Dance: Looking for love

TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL PINA BAUSCH + TERRAIN BORIS CHARMATZ
Vollmond
choreography Pina Bausch
dancers Edd Arnold, Dean Biosca, Emily Castelli, Maria Giovanna Delle Donne, Taylor Drury, Samuel Famechon, Ditta Miranda Jasjfi, Reginald Lefebvre, Alexander Lopez Guerra, Nicholas Losada, Julie Anne Stanzak, Christopher Tandy, Tsai-Wei Tien, Tsai-Chin Yu
set Peter Pabst • costumes Marion Cito
lighting Fernando Jacon • sound Andreas Eisenschneider
Sadler's Wells, London • 14-23.Feb.25 ★★★★★

Originally staged in 2006, Vollmond (full moon) is one of Pina Bausch's final works, and still feels almost unnervingly fresh as it taps into how it feels to try to connect romantically with another person. Performed at this level of skill and artistry, this is a masterpiece of modern dance. It's staged as a free-flowing series of micro-vignettes in which the dancers throw themselves around the stage, deliver hilarious zingers of dialog and create an escalating sense of slapstick chaos as a full moon and high tide drive them to distraction. It's staggeringly involving to watch live on stage, because the staging and movement are both tactile and visceral.

Monumental and elemental, the set features a giant boulder sitting in a huge puddle of ankle-deep water. Performers enter in various ways, sometimes swimming through the water, clambering over the rock or sliding across wet surfaces. There are chairs, wine glasses, open flames and bare torsos. And the dancers act out little scenes, spiralling on their own or interacting in ways that playfully riff on the push and pull of relationships. This includes things like hair-pulling, stone-throwing and insistent kissing, all done in witty ways that continually shift the balance of power, mainly between men and women.

It's clear that these figures are tormented by the elusive nature of finding a relationship in a world that seems to conspire against them. So their extended solos express powerful emotions in between the humorous punchlines and visual sight gags. And the lighting inventively makes the most of the water, including sudden rainstorms, massive water fights and droplets that are flung from hair, clothing and buckets, dazzlingly filling the air around the completely drenched performers. This escalates over the course of two and a half hours (including an interval) until both the audience and the dancers are gasping for breath.

All of this is movingly shaded between light and dark emotions, as these gifted performers throw their full physicality into each element of the narrative, creating a riotous atmosphere that feels almost like a circus-style A Midsummer Night's Dream. There isn't a dull moment, as the musical shifts through a wide range of genres, from pulsing electronic beats to soulful Latin rhythms. And the costumes cleverly evoke both everyday streetwear and more heightened glamour, which adds some attitude along the way. In the end, there's a sense that everyone is flailing around, looking for love against the odds. But what is the alternative when we need each other to feel truly human?

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Martin Argyroglo • 14.Feb.25

Critical Week: Anger issues

It's a busy Valentine's Day weekend for new movies, as British audiences have the hers-and-his double whammy of Bridget Jones and Captain America to choose from. I caught up with Captain America: Brave New World this week, and enjoyed it more than expected. It's a bit more focussed than previous Avengers movies, grittier and less bombastic, so of course most critics are complaining that it's not big enough. It's all very blunt, but I enjoyed the more nuanced performances from Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford (who red-hulks out!).

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
To a Land Unknown • Bonus Track
Memoir of a Snail • Desire Lines
ALL REVIEWS >

I liked the slightly pushy comedy-drama My Dead Friend Zoe, which stars Sonequa Martin-Green as a veteran grappling with trauma. Solid acting all around, plus knowingly complex characters bring it to life. I also really enjoyed Bonus Track, a gentle British coming-of-age drama about two outcast teen boys who find each other. It has some terrific stars in side roles, including Josh O'Connor, who came up with the story. 

The Sloth Lane (aka A Sloth Story) is a lively Aussie animated adventure about a family of Latin American sloths. It's silly but sweet. From France, Holy Cow is a wonderfully loose, full-of-life comedy drama that follows a tearaway teen as he tries to become a cheesemaker. And from Greece, To a Land Unknown is an engaging and powerful drama about two Palestinian migrants trying to catch a break. I also caught the hilarious stage show Miss Brexit at Clapham's Omnibus.

