Boswell, Alejandro Jodorowsky 25/UK ****
Tracing the career of British film composer Simon Boswell, this punchy documentary deploys a flurry of split-screen and overlapping imagery to mix clips and interviews alongside a thunderous rock-n-roll sound mix. Filmmaker Lg White's whizzy editing style may play colourfully with images and text, but the focus remains tightly on the music. It's a sharply well-made movie that beautifully depicts the career of an inventive and prolific artist.
Full reviews of festival films will be linked here in due course: SHADOWS @ RAINDANCE >
Friday, 27 June 2025
Dance: Can you see the real me?
Quadrophenia: A Mod Ballet
by Pete Townshend
dancers Paris Fitzpatrick, Curtis Angus, Dylan Jones, Seirian Griffiths, Will Bozier, Stuart Neal, Kate Tydman, Dan Baines, Serena McCall, Euan Garrett, Matthew Ball, Jonathon Baker, Amaris Pearl Gillies, Georges Hann, Anya Ferdinand, Joshua Nkemdilim, Zach Parkin, Yasset Roldan, Taela Yeomans-Brown, Pam Pam Sapchartanan
choreography Paul Roberts
orchestrators Rachel Fuller, Martin Batchelar
director Rob Ashford • sets Christopher Oram
costumes Paul Smith • lighting Fabiana Piccioli
sound David McEwan • video YeastCulture
Sadler's Wells, London • 26.Jun-13.Jul.25 ★★★★Transformed into a ballet with lush orchestrations, dazzling choreography and inventive stagecraft, The Who's iconic 1973 rock opera remains a profoundly involving tale of self-discovery. The story is set amid the clash between mods and rockers in mid-1960s Brighton, which gives the designers a chance to play with eye-catching colours, settings, lights and costumes. And the narrative carries a strong coming-of-age kick.
Because there are so many characters, following the plot can be a bit tricky without dialog, but the performers and staging carry us right into the story of Jimmy (Paris Fitzpatrick) a London teen who hangs out with his mod friends, attending drug-fuelled raves and concerts in Brighton. But he's frustrated by his dismissive parents (Stuart Neal and Kate Tydman) and hates working a menial job. And he's crushed when the new girl (Serena McCall) he likes takes up with Ace Face (Dan Baines). Frustrated, Jimmy heads back to Brighton determined to end it all. But what he finds there is startling.
From the opening moments, Paul Roberts' choreography catches us off guard with a combination of gentle waves of movement combined with internalised bursts of energy. This creates a sparky sense of Jimmy's connection with his pals, a complex mix of camaraderie and posturing that feeds into their group mentality. The high point is a stunning duet between Jimmy and an old school friend (Euan Garrett) who is now a rocker, as they spiral together soulfully in a seemingly weightless depiction of their deeper bond.Musically, the arrangements by Rachel Fuller (aka Mrs Pete Townsend) and Martin Batchelar sometimes feel rather overwhelming, adding thunderous guitar licks into an already dense mix. But this cleverly echoes The Who's musical style while punching the emotional beats. Visually, the show relies heavily on projections, which inventively add forced perspective along with some superb set details. The way scenes flicker in and out of each other is very cinematic, and all of this combines beautifully to send Jimmy on an existential odyssey. And Paul Smith's costumes skilfully evoke the period while playing on the anachronism of dancers wearing tight suits.
Show-stopping moments abound, including the terrific Matthew Ball's knockout solo as The Godfather, performed to My Generation. A reflective sequence in a cafe is gorgeous, as is a stunningly choreographed street fight. And the sexy dream after the interval is a terrific touch. Other elements are perhaps unnecessary, even if they're gorgeous, such as the wartime flashback for Jimmy's dad or a jaunty dance with swimmers at the seaside. And the final scene feels oddly drawn out. But the talent that has gone into this show makes sure that the bigger points come through with real emotional power.For info, QUADROPHENIA >
photos by Johan Persson • 25.Jun.25
Thursday, 26 June 2025
Raindance: Dance the night away
Somewhere in Love [Une Vie Rêvée]
dir-scr Morgan Simon; with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Felix Lefebvre 24/Fr ***.