The Bafta Film Awards take place this Sunday, the biggest precursor to the Oscars two weeks later. I have rather a lot going on around that event, but also a few films to watch, including the British vampire movie Drained, the Dutch action thriller Invasion, the Chinese animated epic Chang'An and the documentaries Ernest Cole: Lost & Found and I Am Martin Parr.

Stage: The winner takes it all

Miss Brexit
directors Alejandro Postigo & Amaia Mugica
composer Harvey Cartlidge & Tom Cagnoni
with George Berry, Shivone Dominguez Blascikova, Ricardo Ferreira, Maxence Marmy, Isabel Mulas, Alba Villaitodo
Omnibus Theatre, Clapham • 11-15.Feb.25 ★★★★

Developed through improvisation by a group of immigrants in London, this smart, riotous comedy carries a strong thematic kick in its knowing observations and sharp-edged humour. It's also strikingly well-staged, with terrific songs by Harvey Cartlidge and Tom Cagnoni, colourful choreography and amusingly scene-stealing performances from an up-for-it cast. As the performers explore the immigrant experience with broad humour and pointed insight, it's the deeper ideas that resonate. Which makes this a scrappy gem of a show.

The six performers bound into the empty theatre space, which is brightened up by coloured lights and a big screen with helpful projections, including national flags, backdrops, subtitles and song lyrics. Dressed in shiny swimsuits are contestants from Spain/Slovakia (Dominguez Blascikova), Portugal (Ferreira), Switzerland (Marmy), Italy (Mulas) and Catalonia (Villaitodo). And the perky MC (Berry) informs us that, thanks to Brexit, only one of them will win a visa to remain in the UK, and it's up to the audience to choose.

What follows is a series of battles, as these divas get a chance to dress in their national outfits and deliver their personal sob stories to win the audience's sympathies. They are eliminated one by one until only the winner remains. And there's a lot of fun to be had along the way, with a series of raucous musical numbers, audience interaction and full-on comedy schtick, all expertly performed by the superb cast. And the way the show continually deploys and subverts cliches and archetypes is fiendishly clever. The comments about British culture are both lacerating and hilarious.

Each of the performers shines in his or her own way. Berry holds the centre with a cheeky, sometimes gleefully evil grin, skilfully deploying his hunky physicality and lightning-quick wit. Around him, the contestants are all hugely engaging, each finding funny gags in the continually gyrating scenes. Standouts are Ferreira's cross-dressing Miss Portugal, whose puppy-dog earnestness combines with a wicked seductive streak, and the outrageously funny Villaitodo, who walks off with the show as the diminutive, almost terrifyingly feisty Miss Catalonia.

All of this sometimes feels like a group of young people making up a show as they go, playfully swapping costumes and props to add terrific details while deploying a brisk sense of improv-style timing. So the jokes frequently catch us (and them) by surprise, eliciting a continual stream of laughter and applause. And the way all of this is deepened with genuine emotion, which comes from the performers' own stories, allows the show to offer both witty observations about Britain and the importance of creating your own tribe, wherever you find yourself.

For more, MISS BREXIT > 

photos by Jake Bush & Hana Ptáčková • 12.Feb.25

Critical Week: Campfire stories

It's the week after the London Critics' Circle Film Awards, so much of my time has been spent wrapping up details and sifting through the photos (I published my annual album on Instagram - in four parts). There were only a few film screenings, and with the cold, wet weather I was happy to stay indoors. The big movie was Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the goofy but enjoyable fourth chapter in the saga of the London singleton so endearingly played by Renee Zellweger, this time alongside romantic foils Chiwetel Ejiofor (above) and Leo Woodall. Plus fabulous scene-stealers like Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
September 5
ALL REVIEWS >

Ke Huy Quan is a terrific lead in action comedy Love Hurts, adeptly underplaying the drama while adding wit to the action sequences. The movie is silly, but watchable. Ryan Destiny is fiercely engaging in the boxing biopic The Fire Inside, which is sharper than expected thanks to director Rachel Morrison and writer Barry Jenkins, plus the terrific Brian Tyree Henry in a nuanced variation on the coach role. And Francois Ozon is back with the very French drama When Autumn Comes, which twists and turns through its gently offbeat story, layering personal drama with insinuating intrigue. I also attended the press night for the inventive political play Antigone [on strike] at the Park Theatre.

This coming week, the Avengers are back for Captain America: Brave New World, and I'll also be watching coming-of-age romcom Bonus Track, New York romance Barrio Boy, French drama Holy Cow, Palestinian refugee drama To a Land Unknown and the stage play Miss Brexit at the Omnibus in Clapham.

Stage: Who do you trust for the truth?

Antigone [on strike]
writer-director Alexander Raptotasios
with Phil Cheadle, Hiba Medina, Ali Hadji-Heshmati, Sorcha Brooks, Hanna Khogali
dramaturg Or Benezra-Segal
set Marco Turcich • lighting Ariane Nixon
costumes Marie-Cecile Inglesi   
Park90, Park Theatre, London • 30.Jan-22.Feb.25 ★★★★

Reimagined from real events, this intense drama is inventively staged to draw on the way a news story plays out through political grandstanding and attention-grabbing headlines. It's also an astute spin on Sophocles' classic tragedy about a woman seeking justice in a system tilted against her. And there's an extra kick in the way writer-director Alexander Raptotasios so cleverly weaves interactivity into the narrative, forcing the audience to make key decisions that provoke responses and reveal deeper ideas.

The set is a whitewashed replica of the House of Commons, as MP Creighton (Phil Cheadle) rails against the young Esmeh (Hanna Khogali in video calls), who has been stripped of her British citizenship after leaving the UK as a 14-year-old to marry an Isis fighter in the Middle East. Now her husband is dead, as is one of her two children, leaving her a refugee without a home. In London, her sister Antiya (Hiba Medina) is at her wit's end after a court case goes against Esmeh, so she goes on hunger strike outside the Home Office. Her boyfriend Eammon (Ali Hadji-Heshmati) supports her, but has a serious conflict of his own.

All of this plays out in a swirl of verbal and visual activity, with headlines and messages projected onto the various surfaces of the set, including pointed questions posed by a TV news show host (Sorcha Brooks) that the audience answers on a keypad, then the results are projected as well. The story moves briskly over 90 minutes, as the adept cast members create various other characters who fill in the story, adding points of view that are both annoyingly loud and beautifully nuanced.

Performances are excellent across the board, as the cast commits to some properly earth-shattering moments. Dialog overlaps and scenes shift very quickly. Cheadle never flinches at Creighton's hardline right-wing views, strident and harsh in his refusal to see the human side of this situation, even as it affects his own family. Both Medina and Hadji-Heshmati have far more sympathetic roles, creating both warmly involving and darkly wrenching moments as Antiya and Eammon navigate a perilous situation. These young people simply want to see justice prevail amid terrifyingly over-amped events.

Packed with terrific details and stagecraft that skilfully deploys sights and sounds, this ambitious play is dazzling, never getting lost in its topicality because it continually reminds us that this is a story about flawed people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. By involving the audience in the decision-making, the experience creates unusually personal angles that counter-balance the more academic discussions and lofty prose. So this becomes about much more than Islamophobia, child trafficking, media manipulation or military intervention. The salient questions become "Do you feel well informed enough about this situation?" and "Who do you trust for the truth?" And then even more chillingly, "Should the majority rule?"

For details, PARK THEATRE > 

photos by Nir Segal • 3.Feb.25

Critical Week: Dance the night away

It's been another relatively quiet week for me at the cinema, as I have spent most of my time organising the London Critics' Circle Film Awards – we're holding our 45th ceremony on Sunday night, and there's rather a lot to do to prepare for the starry evening. It's always an unusually intimate, relaxed awards show, with A-listers mixing with rising stars and of course the critics themselves. Highlights will be giving special awards to Daniel Craig and Zoe Saldaña. The afterparty will be great fun.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
No Other Land
Saturday Night • Hard Truths
ALL REVIEWS >

So I only had time to watch a couple of movies. There was the goofy romcom You're Cordially Invited with Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, funny enough to be entertaining, but nothing special. And the blackly comical thriller Companion is smart and inventive, with terrific central performances from an ensemble cast that includes Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. I attended a rather fabulous big-screen preview of the Disney+ TV series Paradise, attended by James Marsden, Sterling K Brown and Julianne Nicholson. And there was also a theatre press night, with the dark comedy The Gift at the Park Theatre.