Warm and full of life, this French drama follows a woman who finds herself in a difficult situation but refuses to give up. Writer-director Morgan Simon sets this out as a slice-of-life character study about a mother and son, using a realistically sparky humour and emotions. The narrative structure contrives to create some drama, but there's something more intriguing, and remarkably hopeful, going on under the surface.
If You Should Leave Before Me
dir-scr The Andersons; with Shane P Allen, John Wilcox 25/US ***
While this low-budget comedy-drama feels rather deliberately offbeat, it's also warm and observant as it explores things that remain unspoken between a middle-aged couple. Filmmakers Boyd and Markus Anderson ambitiously use colourful hand-made effects, visual flourishes and goofy jokes to tell interwoven stories that touch on love and death. With its overriding existential afterlife narrative, there's plenty to chew on, even if the movie feels indulgent and overlong.
Flamingo Camp
dir Chris Coats; with Nova, Poe, Cecil, Emmit 25/US ***.
Chronicling life for a group of people who live far off the grid, this openly emotional documentary observes residents of a colourful queer community in the California desert. It starts as a slice of life before turning into something much darker and more intense, as an eerily predictable tragedy strains relationships and opens wounds. This creates a loose narrative that's fascinating, largely because the setting is so unusual.
Full reviews of festival films will be linked here in due course: SHADOWS @ RAINDANCE >
~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L W E E K
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Sorry, Baby • Ponyboi Rent Free • Wolf and Dog ALL REVIEWS > |
Dance: Defying gravity in the gloom
Botis Seva / Far From The Norm
Until We Sleep
choreographer-director Botis Seva
dancers Victoria Shulungu, Jordan Douglas, Larissa Koopman, Margaux Pourpoint, Rose Sall Sao, Naïma Souhaïr, Joshua Shanny Wynters
music Torben Sylvest
costumes Ryan Dawson-Laight • lighting Tom Visser
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 24-28.Jun.25 ★★★★Choreographer Botis Seva and his Dagenham hip hop theatre company Far From The Norm bring this astonishing production to the stage in a way that creates a mesmerising dark cavern out of the deep rake at Sadler's Wells East. Because the set is drenched in smoke, the audience never quite gets a clear view of the seven dancers. And there's not even a curtain call. But the movement and staging are dazzlingly conceived and performed to create a powerfully involving look at mortality.
Because of the smoke, the lighting can quickly shift the stage from inky blackness into a shimmering glare. And a series of tall angled rods along the periphery look like a wall or bars around a cage until they begin to light up, shimmering on their own to add colours and create what appear to be doorways between dimensions. Most impressive, and impactful, is how the lights, music and movement are so precisely connected to hit the audience. Indeed, Torben Sylvest's soundscape-style score pulses with deep bass vibrations that literally rattle us to the core. The effect is almost overwhelming, a skilful display of stagecraft on every level.
The dancers circle around the imposing figure of Victoria Shulungu, who takes the lead role as she faces a mysterious being who appears to be beckoning her from the afterlife. Her yearning desperation drives the narrative, pulling us into each encounter with the other gifted dancers. Sometimes these are tender and hopeful, and at other times menacing as elements of horror and violence heighten the tone. The performers expertly deploy bouncing, tightly contained movements that shift from individualistic to coordinated group expression.This gravity-defying choreography continually takes us aback, evoking powerfully visceral emotions with military-style actions that explode into darkly unnerving moments such as an active-shooter incident. Each sequence carries a strong kick, including slow-motion walking that seems to be battling against the wind. Costumes have a post-apocalyptic feel, augmented by the way they remain hidden by the murkiness. It's the kind of show that holds us very tightly in its grip over the course of an hour, conveying feelings rather than openly stating ideas. And it leaves us reeling in all the right ways.