This coming week, I'll be catching up with Renee Zellweger, who's back for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside and Francois Ozon's dark drama When Autumn Falls. There's also the press night for Antigone (On Strike) at the Park Theatre.

Stage: Down the rabbit hole

The Gift
by Dave Florez
director Adam Meggido
with Nicholas Burns, Laura Haddock, Alex Price
design Sarah Perks • lighting David Howe
music & sound Abby Galvin
Park Theatre, Finsbury Park • 22.Jan-1.Mar.25 ★★★

Springing from a high-concept premise then spinning wildly out of control, this snappy black comedy is written in such an entertaining way that we barely realise that it's playing with big issues rather than actually grappling with them. Dave Florez has a wonderful way with dialog, injecting witty banter that livens up a series of raucously uncomfortable moments. The steady stream of jokey puns and acerbic observations often feels overwritten, but it's also very funny, as it's essentially a portrait of three people who use wit to obscure what they really think.

It opens on a spotlit cake box on a kitchen counter, which Colin (Nicholas Burns) received that morning. Now he's joined by his sister Lisa (Laura Haddock) and brother-in-law Brian (Alex Price), peering at the human excrement inside and wondering who could have possibly sent it. Lisa knows that Colin is unlikely to take this with a grain of salt, and sure enough he begins obsessing about both who and why. Laura and Brian make a joke of it, and try everything they can to calm him down, but their own relational issues come into play as the situation grows into an existential crisis for all three of them.

Set completely in Colin's living room over several months, the play's dialog brims with pointed zingers as these people find amusing ways to refer to this head-scratching predicament as it escalates exponentially. The actors' dive in fully, making each of these characters big personalities who are equally likeable and infuriating. At the centre, Burns gives Colin a nicely quirky observational sensibility that leads him down all kinds of rabbit holes, overwhelmed by the task of apologising to every person he may have wronged. There are elements of panic and confusion that are easy to identify with, and these of course set off alarm bells for Haddock's pragmatic Lisa and Price's jocular Brian, who is perhaps too quick with a wisecrack for everything.

Indeed, there's a relentless intensity to this play, with such a continuous flow of spiky humour that the characters and situations begin to feel artificial. It's thoroughly enjoyable to watch, simply because the spiralling conversations are so jam-packed with fizzy wordplay, although this means that we are hearing people tell hilarious stories rather than watching events unfold on-stage. And many of the deeper issues, such as the machismo swirling between Colin and Brian, are brushed off as silly rather than properly explored. 

Much more interesting are the little rifts that reveal themselves between the characters, within marriage, friendships and between siblings. And Colin's inability to just get on with his life is also fascinating. These are by far the most involving things about this play, even as it remains focussed on its central gag and final punchline. 

For info, PARK THEATRE >

photos by Rich Southgate • 18.Jan.25 

Critical Week: Nothing to see here

This has been a very odd month for me, watching my hometown Los Angeles battle such devastating wildfires from afar, while also grappling with the political ramifications of what's happening across that country in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, I have been busy as the chair of the London Film Critics' Circle, as we prepare to present our winners at a starry ceremony in about 10 days. So my movie-watching has been somewhat limited. But I did manage to catch Back in Action, the action comedy starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz in the usual story of former spies whose past catches up with them. The plot is simplistic, but the film is well-made, they have great chemistry, and the cast includes Andrew Scott and Glenn Close, so it's well worth a diverting watch on Netflix.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
The Colours Within • The Brutalist
ALL REVIEWS >

A bit more highbrow is Steven Soderbergh's take on the horror genre with Presence, although it's more of a gentle ghost story than a freakout. The pace and introspection might annoy genre fans, but it's strikingly shot and acted with unusual subtlety. From Ireland, Four Mothers is a hugely engaging comedy about a young writer (James McArdle) caring for his sparky mother (the great Fionnula Flanagan) when three of his friends drop off their own demanding mothers for a weekend. It's knowing, funny and thoroughly entertaining. The documentary Luther: Never Too Much is a warm celebration of Luther Vandross' indelible musical talent, packed with terrific performance and backstage footage, but only a brief glimpse into his personal life. And it was great to finally see Peter Weir's haunting and dreamy classic Picnic at Hanging Rock projected on a big screen, pristinely restored for its 50th anniversary.

This coming week, I'll be watching are Companion with Jack Quaid and You're Cordially Invited with Reese Witherspoon, plus a big-screen preview of the TV series Paradise. But most of my time will be spent organising the London Critics' Circle Film Awards ceremony on Sunday 2nd February.

Stage: In a really good place

Glamrou: Drag Mother
with Amrou Al-Kadhi
Soho Theatre, London •  20-25.Jan.25 ★★★★

More performance art than a stand-up drag show, this one-hour piece comes directly from Amrou Al-Kadhi's soul, revealing a perceptive, funny and strongly engaging way of looking at the world. It's framed as a battle between Amrou and his sardonic Iraqi mother, who continually takes over the show and speaks to the audience to debunk Amrou's wildly imaginative stories about his life. So the show has a lot to say about the immigrant experience, how it feels to both be queer and to have a queer son, and the strength that comes from getting into drag and putting on a show.

Oozing glittery star power, Glamrou takes the stage with earnest showbiz gratitude, addressing the small Soho Theatre audience as "Wembley" and launching into a moody rendition of Bad Romance, accompanied by two musicians. Glamrou's full-diva attitude is hilarious as she speaks about her boyhood in Baghdad during the British invasion, growing up with an Islamist mother. Then mother takes over, telling the true story of Amrou's wealthy upbringing in Knightsbridge. She also points out the irony that in a Muslim family, Amrou is a man who can do whatever he wants, but he chooses to dress as a woman.

Intriguingly, elements of Amrou and his mother bleed into each other, discovering deeper connections and raising some surprisingly provocative issues. Amrou speaks about his big break as an actor in Spielberg's Munich (2005), then being typecast as a terrorist. This is echoed on a big screen as movie clips and childhood photos are projected alongside some fascinating memorabilia that explores his created backstory, as he felt pushed by teachers to live up to expectations. This intimately address nuanced issues connected to his ethnicity, religion and sexuality.

The juxtaposition of Amrou's fantasist storytelling with his mother's earthier honesty is often unnervingly clever, creating a show that's smart and very silly, but never frivolous. Even a series of musical numbers are performed with shades of personality and attitude, creating moods and feelings the audience doesn't expect. As Amrou continually says, "At 34, I'm in a really good place," but he always feels the flames around him. Indeed, his complex inner life sits alongside both struggles and triumphs. And of course this is something all of us can identify with.

For more, GLAMROU >

21.Jan.25

Stage: A mi manera

Copla: A Spanish Cabaret
writer-performer Alejandro Postigo
musicians Violeta Valladares, Jack Elsdon
director Sergio Maggiolo
video design Ricardo Ferreira
The Other Palace, London • 14-26.Jan.25 ★★★★

Entertaining on several layers, this terrific show explores a specific strain of Spanish music that evokes big emotions, provoking audiences for over a century with implications that subvert what's considered traditional morality. It's performed by Alejandro Postigo with charm, wit and a sharp political undercurrent that continually elicits laughter even as he makes important points about sexuality and immigration. And while it sometimes feels like a Ted Talk as it uses a large video screen to teach us about copla, the show is also strikingly personal, which makes it deeply moving for anyone who feels at odds with the status quo. And the music is simply gorgeous.

In The Other Palace's studio space, the stage looks like a dressing room, with hats, shawls, fans and dresses on the wall plus some glittery flourishes, all of which come into play. Violinist Violeta Valladares and keyboardist Jack Elsdon serenade us as we enter, and then Postigo arrives with a conspiratorial grin, explaining his qualifications before launching into a bracingly enjoyable tour through copla's history in Spain and Latin America. Strong resonance emerges everywhere, such as the tracing of an early copla classic written in French as Mon Homme, performed in Spain and then popularised as My Man by a string of divas from Fanny Brice to Billy Holiday, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross and Whitney Houston.

Copla is distinguished by its big drama, telling stories of love outside what is considered proper, so it has always appealed to outsiders, most notably drag artists. In between gorgeous performance numbers in which he cleverly mixes Spanish and English lyrics, Postigo speaks intimately about how this music captured his attention as a child, then became more important to him as he discovered his queer identity. So the way the music was censored in the Franco era becomes a running theme, and it's driven home beautifully in clips of Postigo interacting with his lively 101-year-old grandmother.

Over the course of this hour-long show, Postigo reveals himself as he explores the universal impact of copla, which crosses cultures and subcultures powerfully revealing a deeper identity and a sense of belonging. Postigo's performance involves several evocative visual gender shifts, mixing masculinity with femininity both in his ever-changing outfits and his soaring voice, climaxing with a show-stopping performance of My Way before a joyous karaoke-style singalong. It's a cheeky, informative and hugely entertaining show that carries a lovely emotional kick.

For information, THE COPLA >

photos by Jake Bush & John Kentish • 17.Jan.25

 

Critical Week: I feel pretty

While all eyes continue to be on Los Angeles as the extent of the fire damage becomes even more horrifically clear, the film industry here in London continues relatively as normal. Bafta announced their film awards nominations on Wednesday, the usual expected lists with idiosyncratic touches here and there. And among screenings this week, Michelle Yeoh popped in (on great form) for a lively Q&A at a press screening for Star Trek: Section 31, which spins her Discovery character Philippa Georgiou off for her own action-comedy mayhem. It will be interesting to see how franchise fans take on the film's riotous tone.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
I'm Still Here • The Writer
A Complete Unknown
ALL REVIEWS >

There was also a late screening of Leigh Whannell's latest reworking of a monster classic: Wolf Man. Stars Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner make the most of the emotional angles in the somewhat thin script, and the grisly suspense will keep fans entertained. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite with Robert Zemeckis for Here, a gimmicky experimental film that places a camera in one place for millions of years. The effects and imagery is impressive, but the mini-melodramas feel arch. From Lithuania, the New York-set drama The Writer features just two actors as they talk over the course of one afternoon, and it's properly gripping stuff, taking on big issues and quietly intimate emotion. Finally there was Charlie Shackleton's Zodiac Killer Project, documenting the film he never got to make. It's witty and inventive, and premieres at Sundance.

This coming week, among the films I'll be watching are Steven Soderbergh's Presence, the Irish drama Four Mothers, the musician doc Luther: Never Too Much and a restored screening of Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock, which I've never seen projected.

Critical Week: Troubled teens

After a very nice break, screenings have started up in London again, and I've had a couple this week. It's been a gentle start to a new year, with the usual offbeat January releases alongside awards-season gems that are being released this month. My first screening was the comedy-horror Get Away, written by and starring Nick Frost (Sebastian Croft and Maisie Ayres, pictured, play his kids). It's nutty and gleefully grisly enough to keep fans happy, but is a bit undercooked. Claes Bang stars in a big-scale account of the Swiss legend of William Tell. The settings are gorgeous and the starry cast is terrific, even if it's never hugely involving.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hard Truths • A Real Pain
The Girl With the Needle
Babygirl • Maria
ALL REVIEWS >

From France, the always enjoyable Laure Calamy stars in It's Raining Men, a comedy about a middle-aged woman who tries to spice up her marriage by hooking up with other men. It feels a little simplistic, but is likeable enough. A UK production filmed in India, filmmaker Sandhya Suri's Santosh is a riveting if slightly underpowered procedural thriller with very strong character beats. And the meta-comedy Extremely Unique Dynamic his hilariously packed with layers of gags as it highlights the friendship between filmmakers Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung.

This coming week, among the films I'll be watching are Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Section 31, Julia Garner in Wolf Man, Tom Hanks in Here and the documentaries Changing the Game and Zodiac Killer Project.